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Computer System Requirements

PC Minimum¹

Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
16 GB of RAM
Video card²
- 4 GB of RAM
- DirectX 12³
5 GB of available hard disk space
Internet access⁴

Mac Minimum

Ventura / Sonoma / Sequoia
16 GB of RAM
Video card
- Apple M1 or newer
  OR
- Intel⁶/AMD card: 2 GB of RAM with support for Metal GPUFamily macOS 2 or newer
5 GB of available hard disk space
Internet access⁴
Supported Mac Models

Locating Your Computer's Specifications

PC and Mac Recommended

32 GB of RAM
1 TB SSD
PC
- Intel i9 / AMD Ryzen 9
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 / AMD Radeon RX 7900
- A screen of 16" or more
Mac
- Metal GPUFamily: Apple M3 or newer
- Desktops: Mac Pro
- Laptops: MacBook Pro 16"

Tips for Buying a New Computer

If you are thinking about purchasing a new computer to run Chief Architect, read our ChiefBlog article to learn more about computer specifications.

Differences Between PC and Mac Versions of Home Designer

	PC	Mac
Walkthrough Export Formats	.AVI / .MP4 / .WMV	.MOV / .MP4 / .M4V
.WMF / .EMF Support	Yes	No
Gamepads	Yes	No
Virtual Reality⁵	Yes	No

¹ Windows computers with ARM processors are not supported (e.g. Snapdragon processors).

² Supported video cards include: (1) dedicated video cards such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX and AMD Radeon RX (2) Intel integrated graphics on 8th generation or newer Intel processors.

³ DirectX 12 requires Shader Model 6.0 or newer. Learn how to identify the shader model of your graphics card.

⁴ Internet access required for installation, license authentication, deactivation and video & library catalog access. Internet access for license authentication is required once every 14 days.

⁵ Virtual reality requires a computer that meets the system requirements of both Chief Architect and the VR headset manufacturer. Learn more.

⁶ Macs containing standalone Intel graphics are not supported on Sequoia. See Known Incompatibilities & Supported Mac Models.

Known Incompatibilities

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