Craig Keller
New Member
What type computer do mist use? Since we are using multiple software programs at the same time. Would a gaming desktop be a good choice?
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Computer type
- Thread starter Craig Keller
- Start date
Pauly
Printrade.com.au
What's your budget?
What software?
A "Gaming Computer" is to vague of an answer. As some will be great and some will be overkill.
In the 2D graphics industry, we need more CPU / Processing power vs GPU Graphics processing power.
To keep it simple, This is what you'd look for.
intel i7 or i9 ( 12 or 13th gen 12xxx / 13xxx) OR AMD R7 or R9 (5000 or 7000 series) Processor.
32GB ram.
a choice of GPU is hard as there are so many to pick from. But something like a RTX3060 would be plenty.
HP Z1 G9 Tower Desktop PC | HP® Hong Kong
www.hp.com
I can't find it on the US HP site, but you can get it with an i7 or i9 / 32gb ram & a RTX3060. and as much storage as you need.
that would be plenty.
Craig Keller
New Member
Corel, ai, photoshop, wilcom embroidery software
Craig Keller
New Member
Most time have all 4 of these programs open Sametime bouncing back and forth between them.
Pauly
Printrade.com.au
Above specs is plenty for many years to go.
This is the model number: 6E2J9PA
Im sure you may find other brands etc, but IMO look for those specs.
If you want to budget a little more, get an i7 CPU (make sure 12th at minimum)
RAM is what will allow multiple programs at once with a lot of load. so don't go less than 32gb.
You could budget more on the graphics card, but the RTX3060 is a good choice as it'll hold up for a very long time.
Finding a prebuilt system with odd specs is hard. they all usually have the same level of components with some play.
This is the model number: 6E2J9PA
Im sure you may find other brands etc, but IMO look for those specs.
If you want to budget a little more, get an i7 CPU (make sure 12th at minimum)
RAM is what will allow multiple programs at once with a lot of load. so don't go less than 32gb.
You could budget more on the graphics card, but the RTX3060 is a good choice as it'll hold up for a very long time.
Finding a prebuilt system with odd specs is hard. they all usually have the same level of components with some play.
Stacey K
I like making signs
So like one of these? Second one has all the specs. I'm going to need a new one also. I'm typically running Flexi, printing to the HP 315 and streaming music. Sometimes Corel/Excel open. Same as Craig pretty much. Best Buy is where I usually go but I see they don't have any desktops over 16gb
Craig Keller
New Member
frequently run multiple programs at the same time. Wilcom, corel, ai, ps. I see frequent issues with corel will stop working and force me to restart corel. Or if I have a graphic on screen that has lots of pieces in it. When I select a section of it. It will take 30 seconds to highlight. And when I move it those selected items takes awhile to move. And when I deselect them takes awhile. If I have smaller graphics on screen it fine. I can even have up to 8 or 10 different designs open on different screens and it's fine.
Johnny Best
Active Member
Macbook Pro with Adobe & Affinity products.
Pauly
Printrade.com.au
I try to avoid the "gaming" stuff for work.
Specwise its the same, but i've found support is better for workstations.
I would avoid the 2nd option as it has no GPU. It really helps for graphics, just doesn't need top end stuff - diminishing returns..
This would be similar (slightly weaker GPU but will make no difference)
https://www.amazon.com/HP-Z2-Workstation-Dodeca-core-i7-12700K/dp/B0B3LXQ14N?ref_=ast_sto_dp
32gb of ram and you'll never have that issue.
If you run files that are gigabytes in size very often, then consider 64gb of ram, but it would be overkill.
victor bogdanov
Active Member
you are comparing a $1000 PC to a $2500 PC, like you said similar performance wise. would be stupid do pay 2.5x for it just because it is a "workstation"
Pauly
Printrade.com.au
Price doesn't come up for me as it's US.
But the price differences would be due to the quadro GPU.
Generly speaking the quality if components will be better in a workstation. psu, cooling. Ram. Etc.
A lot of pre builts skimp on parts for "gaming" PC's to be more competitive on price.
What I showed was an example that I found on Amazon that fits a good workstation for our ind.
I build my workstations myself. Easier.
My RIP & local file server runs this for anyone who's interested.
5950x
64gb ram
2x 512gb NVME
gtx 1660 Super
2x 4gb 7200rpm drives in raid
All this PC does is RIPS files and stores current jobs.
Our website pushes files to this pc daily so easy to RIP and process.
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Overkill. Get something with 16Gb, I5 even I3 with an SSD sufficiently large to contain your stuff. For output to printers and plotters, since they're all buffered, all the machine has to do is keep up with the buffering, not an onerous task. Running Corel, Flexi, whatever simultaneously, you're only running one at a time even though they're all open. As for Corel taking a bit to select/deselect/manipulate an object it depends a great deal what's behind the object. If it's, say, a bitmap with a transparency, it'll take a while. If nothing but empty space it should be sufficiently fast. There's a lot of other factors at work here so merely saying it's slow to select multiple points isn't sufficient information. Regardless, when it isn't instantaneous subjectively it seems like forever. Objectively it's livable.
Of all of the computers I've bought in the last 20 or so years in order to do this sort of work only the very first one was a fire breathing kickass machine from which I learned it really wasn't necessary. From then on until now I bought whatever was on sale that met my minimum requirements. I think the most expensive one was maybe $600. The cheapest was a refurb for about $150. They all last about the same length of time, even the refurb, that being about 4-6 years. Meaning I'd be surprised if it didn't last 4 years and I'd be equally surprised if id lasted more than 6 years. Moreover I'm not a stickler even for my minimum. I'll make small concessions one way or the other. The operative word is small. If what I end up with is a few microseconds slower than something else, I'm not keeping score.
Of all of the computers I've bought in the last 20 or so years in order to do this sort of work only the very first one was a fire breathing kickass machine from which I learned it really wasn't necessary. From then on until now I bought whatever was on sale that met my minimum requirements. I think the most expensive one was maybe $600. The cheapest was a refurb for about $150. They all last about the same length of time, even the refurb, that being about 4-6 years. Meaning I'd be surprised if it didn't last 4 years and I'd be equally surprised if id lasted more than 6 years. Moreover I'm not a stickler even for my minimum. I'll make small concessions one way or the other. The operative word is small. If what I end up with is a few microseconds slower than something else, I'm not keeping score.
victor bogdanov
Active Member
I just upgraded from a 5950x 64gig ram
Now I'm running 7950x with 128gig ram, love it, now just waiting for 7900xtx release to upgrade my rx480
Dell is the best. Call them explain what you are doing. 64 ram with room for expansion. 1 tb main hard disk with room for a second separate hard drive. You need a second hard disk for your data and the c drive for your programs.
Most people only have one hard drive which is absolutely insane. Partitioning a hard drive is still one drive. All your data cannot be replaced. Your programs can be re-installed. Ive had the same dell Inspiron for years running windows 10. Flexi, Gerber, Engravelab and quickbooks
Most people only have one hard drive which is absolutely insane. Partitioning a hard drive is still one drive. All your data cannot be replaced. Your programs can be re-installed. Ive had the same dell Inspiron for years running windows 10. Flexi, Gerber, Engravelab and quickbooks
victor bogdanov
Active Member
You should watch some LTT videos on computer builder comparisons and clueless buyer calling in experience, dell was one of the worse when it comes to calling in to buy a PC, get ready to be robbed on warranties and support packages
gnubler
Active Member
Is the Mac vs Windows debate still a thing? I've been getting by on an older iMac for all my design/layout work and it's time to upgrade. I'm not a fan of Apple and want to switch my entire setup over to Windows and get two displays. Has anyone else said goodbye to their Mac for production work? I know I might run into some font weirdness in Adobe CC between the two platforms but that'll be worked out eventually. Any other problems to anticipate?
Same, except I stuck with 64 gb ram.. ddr5 is crazy expensive.
Amazing how much faster even a 5950 to a 7950 is.
I never understood buying just the minimum, time is money ... We do a lot of 2-3gb wall murals, the time it takes to rip them now is almost half, it pays for itself in a month just in time saved.
Stacey K
I like making signs
Once you have 2 monitors, you will realize you actually need 3...like me. 4 would give me whiplash but 3 is perfect.
victor bogdanov
Active Member
The ram ended up costing $1200 or so. I was maxing out 64gig ram with large murals in photoshop. Now it uses 100gb ram pretty frequently. I'm a computer nerd too so I get to mix hobby/work with building fast computers
the number of hard drives has NOTHING to do with the likelyhood of a hard drive going bad
hard drives are like lightbulbs, it's just a question of WHEN they will fail, not if & most of the time there is no warning, JUST A CLICK
setup a good, reliable backup solution & please don't tell me about the $0.99 a TB backup solution you found. this is a good thing to spend a couple bucks on
when one of our clients (who was too smart to pay for backup) calls and says "what do i do now?" this is what i send him bacl
it wouldn't take long to redo ALL YOUR WORK, would it?