Hello All,
I am planning to buy a new computer for design and gaming. Currently, I am using a laptop.Specs Intel I3 3rd generation, 1TB hard disk, two gb graphic cards.Using it for the past four years, and now it is outdated.
So I am thinking of buying an intel i7 processor, 256 SDD hard disk, NVIDIA (I didn't decide on the model yet). Should I customize it, or I buy it from the shelf of Walmartone?What will be better? My uncle works at Walmart, so they get some employee discounts. Anything else should I consider before buying, I am 19 years, and I am earning enough to cover my laptop/desktop expense.
Your suggestions are welcome.
It depends on what graphics you do, I'd avoid laptops, AMD, Xeon processors and high end gaming systems. The i9 with 32 to 64 gb of ram, an 6 to 8 gb NVIDIA graphics card and Samsung SSD in a desktop works well for me.
It all depends on the work environment and use case. If someone does all their computer work at a desk in an office then a traditional desktop tower is usually better than a notebook. In a home environment that's a different story.
I work all day sitting at a computer desk, but still have to do a fair bit of computer use at home for both work and leisure. When I'm at home the very last thing I want is to have my leg chained to another #$%!ing computer desk. Typically a home desktop computer will be isolated in some bedroom or other out of the way place. A portable computer can be placed on a living room coffee table or taken out of the home.
20 years ago I was of the mindset that I would never buy a notebook computer. Now it has been over 20 years since I bought a desktop PC for the home. I've used nothing but notebooks for personal use ever since. Modern notebooks can be configured to be reasonably portable and really powerful at the same time. Meanwhile general purpose graphics applications do not require top of the line gear.
I have both but there is no way you can do critical color work on a laptop in an uncontrolled environment. The color managed work flow requires control over the lighting.
Can you get a powerful enough laptop? Yes my wife has one, it's a reall good laptop and even though it's an i9 with 32 GB of RAM it cannot hold its own against my i7 with 32 GB of RAM desktop which is my secondary workstation. My primary workstation which is an i9 desktop runs all over both of them.
However there are no laptop screens worth having for critical color editing. So at best you need to plug in a real display which anchors you to a desk in a controlled environment.
So if you stick to a laptop you limit your work. Image editing is really profitable it is the single highest profit margin work available if you do what it takes to be in demand. Almost ZERO overhead costs.
I do some stuff on a laptop and I appreciate the fact I can write stuff on my deck but I'm in no way I'm limiting myself. I have both because you need both, I also have an really nice gaming computer chair.
Not every task in graphic design work requires a top of the line computer monitor with a hood over it situated in a controlled lighting situation.
And I never said anything about using a notebook computer exclusively. But doing 100% of computer use exclusively at a desk REALLY SUCKS. I can put up with it at work; however, I'm not going to do that at home. I might as well stay at the office otherwise.
Also, I don't know how much better notebook displays have to improve to live up to your standards. They have improved a great deal, although the buyer must decide which is more important: gaming performance or content creation. None of the monitors are perfect for both. Most desktop monitors, even ones marketed for photo editing, aren't fundamentally different than the IPS or OLED panels installed in higher end notebooks. I see the same marketing blurbs about how much of the Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 color space is covered in either (and reviews detailing how valid those claims might be). There are MANY crappy desktop computer monitors, even ones that cost a lot of money.
I understand needs and budget, if you working and you want to make money and demand higher prices get the best machine you can. Laptops have gotten better displays but they lag behind the graphics displays of Asus, ViewSonic and Eizo to mention a few. Then control your viewing environment, proper lighting and ambient light control. Without a dedicated work environment that's impossible.
I open the curtains when doing low end work, when I work on the deck, patio or by the pool I use my laptop. The problem is everyone does that work and the margins are poor.
I make 62% of my net profit in under 15% of my available billable time because I bill better rates and have very low costs. As I've gotten older I take a larger portion of that 85% of available time and make it my time and enjoy myself and as of 2021 I only do project work.
I suggest you make yourself a decent work environment at home. My editing studio is at home, there's a treadmill, training bike, TV and a trash can rigged basket trash. I still like the deck and patio some times but at my age (and younger people need to learn this earlier than I did) I'm not going to piss my time away making things for next to nothing.
I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with "low end" work. In my own specific case I work on sign manufacturing projects that often cost a great deal of money (and generate a good amount of profit). I'm not "pissing my time away making things for next to nothing." But considering how busy my company is right now combined with some dire warning signs ahead for the economy I'm working pretty hard to take advantage of all the business coming in while it's still coming in.
I don't know your specific work flow, but mine does not require my leg to be chained to a computer desk in a dark, isolated room 100% of the time. Not everyone has to work the same way.
Regarding a "decent work environment at home," I already have that in one of my bedrooms. In it rests a big two-level Anthrocart desk holding a vintage PC tower, a hulking 21" Viewsonic CRT monitor, a large Serial-based Wacom tablet and a flatbed scanner. 20 years ago that package was pretty high end. Today it mostly just gathers dust, only getting booted from time to time to tinker with old "dead" applications. After spending a full work day at the office sitting at one computer desk, coming home to sit at another computer desk in a back room feels like stepping into a prison cell.
For many of my manufacturing projects I don't have to worry so much about how accurate a color will display on a monitor because the colors are being defined by paint formulas, vinyl swatches, materials books, etc. A lot of time what I draw is effectively a blueprint for all that other stuff to come together. Not all of that work has to be done in front of a desk. Heck, I hand-draw and digitize elements for some of my projects just using an iPad Pro. That can be done sitting on a couch or wherever.
Low end work, work that does not require the latest technical features be soft proofed on display. Micro image editing, critical color edits, masks, transparencies are examples of work that are not low end.
I've been doing commercial signs for nearly 25 years and 99% can be done with CorelDRAW V12. Stickers for the most part, cut vinyl and most commercial signage can bill high dollars but in the end after the cheap clients and contractors all the material and labor costs, ME, the guy who owns the company doesn't make crap. Net profit is 15% or lower. Do the math, that's $1500 on a $10,000 billing, screw that. All the employees, venders get paid and the government get their share but the hourly rate for me sucks. I at 15% have to be perfect and have no more than 20 of my hours in the project.
Donor walls and architectural signage for me are about the only things that for some part can be done on a laptop. A great many need the desktop due to file complexity but profit margins range from net 35% to 55% with an average billing of $30,000. Material and labor costs can be high but there's so much touchy feely billable hours it works out. I can make a few grand many times just of zoning variances and government drawings. Light dispersal for parking lots can be very profitable but the scale requires horsepower.
Image editing on the other hand requires only a proper studio and a high speed internet. The editing for universal work cannot be done on a standard laptop but the billings are great. I do all that work out of my home studio and I keep 100% of the billable. This work requires high end systems, 2,000 images to edit at 24MP + for each file will stress a system.
So if you're putting a system in put one in that carries the weight, it will make you the money to buy the laptop if you need one. If all you do is buy a laptop it will make you money but limits your work to only what the laptop can do.
I currently work with 4 pro editors, 1 in Florida, 1 in Britain, 1 in Australia and 1 in Germany none use laptops.
If you need or want a laptop buy one just don't kid yourself about the limitations.