mellowcyclist3 said:Greetings everyone,
I've been using a laptop for over 15 years now, but it’s getting slower and slower, and honestly, working on it is becoming incredibly frustrating. I’m thinking about switching back to a more powerful and durable desktop PC setup.
I don't even need to mention that I've fallen out of the loop and haven't really followed the scene lately. I think I picked a bad time to start looking, too—graphics cards have skyrocketed in price. I was hoping prices for desktops would be much lower now that most people seem to prefer laptops or just their smartphones.
Basically, my primary needs for this machine are:
1. Working in Photoshop and Illustrator (2D art, vector art)
2. Working in Blender and ZBrush - 3D modeling
3. Gaming; I want to run Red Dead Redemption 2 at very high settings—I absolutely love Westerns.
4. Good speakers are also a must so I can listen to music without needing headphones.
So, I'll likely need a pretty high-quality monitor since I deal with visual arts and design. Is aiming for 4K resolution asking too much?
From what I understand, gaming at that resolution requires extremely powerful machines that even $5000 might struggle with for pure gaming purposes. I'd probably drop the resolution down to a high HD setting; hopefully, a solid build will be enough for that.
You are definitely going to need a dedicated graphics card because modern editing software (like Adobe Premiere, not to mention After Effects) relies heavily on GPU acceleration and specifically asks for things like an Nvidia Quadro RTX (a consumer gaming card might work, but I can't guarantee it).
It doesn't have to be a monster, and it doesn't need to cost you $17 $0.00; you can find them starting from $500, but realistically, you'll want something from the $1333 line. Graphics cards are expensive these days.
I'd suggest a PNY Quadro P2200, 5GB GDDR5X, PCIe 3.0 x16, 4x DP, $1533 available at Home Depot.
Motherboard: It is actually quite difficult to find a good motherboard in the US these days because everything is marketed toward gamers, so you end up paying extra for features like Crossfire and similar tech that you objectively DO NOT NEED.
It is vital that it has SATA ports for "old school" magnetic drives (HDDs) because you are going to need them. Therefore, picking up some NAS drives is highly recommended (they can run 24/7; I just picked up a 12TB Ironwolf), but when setting up a NAS, it's best to have multiple identical drives for configuration.
Also, an NVMe SSD is a given because your OS needs to boot fast, and your apps need to launch quickly. I recommend 1 TB; they are everywhere now. However, do your video editing on magnetic drives—even if they are slower, they won't wear out from constant overwriting like an SSD might.
As for the motherboard... maybe something with a Z590 chipset and a 1200 socket. You won't get any advice on AMD from me; I'll leave that to the others (including all the capacitor debates that used to drive that guy who used to hang out here, known as Western). Given how much everything in the US market is geared toward gamers, look for an ASUS ROG Strix 590-F or E (if you can track one down) $900 at Best Buy. Don't let the "ROG" branding throw you off—it stands for Republic of Gamers, so yes, it's a gaming board, but that's just how the market is shaped today. $823 You can find it at Best Buy.
And the processor: the more cores, the better. I'd suggest an i9 with 10 cores. As for those 'K' and 'F' designations, well, it varies depending on what's available in the US. Ideally, you don't need one that's overclockable, so you don't necessarily need the 'K' in the name. 'F' means it lacks integrated graphics. Personally, I think it's good to have that extra bit of insurance, so go without the F. The 'K' does signify a desktop processor, so check the pricing to see what fits your budget. Why 10 cores? If you are doing video work, running Adobe Premiere or After Effects, and editing 4K video (you can use proxies, of course, but the final render will demand full CPU power), those extra cores will provide the necessary headroom so your whole system doesn't freeze up while you're trying to do something else. Macintoshes now have 8 cores—4 fast ones and 4 efficient ones in their laptops—which is why they feel so smooth (though in reality, an M1 isn't anywhere near the speed of a true desktop i9, especially when paired with a decent GPU). Sometimes smoothness matters more than raw speed. Because if you can't edit video without constant stuttering, none of the power matters. I'd suggest an INTEL Core i9 10900KF BOX, lga 1200, 3.7GHz, 20MB cache, Deca Core (no integrated graphics) or an INTEL Core i7 11700K BOX, lga 1200, 3.6GHz, 16MB cache, Octa Core (not 10 cores, but it has the integrated graphics). 3700/$1263 at Best Buy.
P.S. Regarding whether you actually need integrated graphics on your desktop—someone is bound to jump in my inbox just to lecture me about it. It’s always the same story; they won't let it go until they try to use some kind of social media engineering tactic to get me banned. The same goes for the advice claiming AMD is better and that you'll get more bang for your buck (if that's your thing). However, when it comes to GPUs, do NOT buy a Radeon, no matter how much they tempt you. That isn't just an opinion; it's a rule.