04-13-2016, 02:40 AM
Wow, glad to see this topic interests more than just geeky me! :D
@ Piotr Jasielski I'm definitely eyeing the NEC if I can afford one when I put together my system. :) It has pretty much all the features I need. For calibration I can get a Spectraview ii–the required software works on Linux as well.
Hmm, thanks for sharing your system specs, this helps me understand better what I need!
@ Amita Wow man, thanks for the long write-up, lots of interesting info here for sure. And thanks for clearing up the 8-bit color vs 10-bit color thing. The kinds of monitors I'm considering (or rather drooling over LOL) still have plenty of advantages in quality and calibration even if you use 'em in 8-bit mode, I think. But it's good to know that I won't need a full 10-bit pipeline for most purposes. Sill eyeing a workstation class card though.
Best of luck on the new build man! :D And PCPartsPicker is the best. As for budget–well, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be able to afford when I get down to it, but I'm willing to invest a lot in my new system. But we'll see what happens.
Thanks for your recommendations! Yes, Krita is multi-threaded and can make use of all your cores, which is why I will go for an i7 if I can. As to the graphics–do you recommend a Quadro or a Geforce for my workstation build? As far as I understand it, a Geforce brings more power for the dollar but the Quadro brings better drivers for 3d and other pro features. I was looking at the Quadro K2200, since it isn't terribly expensive than the GTX 970 I was considering earlier. With a 1.5-2k budget I could fit in a K4200 card without much trouble, might be useful if I get deep into 3d. With these Quadros, am I mostly looking at features for Blender? Do they bring advantages for 2d?
I was going to suggest AMD might be a possibility for your build. I've heard that AMD tends to beat out Intel at the lower price brackets, thought I have no experience with AMD as yet. But it looks like you are doing good research. Gotta research DX12, though, I don't know this term! I'm such a noob at being geeky like this. :D I learn something every time.
I thought about your budget limitations a bit, and this is what I think I would do with a budget of sub-1000 usd for a workstation PC. This is more to generate discussion, your choices will of course vary depending on budget and what you want. :-) This is intended as a solid build with room to upgrade. Bear in mind I have difficulty working under a budget. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8WVzmG
CPU/Motherboard I went for a Skylake i5 processor and an Asus H170 PRO/CSM mobo. I don't think you are interested in overclocking, and besides there isn't much advantage in OCing a budget build (you can just buy a faster chip with the cash freed up by not buying a Z-series board and aftermarket cooler), thus the locked CPU and H170 board. Sticking with the stock cooler to stay under budget.
RAM Just 16 gigs of RAM sticks. You can always add more later if necessary.
Storage One 250 gig SSD for the system drive and a 2 GB 7600 RPM hard drive for long term storage. You can always add an SSD scratch disk later.
Graphics Couldn't fit a Quadro in the budget, so I went for a Geforce GTX 970. I have not researched this particular brand (but I figure they must be OK since they make the Quadros as well). The actual build could go for a different brand and it wouldn't change much.
Case I've been looking at a bunch of cases, and while they are plain the Fractal Design cases look like a good fit for my needs. I've heard good things about the Define R5 (it is a favorite of the silent PC community). I'm told the fans the R5 are actually pretty good, so you won't have to replace them. And it has room for all our stuff.
PSU I refused to skimp too much here. Bad PSU's can cause serious problems. Also, the PSU is one of those choices that determines how you can upgrade your system later. Maybe a bit overkill, but it won't limit your options later.
Monitor Haven't looked into this one much yet. I know there are some pro monitors in the 500 usd range, like the HP dreamcolor and some professional Dells. Another thing you might consider, perhaps, is getting a factory refurbished monitor? I've heard that NEC offers refurbished PA272W Multisync monitors for reduced price, but I'm not sure where to find them. That could be a good option for getting a nicer monitor than you could otherwise afford.
So what do you think of this? And have you made your own parts list yet?
Sounds like a great laptop, sorry to hear she died. :-( Hope you can revive her and get back to work soon! Failing that, better get building. Based on these specs, though, it looks like an i7 processor, 16 gigs or more RAM, and workstation card are favored features for a professionals computer.
That's the impression I was getting, and it's good news too! That means I can go lower budget and still get a system that meets my needs if necessary. Actually, building a tower that meets my basic needs and has room for later upgrades sounds like a very practical choice. I don't have to get everything at once so long as I leave room for additions later. And I won't be scared to get geeky now!
@ Piotr Jasielski I'm definitely eyeing the NEC if I can afford one when I put together my system. :) It has pretty much all the features I need. For calibration I can get a Spectraview ii–the required software works on Linux as well.
Hmm, thanks for sharing your system specs, this helps me understand better what I need!
@ Amita Wow man, thanks for the long write-up, lots of interesting info here for sure. And thanks for clearing up the 8-bit color vs 10-bit color thing. The kinds of monitors I'm considering (or rather drooling over LOL) still have plenty of advantages in quality and calibration even if you use 'em in 8-bit mode, I think. But it's good to know that I won't need a full 10-bit pipeline for most purposes. Sill eyeing a workstation class card though.
Quote:I have a budget of sub 1000 usd for a box and 500usd for a monitor...cuz I am a poor artist, and I can still get a grunty thing. I would go for an i7 if you can afford it (which I think you can :) ) They also do hyperthreading so if you have a quadcore, it gives you 8 threads. Not sure if blender or Krita support hyperthreading, i forget totally with all the research saturation i have been doing. Shouldl be blazing for rendering. A 2Gb card minimum, but again a 4GB gtx will do nicely. I can't afford a quadro in 2gb let alone 4gb. Keep in mind that blender seems to only support Nvidia based cards, so no radeons or amd chipsets for the gpu.
Best of luck on the new build man! :D And PCPartsPicker is the best. As for budget–well, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be able to afford when I get down to it, but I'm willing to invest a lot in my new system. But we'll see what happens.
Thanks for your recommendations! Yes, Krita is multi-threaded and can make use of all your cores, which is why I will go for an i7 if I can. As to the graphics–do you recommend a Quadro or a Geforce for my workstation build? As far as I understand it, a Geforce brings more power for the dollar but the Quadro brings better drivers for 3d and other pro features. I was looking at the Quadro K2200, since it isn't terribly expensive than the GTX 970 I was considering earlier. With a 1.5-2k budget I could fit in a K4200 card without much trouble, might be useful if I get deep into 3d. With these Quadros, am I mostly looking at features for Blender? Do they bring advantages for 2d?
I was going to suggest AMD might be a possibility for your build. I've heard that AMD tends to beat out Intel at the lower price brackets, thought I have no experience with AMD as yet. But it looks like you are doing good research. Gotta research DX12, though, I don't know this term! I'm such a noob at being geeky like this. :D I learn something every time.
I thought about your budget limitations a bit, and this is what I think I would do with a budget of sub-1000 usd for a workstation PC. This is more to generate discussion, your choices will of course vary depending on budget and what you want. :-) This is intended as a solid build with room to upgrade. Bear in mind I have difficulty working under a budget. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8WVzmG
CPU/Motherboard I went for a Skylake i5 processor and an Asus H170 PRO/CSM mobo. I don't think you are interested in overclocking, and besides there isn't much advantage in OCing a budget build (you can just buy a faster chip with the cash freed up by not buying a Z-series board and aftermarket cooler), thus the locked CPU and H170 board. Sticking with the stock cooler to stay under budget.
RAM Just 16 gigs of RAM sticks. You can always add more later if necessary.
Storage One 250 gig SSD for the system drive and a 2 GB 7600 RPM hard drive for long term storage. You can always add an SSD scratch disk later.
Graphics Couldn't fit a Quadro in the budget, so I went for a Geforce GTX 970. I have not researched this particular brand (but I figure they must be OK since they make the Quadros as well). The actual build could go for a different brand and it wouldn't change much.
Case I've been looking at a bunch of cases, and while they are plain the Fractal Design cases look like a good fit for my needs. I've heard good things about the Define R5 (it is a favorite of the silent PC community). I'm told the fans the R5 are actually pretty good, so you won't have to replace them. And it has room for all our stuff.
PSU I refused to skimp too much here. Bad PSU's can cause serious problems. Also, the PSU is one of those choices that determines how you can upgrade your system later. Maybe a bit overkill, but it won't limit your options later.
Monitor Haven't looked into this one much yet. I know there are some pro monitors in the 500 usd range, like the HP dreamcolor and some professional Dells. Another thing you might consider, perhaps, is getting a factory refurbished monitor? I've heard that NEC offers refurbished PA272W Multisync monitors for reduced price, but I'm not sure where to find them. That could be a good option for getting a nicer monitor than you could otherwise afford.
So what do you think of this? And have you made your own parts list yet?
Quote:My dead-but-hope-to-be-revived laptop workstation is a dell m4800. I7 cpu (forget exactly, maybe a 4900? ) with 16gb ram, 1gb quadro k1100m and a 255gb ssd, on win 8.1. Works like a dream if only the bastard started up. More than adequate for the most demanding high res 5-6k files in krita, 1k brush sizes with a bit of lag but that's krita's fault which they are trying to address with version 3.
Blender was fine, but the gpu struggled a bit rendering at 1920, high samples, so got better results rendering off cpu. Definitely pouring more money into my g.card and cpu over everything else when it comes to 3d, which I plan to do much more of.
Sounds like a great laptop, sorry to hear she died. :-( Hope you can revive her and get back to work soon! Failing that, better get building. Based on these specs, though, it looks like an i7 processor, 16 gigs or more RAM, and workstation card are favored features for a professionals computer.
Quote:with a budget of 2.5-3k usd, you will get something that far exceeds any painting needs whatever you get for a custom build! The question becomes, pour itmall in that, or get only what you need with space for upgrades later, and maybe think about some other toys for work! Don't be scared to get geeky...I love this shit.i
That's the impression I was getting, and it's good news too! That means I can go lower budget and still get a system that meets my needs if necessary. Actually, building a tower that meets my basic needs and has room for later upgrades sounds like a very practical choice. I don't have to get everything at once so long as I leave room for additions later. And I won't be scared to get geeky now!
"Drawing is a skill like hammering a nail. You might not be great at it yet, but there is nothing stopping you from gettin' down and hammering away." -Irshad Karim
Sketchbook!
Sketchbook!