How much better is it?
Almost everybody does a little bit of graphic design at some point in their life. Fortunately, most modern computers, which are more powerful than netbooks, are fully capable of 3D design & animation. But if you’re planning on taking graphic design seriously, or even as a possible career, it’s important to note that the performance of your machine does matter.
This article will help you get the PC with the specs you need for your graphic design tasks.
PC Specifications
The PC specifications required to run different graphic design applications like Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator, or Affinity’s Photo and Designer vary. However, there are some common themes between them.
Processor
The Central Processing Unit, or the processor, greatly determines the speed of the PC. It is the main computing component of the machine.
Nowadays, most consumer PCs have multi-core processors that can run computations simultaneously. Most processors today also have speeds of over 1GHz as well. This means they can run 1,000,000,000 computations per second.
These numbers are important because they will dictate how smooth the graphic designing experience will be for the user. The higher the core count and the clock speed, the better.
Recommended: two or more cores, running at 2 GHz or faster
System Memory
System memory, or more known as Random Access Memory (RAM), refers to the amount of data your computer can comfortably work with without accessing the storage memory. The higher the system memory, the more tasks you can do at once. When you’re working with multiple images and manipulating graphics at the same time, you need more RAM.
Recommended: 8 or more gigabytes of RAM
Graphics Processing Unit
Not to be confused with the CPU, the GPU is a computing component focused on graphics. Many computers don’t have dedicated GPUs because their CPUs already have integrated graphics processors. However, a separate GPU is often very useful for more graphics-intensive work like games and yes, graphic design.
As was previously stated, different programs have different requirements. And although some graphic design applications don’t explicitly tell you that a dedicated graphics unit is required, many will still benefit from the added performance.
We have more PCs for a whole range of tasks including graphic design, gaming, 3D modelling, and more. Browse through our selection or call us at 0800 009 6084 so we can help you choose the best one for you.
