The Best PCs Desktop Computers for 2024
Most monitors will have both DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity, so hooking up to a desktop PC, workstation or Mac shouldn’t be a problem. That said, do take care to consider your PC’s output with regard to higher resolutions. You’ll need HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2 or better for 4K at 60Hz refresh, for instance. We do appreciate that the Pantone Validation can be a niche concern - although not for those in the market for a graphic design monitor. But even then, the Viewsonic VP3268a-4K certainly has plenty going for it for serious workflows, including factory calibration and hardware calibration support. It’s a 32-inch model with IPS panel technology for great viewing angles and colors.
Best PCs for Adobe Creative Cloud 2024: Handle Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and more with ease - Windows Central
Best PCs for Adobe Creative Cloud 2024: Handle Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and more with ease.
Posted: Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Apple Mac mini (2023, M2 Pro)
DualView allows you to see two viewing modes side by side to spot-check color accuracy. CAD/CAM mode boosts contrast to help illuminate technical drawings and illustrations. Animation Mode pushes the dark areas of the image by enhancing clarity while avoiding overexposing the bright areas. Lastly, Darkroom Mode adjusts both clarity and brightness to make working in dark environments more enjoyable. Best micro computerA tiny PC that you can hide almost anywhere, and that's highly configurable.
More Top Gear for Designers
The Apple M1 Chip drives the performance of the iMac 24″ to the next level by integrating the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and more into a single system and streamlining its processing power. In this guide, you’ll discover the best computer for graphic design for Mac and PC users. While it’s tempting to go for the highest specs, it’s essential to balance your needs with your budget. Often, last year’s top-of-the-line model can offer substantial savings and still deliver outstanding performance for most design-related tasks.
Case & PC-Type
The GPU (or GPUs) in most workstations should be upgradable, provided the GPU is of a standard format such as a PCI Express card. The main concern with a GPU upgrade is whether the workstation's power supply can handle it. If your graphics needs may increase, think twice before opting for a lower-wattage power supply in your build, as you may end up needing to upgrade that if you add a more powerful GPU. If being able to detach your storage quickly or take it with you is important, Intel-based workstations typically offer the option for add-in cards with one or more Thunderbolt 4 ports. The Thunderbolt interface supports up to 40Gbps (or four lanes) of bi-directional throughput. Fast external storage drives and RAID arrays connected via Thunderbolt can perform just as well as PCI Express drives connected internally.
Display
While this feature is becoming less common in contemporary desktop computers, the Dell XPS 8490 Desktop contains an optical drive that can write Blu-ray files. There are numerous connectors for various peripherals on the rear panel. The Apple M1 enhances webcam performance in low light (1080p resolution). Using three directional microphones, the device is capable of picking up even whispers.
Both the 11-inch and 12-inch iPad Pros feature a Liquid Retina display with True Tone, 224 ppi, and a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. If you are planning to do a lot of professional drawing work, you will have more than enough power with the Apple Silicon M2 chip and high storage options. Our expert reviewers have tested, reviewed, and rated a wide range of displays for creative pursuits, including the best monitors for video editing and the best monitors for photo editing.
Dell XPS 8930 Tower Desktop
As we said in our HP ENVY 34 review, despite its small size, you can have pretty much everything you could ever want from a PC all in this single unit. It even comes with a camera and a built-in wireless charging pad for your smartphone. Our HP Envy 34 AIO review shows it's made for creators, video editors, and anyone who needs power and a 34-inch display. The 16MP IR webcam, dual Thunderbolt 4, and up to Core i7, 16GB of RAM with 1TB SSD, and RTX 3060 make this one elegant, but potent, Windows 11 PC.
MSI Pro DP21
With its FaceTime HD 1080p webcam and microphone, users can enjoy spectacular pictures and nearly studio-quality audio. Working with removable media is significantly easier for graphic designers because of the outstanding selection of connectors. No desktop workstation would be complete without the option for a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) or graphics card, as opposed to the relatively humble integrated graphics built into many CPUs.
Naturally, expansion is a weak point, but if you know that going in, you're still getting lots of power out of a little bit of space, making this workstation ideal for especially small offices. As should be expected, the Mac Studio with Apple's latest M2 Ultra processor is the company's most powerful small-form-factor Mac desktop to date. In fact, it uses much of the same silicon and supporting hardware that the brand-new Mac Pro has, albeit in a far smaller case, which limits thermals as well as expansion comparatively.
So, if you need the most powerful workstation for video editing on the market, look no further than the Dell Precision 3660. While powerful CPUs and GPUs are mostly relegated to desktop towers, nearly every desktop form factor can handle copious amounts of storage and memory. This is thanks to the advent of higher-capacity memory modules especially solid-state drives (SSDs). The latter take up vastly less space than the spinning hard drives of old. An all-in-one (AIO) desktop is quite a different animal from both of these form factors. An AIO's value proposition comes down to space saving and whether you happen to be shopping for a desktop display at the same time.
Add in extra frills like wireless display mirroring and you have an impressive package at a remarkably reasonable price. With a 94% screen-to-body ratio and minimalist brushed-allow, we thought it looked a lot like the relatively affordable display Mac users wish Apple would make. That aside, we did find the color quality to be oustanding, with a depth of 1.07 billion colors. The 5120x2160p resolution is incredibly sharp and after regular use, we found it quite tough going back to our standard 1080p display. USB-C connectivity with 90W of power delivery rounds out what is, frankly, an epic all-round package.
The dual-Xeon 'science' model costs £9,186.02 (ex. VAT; £11,023.22 inc. VAT) in the UK. Apple devices on the other hand, while more expensive in some regions, are known for being high-quality and are well optimise for creative work. Historically, many graphic designers have used iMac and Mac products because of the Apple ecosystem and simply because it was considered the industry standard for several years. The overall design is sleeker and more sophisticated than its predecessors. And as we noted in our review, it offers a generous amount of built-in storage, which is a must if you're working with high-res image files. Best of all, this 2021 device can now offer great value as it's coming in for discounts following the release of the 2023 M3 version.
Both platforms offer a range of software and tools specifically designed for graphic design, and the choice between them often comes down to personal preference and familiarity. A graphic designer who works with raster images and need compositing layers will have a hard time doing their jobs without Photoshop. It's the industry standard, so any clients or vendors you deal with will accept files from Adobe's class-leading image software. There are other options that support its formats, but sometimes you don't get 100% compatibility, and those tools lack Photoshop's slick interface and cutting-edge image-manipulation tools. Unlike with a tower chassis, these all-in-one workstations make it difficult, if not impossible to upgrade the components when the time comes. You’ll probably need to buy a whole new system instead of simply upgrading the graphics card, for instance.
Thankfully a benefit of a desktop PC computer tower over a laptop is RAM is often expandable/upgradable. This is no longer possible with Apple iMac or Mac mini/Studio products, however. Fancy an iMac with a bit more screen real estate than the 24-inch M3 iMac (above)? Apple may have discontinued the 27-inch iMac, but you can still find the most recent (2020) version available at some retailers.
There you have the complete guide to the best desktops for graphic design. While this desktop computer comes with a keyboard and mouse, you’ll need to buy a monitor separately. Make sure to factor that into your budget, as it will bump the price a bit more.
Inkscape can get you started with vector graphics, and it is completely free and open-source. However, it forces you to do without some major creature comforts, such as easy installation on macOS. Each designer has different goals, psyches, and abilities, and with this trio of apps, you're sure to discover the tools and processes that meet your needs. Ultimately, you should choose the tools that make you feel the most proficient, and stick with those that release timely and purposeful upgrades.
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