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Recommended PC Hardware for affinity photo and affinity designer!


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Hello, ghaeth wardeh,

Assuming when you write "pc," you mean a Windows machine. I haven't used one in decades, and only maintained them up to Vista. But here's an online review that might be helpful.

Graphics apps tend gobble up hardware resources. They often work just fine w. minimal systems, just painfully slow. It always helps to get the best you can. From what I've read, the Affinity programs perform best with the most multi core processors. I upgraded the RAM on my iMac because certain functions would take every bit of physical RAM, and hitting virtual memory was just way way too slow, and sometimes failed.

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil

Huion WH1409 tablet

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7 hours ago, Ghaeth wardeh said:

hello everyone!

I am just a beginner and I want to build an entry-level pc just for learn how to use affinity software!

I don't think is good idea to build high-end pc just for learning!

so what are your recommendations for build entry-level affinity pc?

I have two PCs that I use regularly with Affinity Photo and Designer. One is an old Acer i3 (3rd generation, I think) with Windows 7, 8GB of RAM and a built in Intel graphics card.

The other one is a high spec i7 with Windows 10, 16GB of RAM, an SSD drive and an NVIDEA graphics card.

Apart from the start-up time when I first launch Photo, I notice very little difference in using them. Obviously, if I was working on huge files with lots of filter layers, the i7 would be better.

For learning, I would recommend at least an i3 with 8gb. Especially if using Windows 10.

 

Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions.

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To anyone who asks this question, I ask them what can you afford, what is your upper limit? from this info you can now build the best system possible within that financial constraint.

Also, based on a lot of posts, the CPU would be the priority not the graphic card, so again within that financial constraint get the best CPU you can.

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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2 hours ago, toltec said:

NVIDEA graphics card.

@toltec is this the thinking mans graphic card ;)

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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31 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

To anyone who asks this question, I ask them what can you afford, what is your upper limit? from this info you can now build the best system possible within that financial constraint.

Also, based on a lot of posts, the CPU would be the priority not the graphic card, so again within that financial constraint get the best CPU you can.

thank you so much for your reply, i can build 2000 usd pc, but i am not excited to do it, it is not good idea to build high end pc just for learning!

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  • Staff

Hi Ghaeth wardeh,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
Affinity apps take advantage of both the clock speed and number of cores of a CPU. So the more cores at higher speeds you have the better. An Intel Core i7 3/4 GHz (quad core) or equivalent is more than enough for learning purposes. The graphic card is mostly used to render things on screen (panning/zooming). It will not have a great impact on Affinity's performance. Any regular/modern graphic card will do it. 16 GB of RAM are enough for your requirements.

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  • Staff

The  i7 8086k is way too much (and too expensive) for what you want. A regular Core i7 is enough (like the Intel Core™ i7-7700 from the 7th generation or an equivalent from the 8th generation will do it). The i3 doesn't have/support Hyper-Threading Technology (two threads for core) which the i7 supports.

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5 minutes ago, MEB said:

The  i7 8086k is way too much (and too expensive) for what you want. A regular Core i7 is enough ( like the Intel Core™ i7-7700 from the 7th generation or an equivalent from the 8th generation will do it). The i3 doesn't have/support Hyper-Threading Technology (two threads for core) which the i7 supports.

if we need Hyper-Threading Technology, then i should to go with core i7 processor, i3 or i5 don't have it

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31 minutes ago, Ghaeth wardeh said:

thank you guys, but what is better for affinity software? a high frequency or high core? does affinity software need a graphic card?is 16 gb ram fine or i need higher? 

Why does it matter ?

If you are learning, a lowly i3 without a graphics card is OK. Unless you are a very fast learner ;)

 

Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions.

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Hi Ghaeth wardeh,
It all depends on what you want to do/what's your priorities. If you don't want to spend much, a modern i3 or i5 will work just fine for learning. If you want to have a system a little more future prof go for an i7 - it will give you more space to grow. You don't need to get one from the latest generation (8th). You can find good deals on previous generation(s).

Affinity Designer for iPad will be indeed launched this year however note that the interface of the iPad versions are quite different from the desktop versions. They were designed for touch input - check a few videos for Affinity Photo for iPad and for Mac/Windows to see the type of differences you might expect.

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5 minutes ago, toltec said:

Why does it matter ?

If you are learning, a lowly i3 without a graphics card is OK. Unless you are a very fast learner ;)

 

thank you, i am just learning now how to build affinity pc and what i can do to have a good performance if I want to make online courses 

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10 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi Ghaeth wardeh,
Affinity Designerfor iPad will be indeed launched this year however note that the interface of the iPad versions are quite different from the desktop versions. They were designed for touch input - check a few videos for Affinity Photo for iPad and for Mac/Windows to see the type of differences you might expect.

yes, i know it will different but i think i will be very cool on ipad pro and enough for me in beginning

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12 hours ago, Ghaeth wardeh said:

hello everyone!

I am just a beginner and I want to build an entry-level pc just for learn how to use affinity software!

I don't think is good idea to build high-end pc just for learning!

 

so what are your recommendations for build entry-level affinity pc?

 

Why bother building an entry level PC just to learn how to use affinity software, just go to your local computer store and buy something that has the minimum specification Affinity requires or buy a second hand PC somewhere with the required specs..

Normally you would build you own PC when you wanted something super fast but not wanting to pay a premium for it in a store.

Alternatively if you intend upgrading your self built entry level PC in the future, spend the bulk of your money on the best CPU and Motherboard combination you can find.  Just make sure you have the spare slots needed to add SSD and additional drives and memory later.  Maybe even a better graphics card if Affinity starts using it more in future versions of it's software

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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4 hours ago, toltec said:

NVIDEA graphics card.

 

1 hour ago, firstdefence said:

@toltec is this the thinking mans graphic card ;)

‘NV IDEA’ sounds more like the envious man’s graphics card! :P

 

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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4 hours ago, carl123 said:

لماذا تهتم ببناء جهاز كمبيوتر شخصي مبتدئ لمجرد معرفة كيفية استخدام برامج التقارب ، فقط اذهب إلى متجر الكمبيوتر المحلي وشراء شيء له الحد الأدنى من المواصفات يتطلب Affinity أو شراء كمبيوتر مستعمل في مكان ما بالمواصفات المطلوبة.

عادةً ستقوم ببناء جهاز كمبيوتر خاص بك عندما تريد شيئًا بسرعة فائقة ولكنك لا ترغب في دفع علاوة له في متجر.

بدلاً من ذلك ، إذا كنت تنوي ترقية الكمبيوتر الشخصي ذو المستوى المبدئي المدمج في المستقبل ، فقم بإنفاق الجزء الأكبر من أموالك على أفضل تركيبة وحدة المعالجة المركزية واللوحة الأم التي يمكنك العثور عليها. فقط تأكد من أن لديك فتحات الغيار اللازمة لإضافة SSD ومحركات أقراص إضافية والذاكرة في وقت لاحق.  ربما حتى بطاقة رسومات أفضل إذا بدأت Affinity في استخدامها أكثر في الإصدارات المستقبلية من برامجها

maybe i will go with ipad pro, i asked affinity on facebook about when we will see affinity designer on ipad pro, and they said it should be along some time this summer, so i  will wait for it

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54 minutes ago, Ghaeth wardeh said:

maybe i will go with ipad pro, i asked affinity on facebook about when we will see affinity desinger on ipad pro, and they said it should be along some time this summer, so i  will wait for it

They did a great job of adapting the desktop version of Affinity Photo to the iPad & I am sure they will do the same for Affinity Designer. But that said, not only is the touch interface very different from the desktop versions, there are some other things to consider:

• Many operations that can be done very quickly & easily on the desktop using keyboard shortcuts and/or modifier keys are awkward or take more steps to do (or may not be available at all) on the iPad versions. You can use a Bluetooth or directly connected physical keyboard with Affinity on iPad, but that is an extra expense & is more to manage.

• Despite the file management & multitasking improvements in iOS 11 (see for example Affinity Photo iPad - Opening & Saving or Affinity Photo iPad - iOS 11 Drag & Drop), it is still much, much easier & less confusing to do this with a desktop computer.

• iPad Pros do not have a lot of onboard storage capacity compared even to most low end PC's or Macs, & upgrading from the standard 64 GB to 264 or 512 GB adds significantly to the purchase price. All desktop computers easily & simply support external hard drives for backups & additional file storage; to do this with an iPad is complicated & requires extra parts.

• You can spend $1000 or more on a fully tricked out iPad Pro & Apple Pencil. For about the same money, you could buy a PC that would be more than adequate for learning Affinity Designer & more expandable later on. You would not have the same onscreen drawing ability of the Pencil, but that may not be important to you.

• If you still think an iPad & Pencil are the best choice for you, you might consider the new 6th generation (non-pro) iPad instead. The screen is smaller, it is less powerful, has less memory, & so on, but it is substantially less expensive than the pro models so it will not strain your budget as much.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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2 hours ago, R C-R said:

They did a great job of adapting the desktop version of Affinity Photo to the iPad & I am sure they will do the same for Affinity Designer. But that said, not only is the touch interface very different from the desktop versions, there are some other things to consider:

• Many operations that can be done very quickly & easily on the desktop using keyboard shortcuts and/or modifier keys are awkward or take more steps to do (or may not be available at all) on the iPad versions. You can use a Bluetooth or directly connected physical keyboard with Affinity on iPad, but that is an extra expense & is more to manage.

• Despite the file management & multitasking improvements in iOS 11 (see for example Affinity Photo iPad - Opening & Saving or Affinity Photo iPad - iOS 11 Drag & Drop), it is still much, much easier & less confusing to do this with a desktop computer.

• iPad Pros do not have a lot of onboard storage capacity compared even to most low end PC's or Macs, & upgrading from the standard 64 GB to 264 or 512 GB adds significantly to the purchase price. All desktop computers easily & simply support external hard drives for backups & additional file storage; to do this with an iPad is complicated & requires extra parts.

• You can spend $1000 or more on a fully tricked out iPad Pro & Apple Pencil. For about the same money, you could buy a PC that would be more than adequate for learning Affinity Designer & more expandable later on. You would not have the same onscreen drawing ability of the Pencil, but that may not be important to you.

• If you still think an iPad & Pencil are the best choice for you, you might consider the new 6th generation (non-pro) iPad instead. The screen is smaller, it is less powerful, has less memory, & so on, but it is substantially less expensive than the pro models so it will not strain your budget as much.

really I am confused about what i can do :37_disappointed: ... buy ipad or build pc 

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2 minutes ago, Ghaeth wardeh said:

really I am confused about what i can do :37_disappointed: ... buy ipad or build pc 

If you want to learn, build (or buy) a PC.

Remember that the ipad version of Affinity is not the full version that is on the PC or Mac.

Like cars, don't learn to drive an automatic car if you want to drive a manual car !

Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions.

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3 minutes ago, toltec said:

If you want to learn, build (or buy) a PC.

Remember that the ipad version of Affinity is not the full version that is on the PC or Mac.

Like cars, don't learn to drive an automatic car if you want to drive a manual car !

i think i will build a pc:35_thinking:

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