: Building A Computer Specifically for Graphic Design, 2K Budget I've looked around for a good desktop rig to suit a 2K budget computer focused on graphic design/ rendering capabilities, but I'm

@Reiling762

As many have mentioned, it's going to be pretty difficult to build a great machine for under ,000. But it really does depend on what you want in it.

What you should care most about is RAM, your video card, and the processor (at this is the 'meat' of your machine. Everything else you could get something cheaper (assuming it's compatible).

I would recommend this video. It's a video series where a guy builds a great machine for video editing. It's also nice because the parts he chose are compatible with OSX, meaning you can use a Windows or Apple operating system (or anything else) on the computer.

If I remember correctly he built his set-up (not including monitors/keyboard/mouse) for around ,200. but it could be more/less expensive depending on where and when you buy the parts. I personally usually wait for Black Friday, here in the US, for buying all my electronics (or Cyber Monday). This usually saves me a couple hundred dollars.

To summarize his build, it's 32GB of RAM, 12 core 3.2 GHz processor, a 2GB video card, and a three raid-0 array of 128GB SSDs.

Here is a list of the components he used:


Intel Core i7 3930K
Corsair H80i CPU cooler
Asus Sabertooth X79 Motherboard
2X Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM kits
3X 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's
Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce Graphics Card
Fractal Newton 1000W PSU
Fractal R4 Case


Things to note about this build are:


You don't need 3 SSDs, it's just what he chose and you could omit one
or two and still have it function (though of course you'd want a
back-up/storage drive to accompany it).
You don't need a 1000W PSU, you could buy the bare-minimum needed to run the set-up and still have it function.
You can find a cheaper case.


These things will bring the price down a bit.

Most of these parts are also available on newegg and some are less expensive while other are a bit more expensive, so it definitely helps to check everything out.

Keep in mind this does NOT include any displays, so that'll cost extra. But if you want a nice machine, you'll have to pay for it.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Gail6891361

There is no need to spend more than 150$ on any single component, with the exception of the monitors.

In 3 years, your purchases will be .25x the price per component and you can re-up on the parts that lack. Future proof has never been a real consideration except for stock brokers and lawyers who don't know any better.

Even with 30 browsers tabs, this sort of thing is eminently swappable and not real time. It hogs memory, but that is pretty much it except for flash ads, in which case "Adblock".

For the 3d rendering, you should have a backup server anyway, so include a beefier processor and queue your rendering on the server. ("Watched folders" etc. wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Render/Performance/Netrender)
Good color fidelity on your monitors is critical. These will be the only thing you will still want to use in 5 years.

TLDNR; Cheaper components, a second computer as server and renderer, invest your time and money in a display device (at least one. the other 2-3 don't need to be matching).

Vote Up Vote Down

@Murray976

You won't get 3 "high quality monitors" for 2k. You just won't. "High quality" assumes you're referring to accurate color rendering and high definition displays.

At an average cost of at least 0 each, you're looking at 00 or more just for monitors. Of course size is a factor. 20" monitors cost less than 30" monitors obviously. You may be able to drop a tier to something like the Dell Ultrasharps, which are okay but not great, and cost much less. The screens are polarized which can make calibration pretty difficult.

In terms of other hardware, it's all your choice based on budget. You could spend k on a graphics card with 3GB of vRAM. However, such cards don't often drive 3 monitors so you'd need 2 cards.... and there again goes your k budget.

Video cards which offer 512MB or 1GB of vRAM will work. They will simply be slower. And you can get a 1GB card which supports 3 monitors.

I'm not entirely certain how anyone here could determine your needs. It really all comes down to where you want to sacrifice performance based upon your budget.

The first thing to do would be to price out your case, power supply, logic board, and other items which don't offer much difference. Then see how much money you have left for monitors, video cards and RAM. I think your'e going to quickly find that k is a bit unrealistic for a "high performance" 3-monitor system. k-k is more realistic.

Vote Up Vote Down