People! I Need your help to build the ideal creative workstation setup ASAP :(

Buying Advice
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Hello Everyone,

Viv here. Can you peeps help this clueless creative out please!

I would like to be able to do the kind of work (both 2D and 3D) shown in the shared image, on my own system. And yes I am currently doing this type of work but on random PCs in the office.

I also prefer to use render mode from time to time while working - building and moving around the model.

Also, it will be swell if I could use a Wacom type pen interface as I am now quite accustomed to doing both ideation and modelling work on the office’s pen display tablet!

And, although I do not work while on the move, in my work I do need to travel and stay at different places for a few weeks and continue work, so that is also something I need to keep in mind.

Could some of you recommend me a PC/ laptop/ MacBook/ tablet or a combination for this, please!

Here are the software that I primarily work on: Blender 3D (plus a little bit of animation), Rhino 3D, Concepts App, the Affinity Suite, Krita, VS Code (I am learning JS and ML for app development), Obsidian (for PKM), Microsoft Office Suite (mainly PowerPoint, Excel and Word).

My budget is Indian Rupees (INR) 75,000 to INR 2 Lakhs. I hope to be able to continue working on this setup for at least the next 5 years!

I really need to build myself a work setup ASAP so please guide me!

Thank you everyone so so much, in advance!!!

I am happy to answer any of your questions that can help you advise me better in this regard.

A Quick Disclaimer: The work shown in the image is not mine, but very close to the kind of work I am doing and intend to continue doing (I could not share my work as my office owns it).

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I’m assuming you don’t need video rendering (which requires heavy + expensive laptops). I recommend buying a budget pc/tablet and buy another one when the first one fails (in 2/3 years). There’s a decent chance of tablet accidentally being dropped and broken before 5 years.

For travelling, tablet would be better over laptop. You can find an android tab (blender now has an android version) with pen for < 30k.

For home + heavy workloads, you may want to get a budget gaming PC with lots of cores + ram + mid-range gpu. Ideally, for < 40k like RTX 3060 12gb + Ryzen 7 5700X Full Pc Sale . Your tablet can also be used as a drawing tablet for your PC with some software or you can buy an external graphics tablet with pen.

This should cost 30k (tab) + 40k (pc) and you can spend some extra money for storage or better monitor (color accuracy / hdr) or external drawing tablet etc..

The other alternative is to just buy macbook air, which will be good enough and you can use an external graphics tablet for pen usage. 16GB edition should be around 85k+.

1 Like
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Hey Meow, thanks for advising me :slight_smile:

By video rendering, do you mean heavy duty VFX? I do not think I will be doing that kind of work, but I can see myself dabbling in 2D motion graphics and animation may be.

I already have an Acer 28" 4K monitor with decent color accuracy.

Earlier I was planning on buying a MacBook + iPad Air (13 inch), but my main concern is, and do correct me if I am wrong here - that the MacBook might not be powerful enough to let me work with Blender and Rhino 3D (esp. with rendering ON while modelling).

Moreover, I fear that the MacBook + iPad might be a redundant combo - in that both are similar in performance and features (except the Apple Pencil) and just add to the cost, although Mac OS can run full version apps and I think has a better file management system than iPad OS. So may be then get a MacBook (if it is powerful enough for Blender and Rhino 3D) and buy a XP Pen/ Huion tablet?

OR, do you suggest that I get a micro ATX built instead, and may be get a 14 inch Samsung Tab or something (a large display tablet is important for interacting with desktop app interface comfortably) then the tablet can be my mobile companion (esp. with a keyboard) as well as a drawing tablet both independently as well as a second screen with the micro ATX and I can do the heavy work on the micro ATX?

But the thought of not having a laptop to take around with me makes me feel a little comfortable, but may be I am just over reacting :face_with_thermometer: .

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Most applications are single threaded . So higher clock speed processor works better .

Buy an used previous gen workstation like the Dell precision T5820 or HP Z series one with a workstation processor .

They are quite cheap and you can find them similarly priced like a desktop . Good thing is you get a decent power supply , proper case and decent hardware for about 20K .

Get new Ram , SSD and fire up the workstation . You can use that as primary set up . With regard to laptop , I would suggest a Mac book pro instead of a tablet . A workstation laptop is also a good choice .

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No one can really make a big decision for you like whether you should go ipad+pc or macbook+ipad, macbook+graphics tablet, etc. It totally depends on your requirements. Maybe someone who works in a very similar role can help you decide, for eg a coworker. Once you decide it people can then suggest things. What are you using right now?

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From what I could find online, it won’t be great, but will be good-enough-TM. https://opendata.blender.org/ could be useful here? MB pro would be kinda expensive, but that’s also a decent choice (still loses to a gaming pc though).

do you suggest that I get a micro ATX built instead, and may be get a 14 inch Samsung Ta

Yep, but as it will just stay at home, I would prioritize bang-for-buck value over form-factor/size/power-draw. Pair with an android tab for working while travelling. You can easily stay within your 70k budget.

After 2-3 years, just buy a new tab if the old one slows down or you accidentally damage it. PC should be comfortably running for 5 years (if any part fails, you can get used replacements for dirt cheap).