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I'm considering a new computer and one thought is that a gaming computer may be a good choice for someone, like me, who does a lot of graphics work. Does anyone run Xara on Alienware or some other gaming computer? (I did find two or three mentions in TalkGraphics.) What's your experience? Thoughts? Are there other models or specs that have worked particularly well for other Xara users?
If your reasoning is because gaming computers have powerful GPUs with lots of VRAM, then you may be wasting your money. Xara Designer doesn't benefit any more from powerful graphics processors than standard ones. The 64bit version will make use of more system RAM, and a high end CPU will mean general high performance, but VRAM isn't important for Xara Designer, or Photoshop for that matter.
Of course, if you use 3D rendering applications and do lot's of video editing, you could benefit from a better GPU than the average PC.
► http://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/advanced/Quote:
Multi-core processors
Xara Designer Pro has always had by far the highest performing graphics rendering engine, up to ten times faster than Adobe Illustrator. V4 introduced support for multi-core processors in Xara Designer Pro making it even faster than before! Tests show approximate speed gains of 40% for a dual core processor with large screen images, and greater gains with more cores. Large full screen photos can render up to 75% faster on a dual core processor.
64 bit version
Designer Pro now takes advantage of the power of 64 bit, if your computer supports it, enabling you to create larger, more content rich documents - for example this is excellent news for anyone creating large websites with lots of high-resolution photos (typically 50 or more) where the memory limits of 32-bit Windows were becoming a problem.
Your rendering time may decrease and previewing is certainly faster so your design workflow will improve.
Xara products are so much faster, the only gain I have is in using my gaming PC with Mathematica when 3-D rendering and computing iterative complex surfaces.
Acorn
i know you didn't specify desktop or laptop but i think the same holds true for either...
i got my first alienware laptop a few months ago. it had the best overall specs for the price tho i actually did cheese out on the video side of things coz i don't game at all; not one single bit. between the ssd, ram, and processor i have yet to see any hesitation at all with running many programs at once. very smooth. night and day difference between it and my 3 year old dell. my daughter used it when she came home for spring break and likes it a lot better than her 1 year old lenovo although she commented on how heavy it is - built like a tank. that's one reason why i bought it. the dell's seem to be getting cheaper/lighter, the lenovo seems like it'll fall apart any moment and her mac, while decently built, is quirky and also too expensive for the actual components.
i didn't purposely get it for graphics or gaming. i got it as my everyday work computer that i drag around everywhere (home, office, construction sites, et al) for a decent price comparing it to several others with the same options and am happy with how solid it is. @steve.ledger is right, i wouldn't buy anything built specifically for gaming if you don't game. but much of the hardware that is spec'd for a good gaming computer certainly helps. tweak your order as needed
Thanks all for some thoughtful replies - the norm for TalkGraphics I might add. I will admit that what first attracted me to the Alienware is that I thought it would look cool in use. And then to justify, and maybe because it would make a difference, I considered that it would do the processing faster. I also have never gamed at all; not one single bit. I am a bit worried about the weight (yes, I am talking about a laptop, the 15 or 17 in.), and the company seems a bit strange, but I have a few extra bucks and it does look like a fun machine. Mikey, it sounds like you're using Alienware and seem to like it. Am I correct? Many thanks!
yes sir. like it a lot. i got the 17" (and my old eyes thank me for it) and so far it's been nearly flawless and very smooth with what i've thrown at it. i say nearly flawless because i've had it for almost 8 months now and twice it has gotten stuck in a restart cycle that took about 3 minutes each time to clear on its own (non-removable battery so you gotta sit and wait it out) and once the wifi driver that got "lost" somehow. i'm optimistically thinking it's just win8.1 issues.
my kids love playing with the 10 zone led settings and while it is pretty cool looking, i go to black-out mode except for the keyboard while i have it at work. :D the weight doesn't bother me maybe because i associate it with being solidly built. i don't worry about where my laptop case is when i pile up my tools and boxes of parts in my truck at the end of the day as long as it's in there somewhere.
that said, if something else had the same specs for a lot less cost at the time, i probably wouldn't have bought it but i got it for a good price. now after having it, i could easily justify purchasing Alienware again (as long as it holds up) in my new laptop every 4 years cycle :)
Hi,
I have an old Intel i7 @3.5ghz computer (sandy bridge I believe) with a GeForce 560Ti 1Gb graphics card and 16GB memory the graphic card is a gaming card but I use it for video editing Xara and a few other graphics programs and have no trouble and handles everything I throw at it on a 64bit Windows Premium.
Xara runs really well on fairly mundane computers and has no need of any 'speed demon' processors or graphic cards.
Loads of people do well with hardware that is very ordinary, even slow, so in that respect I'd expect any gaming machine to be total overkill as far as hardware to run Xara software goes.
I use 2 computers for Xara:
At work I have a Toshiba Qosmio X870 - Windows 7 - Core i7 Processor - 12GB RAM - 3GB Nvidia GTX670M and 2GB Intel HD 4000
At Home I have a IBM Thinkcentre - Windows XP SP3 - Pentium 3.4GB Single Core Processor - 3.5GB RAM - 128MB ATI-Asus A9600
Apart from the Boot up time for Xara, I see very little difference in speed of use, and as you can see one computer is VERY much faster than the other ....
yes, xara has always run good on any computer that i've had it on. and i totally agree with you guys just as i did with steve and acorn. a full-on gaming computer is over-kill for just graphic design. but there is a noticeable difference overall. i did go with the basic graphics options coz i don't game or do much 3d rendering but the better hardware specs are appreciated in a few other areas that i dabble in (like deodexing an android firmware takes 1/4 the time now for one and the live monitor software that tracks every single thing an attached cell phone processes is now super fluid).
and i'm all about the speed - if i can spend a few hundred dollars to knock off a couple tenths of a second from my quarter mile et, i might as well spend a hundred extra on a computer that's faster than my previous one (besides the 17" screen, solid build and good looks)
then again, i tend to lean towards overkill :D:D:D
I think the thread gave a very wrong impression that very fast computers with high-end graphics cards are important when using Xara software, but that's not really a concern for people using Xara software alone.
Scotty described an 'old' computer which in fact would be a speed demon machine for many, if not most, Xara users.
Probably (depending on Xara usage) memory is probably of more importance than processing or graphics card grunt. People building large, graphics-laden websites, need to look to a 64 bit OS and more memory.
Designer Pro can use multiple cores for rendering your documents, so it will run faster on machines with more cores.
Other versions of the program will not benefit much from multiple cores being present. For instance you won't notice much difference running XPGD on a Core i7 and a Pentium...
Phil
Sorry should have mentioned ... I'm running XPGD9 not PRO
I know you asked specific to Alienware but mentioned you don't game (neither do I, nor have I). Like you I considered Alienware 12/2012 but we needed to be able to support 4 monitors and all of the software we use beyond Xara as well as Windows XP software. Alienware came up short. My mindset quickly changed to a Dell Precision T3600 (and later changed laptop to a Samsung). So here is our current solution:
OFFICE MAIN PRODUCTION COMPUTER (Acquired 12/2013) -
Dell Precision T3600
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1650 3.20GHz
16 GB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OS, SP1
Windows Virtual PC & XP Mode
AMD FirePro W7000 (4GB), 4 Display Graphics Card
4 Monitors
TRAVELING (SALES / DEMO) COMPUTER (Acquired 1/2014) -
When I travel to a customer I take our Samsung ATIV9. Fast booting due to solid state RAM. Small. Thin. LIGHT! Plus the display is a down and out killer that makes any graphic design/presentation look like a giant killer! This laptop is quite suitable for running XARA when needed. For a mouse I use the Microsoft Surface as it folds flat and is thinner than the laptop so bulk while travelling is a thing of the past.
My suggestion is start with all current software you use then think about what software might be acquired down the road. Your software will determine what hardware you need today as well as tomorrow. Then add-in what will best suit your business needs versus the desire for bling!