Need a new pc, which specifications to look for?

[Mcffee]

Hello all,

I am gonna buy a new Windows pc and need some advice on what recommended specifications to look for, only for using Xara Designer and Illustrator. I don't do video editing. I guess a powerful graphics card? Specific information, and what more? Is an i5 processor sufficient?

Many thanks!!!

[steve.ledger]

A Celeron is sufficient for Xara software
So yes, any PC on the market today will be perfect.
No, you don't need a powerful graphics card.

So long as you use 64bit Windows and have more than 4Gb RAM (8Gb is better), Xara will run fine

[Mcffee]

Thanks for the information!

So to avoid freezing/stalling when proceeding, saving or exporting a big file or worksheet a pc with 8Gb RAM is enough?

[steve.ledger]

Should be plenty. You can always add more ram if you feel better.
Also make certain you buy the 64bit version of Xara software.

[dutchim]

I'm pretty sure you get the 32bit and the 64bit version of the software when you buy it.

Xara Designer Pro works on an Atom processor with only 2Gb of RAM.

Not sure what the minimum specs for Illustrator are.

[mwenz]

For 2D and some 3D (PhotoShop mainly) Adobe products make us of a GPU and lot's of RAM. Corel and Xara products not so much. CPU and RAM are the two main things for most 2D software.

RAM's cheap. It wouldn't hurt to start with 16 gigs and make sure it is expandable no matter how much you stuff in the box initially.

[Cloud]

I would say for the latest illustrator you would need a minimum of Intel i3 (4th or 5th generation) and 8GB ram. As a preferred I would recommend latest Intel i5 with 12/16GB ram and if you can get an SSD drive the better. As mentioned for xara 8MB ram is enough and most processors these days are fine. I loaded xara webdesigner on a 7 year old laptop with 4GB ram and an AMD turion x2 dual core processor and it ran fine. One thing to remember is try and go for the best processor you can afford, memory can be updated easily and cheaply at any time, subject of course to the motherboard being able to accept it.

[steve.ledger]

I'm pretty sure you get the 32bit and the 64bit version of the software when you buy it.

Yes, you can download and install either, what I mean't was to 'get' the 64bit version.

As to Illustrator, I don't think it needs anymore PC oomph to run than Xara Designer, but as Cloud suggests - buy the best you can afford and obviously the better the system you get the more future proof you are.

[mwenz]

Oh, AI does need more umph than XDP. Each iteration seeks to be more hungry. I suppose it depends on the features one uses in AI. Try a bunch of meshes.

[steve.ledger]

True, but then try drawing with a bunch of brushes in DPX.

Min requirements are quite similar to DPX,

► https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/...uirements.html