#1 | What to Keep In Mind When Purchasing a Computer as an Interior Designer, Virtual Design Assistant, and Rendering Artist

Let me start out by saying that I am in no way a computer technologist, part of the geek squad, nor a sales rep for Apple or PC products, but I do know what has worked for me and the many, many designers I’ve either consulted with or trained. The point of this blog post is to help you better understand what your options are and help you decide what will work best for you and your business.

It’s an age old question, okay or at least one that has been discussed on message boards, Facebook threads, and in too many millennial living rooms over the last twenty or so years. Mac or PC? Does it matter? Most people, especially designers, are pretty passionate about either one with a belief in the very strongly perceived ground they ‘stand on’. The truth is this, now more than ever the argument is more to do with long time preferences, budget, and in many cases style, then the overall hardware and efficiency. On a continuous basis I’ve seen far too many Facebook threads throughout the Interior Design industry with recommendations for specific computers without taking into account the end user, their software, business goals, and finally budget. To start lets put aside the what the ACTUAL differences are between the two and discuss what most Interior Designers really need in a computer, then we’ll confront the argument with those characteristics in mind in follow up blog posts (so stay tuned).

Business Goals

As Interior Designers presentation is everything and this includes the computers that we use, what we can afford, and our goals for our company. What I mean here when I say goals, specifically pertaining to your computer, is where do you hope to see your business in the next three to five years? If you’re hoping to add to your skill sets, via the computer you’re clearly considering purchasing since you’re still reading this post, what are you hoping those to be? If you’re considering any form of non-cloud based 3D modeling, rendering and drawing software such as Chief Architect, Home Designer, Sketchup Pro+, Revit, 3DS Max, etc. then the hardware you purchase now may or may not impact those goals in the future, especially if you don’t want to be purchasing a new computer when you plan to start learning and using any of the aforementioned. If you’re only planning to work on cloud based/online software such as the EDesign Tribe Platform/Coohom, IVY, MyDoma, Dubsado, and various other Interior Designer heavy options that do not require a super meaty motherboard and juice needed to power BIM applications, then that will also impact your computer specs and overall budget. Keep in mind, the more you want to do the more expensive it will be in the end (for the most part), but it’s an investment that will keep on giving when specified correctly.

Specification Definitions and Clarifications

I think the most difficult thing about specifying a new computer is understanding what the different elements actually mean, and trust me I’ve watched WAAAY too many hours of Youtube Tech nerds reviewing various laptops prior to me purchasing the one I’m currently typing this blog post on, and even then I realized after installing Lumion onto it that it VERY barely makes the cut, even after investing over $3k into this machine. This is the exact reason I’m writing this, in hopes of helping you understand what you’re looking for.

In much the same way an Interior Designer will send their interior elevations to the cabinet manufacturer with full expectation of decent shop drawings and/or purchase order with a breakdown of the parts and specifications, the company you’re purchasing your computer from also has an intricate list of all the elements and details that are to be installed in your machine. AND knowing what to look for, while understanding what your purchasing, can make all the differences as to the lifetime cost of your investment.

So, to get started I’m going to breakdown to main mechanisms that will affect your purchase and things to keep in mind as you build your computer for use as an Interior Designer, Virtual Design Assistant, and/or Rendering Artist.

***Again, please keep in mind that I am not an engineer, nor tech specialist, so I’m translating what I UNDERSTAND into layman terms for other Interior Designers to understand. All final specs and details are to be verified by a qualified professional, sales rep, and/or IT Specialist prior to purchasing.

Memory/RAM: Generally noted as gigabytes (GB) there are specific qualifications needed based on the software you plan to use. As noted in the What Is RAM (Random Access Memory)? article written by Tim Fisher for Lifewire.com,

“Random Access Memory, or RAM (pronounced as ramm), is the physical hardware inside a computer that temporarily stores data, serving as the computer's "working" memory.”

In other words, there is a minimum amount generally required based on the workload and the amount of items (software) you have open at a given time. You know, when you have to start closing all those various windows and software you have open at one time because your computer is slowing down and you’re getting notifications that you’re running out of memory? Yup, that your RAM. As with most things (minus carbs, in-laws during the holidays, and COVID) the more the merrier. With that in mind, your ability to add more, if needed, will depend on your computer type and starting specs. It’s generally easier and more available to be able to upgrade the RAM capacity in a Desktop than a laptop. So if you’re not sure how much you’ll need in the future, but super set on having the versatility of a laptop, make sure to ask what the max amount of sticks/upgradability is for your RAM in your laptop PRIOR to purchasing. I recommend starting with the recommended minimum of 32GB if you plan to really process some serious programs at one time, with an ultimate super add on of 64 GB.

Graphics Cards/GPU: This is the part of the machine (from my informal understanding) that makes your computer a ‘Gaming Computer’. Also known as a video card, this little ‘chip’ is what helps your computer process all the graphics and 3D visuals. This is what helps you move, pan, and process your visuals in the various rendering software. The graphics card is also, in many cases, the deal breaker for what software you can use on your computer (if you put the Mac vs. PC argument aside and only look at this single piece of the equation).

For Chief Architect and Home Designer Users:

Since I’ve started writing this blog post (Winter 2020), there have been a few major changes to GPU requirements and specifications that will greatly impact exactly what you will need in this department. More specifically it impacts anyone who is using or considering using Chief Architect Premier or Interiors. In leu of their announcement about their Realtime Raytracing rendering option, the decision between which graphics card AND if you want a PC or Mac is now solely based on this function and your goals for the future. You may be thinking, ‘wow, that’s a little dramatic’, but the truth is that purchasing a graphics heavy computer is not a cheap investment and as I noted at the top you need to make sure to have a clear vision of your business goals moving forward so that you can (hopefully) get at least three to five years out of the machine before its outdated.

First and foremost, can you still use a Mac? Yes, you’ll still have the ability to run Chief Architect and Home Designer on the Mac, but as noted on the Chief Architect website; “The Mac version of Chief Architect X13 will support all of the new rendering features and perform traditional ray tracing; however, the Mac version will not support real‑time ray tracing.” As noted in Chief Architect’s announcement webinar, the main reasoning for the exclusion of Mac computers is due to Apple no longer building their computers using Nvidia cards. Apple has since introduced their M1, in-house manufactured and installed, graphics card, but they will only be available in the Mac Mini, Macbook Pro, and Macbook Air to start. Without knowing more about its capabilities and details, Chief Architect made the decision to write the X13 rendering updates around the already released and available Nvidia RTX cards. So, unfortunately for now if you’re dead set on having this new feature, a Mac is not in your ‘cards’ (pun intended).

What is Realtime Raytracing? Do I need it to process renderings? The Realtime Raytracing will be an added feature that you can select in the Physically Based Rendering (PBR) settings. If you have a Mac, an older computer, or a PC that does not meet the minimum GPU requirements than the Realtime Raytracing feature just won’t be available. You’ll still be able to process a normal Raytrace, PBR, and if you use Lumion or Coohom (and any proprietary versions of it) you can still export and provide your clients beautiful presentations and renderings.

What video cards do I need to have the Realtime Raytracing feature? Per the Chief Architect website, “Real‑time ray tracing, coming in Chief Architect X13, requires a Windows 10 computer with an NVIDIA RTX graphics card.”

Desktops: 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 | Laptops: 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070

Okay, so what about other software and necessary specs, all I can say is make sure to subscribe via email. This way you’ll know when the next part of this series is published (unless you’re reading this afterwards) which will provide basic specifications and computer recommendations/examples for each software. My goal is to give you the information you need to purchase the BEST computer for your needs!

Processor/CPU : Okay, so I’m going to be brutally honest with this one. When I spec’d out my computer I pretty much figured out what the latest and greatest processor was at the time, watched WAAAY too many Youtube reviews for it installed in various machines and ordered the computer I thought fit my needs the best. And truth be told, it’s a good computer, but my eyes still go a little crossed trying to read the various definitions for what a Processor/CPU ACTUALLY is. So bear with me. From what I gather, and can summarize per this page from whatis.techtarget.com. “A processor (CPU) is the logic circuitry that responds to, and processes, the basic instructions that drive a computer (whatis.techtarget.com).” In other words, if you’ve had a chance to check out Westworld on HBO, the processor the ‘brain’ that Dolores, Maeve, and all the other robots are made with and is their ‘soul’. In much the same way you can have a 6 cylinder engine, computer processors can have multiple cores.

“In the early days of computing a CPU would only have a single core. This meant that the CPU was limited to just a single set of tasks. This is one of the reasons that computing was often a relatively slow and time consuming, but world changing affair. After pushing the single-core CPU to its limits, manufacturers started looking for new ways to improve performance. This drive for performance improvements led to the creation of multi-core processors. These days it's likely that you will hear terms thrown around like dual, quad, or even octo-core.

A dual-core processor for example is really just two separate CPUs on a single chip. By increasing the amount of cores, CPUs were able to handle multiple processes simultaneously. This had the desired effect of increasing performance and reducing processing time. Dual-core soon gave way to quad-core processors with four CPUs, and even octo-core processors with eight. Add in hyper-threading and your computer can perform tasks as if they had up to 16 cores.” (What Is A CPU and What Does It Do?, written by James Frew)

In other words, the more cores for 3D modeling and high power computing for your Interior Design projects, the better.

Hard Drive\Solid State Drive: If the processor is the brain, then the hard drive is the stomach; and just like any human’s system after a heavy meal (think Thanksgiving), with out adequate room, there’s a strong possibility of total sluggishness, inability to ‘hold onto’ the contents, and/or take in any additional data without crashing. I can tell you, from personal experience, do NOT skimp on this.

Learn from my mistakes: When I purchased my Mac Pro in 2017, I bought it from the refurbished listing on Apple. I made sure to get mid-high range specs in what I could find in my price tag at the time, BUT I severely underestimated the amount of hard drive space I would need. The 250 GB drive was and something I justified with the belief that I could put everything on the ‘cloud’ via iCloud Drive (I am a VERY firm believer in backing up all your work on more than an external hard drive). Needless to say, I learned very quickly that while the Apple Drive was loaded online, it was also ALWAYS present and taking up space on my computer (this may have changed since then). I very quickly used up any extra space I had, after installing multiple design, modeling, and rendering software. I ended up having to move everything to Dropbox, where I now pay a monthly subscription for myself and two additional licenses/team members (which I only just used after almost 2 years). For the amount of money I thought I was saving by not purchasing at least 1TB (or more) of hard drive space, I spent far more on having the ability to ‘smart sync’ using Dropbox. Oh and in the case you are reading this an wondering why I don’t run everything off an external hard drive, thats a whole other story… just know that data is not warrantied, so if it crashes you lose it all OR have to pay money to have the encrypted and/or corrupted files ‘rediscovered’.

Finally, unless you have a build-your-own desktop or something VERY specifically specified for this option, a hard drive is generally not something you can upgrade later.

Okay, but what is the difference between a Hard Drive and a Solid State Drive. I’ll be honest, when I think of the two I remember what a friend in college said when explaining it to me. They told me that with a solid state drive you can essential drop your computer and it won’t '‘screw up the drive’ because it won’t jumble up the pieces. After doing a little more research, for this blog post, it sounds like the perfect explanation to start, but just incase you’re looking to geek out just a little more (because I haven’t written a novella via this post already), I recommend reading Lifewire’s article, “What is a Solid State Drive (SSD)? The Next Generation of personal computer storage” by Mark Kyrnin; he does a really nice job at explaining what a Solid State Drive is and how it compares to a Hard Drive.

Monitor: Alright, so here’s the thing, I honestly think this is probably one of the most forgotten or overlooked elements of computer specifications within the Interior Design industry. Here’s why I think this. On a far too regular basis I hear, see, or listen to designers talk about the best computers for the industry being ‘gaming’ computers, noting all of those key spec’s I’ve covered above, but VERY rarely does anyone mention monitors. The ironic thing is, Interior Design is ALL ABOUT COLOR and accuracy. And yet, there are so many computers out there that meet the spec requirements to run their desired software, but the monitors they either use or are built into that laptop don’t provide the most accurate color gamuts. Since I’ve already completely overloaded you in all other technicalities one thing I can recommend is looking for a monitor that has a 99%+ RGB color accuracy. I’ll be offering some examples in the next post of this series.

Alright, so I don’t know about you, but if you feel anything like I do after writing this post, then you’re about as excited as I am that there’s a follow up, just kidding. No seriously, the next one will be where you get to go ‘shopping’ with some key ‘guides’ for computer options per your business goals. Please, comment below if you have any questions or recommendations!

Cheers!

If you’re looking for examples of computers that meets various specifications for the Interior Design Industry, check out the follow up post, PC or MAC | Does It Matter… Really?#2 | The Computer Requirements and Models You Need as an Interior Designer, Virtual Design Assistant, and Rendering Artist