Recommendations
The good stuff
(At least I think it is…)
This is
stuff I’ve used before and I can recommend to others.
· Hardware
· Design
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I am not being paid to post these, I am just recommending them as I have
used them before.
AMD makes some great processors on par with Intel. They run hot but they deliver a great deal of
power. I used one until they stopped
making the AM3+ socket. I’m still using
one of their graphics cards (Radeon 7700 series).
Intel.
I’ve had to move from an AMD FX-9590 to an Intel Core i7 due to cooling and
budget issues (why did they stop making the mainboards?!). Enjoy the free advertising,
Intel! Watch as I make no money recommending your product!
Phobya makes a great water
cooling kit if you can’t buy an all-in-one that will fit inside the case. I’ve had one running for 2 years now, no
leaks, and all it’s needed was a coolant change every
year or so to get the crud out. You can
get them from Performance-PC’s, a
PC hardware mod retailer with which I have great results.
I have a Logitech cordless keyboard from 2000 that I still
use. It still works, it’s compatible, it’s
outlasted its warranty, I’ve taken it apart and put it back together (cat hair
really gets inside a keyboard!), and it STILL WORKS! Since then, I’ve also
obtained a few of their trackballs, one of their mice, a game controller, and a
gaming keypad. The Logitech gaming
software is fully programmable, and I’ve been able to use the gaming keypad and
mouse for work as well as play.
When it comes to tablets, accept no substitute. Wacom makes some of the best ways to put pen
to pixel, from the simple bamboo to the ultra-advanced Cintiq pen display. The Intuos tracks not only position and pressure, but the tilt
of the stylus. I used an Intuos 2 until I had to upgrade my computer, then I couldn’t
find a working driver for Windows 10, so I picked up a used Intuos
4, which did have a working and supported driver.
Yes, I actually
legally own a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS6, and I’m glad it still works. While I despise the fact that Adobe decided
to become a subscription service (seriously, it’s Photoshop, not World of
Warcraft), Photoshop is still a great image editing tool, second to none. If
you can afford to subscribe, I recommend it. Even their Adobe Photoshop
Elements (the watered-down version of Photoshop) has a decent assortment of
image editing tools. (But seriously,
Adobe, WHY?!)
If you can’t afford
Adobe Premiere (which I can’t recommend for or against as I haven’t used it
extensively), Vegas is an economical alternative. I haven’t had a need to upgrade versions yet…so
far, Vegas 10 HD premium is giving me plenty of bang for my buck. The interface is intuitive. It could use a
few more transitions (but hey, that’s why people upgrade, right?). The software also comes with Sound Forge
audio studio, which is great for recording and editing sound (though the
version in the 10 HD premium suite lacks good mixing tools, but Vegas can be
used as an ad hoc mixer in a pinch).
Still the industry standard for architectural drafting, AutoCAD
works really well for engineering. Yet
another piece of software I purchased back in the day. I’ve used it to design and create art pieces
and build STL models for 3D printing. However, Autodesk is another company that
went to a subscription service. If you can still find a standalone copy from a
legacy version, buy it fast! (Or maybe you’re a professional architect that can
afford those fees. But really, how can
people program 3d printers without a good design program?)
Daz (short for Digital Art
Zone) offers free software for which you can buy assets and elements a la
carte. Many of these utilities are
really worth the cost, and the software pairs well with AutoCAD when designing
new elements. Daz
also offers Hexagon, a free modeling tool. I’ve found their software decently
easy to use, and there are plenty of resources for instruction in its use.