System Requirements for Illustrator and Photoshop

Question

I am considering buying a new laptop before I move into a university dorm, and given that I will be prusuing a BA in animation, I expect to be spending more time using Adobe apps like Illustrator, After Effects, and Animate. I want to know if there’s a good Windows 11 PC out there that can handle all 3 of these without slowing down.

Bobby Henderson · Answer

There are various Windows notebook computers that can run apps like After Effects pretty effectively, but obviously it depends on the hardware configuration.

I would recommend getting a notebook that has a dedicated graphics board and its own separate pool of GDDR RAM (such as a NVidia RTX model). Notebooks that have integrated graphics chips aren't as powerful and depend on using slower system RAM for some of their operations.

The notebook needs to have a healthy amount of RAM. IMHO, 16GB isn't enough as a starting point anymore. I wouldn't buy a new notebook or desktop computer with any less than 32GB of RAM. 64GB is even better.

Make sure the notebook has a decent number of ports on it for connecting devices or even an external monitor.

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