Computer Building 101

[Corrupted Unicorn]

Hello! I'm writing to you from a computer that its starting to enter its sunset years - an ASUS ROG Strix (my first fancy rainbow keyboard laptop!) that has seen many art & game related projects and screamed at me with its fans everytime I use Unity or a game for too long. Lately, it has been doing that more and more often if it's on while on its charger, and can't stand too much on its own (with no charger on).

I bought it as a recommendation by my school, and we've worked on many things together. I learnt digital art and animation and 3D modelling and game making with it. It's been the birthplace for many of my most beautiful and beloved digital pieces. When the time comes to say her goodbye, I'll miss her. 

I estimate she will last me until the end of my degree, maybe a little more - but not enough to keep working with her the same way I did all these years. I've decided that my next computer should be a desktop one - you can make games and big projects with a laptop, but... it suffers. It's like sending a pug to a greyhound race. I have a few friends and family members who are into building computers, so maybe I could get a computer custom tailored for me in exchange of some money (it's a skill that should be rewarded!  )

Thing is, my brain is very small and I have no idea what kind of desktop computer would be ideal for me.    I know there are people in this forum who love and understand technology better than me and that you're all a bit off the beaten path (in a good way!), so I thought this would be the right place to ask. 

If you want to lend me a hand, I'm going to go through a list of Important Requirements I'd love my future computer to have, also feel free to ask questions if you need them 

• It needs to be able to handle programs like Blender, Unity, ZBrush, Adobe Photoshop/Animate/Illustrator/After Effects (obtained with dark magic of course  )
• Please please please. It needs to be QUIET. I understand computers need fans and that mine is working very hard to help me do projects and homework but its fans are very loud and I take issue with constant loud noises, it messes with my head. I compared it to "screaming" before, in this post. So yeah, it would be nice for my future computer to have less noisier fans or to tweak things in a way it isn't so noisy.
• I would love it to have an older OS, something that isn't as annoying and intrusive as Windows 10. For now, this computer would be for personal art/projects and nothing work related, so I think I could afford to have this?. I don't know if an older OS would get along with the kind of programs described before, but I'm not big on having those up to date, if that helps. I could also consider giving Linux another try, but I don't know anything about it yet.
• This is more of a second priority, but I'd love to be able to play games with this future computer too! It'll be mostly a "work" computer for personal art projects, but I'd love to keep the social aspect of playing games, chatting and streaming.
• And finally, it's gotta have a lot of disk space! I use external drives to archive my stuff, but it'll still need the space to handle all these programs (plus RAM) aaaand I might be a little bit of a digital hoarder 

I hope it's okay for me to ask about a thing like this here, and thank you in advance! 

[Gans]

Square or circle? Both at the same time will be difficult...

Would a desktop be an option? You could go radical for a fanless Mini-Desktop. But they have less power, so you might get to the limit when playing games. Probably the art stuff would clog such a machine up too.

Depends on the kind of games and processing demands of course. I'd say, get a used Windows 7 machine and see, if it's capable of all the things you'd like to try. At least you shouldn't lose too much money on it, if it's not good enough. Disk space can be upgraded easily. An SSD would surely be a big boost and is 100% worth upgrading.

Eventually, you'd get into problems with the newer programs, that have higher demands every year. That's how the computer industry goes. You can do a nearly unlimited amount of stuff with the old machines. But it will get difficult when you need the newer stuff, streaming for example. That will require a lot of power.

Maybe your laptop just needs some cleaning. Can you open it up? Maybe you can find a tutorial online, as some laptops are trickier than others to open. Also, this experience will make your brain grow in size, then you're almost ready for Linux, if you're looking for an alternative to get away from Windows. Have you tried Linux before?

[Corrupted Unicorn]

Thank you for your input, Gans!

Square or circle? Both at the same time will be difficult...

Is this a hypothetical question or an actual one? I... don't know what you're talking about 

Depends on the kind of games and processing demands of course. I'd say, get a used Windows 7 machine and see, if it's capable of all the things you'd like to try. At least you shouldn't lose too much money on it, if it's not good enough. Disk space can be upgraded easily. An SSD would surely be a big boost and is 100% worth upgrading.

Hey, I think I could try this one! I don't play very graphic-demanding hyperrealistic games (things like Binding of Isaac, Starbound, Cult of the Lamb, Toontown Rewritten, Hylics 2 just so you get an idea), and sometimes I stream those games for my bf or play online with him. An older computer can't handle as much... but still, I think it could be worth a shot to see if Windows 7 can handle what I expect it to do.

Eventually, you'd get into problems with the newer programs, that have higher demands every year. That's how the computer industry goes. You can do a nearly unlimited amount of stuff with the old machines. But it will get difficult when you need the newer stuff, streaming for example. That will require a lot of power.

If I'm lucky, I could afford having a less up-to-date/powerful machine at home. I'm currently an intern for a graphics-making company, and it provides me with the technology and programs needed. In other words, I have a computer at work with everything it needs for me to work on work-related things. So I don't need that much for home. As long as it runs smoothly 

Maybe your laptop just needs some cleaning. Can you open it up? Maybe you can find a tutorial online, as some laptops are trickier than others to open. Also, this experience will make your brain grow in size, then you're almost ready for Linux, if you're looking for an alternative to get away from Windows. Have you tried Linux before?

Actually, I discussed this because it's missing a key and I got told that:

• I need to replace my entire keyboard just to get my key back 
• That, due to the way my computer is built, they would need to disassemble my entire laptop just to get that key back   
• That it's a delicate machine and I might get everything I got on it lost due to this process. It's not a guarantee, but the risk exists     

I have tried Linux, but as a kid, and wasn't very happy with it. So while I'm willing to give it another chance, I still don't know that OS well enough.

Thank you once again for your advice! 

[Gans]

Ah, I was just asking "square or circle" because it looked to be difficult to put "older than Windows 10" and "modern video streaming" well together. Video watching should be no problem at all. I'm using my 15 year old Windows XP machine for Invidious (Youtube) videos for example absolutely flawlessly. However streaming is a different thing. Those platforms aren't very tolerant and demand for lots of computing power and bandwidth from what I've seen and therefore I hope you can go far with an older computer.

In the case of Windows 7 support being dropped for some programs, you still have the old programs on your disk. If it's for private use, why not using the Photoshop version for Windows 95 for example? Still, a very capable program on highly obsolete hardware. And at least it doesn't bother for how long you use it and pulls off sabotage updates from the web! It really depends on the features, if they're that significant, but I can't judge that for your programs and probably only using them will tell.

I have a computer at work with everything it needs for me to work on work-related things. So I don't need that much for home. As long as it runs smoothly

That's how it should be: You have to be paid to use the abomination of Windows 10. Not the other way around, buying it to use it.

Considering the difficulties with especially modern laptops opening the supersmooth and superflat case, yes, it can be quite a hard time to repair some of those. Although consider if something fatally breaks, you can slaughter the thing completly and extract the hard disk no matter what. And there would be your data.

But that's why I tend to favour the clunky desktops, because they don't clog up with dust that fast. Switching hard disks is also easier.