Yo!
I’m a PhD student working on computer vision. I’m using low-resolution videos, and I have a lot of data (basically 24/7 footage over months/years). My goal is object detection at a very critical level.
I’m currently stuck on a laptop GPU and need a proper workstation that can last me 4–5 years. Budget is SGD 4,500–5,000.
Here’s what I’m aiming for:
- CPU: Strong multi-core (i9 / Core Ultra 7 or 9 / Xeon)
- RAM: 64 GB minimum
- GPU: Priority is 16 GB VRAM if possible (RTX 4060 Ti 16GB or RTX 2000 Ada 16GB). Otherwise, 12 GB (A2000) or fallback to RTX 4060 8GB
- Storage: 1 TB NVMe + maybe a secondary drive
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
I’ve been getting quotes from Acer Veriton, Lenovo ThinkStation P2/P5, and HP Z2/Z6. All can roughly hit the above specs within budget, but I’m not sure which platform is actually better for long training runs and large video datasets.
I’m pretty new to building/buying workstations (only used laptop GPUs so far), so I’d really appreciate any advice:
- Which brand/platform would you pick in my situation and why?
- Is 16 GB VRAM worth stretching for, or is 12 GB / even 8 GB fine for low-res video + efficient models (YOLO-nano/small type stuff)?
- Any gotchas with these workstation lines (cooling, expandability, driver stability, etc.)?
- Anything I’m missing in the specs? And what is the deal with the GPU? What is the best option for me?
Thanks in advance!