Wacom has been in the drawing tablet game for some time, and through the years has enabled artists, designers and engineers with first-class creative workstations. Now, the company is taking that a step further, and today unveiled its new Cintiq Pro Engine, a compact PC module that converts its Wacom tablets into standalone PCs. Packing high-end GPUs and more into its slim design, the Cintiq Pro Engine looks to change how digital artists create.
Wacom is already one of the most trusted and reliable drawing tablets manufacturers on the market for artists to bring their work to life. And with its latest release, it’s turning the Clintiq line of drawing tablets into fully-featured computers.
This style of drawing computer is one other companies have taken a crack at in the past, specifically Microsoft with the Surface Studio. And while the touchscreen computer’s high price tag may have deterred many from leaving their preferred ecosystem, Wacom owners may jump at the opportunity to imbue their tablets with the power to natively run their favorite drawing applications.
The Cintiq Pro Engine is an entire Windows 10 PC packed into a cartridge-like form factor that slides into the back of Clintiq drawing tablets. Driving the streamlined PC is an Intel i5HQ processor backed by a NVIDIA Quadro P3200 graphics card. Both memory or SSD are user-replaceable, making it easy to upgrade in the future should you not opt for the highest configuration.
At Launch, Wacom will be releasing 2 versions of its Pro Engine add-on. The entry-level model comes packed with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at its $2,499 price tag. Stepping up to the pricier $3,299 configuration gets you 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, alongside a more powerful Intel XEON processor.
It also packs virtual reality support, which will allow it to drive headsets from Ocular Rift or HTC Vive. This may not be the biggest perk of an all-in-one drawing station, but for artists creating VR content, it’ll surely be appreciated.
Both models of the Cintiq Pro Engine will be launching later this year in May. They’ll support both the 24 and 32-inch models of existing Cintiq tablets. The high retail price may be hard to swallow for some, but those locked into the Wacom ecosystem may find the utility of an all-in-one drawing studio to be well worth the cash.
[9to5-press-release]
Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine is a compact PC module that converts the Cintiq Pro into a powerful creative studio. Artists, Designers and Engineers can transform their Cintiq Pro into a powerful Windows 10 workstation with the power to run the demanding creative applications and workflows, including 3D, animation and virtual reality.
Tokyo, Japan – Feb. 27, 2018 – Today Wacom announced the Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine, a creative PC module available in two configurations that fully integrates into the Cintiq Pro 24-inch pen display. Designed for professional illustrators, designers, engineers and motion graphics users who require professional computing power and graphics performance, the modular Cintiq Pro Engine slots into the back of the Cintiq Pro 24, eliminating the space, cable clutter and compatibility issues that often result from using external computers and laptops.
“It is our mission to help professionals create with the least amount of distraction and clutter and to give them the power to tackle the new spaces of creating content for AR, VR and MR. The Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine provides a beautiful, easy to use solution for creatives everywhere,” said Faik Karaoglu, Executive Vice President of the Creative Business Unit at Wacom.
Attaching the Cintiq Pro Engine to the Cintiq Pro 24 tranforms the Cintiq Pro 24 into a full Windows 10 creative studio that supports even the most demanding programs and applications used by creative professionals. The combination of the Wacom Cintiq Pro display, the powerful Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine creative PC module, and a flexible and rotatable new Wacom Ergo Stand is an innovative approach to providing an all-in-one specialised working environment for creatives. Adding the use of the Wacom Pro Pen 3D, professionals who rely on 3D animation or sculpting software, or CAD applications, will see an immediate benefit to their workflow.
Virtual Reality Support
In addition to the benefits around creative applications and workflows, Cintiq Pro Engine supports the increasingly important virtual reality (VR) workflow. Most Wacom products are already capable of supporting VR content creation, but to review and check the VR content, customers frequently need to move the content to another PC that has the graphics power to run VR content.
Powerful Graphics
The Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine is powered by the NVIDIA Quadro P3200. This graphics card is based on the NVIDIA Pascal GPU architecture, which provides the power demanded by today’s creative applications with dramatically faster graphics and computing power than on the CPU. “Wacom designs products for the way artists and designers create. They’re intuitive, natural and fast and can be used anywhere,” says Bob Pette, vice president, Professional Visualisation, NVIDIA. “Our new mobile Quadro P3200 packs a ton of graphics power into the new Cintiq and Cintiq Engine Pro, and we’re thrilled to have them showcased at our upcoming GPU Technology Conference.”
Flexibility Found Nowhere Else
The Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine memory and SSD are exchangeable and upgradable, ensuring system flexibility. Given the plug and play nature of the hardware, it’s easy to move between Cintiq 32” and 24” displays while retaining the same computing environment with the Cintiq Pro Engine. This flexibility is found nowhere else in the market and leads to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than any other solution.
Two Versions of Cintiq Pro Engine
Cintiq Pro Engine i5:
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
- Processor: Intel® Core i5HQ (Quad Core)
- Graphics: NVIDIA® Quadro® P3200
- Dedicated graphics memory: 6GB GDDR5
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 256GB SSD, PCIe Gen3
- Wireless LAN: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 ac
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 4.2
- Security: fTPM(TPM2.0)
- Input Voltage: 100 to 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz
- Connectivity: Internal (communication between PC & Display) 1x USB-C, 1x Power
- Connectivity: External (customer interfaces) 1x RJ45 (LAN), 2x USB-C, 1xmHDMI, 1xmDP, 2x DC-in
- Price: £2,399.99
Cintiq Pro Engine Xeon:
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro for Workstation
- Processor: Intel® XEON
- Graphics: NVIDIA® Quadro® P3200
- Dedicated graphics memory: 6GB GDDR5
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD, PCIe Gen3
- Wireless LAN: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 ac
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 4.2
- Security: fTPM(TPM2.0)
- Input Voltage: 100 to 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz
- Output Voltage: 19.5V/11.8A (230W)
- Connectivity: Internal (communication between PC & Display); 1x USB-C, 1x Power
- Connectivity: External (customer interfaces); 1x RJ45 (LAN), 2x USB-C, 1xmHDMI, 1xmDP, 2x DC-in
- Price: £3,419.99
Availability
There are two versions of Cintiq Pro Engine, available as of May 2018 in Japan, US and selected countries in Europe. For details visit our homepage at Wacom.com. For more information on compatibility, visit www.wacom.com/comp.
[/9to5-press-release]
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