Would someone please advise me if these specs are right for a superfast computer working with large files and PS Cs2/3.
Should I go for the 8GB Ram option and a 64 bit? OS?
I very much appreciate feed-back on this one as I hope to get it right this time. I have so far always had an off the peg Dell computer but am ready for a new, specially built flying machine!
These are the specs a wizz-kid young man has offered me:
Intel Core 2 Quad 4 x 2.4GHz
Intel 975 Motherboard
4GB PC-4200 533MHz DDR2 RAM or 8GB
Seagate 500GB Hard Drive
Antec Tower Computer Case with 430W Power Supply
NEC DVD Writer
It may cost a bit more, but you might find it worth checking out the newer Apple Mac Pro desktop computers. I've been very pleasantly surprised at the Mac and use it far more than the Win-XP64 PC these days as it just gets on with the job. Admittedly I tend to switch back to the PC for business'y things such as word processing and label printing, but for photography the Mac cruises along quite happily. You can switch Photoshop to it, and Capture One can be switched over easily too. You'll probably find any monitor calibration stuff will switch without an issue.
Vista is currently a waste of space, give it another 6-12 months and then it might be worthwhile, and certainly don't bother with a 64 bit version of vista yet as the driver support for things like cameras isn't there. Windows XP 64 bit is probably a slightly safer bet, but even that is a bit of a dead-end OS and many companies haven't released drivers for it which can be a bit problematic!
For the PC, you can play tricks and get photoshop to use more memory, but it is pretty much limited to 3Gb. Even CS3 on the Mac won't really use any more than 4GB max as it is a 32bit program - although CS3 can be tricked into using extra ram as a virtual swap disk to speed up it's processing (it uses the memory instead of using hard disk as a swap/scratch disk).
So, either take a look at the Mac Pro's, or go with something like Phillip mentioned with 3-4Gb memory, a 150Gb Sata300 Western Digital Raptor 10K rpm disk drive to put Windows on (very fast) and a couple of 500Gb SATA300 hard disks for data and photoshop. A decent 500W power supply would also be a good idea. You can probably save a few more £'s and just use XP Home instead of Pro too.
(PS I'd prefer to go with Western Digital Drives - I've had too many Seagate one fail on me over the years...but that's just my luck )
Thank you so much, chaps, this is just the sort of info I was hoping for.
Mac...oh yes.....but will the bucks reach that far? I shall mull it over for a bit. Just off to stay on Skokholm....and then decide.
Thank you again.
If you are electing to go with a quad -core processor, make sure that your RAM configuration fills 4 or 8 slots for maximum efficiency i.e. 4x1Gb modules, rather than 2x2Gb modules.
This has been fun to see what people come up with. I wish you well Paula, whatever you choose.
Don't go above 4GB RAM.
Don't go for AMD
Don't load Vista (especially if you use CS2).
Do get a 550W PSU or higher.
Don't bother with 64bit OS as very few apps written for it.
Rob
Posted by David Taylor on June 2, 2007 at 10:52 AM
What about Climate Change? Is this really the way we should be going? 800W power supply unit? How about, Internal - 2-3W average internal power usage, External - 20W power supply unit (plenty of overhead for external devices). That's the way we should be going IMHO.
Discussion
11 repliesShould I go for the 8GB Ram option and a 64 bit? OS?
I very much appreciate feed-back on this one as I hope to get it right this time. I have so far always had an off the peg Dell computer but am ready for a new, specially built flying machine!
These are the specs a wizz-kid young man has offered me:
Intel Core 2 Quad 4 x 2.4GHz
Intel 975 Motherboard
4GB PC-4200 533MHz DDR2 RAM or 8GB
Seagate 500GB Hard Drive
Antec Tower Computer Case with 430W Power Supply
NEC DVD Writer
Windows Vista Ultimate
Phillip.
I'd steer clear of Vista for the time being, I upgraded to it at work and it's now annoying the hell out of me!!
Gavin
I echo both comments above.
I recently bought a DELL pc for PS work, I have 4GB Memory, and 2*300GB harddisks. This works well.
I got a dual headed graphics card, to allow me to extend my desktop on to two monitors.
Rob
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2091227,00.html
Vista is currently a waste of space, give it another 6-12 months and then it might be worthwhile, and certainly don't bother with a 64 bit version of vista yet as the driver support for things like cameras isn't there. Windows XP 64 bit is probably a slightly safer bet, but even that is a bit of a dead-end OS and many companies haven't released drivers for it which can be a bit problematic!
For the PC, you can play tricks and get photoshop to use more memory, but it is pretty much limited to 3Gb. Even CS3 on the Mac won't really use any more than 4GB max as it is a 32bit program - although CS3 can be tricked into using extra ram as a virtual swap disk to speed up it's processing (it uses the memory instead of using hard disk as a swap/scratch disk).
So, either take a look at the Mac Pro's, or go with something like Phillip mentioned with 3-4Gb memory, a 150Gb Sata300 Western Digital Raptor 10K rpm disk drive to put Windows on (very fast) and a couple of 500Gb SATA300 hard disks for data and photoshop. A decent 500W power supply would also be a good idea. You can probably save a few more £'s and just use XP Home instead of Pro too.
(PS I'd prefer to go with Western Digital Drives - I've had too many Seagate one fail on me over the years...but that's just my luck
AMD processors - not Intel.
Win XP Pro - leave Vista well alone!
But if I could afford, for me, Mac that would be my preffered route to be honest
The new chips and graphics cards are quite power hungry, I would opt for at least an 800 watt supply .
Best wishes
Phil
Mac...oh yes.....but will the bucks reach that far? I shall mull it over for a bit. Just off to stay on Skokholm....and then decide.
Thank you again.
Don't go above 4GB RAM.
Don't go for AMD
Don't load Vista (especially if you use CS2).
Do get a 550W PSU or higher.
Don't bother with 64bit OS as very few apps written for it.
Rob
A9home with RISC OS
http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/micros/products/a9home.shtml