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PC spec for digital imaging
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I am shortly going to be in the market for a new PC as my current one is slowing down considerably even with everything tweaked as much as possible. I am a fan of AMD processors mainly because Intel seems to have a virtual monopoly. I have been using AMD chips for a few years now and am happy with them.
Can anyone on the forum give me a spec that would run image processing software well on Windows XP (I haven’t yet been able to get Linux to work the way I would like it to) together with the usual productivity software?
as much ram as you can throw at it, fast hard drives (7200 at least). duel core, nice monitor, few hard drives for storage maybe even an old hd as a swap disk for ps
Dave – a very timely thread as I’m soon going to embark on a similar journey myself as my own machine is literally creaking under the stress I’m putting it under and to be honest, it’s putting me off photography. So before I buy that next lens, I’m going to spend my money on a machine dedicated to nothing but digital imaging – no MS Office, no Internet connection, nothing but the necessary applications I need for my photography. I’m going to be building my own machine (I think – I haven’t yet worked out if it makes economic sense to do so) and was going to build it around an AMD processor as well, but initial indications are that right now Intel have the edge having caught up with and overtaken AMD again. Either way, I’m going to stuff it with RAM – 4GB to be precise, with 3GB allocated to Photoshop. I’d be very interested to see what sort of responses you get here – I just hope it doesn’t turn into a PC-bashing exercise from Mac fans. Nothing wrong with a Mac, but I’ve decided to go the PC route and I imagine you have too.
There are two articles here, which although a bit dated, make for interesting reading on this topic – Build yourself a Photoshop Speed Machine and Building a High Performance Photoshop Workstations
Thanks for the info lads. I came across this “test” http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/145693/. I might give it a try.
Recently bought my first Apple MAC after years on a PC platform, have to say even though its early days the MAC is by far my preferred machine!
Assuming you have a decent monitor
in order of importance for PC
RAM – at least 2 Gig- but more is better
Ideally get 2 hard discs, one for system and one for media & photosGraphics Card – at least 128Mb but 256 better, the faster the better too
Processor – get the fastest Dual Core processor you can afford
hope this helps
steve
stcstc wrote:
Assuming you have a decent monitor
in order of importance for PC
RAM – at least 2 Gig- but more is better
Ideally get 2 hard discs, one for system and one for media & photosGraphics Card – at least 128Mb but 256 better, the faster the better too
Processor – get the fastest Dual Core processor you can afford
hope this helps
steve
some good advice there!
Thanks for all the good advice. I built my current PC from what I thought were the best components that I could afford at the time. It took me some time to source the parts, have them delivered and put them together. I had some dead on arrival experiences. I don’t know if I want to go that route again. Are there any companies who build PCs to a suitable spec for this purpose? I am not thinking of buying an Apple machine after working on PCs for the last 20 years.
I want to buy a new monitor too.Dave – it’s sobering to hear the voice of experience on self-builds. I myself have some concerns about DOA parts. I could buy local suppliers but that would almost certainly cost more than buying over the www. PCWorld opened here in Cork this week and I popped in for a few minutes (need to go in and spend some more time there later this week to ask them some questions). I noticed a counter there where they seemed to be promoting customised machines made to a certian spec (they seemed to be targetting gamers from what I could make out). If there’s a PCWorld near to you it might be worth checking with them. I’ll be asking them some questions about this and will relay what I find back here for anyone interested. My current machine is a PCWorld machine (Advent) and it hasn’t let me down once so far, so I for one have no problem with their brand.
Interestingly, they were also selling the Apple IMac’s – shows how far Apple have come in realising that they have to adapt to survive. The 24″ IMac sure looked like an impressive machine – very sexy and very slick and at just over ?1900.00, it’s cheaper there than through Apples online store! Still, I don’t think an IMac is an ideal machine for photographers. One would really need to get a Mac Pro and they are far more expensive. And I don’t need a machine that looks sexy or slick and costs a lot of money – I need one that can do the job and is relatively cheap to upgrade/replace when the time comes to do so, so it’s going to be a PC for me for now.
You could probably ask a local IT supplier to quote for a machine built to spec but I’d say there could be a significant labour cost element as well as a mark up on the parts. Another option is the Dell outlet store which sells refurbished Dell machines – you have to pretty much take what you get, but you can always add to it afterwards.
How can you get by without a graphics card? If the motherboard has integrated graphics it will use main memory and reduce the memory available for PS.
MeleKalikimaka wrote:
is a graphics card really necessary considering ps doesn’t use it?
wtf of course it uses it
Ok I sort of understand your theory about PS notusing the card – you are talking about graphics hardware acceleration etc.
But first of all the faster the graphics card the faster the screen refresh, therefore the better th image
secondly a cheap slow graphics card will significantly slow down the running of the system. and also slower cheaper cards tend to have cheaper components, would you buy a lens with much cheaper components???
the difference in cost between a decent PCie graphics card and a cheapish one isnt that great anymore. mind you can spend a fortune on theese things too
if you are looking for this machine to last you say the next 3 – 5 years (common length of useful life for a PC) then chances are you will be upgrading to windows vista etc, this is very graphics heavy os and so a better card will stand you in good stead.
In terms of building these things, to tell you the truth it isnt worth it anymore
go get a dell or go to PC world, the difference in cost for the fact that if there is a problem you can bung it in the car and drive over is nothing anymore
you did used to save a decent amount of money building yourself, not anymore
hope tis all helps
steve
Try looking at http://www.Komplett.ie you choose the PC you want, choose the specs on each part you need, they build it and ship it too you. The web site is very easy to follow. I have had no problems with a dual core AMD machine with 4gb of ram, DVD writer, good garphics card, two 300gb drives etc. I did buy a Lacie monitor to go with it, but not from Komplett. Give sheldon a ring at sheldon photo (01 8454012) for Lacie monitors, get the one with its own calibrator, calibration is so simple, no messing with rgb sliders its all automated.
They are good for external hard drives as well and I have yet to find anywhere to beat the prices.
Phil
v4honda wrote:
MeleKalikimaka wrote:
is a graphics card really necessary considering ps doesn’t use it?
wtf of course it uses it
graphics cards are for 3d rendering, at what point in windows/ps is 3d rendering relevent? 64mb would suffice easily, a fast graphics card is not needed for a pc set up for digital workflow.
i could be wrong of course
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