Dpic_arctic wrote:
Thanks Nicholas. I really wouldn't be doing any gaming, and only movies every now and then. So I would like whatever would look best for photo editing, while still looking decent for video. So did you diagnose why it didn't work with your custom built PC? What is the difference between IPS and TN panels? Just the view angles?
I want to buy a new PC for photo editing using CS4 and am a little confused about the best HD setup within my budget. I can't afford 2 VR drives. Adobe seem to recommend that either the scratch disc or data disc should be as fast as possible, but it seems from posts here that the OS is fastest.
I am looking at an i5 750 CPU with 8Gb Corsair 1600mhz RAM, a 160Gb SATA ll for OS and apps, a 300Gb VR for data storage and an NVidia GT240 1Gb Graphics card.
Could anyone advise me on the wisdom of my selection, please?
Thank you.
otter wrote:
I want to buy a new PC for photo editing using CS4 and am a little confused about the best HD setup within my budget. I can't afford 2 VR drives. Adobe seem to recommend that either the scratch disc or data disc should be as fast as possible, but it seems from posts here that the OS is fastest.
I am looking at an i5 750 CPU with 8Gb Corsair 1600mhz RAM, a 160Gb SATA ll for OS and apps, a 300Gb VR for data storage and an NVidia GT240 1Gb Graphics card.
Could anyone advise me on the wisdom of my selection, please?
Thank you. ...Show more →
Otter,
I think you're in good shape with that config. Photoshop will access the RAM first before going to the scratch disk and 8 Gs is fine. 300 Gs for storage will do you OK for a while, do you have another HDD to use for storage and/or backup? I just checked Newegg, an internal 1T WD Black Caviar is going for $100 and a Seagate 1.5T is going for $109, so you could always add one later.
The CPU, graphics card and RAM are fantastic choices, that machine should zoom along nicely. Are you going with a custom-build or an off-the-shelf?
Thank you Nicholas for your reply.
I have a LOT of external storage, including a 2Tb Drobo.
I tend to only keep my most recent images on the main HD and store the rest on the Drobo and another 1Tb external drive.
I'm going for a custom build as I couldn't find anything off the shelf that was suitable - at least, not from a company I trust. BTW I'm in the UK.
Thanks again - you've put my mind at rest, now all I've got to do is persuade my wife!
otter wrote:
Thank you Nicholas for your reply.
I have a LOT of external storage, including a 2Tb Drobo.
I tend to only keep my most recent images on the main HD and store the rest on the Drobo and another 1Tb external drive.
I'm going for a custom build as I couldn't find anything off the shelf that was suitable - at least, not from a company I trust. BTW I'm in the UK.
Thanks again - you've put my mind at rest, now all I've got to do is persuade my wife!
Otter,
That's probably the hardest part of the project
Our needs as digital photographers have realy changed over the past few years, and the bigest one is what we expect out of our darkrooms. 20 to 30 MB RAW files are commonplace today as well as even larger panorama files and batch-processing. I'm 100% positive I'll never settle for a Dell, HP or Acer after having a PC custom-built for my needs. Hope you find a reputable company over there.
You are so right. We've come a long way since I owned my Canon D30! I now use a 1D Mk3 and have just bought my wife a 7D (should help my case for the new computer )
It has been difficult finding a company over here, but there's one that looks promising.
otter wrote:
Thank you Nicholas for your reply.
I have a LOT of external storage, including a 2Tb Drobo.
I tend to only keep my most recent images on the main HD and store the rest on the Drobo and another 1Tb external drive.
I'm going for a custom build as I couldn't find anything off the shelf that was suitable - at least, not from a company I trust. BTW I'm in the UK.
Thanks again - you've put my mind at rest, now all I've got to do is persuade my wife!
Nickle S. wrote:
Otter,
That's probably the hardest part of the project
Our needs as digital photographers have realy changed over the past few years, and the bigest one is what we expect out of our darkrooms. 20 to 30 MB RAW files are commonplace today as well as even larger panorama files and batch-processing. I'm 100% positive I'll never settle for a Dell, HP or Acer after having a PC custom-built for my needs. Hope you find a reputable company over there.
Best,
Nicholas
But what would be wrong with a computer like this one? Do you really need custom built?
1) You are severely limited as to adding parts like heatsinks, HDDs, PSUs. As soon as you do and have a problem, they most likely will not honor their warrantee.
2) The BIOS is locked, you will not be able to tweak timings and frequencies. This is done to cover the company if you try to overclock.
3) They have absolutely NO idea about efficient air-cooling. OTS computers have all the wires and cables just strung about inside the case "willy-nilly" (yes, I said willy-nilly). Custom PC builders hide all cables in a professional manner to assist air-flow.
4) Tech-support - night & day. There are several example of major PC companies' horror stories in this thread, no need to elaborate.
5) Design - a reputable boutique company will work with you in choosing the perfect combination of components for your present and future needs.
Dpic_arctic wrote:
So once you buy an OTS computer, you are pretty much locked to those specs, correct?
Yes, and even if they allow you to tweak the CPU, that in itself may void your warranty. Every OTS-PC will give you the bare minimum heatsink which allows your key components to run very hot. They also give you the bare minimum power supply, or let's say just 10% to 20% above bare minimum.
I have the hottest running CPU (Intel i7/975 OC-4.0 GHz) and the hottest running graphics card (nVidia GTX295). With my custom-designed air-cooling system, CPU idles at 38 degrees, nVidia at 42 degrees. When I push it with an elaborate screen saver for example, the CPU may get up to 42 and the card may actually hit 50. These numbers are incredibly low for air-cooling. The CPU has a maximum recommended temp of 70 degrees, so you can see how good it's doing. Visit some of the overclockers forums and see how some people push the temps to the limits.
A custom build is much more of a hands-on design, the burn-in process alone takes 24 to 48 hours with the CPU running at full bore. Don't get me wrong, if you love photography and just want a rig that lets you edit big files at a decent speed and you may watch a lot of streaming videos and surf the web, then an OTS PC may be all you need. But with that setup you won't be able to add parts like the aforementioned RAM and HDDs without risking your waranty, you are definitely locked in. The thing that sold me was when I went to Newegg and priced all of the components I wanted in my rig and compared it to AVA's price, AVA was about $150 to $200 over the Newegg total. Plus I have a 3-year warranty. It seemed like a no-brainer then and it still does today.
Wow! That's quite the computer! How much RAM do you have? Where would be a good place to read up on overclocking? I have a friend who knows all about that (that's where I heard of OCing first), but it would be nice to know how to do it myself.
Dpic_arctic wrote:
Wow! That's quite the computer! How much RAM do you have? Where would be a good place to read up on overclocking? I have a friend who knows all about that (that's where I heard of OCing first), but it would be nice to know how to do it myself.
Dpic,
I have 12 Gs of Corsair DDR3 RAM.
Just Google "overclock computer" and you'll find tons of sites like:
www.overclockers.com
www.extremeoverclocking.com
www.overclock.net
www.overclockersclub.com
OK, I'm looking at a potential configuration on AVADirect right now, in case I end up actually building. Should I choose i5 or i7? Would a faster i5 be better than a slower i7, or not? Also, is there any reason I should have two DVD or Blu-ray drives, instead of one?
What is the best route to take if I get around 9 gigs or RAM? (I can't see a way to get between 6 and 12 GB)
This would be a computer in the $1,000-$2,000 range, preferably around 1500 bucks.
Dpic_arctic wrote:
OK, I'm looking at a potential configuration on AVADirect right now, in case I end up actually building. Should I choose i5 or i7? Would a faster i5 be better than a slower i7, or not? Also, is there any reason I should have two DVD or Blu-ray drives, instead of one?
What is the best route to take if I get around 9 gigs or RAM? (I can't see a way to get between 6 and 12 GB)
This would be a computer in the $1,000-$2,000 range, preferably around 1500 bucks.
The i5 series uses a 1156 socket motherboard while the i7 series uses a 1366. The i3/i5 CPU's run cooler and more energy-efficient than the i7, they're also much cheaper. Advanced digital photography requires the i5 or i7, but all of these processors can be overclocked easily.
Most of those boards have 4 RAM slots so you can go from 8 Gs all the way up to 16 Gs.
Blu-Ray RW's are DVD backward compatible and the difference in rendering is similar to regular TV versus HD-TV. If you ever choose to backup photos on disk, a Blu-Ray can hold up to 50 Gs of images. I am using Delkin "100-year" Archival Gold DVD's for a backup to my HDD backup. If you ever need to copy one disk to another, then you'll require 2 optical drives. A standard DVD RW is not that expensive and it can always be added on later. Blu-Ray movies with a good graphics card and monitor are awesome, you will not be disappointed.
I think you can get a booming PC within your price range.
The SSDs had problems when they first came out, but it looks like they're getting their act together with the latest firmware updates. The biggest advantage of them is the boot-up time, it's just about instantaneous. I've read that working in Photoshop has only a marginal increase in speed, but others have said that everything runs faster, so in my mind, the jury's still out.
Blu-Rays are the future, although it has been a slower transition from DVD > Blu-Ray than it was from CD > DVD. With external storage becoming so cheap, the inclination to put images on disks has been decreasing. If you want to backup your HDD with archival disks, use only those made with gold. I lost a couple hundred photos that were on CDs last year because of the silver in them.
