Looking to setup a computer focused on Photo Editing.

[marcwang]

Hi Guys,

I'm a computer idiot and I need some help speccing a computer for photo editing.
Whats important for photo editing ? Processor Speed, RAM and/or Video Card.

Processor- My concern is over Intel's Dual Core or standard chip. I can only afford a Dual Core 2.8ghz or a Single Core 3.2hz, which would be better in my situation ?

I've done some homework... and roughly came up with a system with the help of the hardwarezone price list.

MSI (Microstar) 865GM3-LS (Intel 865G/MS-7037) 800MHz FSB+GbE LAN+SATA
- Intel 865G Chipset (Dual Channel DDR400)
- 800/533/400MHz(Northwood/Prescott/EE) FSB
- Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2
- 2x Serial ATA-150 + IDE ATA-100
- AGP 8X
- Dual Ch DDR (4DIMM)
- Intel 10/100/1000 LAN
- 6ch Audio $155


Intel 2.8GHz Dual Core $473

Innovision (Inno3D) GeForceFX 5500 – 256MB DDR $115

2 X TRANSCEND 512MB (PC-3200) 400MHz DDR2-400 w/ Reg ECC $300

Seagate Barracuda 250 GB 7200rpm ATA100 $220

Pioneer DVD-RW 16x $120

Power Supply $100


Total Price $1483

Whats your Take ? I would prefer to keep it below $1.2K for the system. Because I want a huge screen.

 

[TMC]

get more RAM. and a big PSU and more fans to cool the system down.

 

[marcwang]

The DDR2 400 ram is super expensive man... I wonder if that 1GB is really that incredible. And fans, I was thinking of minimising the fans to keep noise down.

 

[tao]

that dual core processor will do very very well in photoshop. in fact, benchmarks have shown that the Pentium D is the fastest processor in photoshop. get that instead of single core. in well optimised multithread apps such as photoshop, that 2.8Ghz dualcore will perform like a 5Ghz single core, if there is such a thing, so imagine the speed when using those filters.

but make sure you get 2GB memory if you want something worthwhile for those large images and multi layers in photoshop. otherwise stick with 1GB first and upgrade later.

also, if I am not wrong, that MSI mobo don't support pentium D processor. better check. think only the recent motherboards, 955 chipset? can support and cheapest is $200+.

 

[TMC]

no skipping on items if you want a dedicated machine. 1gb would be the min for PS

 

[i_yagami2]

I gb is not the min, but just optimal for PS... graphics wise, maybe get a better graphics card, so that u wun miss out on stuff when the new windows come out, hehe

 

[DeusExMachina]

Registered ECC Ram is actually slower because of internal error checking, its not required for photo editing. It is generally used only in Enterprise class servers.

 

[Clown]

up the ram to 2gb, switch to SATA, and add a 2nd hdd for archival purposes.

 

[stnicholas81]

Get a mac la~!~

 

[idor]

Get a mac la~!~

or you can wait for next year when apple uses intel.... maybe can have a PC with mac tiger OS... hehhe

anyways, get a SATA raid and do data striping think that is raid 0... your HDD will be a little faster... heheh but that cost $$$

 

[espn]

TMC is right 1GB is hardly enough, I'm using 1GB DDR-400 now, going to pump up to 3GB soon.

Also, why do you use the integrated graphics? Get a seperate graphics card.

 

[espn]

or you can wait for next year when apple uses intel.... maybe can have a PC with mac tiger OS... hehhe

anyways, get a SATA raid and do data striping think that is raid 0... your HDD will be a little faster... heheh but that cost $$$

SATA raid is possible on most mobos nowadays without the need for seperate RAID controllers, but data striping? :think: One HDD down and you lose all your data.

 

[idor]

SATA raid is possible on most mobos nowadays without the need for seperate RAID controllers, but data striping? :think: One HDD down and you lose all your data.

:think: :think: True... how abt raid 5.... cost a little bit more but got redundancy....

 

[nightwolf75]

the new CS2 is really mem intensive. my 1GB on my desktop and laptop sometimes struggles to cope when i open up 2 files. :embrass:

 

[jopel]

Get a mac la~!~

mac, now is 2005 not 80's

 

[Zplus]

Get 2 harddisk instead of one. SATA better. 2 Harddisk allows you to cache seperately which is faster. Dual cores 2.8gHz better then single core 3gHz. You don't need the ECC for a workstation, its used more for servers. Get a good power supply also, like an enermax...

 

[Sjourn]

set another drive as the scratch disk, should be able to increase some performance.

 

[jsbn]

the new CS2 is really mem intensive. my 1GB on my desktop and laptop sometimes struggles to cope when i open up 2 files. :embrass:

ahahaha... brudder, now den u noe da ba wu....

Imagine, I'm running it on a G3. And I can't do anything else if I run CS2. Even with Mail or Safari in the background, I have to pray like siao that CS2 dun crash and along goes the nice B&W I had spent so much time adjusting the RGB colours... ;p

 

[marcwang]

WHats with the DDR2 400 RAMs ? I can easily get the standard DDR rams at a much lower price.... 1 GB DDR2 400 = 2-3GB DDR .

One clarification. Once again, does photo editing require the service of a good graphics card ? Some say no, many say yes.

 

[TMC]

a good graphics card allows faster processing as there is an independent chip doing it instead of drawing resources off the main cpu. also gives better color rendition.