skyboy said:
Hi all,
As I what to buy a computer and I want use it mainly for view and edit photos from digtial camera.
So want to know what is the min and ultimate requirement for a Computer System to do digital imaging editing? eg, monitor, graphic card, CPU, RAM, ......
Good Day
Rgds
SKy
You could go the cheaper AMD route or the slighty more expensive Intel route. Both are good performers.
A good motherboard based on the nForce2 ( currently still the best chipset for AMD ) plus a 2600 or better AMD Athlon Barton chip runs around $250-300. An Intel 2.6GHz CPU plus a good board is slightly more. In general, the Intel CPU+Board tend to be a little more expensive (about $100++ more) than the AMD equivalent, except at the very high end ( > 3GHz ) where the diff is smaller. Note : prices for the above are based on BUNDLE prices in Sim Lim Sq. Prices will be higher if you are not buying as a bundle.
No matter which CPU you choose, the rest of the system are the same.
You add on plenty of RAM ( around $130 per 512MB ). You'll need at least 512, preferably 1GB. Photoshop sucks up plenty of RAM. I use 512 MB and already I get the "low memory" error from XP if I work on more than 1 file.
Use a good fast harddisk. A SATA or PATA with 8MB (like the Western Digital WDCxxxJB series ) is about the fastest harddisks you can get, excluding SCSI. A 120GB is around $180 or so.
Video cards : there are 2 camps. The Nvidia FX camp and the ATI Radeon camp. Both make great cards with great 2D and 3D capability. At this point in time, the ATI's tend to have slightly better image quality, so ATI is probably a better bet here. This is a very religious issue, and many Nvidia fans will disagree. Well, I've been using NVidia cards for the last few years, and I'm also a NVidia fan, but the fact is that the ATI has caught up and even surpassed Nvidia in quality and speed. Depending on your budget, there are the low end 9200 series, the mid-range 9600 series, and the high end budget busting wallet burning 9800 series. Prices are around
150+, 200+ and 500+ respectively. Add $50-$100 more if you are getting the PRO or XT ( ie, higher performance ) variants. If you don't play games, a regular 9600 ($200, 128MB video ram) is more than enough, and has enough firepower for any occassional 3D games you might feel like playing.
As for monitors, well, most people like LCDs because they are small and sleek. But CRTs are good too. A good high end 19" CRT can be had for less than $700, whereas the equivalent LCD would cost much more. Yes, you can get cheap 17"LCDs, but these are entry level models, not good high end ones. I can't vouch for their quality. Perhaps someone who knows more about LCDs can make a recommendation. I've always liked Samsung monitors, and in fact am using the 19" SyncMaster 900NF, one of their better monitors based on the Mitsubishi Diamondtron CRTs. No complaints so far
Summary (assuming AMD system, approx price ):
AMD 2600 Barton + Abit NF7S nForce2 board + casing : $400
RAM 1GB ( 333MHz, 2x512) : 250
Harddisk (120GB WD1200JB ) : 160
Video card ( ATI 9600 ) : 200
Monitor : 700 ( more if you get a good LCD )
KB+ Mouse : 50
=========
Total : 1760.
If that's too expensive, you can replace the video card with something cheaper ( around $100 ), or settle for a good 17" CRT ( $300 ) or a cheaper 19" ( $400+), or reduce your RAM to 512MB ( $120 ). That will bring your cost down to around $1500. This is still far better than getting one of those Dell or HP systems for $1299 but using the cheapest lousiest parts they can find. The beauty of specifying your own system is that you can totally customize it to fit your budget and performance target. If you have more cash, you can always specify a faster CPU, a faster video card, or more ram and bigger harddisks.
