what do you guys think about this for PC for cs3

[johneric8]

I'm trying to purchase pretty soon I have lots of work to get done.. My emachines has taken a dump...

I'm liking the dell but this sounds good, what do you think?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pavilion-Elite-M9250F-Desktop-PC-M9250F/sem/rpsm/oid/207308/catOid/-12962/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#proddesc

[ryannbaker]

I would think that is a decent computer for CS3. It's got a good amount of space (1TB) and 4GB of RAM (which is definitely good). The Quad processor will help out a lot with processing (as I've heard/read, I don't have one so I don't speak from experience). That will definitely get the job done.

[johneric8]

I would think that is a decent computer for CS3. It's got a good amount of space (1TB) and 4GB of RAM (which is definitely good). The Quad processor will help out a lot with processing (as I've heard/read, I don't have one so I don't speak from experience). That will definitely get the job done.

yeah that is what I thought... I have been going back and forth trying to figure out what will help Bridge and photoshop perform better and faster in regards to a PC.. As far as the big box stores like Best buy and circuit city this PC seems to have the most... I'm not sure if the FSB is going to get it done but I'm hopeful. One other thing I'm worried about is not having an extra hard drive so I can allocate info to a separate scratch disc. With a Pc like the one I linked to is a separate drive really going to make that huge of a difference?

[safehaven]

As far as running Photoshop and Bridge, it will be just fine.

As to some of the other features... Have you ever used Vista? If you have not, I would highly recommend testing Vista out before you buy anything. If you do not like it, there is still time and options to get an XP system. Do you play computer games? HP's definition of "high end video card" differs greatly from what a lot of people would consider high end. Are you planning to use it as a TV? If not, maybe the extra money for the tuner would not be justified.

The biggest concern I would have is that the 4GB of memory is 4X1GB. I am guessing that the 4 sticks of RAM are using all of the memory slots on the mobo. That means if you ever want more RAM, you will need to "waste" 2GB's to open up the slots for the new RAM.

Just some other things to think about:)

BTW, I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for when you are asking aobut a separate drive, but the build you linked to has 1000MB hard drive (2X500MB). So there are, indeed, 2 separate hard drives.

[johneric8]

As far as running Photoshop and Bridge, it will be just fine.

As to some of the other features... Have you ever used Vista? If you have not, I would highly recommend testing Vista out before you buy anything. If you do not like it, there is still time and options to get an XP system. Do you play computer games? HP's definition of "high end video card" differs greatly from what a lot of people would consider high end. Are you planning to use it as a TV? If not, maybe the extra money for the tuner would not be justified.

The biggest concern I would have is that the 4GB of memory is 4X1GB. I am guessing that the 4 sticks of RAM are using all of the memory slots on the mobo. That means if you ever want more RAM, you will need to "waste" 2GB's to open up the slots for the new RAM.

Just some other things to think about:)

BTW, I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for when you are asking aobut a separate drive, but the build you linked to has 1000MB hard drive (2X500MB). So there are, indeed, 2 separate hard drives.

Yeah, I don't care about the tuner or games, this is only for photo editing that is it... I'm going to network to my old pc to use internet... Even with the tuner it's still the best option for the money I think... I could be wrong..

[poloman]

I have the Pavilion with the 6600 Quad processor.
It is blazingly fast. You will be very happy.
Don't be afraid of Vista. It runs very well on that machine. There are a few tricks you may need to get older software to run. PM me if you run into trouble.
Cs3 loads and runs in 4 seconds on my machine!

[sidx001]

ok, a couple of things that hit me right off...1. It's Windows Vista 64bit system. I would be careful there, not much is geared to run on the 64 bit systems. I believe that CS3 and Lightroom are, but I know that you have to buy a special edition of MS Office if you are going to use it on 64 bit. 2. I would toss the NVIDIA 8600 card and get the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 XT. It's awesome with high end graphics and makes calibrating your monitor so much easier.

my .02

[johneric8]

I have the Pavilion with the 6600 Quad processor.
It is blazingly fast. You will be very happy.
Don't be afraid of Vista. It runs very well on that machine. There are a few tricks you may need to get older software to run. PM me if you run into trouble.
Cs3 loads and runs in 4 seconds on my machine!

If I decide to get the Pavilion I will most definitely give you a shout if I run into trouble. I can most likely get away without a few programs working on Vista because I still have my Emachines with all that stuff on it and the computers should be networked together if all goes well.

Thanks again Poloman!

[johneric8]

ok, a couple of things that hit me right off...1. It's Windows Vista 64bit system. I would be careful there, not much is geared to run on the 64 bit systems. I believe that CS3 and Lightroom are, but I know that you have to buy a special edition of MS Office if you are going to use it on 64 bit. 2. I would toss the NVIDIA 8600 card and get the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 XT. It's awesome with high end graphics and makes calibrating your monitor so much easier.

my .02

My plan is to use the new system only for photo editing thats it.. My old PC will be doing all the dirty work, I'm tired of mucking up my photo editing machines with trash and As much as I'm working I really need a squeeky clean PC to edit and save my photos. When I upload my work to my Ecomerce store I can always use the other one if need be...

Do I really need a better graphics card if I don't play games? I have the ps3 for games I never run games on my PC..

Thanks man

[Bobster]

but I know that you have to buy a special edition of MS Office if you are going to use it on 64 bit.
damn i must tell my 32bit Office 2003 off for working on my XP64!

[Bobster]

Do I really need a better graphics card if I don't play games? I have the ps3 for games I never run games on my PC..

Better graphics card would help if you're manipulating 3D graphics in Photoshop, but if you don't plan on doing that, then any old 128MB 10bit graphics card will do :)

[neil_g]

agree with what bobster says you can still run 32bit progs on 64bit platform.. and you dont need anything too special in the graphics card dept for bog standard photo editing

[pcunite]

I'm trying to purchase pretty soon I have lots of work to get done.. My emachines has taken a dump...

This is a cool article one what to look for:
http://goffconcepts.com/techarticles/systems/bestpc2008.html

[johneric8]

This is a cool article one what to look for:
http://goffconcepts.com/techarticles/systems/bestpc2008.html

That was very informative! Thanks for turning me on to it... I'm really leaning toword getting the HP but it has a bunch of stuff I don't want or need like the TV tuner and remote.. I really like it has the 2 quad core and 2 X 500 gig hard drive. What do you think about this particular PC? In case you didn't see it the link is at the top of the page.

[poloman]

I didn't think I would ever need the video tuner in mine. Now a client wants me to do some video conversion work. Glad I have it!

[Moppie]

Yeah, I don't care about the tuner or games, this is only for photo editing that is it...

This machine is sort of a full on home entertainment PC for the person who likes to have the latest and greatest with as much functionality as possible.

In many ways it is over kill for photo editing.

What sort of photo editing?

Are you an amateur looking to edit a few photos a week, or a full on pro looking to process several hundred or more a day?

If the former, then it is complete over kill. One of those if you can afford then who cares type things. But for pure photo editing you could strip a lot of things off it, that would actually let it run faster. Strip some of the fat as it were.

If the later, then in terms of processor and ram, it is perfect, but again there is a lot of excess that will slow it down, and the HDD configuration IMO is not ideal.

Also note, that a 64bit OS will use more ram than a 32bit one (there are twice as many bits to process).
From everything I have read 8GB is the recommended minimum with a 64bit OS.
With only 4GB there is a high chance it will actually run slower than if you had a 32bit OS.



There is an important consideration with any photo editing PC, and that is photo storage, which also has an impact on PS performance, that is the scratch disc.

If you care at all about keeping your photos you need more than 1 copy of them, which is where multiple HDD comes in very handy.
Having multiple discs also lets you operate a dedicated scratch disc for PS.

For example I have:
1x 80GB drive for OS, and PS, plus utility type programs
1x 320GB drive for general data, games, and Photoshop scratch disk.
2x 500GB drives for photo storage. 1 is a copy of the other.
1x 250GB drive, in a remote housing with an E-Sata connection for back ups. This about to supplemented by a 500GB drive in a housing that I will keep off site, and back up to every time I take some pictures worth keeping.

I also have 4GB of ram, an Intel Q6600 Quad Core, and an 8800GT graphics card for gaming.
It all runs on a very basic Intel Dragons Tail mother board.

If you replaced the graphics card with the bare minimum needed to run Vista, and the 320GB drive with a really fast HDD, and hooked it up to a NAS box configured for RAID what ever you can afford.
It would, IMO, be an ideal professional photo editing work station.
Stick a 64bit OS in it, along with 16GB of ram, with 4GB of it running as a virtual disk for PS to use as scratch and it would be even better.

Better yet, if your feeling really rich, get the new Skull Trail board from Intel and put a pair of Extreme Quad cores in it, along with all the ram you can afford.
Just make sure you have a very secure connection to your local power station, and give them 24hrs advance notice before you turn it on. :cool:


The problem of course is buying something that is ideal, from an off the shelf mass market manufacturer.
It simply is not going to happen, as no one mass produces the ideal photo editing PC.

Which means the best way to get what you need is to get one custom made. Either do it yourself, or find a reputable shop.

Or, if you can live with the compromise, or don't care, then buy off the shelf.

[johneric8]

This machine is sort of a full on home entertainment PC for the person who likes to have the latest and greatest with as much functionality as possible.

In many ways it is over kill for photo editing.

What sort of photo editing?

Are you an amateur looking to edit a few photos a week, or a full on pro looking to process several hundred or more a day?

If the former, then it is complete over kill. One of those if you can afford then who cares type things. But for pure photo editing you could strip a lot of things off it, that would actually let it run faster. Strip some of the fat as it were.

If the later, then in terms of processor and ram, it is perfect, but again there is a lot of excess that will slow it down, and the HDD configuration IMO is not ideal.

Also note, that a 64bit OS will use more ram than a 32bit one (there are twice as many bits to process).
From everything I have read 8GB is the recommended minimum with a 64bit OS.
With only 4GB there is a high chance it will actually run slower than if you had a 32bit OS.



There is an important consideration with any photo editing PC, and that is photo storage, which also has an impact on PS performance, that is the scratch disc.

If you care at all about keeping your photos you need more than 1 copy of them, which is where multiple HDD comes in very handy.
Having multiple discs also lets you operate a dedicated scratch disc for PS.

For example I have:
1x 80GB drive for OS, and PS, plus utility type programs
1x 320GB drive for general data, games, and Photoshop scratch disk.
2x 500GB drives for photo storage. 1 is a copy of the other.
1x 250GB drive, in a remote housing with an E-Sata connection for back ups. This about to supplemented by a 500GB drive in a housing that I will keep off site, and back up to every time I take some pictures worth keeping.

I also have 4GB of ram, an Intel Q6600 Quad Core, and an 8800GT graphics card for gaming.
It all runs on a very basic Intel Dragons Tail mother board.

If you replaced the graphics card with the bare minimum needed to run Vista, and the 320GB drive with a really fast HDD, and hooked it up to a NAS box configured for RAID what ever you can afford.
It would, IMO, be an ideal professional photo editing work station.
Stick a 64bit OS in it, along with 16GB of ram, with 4GB of it running as a virtual disk for PS to use as scratch and it would be even better.

Better yet, if your feeling really rich, get the new Skull Trail board from Intel and put a pair of Extreme Quad cores in it, along with all the ram you can afford.
Just make sure you have a very secure connection to your local power station, and give them 24hrs advance notice before you turn it on. :cool:


The problem of course is buying something that is ideal, from an off the shelf mass market manufacturer.
It simply is not going to happen, as no one mass produces the ideal photo editing PC.

Which means the best way to get what you need is to get one custom made. Either do it yourself, or find a reputable shop.

Or, if you can live with the compromise, or don't care, then buy off the shelf.

I'm a Pro so I do tons of photos weekly... I'm just not Pro minded in regards to PC's because I'm really not that interested in them.. I have been running my old T3265 Emachines for 3 years making good money as a photographer I'm sure the HP will be a huge upgrade from what I'm used to.... I don't have time to build my own nor have time to wait on someone to make one for me because as I sit right now I have clients waiting on photos from me so time is of the essence. My Emachines is bogged down and I'm tired of waiting on it.. I'm hopeful that the HP even off the shelf will save me quite a bit of time, and if it does- it was worth every penny to me because time is money...

www.ericyounkinphotography.com

Thanks for your reply and great knowledge Moppie you really know your stuff!

[Moppie]

I'm a Pro so I do tons of photos weekly...


Well, then it sounds like it is the best for you, in your current situation.

You could always buy it, catch up on your work, then if you get a quite week, do some tweaking to it.
Add more RAM, an extra Hard disc, get hold of a proper back up system etc.

As you said the important thing is to keep the business running.
Maybe draw up a plan for the future, so this new one gets upgraded or replaced in 3 years, and you are able to plan for it a little better :cool:

As for the performance, it will be a huge boost!
I am no pro, but I do enjoy shooting, and going from a 4 year old machine to the new one was a huge difference in how quickly I could process photos.

[safehaven]

I don't have time to build my own nor have time to wait on someone to make one for me because as I sit right now I have clients waiting on photos from me so time is of the essence.

Just a thought... My last few systems that I have had built, I had one the same day I ordered it, one the next day, and one took three business days (longer cause I ordered on a Thursday, but didn't get it 'til Monday) Even three days is faster than most standard shipping.

Add more RAM, an extra Hard disc, get hold of a proper back up system etc.

The RAM might not be economical to upgrade. If one were to upgrade to 8GB as you suggested (which I would suggest as well), all of the RAM that is in it needs to be tossed. It is a real shame that manufacturers use all of the memory slots.

[CyberDyneSystems]

My plan is to use the new system only for photo editing thats it.. My old PC will be doing all the dirty work, I'm tired of mucking up my photo editing machines with trash and As much as I'm working I really need a squeeky clean PC to edit and save my photos. When I upload my work to my Ecomerce store I can always use the other one if need be...

Do I really need a better graphics card if I don't play games? I have the ps3 for games I never run games on my PC..

Thanks man

Go ahead and get the x64 bit version,. thsi is the direction things arte going and if you really need 32 bit (for something like driver support for an old printer or whatever) there's no reason to cripple your whole set up with a 32 bit OS for that, yiu can install winXP32 as a dual boot easily enough.

Graphics card should be fine, it has ZERO impact on photo editing.

[Epix]

Building one right now with similar specs for $200 less. Much better video card included as well.

[Moppie]

Graphics card should be fine, it has ZERO impact on photo editing.


What about a 512mb card vs a 256mb card, under a 32bit OS, won't the smaller card let the OS see more system ram if you have a full 4GB, or more?

Obviously not a problem with a 64bit OS, as in this case.

[CyberDyneSystems]

True, but I thought he was going 64 bit Vista..

[Moppie]

True, but I thought he was going 64 bit Vista..


Yip I was just contextualising your statement about graphics cards :cool:

[weka2000]

Just pricing up a 64 bit desktop now ................ umm 1Ds3 files are big esp when your trying to stich panos :rolleyes:
Sometimes 4gig just aint enough.

[Moppie]

There is now a dual quad core intel m/b out.
As well as being perfect for working on those large 14bit files, it also keeps your house warm.

[weka2000]

There is now a dual quad core intel m/b out.
As well as being perfect for working on those large 14bit files, it also keeps your house warm.

Ram needed I could make 4 gig fall over with the 5D :lol:

[pcunite]

What do you think about this particular PC? In case you didn't see it the link is at the top of the page.

Looks ok...