Calling All Nerds!

[Big Sam]

Alrite fellas, i have a question, but first.........a little background information:

I shoot about 50/50 RAW/JPG with my 50D, I currently process my photos on an apple mac g4 (i think ?) using LR and Photoshop cs2. The problem is that it takes so long to do the simplest tasks that i want to scratch my eyes out and bite my face off, im sure you understand.

I started another thread asking if i could upgrade my mac and the simply answer is "not really". Therefore i have decided to go down the PC route. My worry is that if i go out and spend £800 on a pc and monitor, is it going to be capable of processing RAW and JPG files very quickly? Will it gradually become slower and slower and slower? (Can somebody tell me what it is that causes PC`s to slow up) Also what operating system is best to run on it?

Much like a drag racer, speed and not blowing up are the two most important factors, im happy to spend the scrilla, so long as im not going to end up with another lame iDuck.:lol:

[overclicker]

The problem is that it takes so long to do the simplest tasks that i want to scratch my eyes out and bite my face off

Much like a drag racer, speed and not blowing up are the two most important factors, im happy to spend the scrilla

On the first part... leave the respective parts as they are, much cheaper that way, not to mention down-time. :)

On the second part... quickly, as a rule of thumb, get something that is "Vista capable" now, with an eye to Windows 7 when it's released.

Point is, if what you get will run Vista well now, it will run beautifully on Windows 7 when it's released. There is usually a ton of junk bundled with pre-built computers that you will have to remove yourself. Not a problem if you build your own, as you are in control as to what goes in... but you would have to build it. You do have options.

[MaxxuM]

Alrite fellas, i have a question, but first.........a little background information:

I shoot about 50/50 RAW/JPG with my 50D, I currently process my photos on an apple mac g4 (i think ?) using LR and Photoshop cs2. The problem is that it takes so long to do the simplest tasks that i want to scratch my eyes out and bite my face off, im sure you understand.

I started another thread asking if i could upgrade my mac and the simply answer is "not really". Therefore i have decided to go down the PC route. My worry is that if i go out and spend £800 on a pc and monitor, is it going to be capable of processing RAW and JPG files very quickly? Will it gradually become slower and slower and slower? (Can somebody tell me what it is that causes PC`s to slow up) Also what operating system is best to run on it?

Much like a drag racer, speed and not blowing up are the two most important factors, im happy to spend the scrilla, so long as im not going to end up with another lame iDuck.

Windows computers slow down (and crash) due to clutter building up within the Registry, too many startup items, invalid pointers and the amassing of hotfixes/updates. Unless you have good computer habits, cleanup weekly and avoid unnecessary installs Windows can stay pretty zippy. The problem is, most users don't know how to do maintenace on thier OS much less good computer habits. Add virus protection and firewalls and you have even more things that will slow your computer down. Your G4 is likely sufforing a little from clutter too - a complete wipe and reinstall would likely speed you up.

Almost any current PC over $700 (w/o monitor) will do a good job though you will do a bit better getting a quad over a dual CPU. Quad (4 cpu's) processors all begin with Q such as Q6600, dual cores with an E such as E6850 and moble cpu's with T such as T8300. The newest cpu's are the i7 series and they are the 920, 940 and 965 - but they are still pretty expensive - others will be coming out soon. Anything above 1.8Ghz in the Q or E series will do fine and anything in the 2Ghz in the T series will be fine as well. All three i7 chips are way overkill at the moment.

As far as brand and model - everyone has their favorites. Dell, HP/Compaq and Gateway are all fine as are Toshiba, Sony and Lenovo. Personally, I would buy another Mac, but to be fare I'll include a PC of comprable build and quality.

An iMac 24" for around $1,679.99 from MacMall

or

Dell Studio Desktop w/ $500-$800 Monitor - Total around $1000-$1800
(Monitor example would be HP LP2475w)

[nwa2]

There is no need to spend £800, you will get a very capable PC & monitor for under £500 even if you only looked at PC-world and there are many cheaper places.

Go Quad core, plenty RAM (about 4GB), lots of HDD space (at least 500GB) and an external HDD as a backup.

The last pc I bought I built from components, I would not recommend this route unless you have an interest in DIY as it is not any cheaper. The reason I did it was because I had always wanted to and my thinking was that if it went wrong I would be able to fix it (it did and I have).

[HankScorpio]

I wouldn't buy a Dell in the UK, they won't give you a 64bit OS which really should be your choice to use lots of RAM.

Mesh www.meshcomputers.com are spectacular for quality and price and ship 64bit Vista as standard.
You can pick and choose whatever you want in your PC or go for a pre-built like this one which I'd recommend for you (http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=439394).

Also, PCs don't slow down to any great degree even if you don't do any housekeeping but when/if you get your PC, download CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) and run it's registry cleaner once every few months. The registry only gets cluttered if you install and uninstall lots of applications, just using the PC for normal things will not make it slow down at all.

[OdiN1701]

Alrite fellas, i have a question, but first.........a little background information:

I shoot about 50/50 RAW/JPG with my 50D, I currently process my photos on an apple mac g4 (i think ?) using LR and Photoshop cs2. The problem is that it takes so long to do the simplest tasks that i want to scratch my eyes out and bite my face off, im sure you understand.

I started another thread asking if i could upgrade my mac and the simply answer is "not really". Therefore i have decided to go down the PC route. My worry is that if i go out and spend £800 on a pc and monitor, is it going to be capable of processing RAW and JPG files very quickly? Will it gradually become slower and slower and slower? (Can somebody tell me what it is that causes PC`s to slow up) Also what operating system is best to run on it?

Much like a drag racer, speed and not blowing up are the two most important factors, im happy to spend the scrilla, so long as im not going to end up with another lame iDuck.:lol:

The more software and devices, etc. that you load, the slower the system will be - especially if the software is something that installs a service that runs all the time.

My recommendation is to only install what you need, and nothing else. If you keep loading it down with more and more, yes it will slow down. If you add what software you need and leave it at that - you shouldn't notice any slowdown. I've had Vista Ultiamte on my system here for over a year and it's the same speed as when I first loaded it up and loaded my software on.

About $1150 USD is what you are looking to spend - that will get you a nice system - depending on what kind of monitor you want you may want to spend a little more - or if you sell the iMac you may be able to update to something a bit better monitor wise. That's one of the problems I have with the iMac - new monitor = new computer.

[Moppie]

Big Sam, is your G4 an iMac or does it have a seperate monitor?
Chances are you can use the same monitor on a new computer.

As has been mentioned, if you are looking to process lots of RAW's useing LR and PS, then get any spec quad core and 4GB or ram.

Don't worry about processor speed, even the lowest spec quad core will be fine.

And don't get hung up on buying from a big name brand retailer like Dell or HP.

Lots of smaller wholesalers and retailers will build and sell their own computers using off the shelf parts.
This give you a bit more choice in what to get, and will allow you to better choose higher quality parts.

If you can find a local wholesaler then link thier website here, and we can recommend some systems for you, or a list of parts you can ask them to assemble.
This way you can get a high quality system that will be reliable and stable for years to come. :cool:



I've had Vista Ultiamte on my system here for over a year and it's the same speed as when I first loaded it up and loaded my software on.



Ditto for me, and I have loaded lots of extra crap on it, lots of games, the full adobe suit, etc etc.

[neil_g]

I wouldn't buy a Dell in the UK, they won't give you a 64bit OS which really should be your choice to use lots of RAM.

err yes they do. but not on all models.

[Pete W]

err yes they do. but not on all models.

Beat me to it. The XPS models have 64bit... I got one :)

At the moment Dell have some great deals on :)

[neil_g]

Beat me to it. The XPS models have 64bit... I got one :)

At the moment Dell have some great deals on :)

phone them up and HAGGLE!! especially towards the end of the month.

[HankScorpio]

I was told by them that they wouldn't ship a machine with Vista 64bit as they don't support it for home users. Guess I got the token moron they employ.