New PC Recommendations?

[VegasGeorge]

I'm just about fed up with my PC. When I get a new one, I want one that will boot quickly, load Photoshop quickly, and handle large image files quickly. It should also be quiet. Just the box, I still like my monitor.

Any recommendations for a PC?

What video card works best with large image files and post processing?

[robertwgross]

I think many new PCs are fast enough to do just about everything you want... except for launching Photoshop quickly. What a pig! I have one older editor program that will launch and be ready in about two seconds. Photoshop CS... you wait, you go for coffee, you wait some more.

On a new machine, just make sure you have a fast processor, plenty of RAM (1GB min), plenty of disk, and then the rest of it will come along.

---Bob Gross---

[lostdoggy]

Have you consider the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Dual Core in a liquid cool case with 4GB of dual channel DDR 4 SATA HDD in a RAID configuration and 2 IDE HDD Running Windows X64. Set it up turn it on and don't turn it off, which will alleviate your boot up issue.

[VegasGeorge]

Originally Posted by robertwgross

... except for launching Photoshop quickly. What a pig! ... you wait, you go for coffee, you wait some more.

OK, so it's not just my machine or just my experience. Photoshop CS2 is SLOW.

What about the time it takes to bring up thumbnails of Tiff files in a folder that has 20 or so of them?

[Bosman]

ever consider Apple?

[robertwgross]

Originally Posted by VegasGeorge

What about the time it takes to bring up thumbnails of Tiff files in a folder that has 20 or so of them?

That is more a function of the operating system and also the size of the TIF files.

On my XP system, if a folder of my 20 TIF files (of say 24MB each) has been previously viewed, then all of the thumbnails are there and ready in about a half second. If the 20 TIF files are new and not previously viewed, then the system has to generate thumbnails in order to display them, and that takes about 2-3 seconds per thumbnail to generate that the first time.

---Bob Gross---

[Citizensmith]

Originally Posted by Bosman

ever consider Apple?

Oh yeah, the media player company. You mean they make computers too?

Go with whatever will be easiest for to use. If you are plenty familiar with windows stick with it. If not, Apple are a great suggestion for ease of use and stability. Look to spend around $750 to $1000 and you'll get a decent system. As others have said, 1gig of RAM, a 64 bit processor and lots of drive space are all things to look for. Additionally you should get a DVD-RW drive now they are so cheap. As for the graphics card, for 2D work it doesn't matter tonnes although Matrox seems to be the way to go. If you are ever likely to play games then get something with an Nvidia or ATI chip. Just don't get something with onboard graphics, make sure its a separate card.

[mikaelo]

Originally Posted by Bosman

ever consider Apple?

I personally wouldn't get an Mac at this point of time. I want to see how they will do with their new X86 based system before getting burned on that one again. I used pre-PPC mac men PPC came out. Had a new dual 400 when OS X came out...just to find out that the graphics is below spec for their 3d based screen rendering. Why they would sell that system configured like that is beyond me (bought directly from apple) unless the HW folks don't speak with the SW folks. But isn't that whay the Mac's is supposed to excell - the HW and SW developed together?

Now I use a AMD64 3400 and is fairly happy with it.

[blue_max]

I have macs and have had several for a couple of decades now. The truth is that they are only really good for a couple of years. You can get along for more, but technology moves so fast that it not really practical to keep trying to upgrade them. I have always added more ram and bigger hard drives, but nothing else makes any financial sense. If they slow to a crawl, then it's time for a new wizzy one.

I do think that pc's are the same.

Buy what you can afford and justify to do what you do (if you use if for a living).

You probably can't actually buy a 'bad one' these days (tell me if I'm wrong).

The mac will port over to Intel processors within the next twelve months, but it's probably best to avoid the initial machines until it settles down. You can feel confident in going for a mac today if you so choose.

If you feel a pc if for you, then Dell do some good discounts from time to time on their website (pricing errors occur occasionally!).

You will be blown away by any new pc, so enjoy choosing.

Graham

[johnlo]

I do find it to be slow when starting up Photoshop CS2. I'm using a P4@2.8 w/ 768mb RAM.... so I know its fine. I went back to CS instead because I dont like that few second delay.

[lost]

This is the system that I built and it screams. Pentium D 2.8 ghz overclocked to 3.2 ghz. 1 gig Crucial DDR2 Ram, Ati x700 Pro 256MB, 250gb Seagate SATA w/NCQ. All that plus a few odds and ends cost me $900. That was in my existing case. CS2 loads in about 10 seconds and takes advantage of Dual Processors.

The main reason I went with the Pentium D was for Video Rendering. I can encode MPEG-2 at awesome speeds. I am almost to 1:1. ie. 1hour video takes 1hour to encode in Premier Pro 1.5.

[Nidz]

Photoshop CS is slow.. Depending on how many other external plugins you got. If you just install it normally it will load faster than loading up a PDF document in Reader.. Add all the fancy plugins and it gets heavy. Even on my P4 2.53ghz pc which is by all means not new. Just make sure you jam in lots of RAM as the new Windows that is comming out will be hungry for it. If i was doing picture editing i'd get a big hard drive, a dvd burner 16X or above and a nice sharp screen. Maybe even dual processor if you could afford it.

[thomascanty]

I've never had any complaints with CS2's load time. I think it only takes my computer about 10-15 seconds to go from "click on the icon" to "ready to work". I'll have to time it when I get home. My PC is a 2 year old Dell 2.4Ghz P4 with 1Gb and I have three or four plugins installed in Photoshop.