Build your own PC
 

Back in early 2006 I upgraded my pc based on a component list that Nirofo shared in post 15 in this thread using some of my existing components but taking that processor & motherboard as a starting point, and I've since upgraded to 2Gb RAM

It has served me well but me thinks nearly 3 years on that the time has come to move on again so what would anyone's current recommendations be without spending the preverbial arm & leg. I'm not planning on running Vista (pah) so

AMD or Intel processors?
Dual core or more?
What motherboard?
Graphics card?
etc?

My main "power" applications are Photoshop (of course), Lightroom (which can be slow in version 2.1 using the new gradient filters & adjustment brushes) & Video Studio 12 which takes a loooooong time re-rendering even short videos

I used to build all my own PCs for many years. These days I find it's more cost effective to buy a ready-built Dell. I can get a complete machine for typically less money than the bits I need to buy to do an upgrade. Dells aren't the most rip-snorting machines, but they do everything perfectly adequately well, offering very good value for money.

Have a look on the factory outlet site for base unit only deals, as you presumably don't need monitor/KB/mouse. There's some bargains to be had if you look hard enough.
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/de...=uk&l=en&s=dfo

Vista is much better since SP1 came out, haven't had any issues with it.

Both my sons built their own machines after careful consideration of components but say that they did not really save any money but have satisfaction and the exact machine they wanted. To get the best 'bang for your buck' and make no mistakes on the hardware side takes a good working knowledge of an ever changing market. They both have this but I would not have a clue so would just buy off the shelf. Hope you enjoy it!

Hi Gidders

Pleased to hear you built your current PC based on the components I reccommended to you, here's an updated list of good components that won't cost you the earth but will give you a large improvement over the one you're using now. The spec is similar to the PC I'm using at the moment, it handles Photoshop CS4, Nikon Capture NX 2.1 and Lightroom 2 with no trouble at all and is very quick, in fact I'm able to have all 3 open together if I need to. Although Win XP doesn't recognise the 4.0Gb of Ram, Photoshop etc, is still able to make use of it and your computer runs faster than if you only had 3Gb.

All the best.

nirofo.

See EBuyer list with quick find codes below.

http://orders.ebuyer.com/customer/shopping/index.html?action=c2hvd2NhcnQ%3D


OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY.
Quick find code: 116755. £23.57 ea 2 off (4.0Gb). £47.14


ASUS M3N78 SE nForce720D Socket AM2+ 6 channel audio ATX Motherboard.
Quick find code: 152578. £54.95


AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1GHz Socket AM2 1MB L2 (2x512KB) Cache Retail Boxed Processor.
Quick find code: 149211. £67.81


Sapphire HD 3650 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card.
Quick find code: 140585. £56.65


Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM.
Quick find code: 124228 £51.62ea. 2off. £103.23


LiteOn 20X SATA DVD1RW/RAM Black, Beige & Silver Bezels, Nero & Power DVD – Retail.
Quick find code: 149314. £18.43

Total Inc VAT: £348.20
Shipping Charge: £14.93
TOTAL = £363.13

Hi there Clive, dare I say it, for about the same money you could get the Mac Mini.

Agreed, but the above specification would be similar to high end iMac performance which would not be that cost.

I have built a good few windows PC's (including 64 bit OS with 16Gb of RAM) and also own a (very) high end laptop running Vista with 4 Gb of RAM.

I run Lightroom (V1 & v2) and CS3 on the above and in general I am very unhappy with the performance, especially if you compare it against my iMac below.

I bought the 24" iMac last year, primarily for my photography work as graphic designer friends were telling me how much better they worked with Photoshop et al. I have to agree, there is just no comparison and I personally think it's down to Windows not handling the software as well, whatever the hardware you use.

OK the Mac's are more expensive, but no way do you get the same performance even if you spend the same money on PC's and Windows (I have tried for clients).

If you don't beleive me then try the following: open 100 x 1 Mb jpegs in Photoshop on your PC (if it will let you) and batch process them - say do a 50% crop. Your PC will likely crash - if it doesn't then open 200 images and repeat. The Mac will do this with ease.

OK not a real world example, but I'm trying to show how much better a Mac handles the processing of images. I actually don't know what the maximum number is before the Mac will throw up its hands - but I have batch processsed over 600 images.

I will not buy another PC, but instead buy Mac's and run windows on them if I need to.

Hi Gidders

Did you ever manage to upgrade your computer, if you did what spec did you eventually end up with ?

nirofo.

No - I've recently bought a Canon 40D partly because if does do some things better my 20D and partly because I'm doing a few commercial shoots and felt I needed a spare body just in case.

I chose this over the 50D because
a) the were mixed write ups over the 50D particularly at high ISO performance levels &
b) as it was "only" 10Mp my existing PC set up can handle that were as moving to the 15Mp 50D would have definitely need a PC upgrade as well as the camera upgrade and my wallet said "ouch" :rolleyes:

you need to know exactly where to fix in your parts else you might be losing both you time and money