Upgrades for Computer

tenlientl · Oct 15, 2008

That old PC I stated was $2.5k when I got it. That's a long time ago. This laptop was $2.5k but I use it for everything else like I said(or did I).

I was thinking around $600 for just photo editing. So far I've gathered min. 4gb ram, dual core(for some reason Intel is WAY better than AMD these days), a dedicated video card, and firewire. Most MBs have firewire anyways, right?

I'm staying away from 500GB and higher though. I would actually rather have a faster hard drive for the OS and where the pictuers I'll be editing. I can just use an external hard drive to back them up.

Txaggie08 · Oct 15, 2008

Wait for nehalem to come out this winter and you will see current pinrin prices drop like flies.....

Also consider a good board with Crossfire support(nvidia chipset are bunk(the newest ones anyway), and ATI is outperforming nvidia by a good margin). With CS4 allowing offloads to unused GPU space, seriously consider a pair of 3870's or 4850's. For a high speed main drive, the velociraptor 150's are out now, I have the three hundred....

Is that the XPSC res top btw puppy? Nice looking rig, looks like a tdc, a DDC with XPSC res top, and maybe a swiftech rad(or BIP??)? I like that case btw, I just can't remember the name on it. I really want to go to a UFO or one of DD's purpose built acrylics, ut I don't see it happening till after I get a camera.

My current loop is based on a DDC wiht a DD top, BIPIII and a fuzion.

usayit · Oct 15, 2008

tenlientl said:
Most MBs have firewire anyways, right?

As of the announcement this week the new MacBooks (non-pro) don't have firewire....

Yes.. it sucks...
Yes... the Apple community is pissed. ( so am i)
Oh well.. I'm happy with what I have...

PuppY_K1ck3R · Oct 15, 2008

Txaggie08 said:
Wait for nehalem to come out this winter and you will see current pinrin prices drop like flies.....

Also consider a good board with Crossfire support(nvidia chipset are bunk(the newest ones anyway), and ATI is outperforming nvidia by a good margin). With CS4 allowing offloads to unused GPU space, seriously consider a pair of 3870's or 4850's. For a high speed main drive, the velociraptor 150's are out now, I have the three hundred....

Is that the XPSC res top btw puppy? Nice looking rig, looks like a tdc, a DDC with XPSC res top, and maybe a swiftech rad(or BIP??)? I like that case btw, I just can't remember the name on it. I really want to go to a UFO or one of DD's purpose built acrylics, ut I don't see it happening till after I get a camera.

My current loop is based on a DDC wiht a DD top, BIPIII and a fuzion.

Actually this is a DD acrylic top. My loop is not as cool as i want it to be mainly because of the air bubbles. For some reason, the damn pump makes this strange buzzing sound when the loop is 95% full. So its either the noise or airbubbles I would have to live with. sigh

. If I had a choice like you, i would go for the DD acrylic case since it is cheaper and more pleasing to the eye compared to the UFO. good luck and put up pics.

PuppY_K1ck3R · Oct 15, 2008

Hey tenlientl I'll make u a build list from new egg for a $600 PC. shoot me ur email on my PM.

Txaggie08 · Oct 15, 2008

Y'all wanna see a fight better than nikon or canon, let's get about half of OC forums over here and have a throw down about nvidia/ati....

jvgig · Oct 15, 2008

you are not going to be able to fit a 10k drive into a $600 build, unless you skimp on everything else.

dont wait for nehalem, they are not going to be out for several months, and even when they do surface, they will only be server models which will not affect the penryn prices.

For your budget I would look at a q6600, 4gb ddr2 ram, 640-1tb hdd, low mid range dedicated video card and a motherboard to support it all. If you look around for good prices, you should be able to get it all with your current case and psu for around 6.

Txaggie08 · Oct 15, 2008

Uh.....no. Nehalem will be available in consumer based applications starting around 300$ at the end of this fiscal year.

http://www.nehalemnews.com/

Penryn prices have already fallen as of late, and the older C2D chips are floating around for next to nothing(I built an entire system for a guy this summer for less than 400$ on a C2D)

table1349 · Oct 15, 2008

There is no beating this Mac Pro setup:

Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon - Processors
32GB (8x4GB) - Ram
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s -hard drive
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s -hard drive
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s -hard drive
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s -hard drive
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB -Video Card
Two 16x SuperDrives
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard + User's Guide
Quad Channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express Card
Xsan 2
Aperture preinstalled

Total Price - $22,096.00

Ok, now that I am done dreaming here is what I ordered.

Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
4GB (4x1GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard + User's Guide
Aperture preinstalled

Total price = $5,297.00
The 23" HD flat panel and the two 1TB drives are the price killers. There is at least $2,000.00 in those alone.

usayit · Oct 15, 2008

Part by part.. no one is denying that Apple is more expensive....But there is more to a Mac than the sum of the pieces.

Also.... you are comparing parts ordered directly from a branded name manufacturer to parts purchased via a third party retailer. This is like comparing hard drives from Sun or IBM to Tiger direct...

I think what gryph was saying was if money was not an issue, then there would be no reason ~not~ to buy the entire thing built and shipped from Apple... For the rest of us, that just isn't possible.

For example.... An Apple user will not purchase memory from apple ($500 per 2gb) but would go through a third party (ex: macsales.com) which has memory for $100 per 2GB. Just like in the PC world, there are cheaper alternatives for MAC as well.
Another example.... The hard drives for $100 you listed are just as usable in your PC as in a MAC. In fact, mac sales has them for cheaper.

Please explain why 30 inch dual-link dual monitor setup is too large???

Your reasoning is the same as business units think that Dells servers are a cheaper and just as good as servers made from more premium manufacturers.

Must we always degrade this to an Apple bashing? There's a reason why Apple is still popular among the graphic artist realm although not the exclusive tool.

Txaggie08 · Oct 15, 2008

So, ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB or
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Add $150.00) will do just fine.

Mac has support for crossfire now doesn't it? If so, at least get a pair fo cards capable of supporting bridged x-fire and not dongles.

frXnz kafka · Oct 15, 2008

Bifurcator said:
Really? LR2 says 1 gig min spec. LR1 says 512mb or 768 depending on whether you believe the readme or Adobe's site. How often do you run LR2 in 512mb?

I don't run it that often, I prefer to use Photoshop, but I use it to import my files from the CF card and occasionally use it for editing. Like I said, it's kind of slow, but it works.

Mystwalker · Oct 16, 2008

If your budget is $2500, you can get a VERY VERY top of the line machine.

If you do not want something to play every game possible with max resolution, you can get away with $800-$1000.

I prefer Intel Core 2 Duo. I will only consider the 8000 and 9000 series (E8400, P9600, soemthing like that) because they have 3MB and 6MB internal cache - this is BIG in having your processor run apps faster. You will spend between $150-$250 depending on which chip. My favorite store is "newegg.com" (I do not work for them). I think your $2400 machine has a Quad Core Extreme CPU - that thing probably go for over $1000 by itself - OVERKILL

If you are not concerned about playing every game at max FPS with all features "ON" - look for a motherboard that do not have SLI (dual gfx card) - this will save you at least $50-$100. For Photoshop or Lightroom 2, I also recommend a m/b that supports 16mb RAM - I think I only found one below $200 ... again, newegg.com

I am not sure newegg.com's RAM matching works so you need to be extra careful. You will most likely need/want qty 4 of the 4mb - total 16MB. Or any other combination - try to buy in pairs of the same type - I believe this will make memory accessing a bit faster.

For graphics, I believe the 9800GTs will give you the most bang for the buck (not taking ATI into consideration because I have not compared them) - they cost between $100-$150. I suspect the 8500 graphic card will also work well - you can get these for under $75 - I play games so did not shop 8500s. Yeah yeah, I prefer NVidia over ATI.

Vista 64 - very important to get the "64" version - I'm assuming you want the oodles of memory for PS and LRII.

If you are in US, I recommend playing around in newegg.com - for me, they are the B&H of computer components - PLUS they are open more days then B&H

Just checked out "ncix.com" - there must be some kind of import tax or something because CPU pricing looks like 25-50% more.