Hardware suggestions

[derek6870]

I'm finally getting to the breaking point with how slow my computer processes my large image files. I currently use canon eos software with CS4 on a 5 year old PC with 3gigs of ram.


Posting your current setup that works for you would help.

Thanks
Derek

 

[Raian-san]

What's your budget?

 

[derek6870]

About $1,500. I would really like a laptop if possible for portability but do not want to sacrifice any speed.

 

[Raian-san]

1,500$ you can build a top notch PC. i7, 6 gb tri-channel rams, any 1GB graphic card, case, 2gb hard drive, 1 SSD, 24-32 inch monitor and have a few hundreds extra to spare. Do you play games? If not I would just recommend a 13' macbook pro now with i5 processor, and a 24-26' monitor and you have both laptop and desktop.

Anybody else wanna help? I'm not a PC laptop person so I don't know, I have a PC custom built desktop with i7 and a Macbook pro on the go. But if I only had to choose one option right now, Macbook pro, last year model had a core 2 duo processor which isn't even as close as the i5 13' now. I would go with Macbook pro right now if I can only spend money on one.

P.S. I have no problem editing photo on my Macbook pro Core 2 duo right now, I'm only pissed off with my video rendering because 2 core takes way too long. 40 minutes to render 1 minute of HD video? eeeehhh i7, 3 minutes video, rendered in 10 minutes wooootttt. This year Macbook Pro is twice as fast as last year, this model is the model I wish they had last year. GL with your decision.

 

[Gaerek]

Before this de-evolves into a Mac vs. PC debate, do you have a preference? That way we can keep this thread civil, and maybe you'll get some useful information out of it.

 

[KBM1016]

I use a Toshiba laptop and it's great. Just make sure you have plenty of RAM, that is what will make your computer faster.

 

[KenC]

You also need to say what you mean by "large image files" because the amount of RAM you need varies greatly depending on this. I have raw files from a 16 MP camera processed in DPP or ACR into 8-bit tiff files, often with some cropping, so my working files in CS5 are about 30-40 MB initially and anywhere from 50-70 MB with additional layers. My 21" iMac (from last August) has 4 GB RAM and handles everything I do pretty much instantly. However, if you have a higher initial MP count, work in CS5 with 16-bit files, or add many additional image layers, or some combination of these, then you probably would want more RAM.

 

[derek6870]

Before this de-evolves into a Mac vs. PC debate, do you have a preference? That way we can keep this thread civil, and maybe you'll get some useful information out of it.

I was tipping towards a Mac but not married to it. I really would like the portability of a laptop. This machine will only be used for photography/Photoshop.

 

[derek6870]

You also need to say what you mean by "large image files" because the amount of RAM you need varies greatly depending on this. I have raw files from a 16 MP camera processed in DPP or ACR into 8-bit tiff files, often with some cropping, so my working files in CS5 are about 30-40 MB initially and anywhere from 50-70 MB with additional layers. My 21" iMac (from last August) has 4 GB RAM and handles everything I do pretty much instantly. However, if you have a higher initial MP count, work in CS5 with 16-bit files, or add many additional image layers, or some combination of these, then you probably would want more RAM.

I'm shooting in raw with my Canon T1i and working in CS4. File sizes are similar to yours.

 

[Gaerek]

Before this de-evolves into a Mac vs. PC debate, do you have a preference? That way we can keep this thread civil, and maybe you'll get some useful information out of it.

I was tipping towards a Mac but not married to it. I really would like the portability of a laptop. This machine will only be used for photography/Photoshop.

Even though I'm a PC person myself, if you want a Mac, go for it. Can't go wrong with a Macbook Pro.

Out of curiosity, any reason you want Mac over PC?

 

[derek6870]

Before this de-evolves into a Mac vs. PC debate, do you have a preference? That way we can keep this thread civil, and maybe you'll get some useful information out of it.

I was tipping towards a Mac but not married to it. I really would like the portability of a laptop. This machine will only be used for photography/Photoshop.

Even though I'm a PC person myself, if you want a Mac, go for it. Can't go wrong with a Macbook Pro.

Out of curiosity, any reason you want Mac over PC?

I've always used PCs & just seem to load so much stuff at startup and continue to use a lot of resources.

 

[Raian-san]

Are you a student? Or know anybody who's a student? You can get $100 off Macbook pro 13'. If you live around Micro Center, they have Macbook pro for $999, awesome price. Yeah I say go with the Macbook Pro 13'. Spend another $150 or so on monitor, keyboard and mouse and you're good to go.

I have had Apple laptops since 2004 iBook. It never fail on me and never had a problem with it. No worries about virus, hardware and etc. I'm not bringing up the PC Vs. Mac because I have both but laptop wise, if you want a piece of mind, go with Macbook Pro. Especially this year model, it'll be future proof for awhile with the new i5 processor. You would then have a new desktop and laptop, but up to you. GL.

 

[unpopular]

I use a two year old 15" Unibody Macbook Pro which we got for around $2000. I've had some battery and internal temperature/fan issues, SMC and PRAM resets seems to have fixed it. Battery performance never was what they promised. But it never is, I don't think.

Macs are well built, and i think that is a big thing of what you are paying for. I am not sure that it's really worth the premium, but using Mac OS is for me. I also have a windows partition. On the laptops anyway, running windows is pretty clunky and it runs very hot, though I have not updated in a while. Apple doesn't include a lot of the selling points that PC manufacturers do, like built-in card readers or a million audio outputs, stuff that is nice to get excited about but isn't really that important.

 

[lyonsroar]

I edit on a Lenovo with 1 TB HD, 4 GB DDR3 ram. It is capable of running CS5 extended and DynamicPhotoHDR at the same time, + iTunes and often at least on Chrome Browser window.
I also have a 23" Acer screen.

Whole setup cost me less that $600.

Also sheck this thread:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ery/236188-looking-fast-computer-editing.html