1) Photo editing takes almost no video card power. Just get a decent
midrange card. Make sure it doesn't share system memory (TurboCache or
HyperMemory are both code words for 'steals system memory'). An nVidia
7600gs would be plenty. I drive two monitors, one 1920x1200 and one
1920x1080 with mine.
2) 10K drives aren't worth the money, in my opinion. The best bang for the
buck is the Seagate 750GB drive. It is almost as fast as a 10K, since the
platters are so dense, and cheaper. I have 6 of them :)
3) Go for an Intel Core 2 Duo. Get at least the E6600, as it has the 4MB
cache. AMD and Intel leapfrog, but right now, Intel is the top of the heap.
Personally I'd just wait for a sale and get the Dell Dimension 9200 from
their small business site. Loaded, shipped for $873 when I bought mine. XP
and Vista, although those deals are gone.
Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of GMcGrath@xxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 6:47 PM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] ? about specs for new computer
I'm starting to get the itch for a new generation computer, and want to ask
some advice of this august group about the video subsystem, in particular. I
know we've got several IT professionals among our number in addition to
folks
who are heavily into digital processing of photographs.
I started down this road by thinking about getting a new monitor to replace
my aging Samtron 19" CRT. The Samsung 226BW looks interesting. 22"
widescreen,
2 ms response time, 1000:1 native contrast ratio (claimed 3000:1 in
"dynamic" mode, which I understand would need to be turned off for photo
editing). I
don't really have space for a bigger screen. Then I discovered the video
card
in my current computer won't adequately support that monitor. You know how
it works.
I'm thinking about having my local guy put together a new box for me, along
the lines of a fast dual core processor, PCI-E video capability, 2MB
(more?)
of fast RAM, etc. I've been happy processing photos with PS Elements 3, but
will probably upgrade to v 5 if I get a new computer. This will be a Windows
machine to maintain compatibility with my office computers. I'll probably
stick with XP since I think it's a little too soon to jump to Vista.
Questions:
1) What kind of specs do I need on the video card to drive the monitor at
its native resolution (1680 x 1050) and 32 bit color depth, and have enough
on-board memory for photo editing? I don't plan on any gaming or anything
else
that would put more of a load on the video system. Any specific card
recommendations are welcomed.
2) Are 10,000 RPM drives available, yet, and reliable, or is it too soon to
buy one? Are they noticeably faster than 7,200 RPM drives? Is the
cost/performance ratio justifiable?
3) Any other comments are welcomed.
Thanks!
Greg
OM content: I use my computer to edit photos taken on film with my OM gear
and scanned. :-)
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