Which PC for digital image processing

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hi,

Having moved to a dSLR from a digital P&S, I want to start using the
RAW mode. That means the need for a lot more processing power,
something my PIII-650Mhz with 256MB RAM isn't very well equipped for.
So I am looking for a new PC now. But I haven't been in touch with the
latest processor/pc technologies, so I will appreciate
feedback/comments on:

1. How much difference does the new PCI Express make to PCs over the
older bus technology? I read the theory behind PCI express and it seems
like it will give a major boost to PC performance but I want to know,
practically, how much difference does it make?

2. AMD vs Intel P4 HT - How much difference in performance do you get
with P4-HT over regular P4. Does AMD have an equivalent and how does it
compare to the Pentium?

Ofcourse, all this is wrt to applications like Photoshop. I don't care
how do these systems handle database transactions or video intensive
gaming.

Mac zealots, please excuse ;-)

Thanks,

Siddhartha
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Since I was "hunting down" a system recently (but bought a
Konica-Minolta Z3 instead :D), I will brief you here:

If you want a new PC for graphics editing - Intel with HT, get at least
3.0Ghz (better buy the new socket 775, so you can upgrade later with
the same motherboard) with at least 512RAM. My favorite is AMD, but for
graphics processing Intel solutions are better - Hyper Threading comes
in really handy.

PCI-E is double the speed of AGP8x. The funny thing is that there are
no cards on the market that have reached the speed of AGP8x, not to
mention that of PCI-E. At this point, this is just a commercial trick.
But if you get the new 775 socket Pentium processors, your motherboard
will probably come with a PCI-E slot.

If you want to play games, get a X600 or X800(Pro even), for image
processing X300 will be nice - almost cheap PCI-E card, just to have
something to plug your monitor to :)) You only need 2D card for
graphics processing, but I don't think you will see a 2D PCI-E card on
the market :)

Ask if you have more questions!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

i've owned a lot of pc's over the years (starting with a TRS-80 and
progressing through CP/M machines, various PCs and a series of Macs).

given the way economies of scale (another way to say "Dell") have
changed things, i find it works best just to follow the price curve.
buy what the market (and a crazy sense of what is "obsolete") makes
cheap, and upgrade as the parts you want fall off their price curve.

if i was buying today i'd grab this system exactly as offered:

Dimension 3000 P4-2.8Ghz/533Mhz Bus Desktop 512MB DDR400/80GB, 48x
CDRW, Ethernet, Modem, 6 months ISP, Word Perfect, XP Home SP2, 2yr
warranty $349 after $100 rebate, shipped free. (from
www.techbargains.com)

if i needed upgrades, i'd get them seperately (ether from watching
techbargains for good deals, or by going to www.newegg.com).

i'd run something like that for a year or so, and add memory when a
killer deal popped up.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Nice system, although what I had in mind what something with a more
powerful processor, as graphics editng requires just that. From what I
see, this system uses the old Pentium processor, which pretty much
limits the upgrades in the future. Still, at this price, it is a
bargain, so I would go for it - although I don't see the video card,
hope it is not motherboard embedded :)
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 27 Dec 2004 01:47:26 -0800, "Siddhartha Jain"
<losttoy2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Having moved to a dSLR from a digital P&S, I want to start using the
>RAW mode. That means the need for a lot more processing power,
>something my PIII-650Mhz with 256MB RAM isn't very well equipped for.
>So I am looking for a new PC now. But I haven't been in touch with the
>latest processor/pc technologies, so I will appreciate
>feedback/comments on:
>
>1. How much difference does the new PCI Express make to PCs over the
>older bus technology? I read the theory behind PCI express and it seems
>like it will give a major boost to PC performance but I want to know,
>practically, how much difference does it make?

PCIe is currently only being used for video; ad they are for braging
rights only,as AGP is still fast enough for current top-of-the-line
cards. Such cards are all about video rendering speeds for 1st person
shooter games, and are not needed at all for picture editing. So PCIe
shouldn't be a priority for editing of pictures.
>
>2. AMD vs Intel P4 HT - How much difference in performance do you get
>with P4-HT over regular P4. Does AMD have an equivalent and how does it
>compare to the Pentium?

If you're using PS, then the Intel with HT will get you a small
advantage over AMD. How small? In a year, it might add up to a coffee
break.
AMD 64 processors are ready now for a 64-bit OS; problem is, a 64-bit
Windows won't be on the shelf until 2006 at the earliest.
>
>Ofcourse, all this is wrt to applications like Photoshop. I don't care
>how do these systems handle database transactions or video intensive
>gaming.

IMO, either Intel or AMD will serve well; 3.5 GHz or higher (higher
costs more, of course), and a Gig of RAM, and you'll be as fast as it
gets.

Good luck!
>
>Mac zealots, please excuse ;-)
>
>Thanks,
>
>Siddhartha

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"
 

hunt

Distinguished
Jul 24, 2004
183
0
18,630
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <1104140846.394081.195380@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, losttoy
2000@yahoo.co.uk says...
>
>Hi,
>
>Having moved to a dSLR from a digital P&S, I want to start using the
>RAW mode. That means the need for a lot more processing power,
>something my PIII-650Mhz with 256MB RAM isn't very well equipped for.
>So I am looking for a new PC now. But I haven't been in touch with the
>latest processor/pc technologies, so I will appreciate
>feedback/comments on:
>
>1. How much difference does the new PCI Express make to PCs over the
>older bus technology? I read the theory behind PCI express and it seems
>like it will give a major boost to PC performance but I want to know,
>practically, how much difference does it make?
>
>2. AMD vs Intel P4 HT - How much difference in performance do you get
>with P4-HT over regular P4. Does AMD have an equivalent and how does it
>compare to the Pentium?
>
>Ofcourse, all this is wrt to applications like Photoshop. I don't care
>how do these systems handle database transactions or video intensive
>gaming.
>
>Mac zealots, please excuse ;-)
>
>Thanks,
>
>Siddhartha

You might be best served by doing a Google.Groups search of the two Photoshop
NG's, alt.graphics.photoshop and comp.graphics.apps.photoshop. This has been
discussed in detail in both groups with some great suggestions. Many posters
have weighed in on the AMD v Intel aspect, and there are a lot of excellent
suggestions on the HDD setups. In short, processor speed isn't quite as
critical as is RAM, and proper HDD configuration. Graphics busses are not that
big a deal with 2D graphics apps like PS.

PXIe, or whatever the acronym becomes might be a boost in graphics
performance, and may one day be a great buss for other aspects as well. Right
now, you will be hard-pressed to find useful cards in this spec, though that
might change soon.

I'd say to get a good processor(s) and spend the $ on RAM and several large,
fast HDDs. Running SATA on two sets of four physical HDDs, giving you the eq
of 2 physical HDDs is a good way to start. PS will really use the extra HDD
space for Scratch Disks and does best with separate physical HDDs, not just
logical HDDs.

Good hunting,
Hunt
 

hunt

Distinguished
Jul 24, 2004
183
0
18,630
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <1104142368.444427.75140@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
dkaloyanov@gmail.com says...
>
>Since I was "hunting down" a system recently (but bought a
>Konica-Minolta Z3 instead :D), I will brief you here:
>
>If you want a new PC for graphics editing - Intel with HT, get at least
>3.0Ghz (better buy the new socket 775, so you can upgrade later with
>the same motherboard) with at least 512RAM. My favorite is AMD, but for
>graphics processing Intel solutions are better - Hyper Threading comes
>in really handy.
>

One note here: Photoshop doesn't see HT as well as it does multiple
processors. In many instances, HT can actually slow PS. However, if you do
work with several programs open at once, it might go unnoticed. I have it on
my laptop with last month's hottest Intel processor & 2GB RAM, but limited
HDD, and it runs much faster on an old dual P-III with 1.5GB RAM, no HT, but
SCSI 360 RAID and 4 HDDs. Note - this is for Photoshop only.


>PCI-E is double the speed of AGP8x. The funny thing is that there are
>no cards on the market that have reached the speed of AGP8x, not to
>mention that of PCI-E. At this point, this is just a commercial trick.
>But if you get the new 775 socket Pentium processors, your motherboard
>will probably come with a PCI-E slot.
>
>If you want to play games, get a X600 or X800(Pro even), for image
>processing X300 will be nice - almost cheap PCI-E card, just to have
>something to plug your monitor to :)) You only need 2D card for
>graphics processing, but I don't think you will see a 2D PCI-E card on
>the market :)
>
>Ask if you have more questions!

I agree with the buss statement. And, for PS and 2D, almost any good card will
play well. Matrox has some strong, older 2D cards. There is no loss on my
workstation with Matrox 450G 64MB and dual 1600 rez 21" monitors v my laptop's
128MB one monitor at 1700 rez. I may add Matrox Parhelia 256MB, but only to
get the 3rd 21" screen, not to help PS.

Hunt
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 27 Dec 2004 06:03:49 -0800, user_one@odograph.com wrote:

>i've owned a lot of pc's over the years (starting with a TRS-80 and
>progressing through CP/M machines, various PCs and a series of Macs).
>
>given the way economies of scale (another way to say "Dell") have
>changed things, i find it works best just to follow the price curve.
>buy what the market (and a crazy sense of what is "obsolete") makes
>cheap, and upgrade as the parts you want fall off their price curve.
>
>if i was buying today i'd grab this system exactly as offered:
>
>Dimension 3000 P4-2.8Ghz/533Mhz Bus Desktop 512MB DDR400/80GB, 48x
>CDRW, Ethernet, Modem, 6 months ISP, Word Perfect, XP Home SP2, 2yr
>warranty $349 after $100 rebate, shipped free. (from
>www.techbargains.com)
>
>if i needed upgrades, i'd get them seperately (ether from watching
>techbargains for good deals, or by going to www.newegg.com).
>
>i'd run something like that for a year or so, and add memory when a
>killer deal popped up.

Hey THANKS!!!!!

I was looking for a system for my Father in Law to replace an aging
box and this is a deal.

Wonderful!!

Chris
===========================================================================
Chris