PC Hardware

<p>I am looking to buy a Dell PC for photo editing. Please can someone advise on the hardware. What specs should I look at? What type of Ram, Harddrive, video card etc..?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Matt</p>

<p>Go for the best of each that fits your budget.</p>

<p>Any good desktop model that fits these specs:</p>

<ul>

<li>Intel i7 CPU</li>

<li>6G RAM</li>

<li>7200 RPM HD (most desktops have good HDs now anyway)</li>

<li>Good video card, like a decent NVIDIA or ATI (photo editing programs are not nearly as tough on video cards as 3D, so most are up to the task)</li>

<li>24" Monitor, preferably one with an IPS display (better for photo editing).</li>

</ul>

<p>Lastly, get a good quality external HD for backup. I'm guessing you'd hate to lose all your pix due to a single HD failure.</p>

<p>Also, specify a 64 bit version of Windows 7. With 6 gigs or so of memory you probably won't get into many situations where Photoshop will write to a scratch disk while processing a file but just in case, a second onboard HD is not a bad idea. You may also want to go to a dual monitor setup at some point in the future, so you might confirm the video card you specify has dual monitor outputs.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info......What about types of RAM, does that make a difference?</p>

<p>Check out the Dell Studio XPS 9000 product line using the info above to pick out your options.  Get two internal hard drives.  The hard drive for your images should be 1TB. I would back up my images to two external sources.<br>

Do not select selet RAID 0.  I would not select any RAID  option. Joe Smith</p>

<p>And make sure you get an eSATA port for external hard drive. </p>

<p>eSATA blows USB and Firewire out of the water as far as speed. I specced a new PC 7 weeks ago and couldn't be happier with my eSATA externals.</p>

<p>What about USB 3.0 ports? Are they out there?</p>