Computer for older Nikon dSLRs

[RaymondC]

Hi, I am working on someone else's PC - not flash. AMD Sempron 2500+, 512MB and

a 80GB HDD. Its a calibrated monitor and I am using Photoshop CS2 and Nikon

Capture NX and Lightroom. The last two not flash.

 

I don't intend to getting CS3 or whatever later. How much do I need to spend on

a computer to give me an idea? I use a D70 and prob get a D2h in the 2yrs time.

Just cos its cheap and I like the vertical grip and the quicker AF - admittedly

I don't need it but its kinda nice and the price is right. I only print max

16x10, the occasional 19x13.

 

I have the know how as I cam source parts individually and put it together. I

thought of maybe the dual cores CPU or maybe quad core if they are not too

expensive, a 2GB memory stick to start off and I can add another 2GB in later if

need be so I can maximise the capacity on the motherboard, just 2 std HDD, maybe

1 extra for external, I don't need a DVD burner as I have it on someone's PC

that I can share at home, for the monitors I thought of getting 2x Sony

Trinitron 21" CRT cos they are cheap and good quality. Can I get away with

$1,000 or $2,000?

 

I don't shoot that much, maybe 30 frames a time when I go out and that might be

2x a month if I travel its about 300 frames a week. 2004-2006 I have been using

a laptop, IBM Thinkpad X20 - Pentium 3 - 600Mhz, 320MB with 20GB and have been

do-able with my D70 files in RAW or JPEG. I only print a few prints out for my

club, after a international trip I may print 25 6x4 at the labs.

 

 

Is $1,000 enough or do I need more. Nothing fancy.

 

 

 

Thanks

[RaymondC]

I also scan my film, only the occasional shot is scanned high reso thou for printing. For that its like up to 4x5 (LF) size is my intention. But I don't need the fastest PC. Print size is again 16x10 or 19x13.

[Matt Laur]

Plenty. Though I'll confess to not understanding your reference to "not flash."

[lex_jenkins]

My PC is a PIII, 850 MHz, 512 RAM, 60 GB HD. Running WinME now 'cause XP crashed and I lost the stupid CD during a move. Other than the crappy unstable OS and not being able to run my old RAW converters, it's fine for my D2H files.

 

Even with my older PII and only 256 MB RAM I could handle 20 MB TIFFs in batch mode using Corel Photo Paint 8. Brushes and complex masks were a bit sluggish but okay otherwise.

 

If you're running WinXP your PC is fine. Don't lose the OS CD. WinME SUCKS! I've half a mind to wipe it and drop back to Win95. In fact, I've half a mind.

[EricM]

Hey Ray man, $800 in parts buys a nice dual core these days with 4 gigs of ram. there's only two hard drives listed here, and i'd raid 0 them. Buy a thrid drive to save your doc's too etc.

 

-Motherboard, Asus31911P5W DH DELUXEP5W Digital Home Deluxe Intel

975X/ICH7R LGA775/1066FSB(C2D/C2Q) DDR2-800 PCIeX16(x2) (CrossFire)

PCIeX1(x2) PCI(x3) SATA300-RAID(0/1/5/10)/eSATA/ATA133 w/

USB2.0/IEEE1394 / 7.1 Audio / Dual Gigabit LAN / 802.11g WiFi / ATX

 

-CPU, Intel 42764BX80557E4600 Core2 Duo E4500 2.2GHz 800FSB Core2 Duo

2.2GHz Dual-Core (C2D) LGA775 w/ 800MHz FSB / 2MB L2 Cache / EM64T / XD

Bit / EIST (65W)

 

-2 x 2gig Memory, Kingston 34412KVR800D2N5K2/2G 2GB PC2-6400 Kit 2048MB

Kit (2x1024MB) 240pin 128Mx64 Unbuffered Non-ECC DDR2-800 Timing CL5

 

-2 x Hard Drive, Western Digital 39654WD5000AAKSCaviar SE16 500GB

SATA-II 500GB 7200RPM SATA-II-300 3.5" w/ 16MB Cache

 

-Video Card, Asus 36046EN7300GT/SILENT/HTD/256GeForce 7300GT 256MB

nVidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB PCI-Express x16 w/ VGA / DVI-I / HDTV-Out /

Supreme Quiet Heatsink

 

-DVD/CD, Pioneer 36278DVR-112DBK 112DBK 18X DVD+-RW Pioneer DVR112-BK

ATAPI Dual-Layer 18X/18X DVD+/-RW (Black)

 

-Case, Antec 39867N/ASonata III 500W Piano Black SECC Steel ATX Quiet

Super Mini-Tower Case (3x5.25"/2x3.5"V/4x3.5"H) w/ USB/eSATA/Audio Ports

on Front / 1x 120mm Exhaust Fan / 500W ATX 12V v2.0 24pin Power Supply

[camaro377]

Ray,

These are my specs on the computer that I built last November for $1200 ASUS P5K MB,Intel 2.4 C2D 4 core, 2 GIG Ram, 2 Sata 300 500 GB hard drives and (2)

SaTa DVD (ones a burner), and a Quadro 1500 PCIe video card

(purchased in December)

I run CS2(photo editing),Roxio(dvd burning and slide show creation), Pinnacle V11 (for video creation and Edit),and Solidworks (CAD Design)

 

Runs them all magnificently, Don't go any less then a duel core

[tim_knight]

Ray, My son just bought a 2.4 dual core with a 20" monitor for $800 at Sam's Club. Add the taxes and warranty and you will close to $1000.

[Rene11664880918]

Just a comment..... My life became so easy after switching to Mac. I still have 3 Windows PC

but I only use to back up my pictures. Good luck with your comp.

 

Rene'

[pete_s.]

For best performance vs. value I suggest getting one of HP Compaq's medium spec business machines and add extra memory and harddrives yourself. Windows XP 32bit is what you should get.

 

For instance something like this for $650:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/12454-12454-64287-321860-3328896-3252512-3253418-3439311.html

And add another 2GB (now 3GB total) for instance Kingston generic and a second SATA harddrive if you need more storage.

 

You'll have a working machine right out of the gate and a 3 year warranty too. You can have dual monitors without buying something extra but I believe one has to be connected through DVI.

 

Peter

[RaymondC]

Thanks .. when I said "not flash" - I mean not the best. Not the grandest.

[eric_arnold]

ray,

you can certainly get something nice and fast for that price.

you'll save more by building it yourself -- maybe $800 as opposed to $1000-$1200 preassembled.

 

my laptop recently bit the dust, and i didnt have time to dither around. i went out and bought a dell vostro dual-core 2.12ghz from their small business line, and customised it with 4gb ram, a 250g HD (have 2 external HDs already with 370gb), 2 cd/dvd burners, 8 usb 2.0 ports,fire-wire and a built-in media card reader (a cheap, but nice feature to have). it comes with a 19" flatscreen monitor that's tack-sharp at 1600x1000 res (not bad for a kit monitor!). paid a bit more, maybe $50-$75, for some add-ons like power strips and portable USB flash memory (for laptop transfers). total price with tax and overnight shipping was around $1200, it would be about $125 less with 3-5 business day shipping. the performance is nice and fast, no prob running multiple apps.

[eric_arnold]

ps get windows xp pro, avoid vista!

[EricM]

yes, avoid vista. but i'd go 64XP personally. aside from being a faster os over 32 bit, you can utilize an extra gig of ram as well over 32 bit xp, and keep your photoshop preference set at 100% (when you have 4 gig installed). ram is super cheap these days, and ps loves ram. and when Adobe finally goes 64 bit, you'll be ahead of the game :) and just may wish to install another 4 gig of ram and fly! Less viruses and rootkits too for 64 bit, but you'd never put your workstation online, would you?

[eric_mudama1]

The absolute #1 upgrade to the system specs you listed would be more memory.

 

Memory is very cheap now, you can probably get 2GB for $50-60.

 

Once you've done that, THEN decide if you need to spend more money. Pocket the remaining $940 once you realize that only RAM is what you needed.

[oskar_ojala]

A bit over $1000 should be good...

[mfophotos]

Heck, go to the Dell outlet online. I picked up a Dual core machine running at over 2 GHz, 1 gig RAM, 250 GB HD, integrated card reader, Windows Vista and did not need a monitor, as I already had a nice LCD. My cost was about $400. I have had no problems at all with Viata -- and the system replaced my Mac mini.