Buying a PC specd for photography

[stephen patience]

<p>Folks,<br>

I have a tired laptop and am looking to upgrade to a new desktop PC. I also have an Eizo coloredge monitor, Epson r2400 printer, calibration gear and a Nikon d200. I use Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.<br>

The PC is my last pieceof kit to set me up. If you had gear like I've described and spend lots of your hard earned cash on good gear, how would custom spec your PC? What is ideal for the happy amateur? Thanks for your thoughts. Stephen</p>

[ken schwarz]

<p>I built my own PC with a Q9550 processor, 8GB of RAM, NVIDEA graphics card, and Vista 64. It's very stable (much maligned Vista has been a joy) and extremely fast. Heat is a problem with faster computers, and here is where your troubles can begin. Make sure you buy a computer with adequate interior room for a big heatsink and large fans to keep the CPU cool and circulate air through the chassis. The larger the fans, the slower they can run. The slower the fans run, the quieter the PC! So, make sure the case is large. That's my hard-won advice.</p>

[brad_smith8]

<p>Once you know your budget, go for the best that fits it. If you can get an i7 with 12GB plus a fast hard drive (or better yet a RAID0 setup) you'll be as happy as a clam rarely waiting for anything. Go 64 bit to make use of >3.5GB RAM. Windows 7 is one fast OS.</p>

[dan_mccarty1]

<p>I have a HP Media PC. Can't remember the model number or CPU processor but it was a $800ish system a few years ago. It has a quad core and 4GB of RAM and 750GB drive. Its mostly fast enough. I use NX2 and photo/file opens and saves are "slow" in that they take 5ish seconds. With quite a few browsers, applications, and NX2 open memory usage stays around 2.5 GB. I don't think I have ever seen the CPUs pegged at 100% doing photo processing. CPUs are around 30%.</p>

<p>I have looked at getting a SSD drive to for the OS and applications to speed things up but what I would need I can't afford. :)</p>

<p>Photo processing is very disk intensive. Some of the TIFFS I generated from NEFs this weekend were 50MB. They add up quick. I have a 500GB drive to hold TV recordings that is full. Another 1 TB drive is backing up my internal drive. Soon I will have to get another 1-2 TB drive for photos..... And another drive to back it up... Never thought I would see the day where my PC would have 2.25 TBs. Much less need MORE space. lol</p>

<p>Don't forget a decent UPS and backup software for the system.</p>

<p>Later,<br>

Dan</p>

[creann_pieroni]

<p>If you buy anything - DO NOT buy HP ... when their systems fail they refuse to help their customers. I'm looking at one of the higher end Sony VAIO systems with external hard-drives (the ones robbed from my failed hp!). In this day and age, customer support is as important as the system itself.<br>

All the best,<br>

Creann</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>I'd recommend a local clone maker (I use pcsforanyone.com here in the Boston area). That way you'll be able to get service if needed (not needed if you like to tinker with hardware). </p>

<p>I bought a Dell several years ago. Tech support calls were routed to India and they sent me replacement parts that I had to install myself. Never again!</p>