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Thread: RE: Computer

  1. #1
    BPN Member Paul Lagasi's Avatar
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    Default RE: Computer

    First off no Mac :eek:..sorry John... I know some of you love them but I have too much invested in PC software to change now.......
    After a recent Hard Drive crash I decided to build myself a new computer...

    What do you BPN'rs use, what Processor? Motherboard? How much ram? What size drive?

    I want just pure speed during processing....
    I am using both Lightroom, CS5....my temp computer is just to darn slow.

    Lets hear what you use?

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    Hi Paul,

    I would say minimum of an I7 processor. Higher numbers =better performance. I've now put together several i7-950 systems, each with 12 to 24 GBytes of ram. Look through the workflow forum posts for the last couple of months and you'll find at least a couple of discussion on this topic. Get at least 12 Gigabytes (about $400) and quad core cpu. The sysetms I've put together are costing about $1400, not including monitor and keyboard.

    Now if you are up for a little adventure, run linux and install virtualbox and then install windows 7 as a guest operating system in virtualbox (latest version is 4.04). Windows runs natively so everything I've put on (including photoshop) runs fine. But I do some of my work (email, web, some word processing, spreadsheets, etc) in linux. I use rsync to back up files to a second set of hard drives, as will as to older PCs I've converted to linux.

    Since I've gone down this path, I've discovered more things about linux. For example, I clicked on a canon raw image file in the file browser (nautilus) (I meant to click on a jpeg), and up popped the image. The file browser called a program, converted the image and displayed it very fast.

    On that theme, one could do the same thing with a mac and parallels.

    I also discovered I can cut and paste between operating systems.

    Also, the future is USB3. Get a motherboard with USB3 support. It is much faster than USB2.

    Roger
    Last edited by Roger Clark; 04-13-2011 at 09:25 AM.

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    Hey Paul, here's a thread that I started in my quest to build a new, faster machine.

    http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...build-a-new-PC

    Some good info!

    I am still shopping but have settled on an AMD Phenom II 955B processor. It's not the fastest but very good for the money ($139). I will be going with 8 to 12 gigs of RAM also. I want at least 500gb for my C drive and 2tb for the next drive in line (D?). I've not picked a motherboard or a video card yet. I also want a bunch of usb ports (12) and as many in front of the machine as I can! That's the short list for me! Good luck!

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    I bought mine off the Dell Outlet Store for a significant cost savings ("Scratch-Dent"). They don't publicize this option, but enter 'outlet store' into the search term on the Dell website. I've had it for almost a year, and it has been great.

    Dell Studio XPS 8100
    i7-860 quad core (2.8 GHz)
    8GB Ram
    Radeon HD 5450 Graphics Card
    Win 7 Home Premium
    640GB HDD (I had several outboard drives and added a second internal 1.5 TB drive off Newegg for under $100)
    Built-in card reader
    2 X DVD-RW drives

    The whole thing cost me ~$750 last June (including shipping). Unlike the routine new Dell purchase, you buy what they have in stock and there is no delay for them to build it. I haven't looked lately, but they used to have a very large selection of scratch/dent or refurb machines. I can't even see the scratches or dents and it has full warranty. It runs CS5 like lightning.
    Last edited by Ian Cassell; 04-13-2011 at 06:19 PM.

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    BPN Member Chris Ober's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Cassell View Post
    I bought mine off the Dell Outlet Store for a significant cost savings ("Scratch-Dent"). They don't publicize this option, but enter 'outlet store' into the search term on the Dell website.
    Sure they do, Scratch and dent is mentioned on the front page of the Dell Outlet in the description. AFter you pick the type of machine you want to look at, Scratch and Dent is an option under Category you can select to limit the selections.
    Chris


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    BPN Member Chris Ober's Avatar
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    There are Linux versions of Bibble and Lightzone available too if you want some more flexibility with handling the raw files. Not free but they have demos available.
    Chris


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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ober View Post
    Sure they do, Scratch and dent is mentioned on the front page of the Dell Outlet in the description. AFter you pick the type of machine you want to look at, Scratch and Dent is an option under Category you can select to limit the selections.
    I meant that they don't really publicize the existence of the outlet store.

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    BPN Member Chris Ober's Avatar
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    Direct link to Dell Outlet on the front page of Dell.com under the Shop section.
    and
    When browsing their new and current products, directly under the hardware options for selection, there's an Outlet link under the Other Ways to Shop. There's even a link in the main menu graphic for Outelet and Member Purchase that has a few Outlet options under that.



    Last edited by Chris Ober; 04-13-2011 at 07:48 PM.
    Chris


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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ober View Post
    There are Linux versions of Bibble and Lightzone available too if you want some more flexibility with handling the raw files. Not free but they have demos available.
    Chris,

    Thanks. Good to know. I am pretty happy with photoshop and bridge under virtualbox.

    Roger

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