A Spanking New Photoshop Machine

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Wolfsbane2k

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
228
Morning.

I've recently gone and migrated from 35 mm film to digital, and am working in 6 mega pixel RAW files and massive photoshop posters etc - and it's been 3+ years at least since i last upgraded (1600+ Amd XP with 756mb ram) , so it's rather slow :rolleyes:

I'm looking at the following to run Photoshop on...

Athlon 64bit 3500+ 939pin 512kb L2cache 90nm Retail (inc Fan)
XFX GeForce 6800 GT PCI-E 256MB DDR3 TV + DUAL DVI (Might as well play games)
Corsair 1024MB (2 x 512MB Matched Pair), DDR400 / PC3200, CL2
Asus A8N SLI SKT939
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80gb, Sata Ncq 3.5lp 7200rpm 8mb (RAID 0)
Cooler Master Centurion 5 in Silver
7 In 1 USB 2.0 Card Reader Black
Antec TruePower 480 12V AC 480W ATX
Some kinda DVD Writer
Windows XP Profesional.

Total cost is bang on £1k. :eek:

Any recommendations? Really not sure wether AMD or Intel for Photoshop, but that seemed the best bang for buck incuding memory allowance. Willing to overclock on air, but silence is important.

Already got Nikon Capture 4 and Photoshop CS for windows, hence staying with windows rather than moving to mac.

Also not sure if i want to spend the money on the 6800GT or buy a 6600 GT and buy another 1 gig ram (add another 6600 GT in 6 months when i can afford it) - i really don't play that many games nowadays - prefer the camera! Need Dual Video Output though - currently running 2 19" CRTs at 1600x1200

Or dump the mobo and case and go shuttle SN95G5V2, but not sure about heat and silence.

Sorry for starting a war, but thanks in advance!

Wolfsbane2k
 
No need for the 6800 on a photoshop machine. Also i would get2 300 gb hardrive not sata you need the space for raw photos. And you are going to want tokeep the originals, middle, and end peice. And 2 gigs of ram would mean much faster response.
 
i'd def recommend more ram if you are going to be dealing with large posters. You will definately benefit from it.
 
aggpirate said:
No need for the 6800 on a photoshop machine. Also i would get2 300 gb hardrive not sata you need the space for raw photos. And you are going to want tokeep the originals, middle, and end peice. And 2 gigs of ram would mean much faster response.
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I agree wholly with his statement. Keep with the Intel rig though. It has been proven many times that an Intel HT system outperforms a AMD system WHEN the Intel optimizations have been added to Photoshop.
 
umm, don't flame me on this one, but if i was going to get a machine exclusively for PS, i'd look into getting a mac.
 
i agree w/ many of the statements here.

if stuck w/ a windows machine:

1) get much more ram in there. 2gbs would probably be enough. if you have the money, heck, why not get 3gbs.
2) if youre gonna play games, might as well get the 6800 GT. id recommend a BFG 6800 GT OC though.
3) definately get much larger harddrives. id say 2 300gb or 400gb drives.
4) id probably get at least a 520-550W PSU to power that system

but id highly recommend a PowerMac Dual 2.5GHz G5. im sure you can 'acquire' Photoshop CS for Mac. but if youre running a business, then stick w/ the PC, just to make things legal.

and if price is a big deal, then just get XP Home. you dont really need Pro for a Photoshop machine. and then you could always get the 6600GT if you dont game much and need the money.

but definately get at least 2gbs of RAM and far larger HDDs. everything else is at your discretion.
 
I have a mac and I would say that the my windows machine is much btter fr it. Macs cost alot of money when you are looking to get good products. I would also get good quality ram.
 
Seriously look into Intel, and if you can wait (since you ARE throwing quite a bit of money at this machine), wait until dual core comes out. Those processors will be the best for photoshop.

2Gb of RAM is a necessity, and definately look into larger hard drives, perhaps a partitioned 400gb hitachi.
 
Pixeleet said:
umm, don't flame me on this one, but if i was going to get a machine exclusively for PS, i'd look into getting a mac.
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LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p :eek: :D :p
 
Everyone has their own personal opinion, but ridiculling a person because their own beliefs is not inline with you may believe, is not beneficial to the individual posting the thread. Nor is it beneficial to the community as a whole as well. If you have a constructive comment to make, then please post it. Otherwise, take a good dose of STFU.

I ask you all to please keep the B.S. away from any thread. If you have constructive advice to give, please do so. If not, than please refrain from making a statement that would not be conducive to the subject matter at hand.
 
Heya,

Thanks for the opinions - keep em coming in!

The 300 + gig hard drives your recommending? Don't worry - i'm going to dump my old 1600 + into my server which has 4x 300 gb discs in RAID 1, plus backup dvd rw - you know the drill ;)


AceGoober said:
I agree wholly with his statement. Keep with the Intel rig though. It has been proven many times that an Intel HT system outperforms a AMD system WHEN the Intel optimizations have been added to Photoshop.
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I've been scouring the web for days now trying to find a photoshop comparision benchmark - something like running a batch filter (edge sharpening, emboss, etc) on an a0 image across amd 64's and intel machines, but not had much luck. Can you point me in the right direction? What about 64 bit amd64 (windows 64) compared to intel?

Dual Cores - Yeah, i know. Drooling at the thought. Cost implications worry me though! :eek:

Having already paid the £600 for the packages i'll stay with windows thanks. yeah, if i'd thought about it i'd have gone mac but don't want to throw that money away!

Found the 6600GT vs 6800 GT vs 6600GT SLI benchmarks this morning - have decided to go the 6600 GT line and sli it in 6 - 8 months. Means i get 2 gigs of matched ram.

Staying with XP Pro cos i've got a licence already for it.

As for prices, i'm stuck to £1024.45. including delivery - that's all that's left in my account for the end of the financial year - the camera & 4 new lenses took care of all my other floating cash!
 
coffee33 said:
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

?

Macs shit on PCs in more or less everything cept gaming. Video, Audio and Photochop.

Side Note: G5 Dual 2.5 is actually faster than dual opteron 250 for linux :)
 
FunkStar said:
?

Macs shit on PCs in more or less everything cept gaming. Video, Audio and Photochop.

Side Note: G5 Dual 2.5 is actually faster than dual opteron 250 for linux :)
Click to expand...
:eek: and macs are for homos,windows is a straight man machien :D
 
What ever system you get, you should get a 23"LCD :) love mine when I work with large photo's.....
 
I didnt read through the thread, but my machine below is for my photoshop work. Get a Raptor for the main drive and a good 300GB for files. Go with Intel HT and 2 GB of Ram. A nice vid card like that will be a waste for only Photoshop.
 
Wolfsbane2k said:
Heya,

Thanks for the opinions - keep em coming in!

The 300 + gig hard drives your recommending? Don't worry - i'm going to dump my old 1600 + into my server which has 4x 300 gb discs in RAID 1, plus backup dvd rw - you know the drill ;)



I've been scouring the web for days now trying to find a photoshop comparision benchmark - something like running a batch filter (edge sharpening, emboss, etc) on an a0 image across amd 64's and intel machines, but not had much luck. Can you point me in the right direction? What about 64 bit amd64 (windows 64) compared to intel?

Dual Cores - Yeah, i know. Drooling at the thought. Cost implications worry me though! :eek:

Having already paid the £600 for the packages i'll stay with windows thanks. yeah, if i'd thought about it i'd have gone mac but don't want to throw that money away!

Found the 6600GT vs 6800 GT vs 6600GT SLI benchmarks this morning - have decided to go the 6600 GT line and sli it in 6 - 8 months. Means i get 2 gigs of matched ram.

Staying with XP Pro cos i've got a licence already for it.

As for prices, i'm stuck to £1024.45. including delivery - that's all that's left in my account for the end of the financial year - the camera & 4 new lenses took care of all my other floating cash!
Click to expand...

Everything looks great.. but really.. dual core is THE upgrade that will make things fly for you ;)
 
All of these processor recommendations only apply if he's frequently using complex filters and is an impatient man. I've had no problems with my Dothan @ 2.2 GHz, hardly a processor you would associate with Photoshop.
 
xonik said:
All of these processor recommendations only apply if he's frequently using complex filters and is an impatient man. I've had no problems with my Dothan @ 2.2 GHz, hardly a processor you would associate with Photoshop.
Click to expand...

I'm not always an impatient man, but the last time i ran a filter on a poster i was doing ( customised filter set ) it took 9 hours to run on my 1.6 gig machine.Only to find the contrast went slightly off on the final image because i'd forgotten to merge the level adjustment layer - so i had to do it again :(

Rather annoyed me!
 
dual opterons all the way, www.barefeats.com and this will show you how good an opteron is for photoshop. and now you can have sli to go with that :eek:
besides, imho, 1.8ghz dual opteron system is dirt cheap compared to a dual 1.8 apple
 
ufster8 said:
dual opterons all the way, www.barefeats.com and this will show you how good an opteron is for photoshop. and now you can have sli to go with that :eek:
besides, imho, 1.8ghz dual opteron system is dirt cheap compared to a dual 1.8 apple
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot!

Hmm, now looking at 2x 244 opterons for this beast.

Doesn't seem to have been a lot of innovation in the opterons motherboards recently though that i can find - pci express etc. Never looked at server config machines before - PCI X etc... always dealt with desktop stuff.

ECC reg RAM though - ow :|
 
RandysWay said:
I didnt read through the thread, but my machine below is for my photoshop work. Get a Raptor for the main drive and a good 300GB for files. Go with Intel HT and 2 GB of Ram. A nice vid card like that will be a waste for only Photoshop.
Click to expand...


the man is right. I had a similar machine as his before going AMD. I noticed an increase in gaming performance going the AMD route but lost the crisp instantaneous feel in Photoshop.

I am splitting hairs here but my Intel rig was noticabley smoother in PS ...especialy when i had other progies running.
 
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