Computer for Graphic Design

D

Dash

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
125
Hi everyone I need your opinions on reccomendations for a computer that will serve me well in graphic design while I am in college. I know everyone in my dept swears on Apple's G5's for doing their work but my question is can I build a computer that will come close to that if that pass that in a PC version since I am not a Mac guy.

Its also very common for me to be working on large files in different programs (ie. making something in Flash, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Photoshop at the same time) AND using winamp or encoding and burning movies with dvd shrink and other high cpu intensive programs in the background. Plus I do play some UT2k4 and Battlefield 2 but its not a priority

My budget is around 1500

Thank you for any help you can provide
 
Graphic design usually requires bit more HDD space than a single Raptor offers. I would also look at getting a second SATA hard drive in the 250GB+ range for storage.

The PSU, I'd focus on getting a good solid built 500W+. Pick up a good Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, OCZ... etc. Don't overlook the PSU, as system stability can suffer from having a shotty PSU.

Other than that, looks pretty good.
 
looks nice, not sure a 7800gt is absolutely necessary for ps2 and flash, unless you also want a nice game rig to boot. maybe look at a 6600gt, save ya 200 bux. maybe lose the xms ram also and go with a pair of 1gb crucial's or something. I just purchased 2 1gb crucials, was 220 shipped from the egg. they are even good for moderate ocing.
 
l337zax said:
Graphic design usually requires bit more HDD space than a single Raptor offers. I would also look at getting a second SATA hard drive in the 250GB+ range for storage.

The PSU, I'd focus on getting a good solid built 500W+. Pick up a good Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, OCZ... etc. Don't overlook the PSU, as system stability can suffer from having a shotty PSU.

Other than that, looks pretty good.
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I definitely agree with l337zax... you would be better off getting a 250+GB hard drive with the 16MB cache instead of the Raptor. (If you can, get two drives....)
 
Thank you all for the help. I don't game much and if I do its UT2k4 or just some demo's but nothing hardcore so thank you for suggesting the 6800gt and ram. Also I am looking at an 500W Antec Power Supply so thank for that also.

I also forgot to add that I already have 2 WD 160 gig IDE 8MB Cache Hard Drives that I was going to use for Storage in the new setup. Should I still switch the 72 GB Raptor for the 250 GB 16mb cache Sata HD?

Thank you again all
 
Dash said:
Thank you all for the help. I don't game much and if I do its UT2k4 or just some demo's but nothing hardcore so thank you for suggesting the 6800gt and ram.
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well if its between the 6800gt and 7800gt I would spring the 100 bux and go for 7800gt, but in your case I would do the 6600gt, great card for about 150 dollars.
 
you don't need an amaaazing GPU - I'd say A64 3700 tops, but try not to go pentium.A decent GPU like an ATi FireGL or imilar'll be good, but to be honest any desktop GPU (non-graphics specialised) will do the job great - look at 6600GT on, X800XL area? Big ol' HDD, 120GB min to start, and 2GB of GeIL RAM - cheap, clocks well if u wanna game and there;s no reall call for more
 
get a cheaper video card, then with the saved money get an X2. Those will help you out with your mult-task programs.
 
I would get the raptor over the 250GB drive. May also want to consider making a dedicated scratch disk partition for PS if you work with large files. I'd also get 2x crucial value sticks as previously mentioned because Corsair ram isn't that great IMO. You may condsider just getting an X2 3800+ to save a few bucks if you're going over budget.
 
Looks good.....I am about to get the 6600 gt, Asus A8N, x2 4400+, 2 gigs of crucial and and a 72 gig raptor for now.


Really appreciate all your help
 
You won't need anything too incredible for PS, Flash, Freehand, Dreamweaver, w/e.

That computer I'd say, is good for video editing, possibly good for Maya and such.

For a PSU, get a 500W OCZ Modstream.
 
Let me tell you something. I'm a graphic designer, and I can do everything I need to (Flash MX, DW MX, PS CS2, etc) on a Pentium 500 with 256MB of RAM and a freaking Voodoo 3 card.

I'd say, if you want to build a graphic design rig. Just get any computer that is half decent in the speed dept, LOTS OF RAM (most important aspect) and a half decent sized HD. An LCD monitor is an excellent addition.

You don't need a Raptor drive, Photoshop won't really make use of a 10k RPM drive (you'll want space for the scratch drive), you'd be fine with a nice Seagate 200GB 7200RPM drive, some Corsair value RAM (maybe 1-2GB if you have money) and a half decent Nvidia graphics card.
 
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