Quote:
Originally Posted by amk1977
It really depends on what software you are going to be using on the computer.
Personally, I would steet clear of a laptop as you are very limited as to what you can upgrade, and for the price a decent laptop will cost you, you could have bought a better desktop computer. I would also avoid PCworld, Mesh and other large system builders. Find a reputable small systems builder, who will give you face to face support if needed.
As for the hardware, a fast processor is a must, as is at least 4GB of RAM. Photoshop and similar software and plug-ins can be very memory intensive and some applied effects can take several minutes to execute.
I currently have an Intel E8600 Core 2 Duo, which is overclocked to 4.33Ghz, together with 8GB of DDR3 RAM and an ATI 4870-X2 graphics card. Its all been superceded by the I7 cores etc but, its still damn fast.
You'll also want a decent amount of storage space. You can get 1TB and 2TB hardrives for reasonably cheap nowadays. I'd opt for two 1TB drives for storge/back up. That way, should a drive fail, you have your images and PSD duplicated on the other drive.
For increased speed, I have a smaller (140GB) 10'000 RPM drive for my operating system. For storage I have a 1TB 7200 RPM internal drive and a 400gb external, although I will be getting another couple of 1TB drives for storage, as and when I can.
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Ok thanks very much! I have nothing like those specs on my PC now! It does work for photo editing, but could do with somthing with a bit more speeed... I was looking at an Apple Imac, the price is a bit high though...