Upgrade PC

[JamesP]

Hi guys,

I'm studying photography at the moment and I have been thinking about what type of PC I should upgrade to. So does anyone have any ideas of what the best PC for photography is at a good price?

Thanks

[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 Its all been superceded by the I7 cores etc but, its still damn fast.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.

[KeithT]

Laptops are not the best in the world for photo editing. I recently had a new computer built by a local boffin and I am very pleased with it. I researched my needs on the internet by looking at various blogs and even went into Dell and had a look at machines that would suit me, making a note of processors and other component parts. I then researched the case and went for an Antec midi with built in power unit and three fans for just under 70 quid. I chose an Intel I3-530 Dual Core processor. I stuck to 32 bit with 4 gig of RAM and had a separate graphics card with its own power to save on RAM. I had 500 gig of harddrive, but have just short of 1 tb of external drive storage as well. This computer is powerful enough for Photoshop CS4 and the raw files from my 5d and soon to be 5dMKII. The cost was just short of £700. My screen is an HP2207 wide screen which I have had for a couple of years now and all is fine for photo editing. I had Windows 7 pro installed as the OS all in for the price quoted.

[JamesP]

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.

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...

[JamesP]

Originally Posted by KeithT

Laptops are not the best in the world for photo editing. I recently had a new computer built by a local boffin and I am very pleased with it. I researched my needs on the internet by looking at various blogs and even went into Dell and had a look at machines that would suit me, making a note of processors and other component parts. I then researched the case and went for an Antec midi with built in power unit and three fans for just under 70 quid. I chose an Intel I3-530 Dual Core processor. I stuck to 32 bit with 4 gig of RAM and had a separate graphics card with its own power to save on RAM. I had 500 gig of harddrive, but have just short of 1 tb of external drive storage as well. This computer is powerful enough for Photoshop CS4 and the raw files from my 5d and soon to be 5dMKII. The cost was just short of £700. My screen is an HP2207 wide screen which I have had for a couple of years now and all is fine for photo editing. I had Windows 7 pro installed as the OS all in for the price quoted.

That does sound pretty good. Thanks!