Hey computer guys - give me some advice on a new comp

[Hippee]

Hey guys -

So. I want to buy a new computer. The one I have now is slow and crappy. I want to do large photoshop files and I also want to be able to edit videos with relative ease. My mom gets a 20% discount at Dell, so I am thinking I might get one of those -

Would Dell be a good way to go? - I don't want a Mac - I don't care how fantastic they are....

What should I make sure to get in order to be able to do large graphic file stuff in photoshop and do video-editing?

- ram? rom? GBs?

Should I get a certain kind of computer and just install extra ram and hd space on my own = cheaper?


Thanks for the help - and have a good xmas

 

[Ghost-Dog]

You didn't mention if you were going to be playing teh roms or not..

 

[Urzas Homelands]

For heavy photoshop/video editing you'll want 2GB or RAM, maybe 1 if you wanna live dangerously.

You also want a big-ass harddrive (140GB maybe) and a nice videocard.

 

[Cranky]

For heavy photoshop/video editing you'll want 2GB or RAM, maybe 1 if you wanna live dangerously.

.

do you really need that much of RAM?

 

[Urzas Homelands]

Yes

 

[c.t.h]

ram is dirt cheap right now

Buy as much as you can afford.

 

[gunrock46]

I do a lot of photoshop work myself as well as a fair bit of editing and get the max you can for the pc you want. Both editing and pshop work are heavy on the ram since photoshop stores shit in ram and editing in avid xpress or premiere both are ram intensive because it stuffs playbacks for scrubbing in ram too.

 

[JHendrix]

Ok here’s some important tips.

Video editing/Photoshop type things will run much better on an Pentium 4, so if you go Dell you’re set in that respect.

Next, if you have more than 1GB of memory you can suffer severe performance issues because of addressing overhead. It doesn’t make much of a difference in server apps, but for multimedia you can definitely see a problem.

If you go Dell I’d recommend the following:

3Ghz Pentium 4
1Gb PC3200 RAM
80 or 120GB Hard Drive

Unless you’re going to play games on the thing then you probably don’t need to get a mega expensive graphics card, so don’t go for the expensive card like the 9800 Pro or FX 5900 unless you want insane frame rates in the latest PC games.

Hope this helps.

 

[gunrock46]

Next, if you have more than 1GB of memory you can suffer severe performance issues because of addressing overhead. It doesn’t make much of a difference in server apps, but for multimedia you can definitely see a problem.

Never heard of that myself. I have 1.5gb in my pc at the moment and have no problems. As a matter of fact with the upgrade from 1 to 1.5 I've finally been able to do the cloth and dynamics simulations in 3dsmax and maya. Aren't you a MAC guy anyways? Maybe that's a MAC issue.

 

[Hippee]

thanks for the replies!

So should I go for 1.5 GB of Ram then?

also... I have a HP Pavilion right now w/ a pentium III and like 30 GB hard drive - I don't know what the other stuff is...

But should I try and upgrade this one or just get a new Dell since I get the 20% discount? The other thing here is that my mom needs a comp - so I thought maybe I could get a new one and give her this one. But if I upgrade this one, we'll have to buy one for her.

Oh yeah - and I won't be playing games or teh romz on it - I dedicate my gaming time to my NGCD

Later.

 

[johnroche]

Never heard of that myself. I have 1.5gb in my pc at the moment and have no problems. As a matter of fact with the upgrade from 1 to 1.5 I've finally been able to do the cloth and dynamics simulations in 3dsmax and maya. Aren't you a MAC guy anyways? Maybe that's a MAC issue.

He goes both ways.

Honestly, I have 640 myself in my G4 12", and I've not had any problems, even with running games, IM clients, iTunes, and Word at once. So... it varies from user to user.

 

[vincewy]

Hippee:

How much does it cost for you to get Dell after the discount? If it's over $700, why not check out other independent builders like

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/home.htm

http://www.abspc.com/

http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

You can get one from them for well below $1000 and you get quality units.

Main brands like Dell, HP, and Gateway have limited ceilings for upgrade, plus their hard drives are filled with spywares with OS not formattable (even worse if you run AOL on them), worst of all, most are made up with junk components which won't last very long, and the customer services are non-existent. Think about it this way, a price tag of $700 at retail level (ie: HP unit at Walmart), when you subtract cost of software (OS and MS Works), company margins and administrative costs (both retailers and manufacturers) and shipping to the store, you realize the hardware you get are total craps.

The worst case scenario is buying high end models from them and get same, crappy customer service (just try Dell, HP, and Gateway). I'd be better off using the same $$ and buy lower end models from a good builders like Voodoo, Falcon NW, or Velocity Micro.

I just had my buddy built a desktop for me and he provided me free software (Win XP and MS Works), my total cost ended up $450, all on hardware, rather than advertising and those greedy bastards' wallets.

 

[slerch666]

Dell is a good way to go if you aren't computer savvy and want real tech support. Their tech support may be based in India but it's still pretty reliable.

If you are comfortable supporting your PC yourself, you can also build your own. That way you get exactly what you want and you know how it's put together. Of course, if you fuck something up, it's your problem to deal with.

Upgrading your current PC may be more expensive than it's worth. Figure out what the parts would cost then compare it to the cost of a new system. If the new system is only $300 more, I'd go for the new one.

And whoever said $700 for a PC, if you are actually looking for the 1.5 GB RAM and the P4 3GHz processor, I don't think you are going to hit that price point.

 

[Seikon]

Two words:

Sony Vaio

 

[slerch666]

Two words:

Sony Vaio

Hopefully they can build a more reliable PC than they do the PS2.

 

[slerch666]

If you are planning on playing with Photoshop, I will also recommend a second hard drive to use as a "scratch disc." If you don't turn the notification off, Photoshop will repeatedly tell you that you get better performance using a second drive as your scratch disc.

And again, if you're going for the specs JHendrix quoted, there is no way you'll hit $700. I can't see you getting something like that for less than $1200 at least.

 

[Earthquake]

I've heard nothing but good things about Dell and their tech support. Even TechTV recommends them if you don't have the know how to build your own. I'll more than likely end up buying a Dell in the future myself.

 

[JHendrix]

If you are planning on playing with Photoshop, I will also recommend a second hard drive to use as a "scratch disc." If you don't turn the notification off, Photoshop will repeatedly tell you that you get better performance using a second drive as your scratch disc.

And again, if you're going for the specs JHendrix quoted, there is no way you'll hit $700. I can't see you getting something like that for less than $1200 at least.

Well if you're going to DIY and you don't need a fancy graphics card or sound card (aka no PC gaming), you can't quite make the $700 mark but you can come DAMN close.

3Ghz P4 = $300
Asus P4P800 Mobo (865PE w/ PAT enabled) = $110
1Gb PC3200 Mushkin Value RAM (2x512 sticks for dual channel operation) = $160

You'd need fill in the rest here:

GFX card: No gaming = $50 graphics card 4tehWIN!
80Gb WD Special Edition = $80
CDRW/DVD Combo Drive = $60
Case w/ decent power supply = $100

Assuming you don't need a monitor, you can wrap it up for about $860 + Shipping.

Of course since our good friend here doesn't seem to want to go the DIY route, I'm sure the similary configured Dell with monitor for $1500 is his best bet.

 

[vincewy]

I've heard nothing but good things about Dell and their tech support. Even TechTV recommends them if you don't have the know how to build your own. I'll more than likely end up buying a Dell in the future myself.

Check Dell's ratings first before you dive in, normally a few complaints don't convince me, but the more I read, they seem to form a pattern

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1867.html

Gateway (kind of scary)

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2053.html

HP

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1397.html


Check other builders' ratings, which easily surpass those 3 companies.

 

[vincewy]

Well if you're going to DIY and you don't need a fancy graphics card or sound card (aka no PC gaming), you can't quite make the $700 mark but you can come DAMN close.

3Ghz P4 = $300
Asus P4P800 Mobo (865PE w/ PAT enabled) = $110
1Gb PC3200 Mushkin Value RAM (2x512 sticks for dual channel operation) = $160

You'd need fill in the rest here:

GFX card: No gaming = $50 graphics card 4tehWIN!
80Gb WD Special Edition = $80
CDRW/DVD Combo Drive = $60
Case w/ decent power supply = $100

Assuming you don't need a monitor, you can wrap it up for about $860 + Shipping.

Of course since our good friend here doesn't seem to want to go the DIY route, I'm sure the similary configured Dell with monitor for $1500 is his best bet.

You don't have to DIY, as mentioned earlier, there're plenty of places that can provide good products and services, the above setup from Dell will go nearly $2000 (P4 3.0 Ghz), if you just move one step down on the CPU, the price will go down drasticly (P4 2.8 Ghz)