| Author | Thread |
|
|
04/29/2008 08:56:18 PM · #1 |
For me it's time to upgrade my desktop PC. It's an Pentium IV @ 2.4GH with 1GB of ram, and it's quite slow, especially with lightroom.
So I want to get a good enough but not extremly expensive new one, because after buying the D300, the 70-200 f2.8 VR and the 24-70 f2.8 I'm on a tight budget.
I've seen an HP that seemed good at a reeasonable price. It was an AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.4GH (for what I've read it should compare toa Intel Quad Core) with 3 GB of RAM, running Windows Vista. I'm just affraid that with Vista 3 GB of ram just isn't enough.
What is your opinion and suggestion on ths PC and what do you suggest as a PC configuration?
Thank's in advance.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2008 09:12:35 PM · #2 |
The AMD Phenom's not a bad processor. The new Intel 45nm processors are more energy efficient and have great performance as well. The E8400 is a good bet.
I'd start with a machine that uses this processor, and add 3GB of RAM and plenty of hard drive space. I'd install WinXP, not Vista.
Of the pre-built machines, I'm not the best resource to tell you who's got a solid, reliable box, but I do know that HP has not got the best reputation these days. |
|
|
|
04/29/2008 10:57:33 PM · #3 |
Gateway is back to producing nice machines (off the shelf Motherboards) I got the big brother to this one (Highend nVidia Graphics) for 1099.00
//www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8775809&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat39100050018&id=1204331848308
You'd be crazy to get a new computer and put XP on it when one comes with Vista Premium SP1 installed. The latest computers are coming installed (some at Fry's) with Vista Home Premium SP1 64Bit and 4G of RAM, they cut corners with an Older ATI video card (early DirectX 10) but these can be picked up just under a grand.
You'll hear all the stories about Vista (mine included) you will have to figure out what is real and personal opinion. There is a lot of viral marketing on the net. I have used Vista since Longhorn Beta 2, sure there have been issues (same can be said about early OSX). If you can break Vista then you can hang any OS... That's the way it is.
Edit: For me (I'm not big on all the Visual stuff that is marketed) I have found Vista to be way more productive than my XP and Media Center boxes. I have 2 Vista Ultimate, 1 Vista Home Premium and and 1 Vista Business machines (on a laptop it is not supposed to run on) running.
If you go the AMD Phenom route take the 9600 over the 9500.
Message edited by author 2008-04-30 10:00:14. |
|
|
|
04/30/2008 09:34:12 AM · #4 |
Thank's for the info.
I have a laptop running on Vista also. It is a dual core pentium @ 2.2 GH and it has 2 GB or ram. ~It's not as bad as I've read also. Ise it during weddings to do quick proofs for the gest buy the photos on site. And it-s fast enhough.
My really doubt is regarding the AMD Phenom that I don-t know. Some say it is a quad core alike and some say it is a bit inferior. Aside this I-m still not convinced if I really need a quad core processor, becauso I-ve also read that if you don-t have a lot of aplicattions runnig at the same time, you should get more speed of a double core with more GH. One thing that I would really want is a lot o RAM. I would want at least 4 GB. But most of the readdy made, brand mounted ready to take home pc only have 3 GB because they are running Windos Vista but not the 64 bits versin, and it only recognise 3 GB of ram, even if you get more.
Any more thoughts to share
|
|
|
|
04/30/2008 10:37:37 AM · #5 |
On a rig like the GW's I mentioned it's a hundred dollar difference for the Intel so becomes a preference thing really. I have never been a big Intel fan mainly because of marketing hype. Intel caters to Business types and AMD has always catered to Media Types. And there has always been a price break on the AMD side.
I have the AMD Phenom 9600 w/3G RAM on my main media desktop at home. Running 32bit Vista Home Premium, no 64bit specific apps. I have a Quad Core CPU gadget in the Sidebar and watch it frequently. I can see the threads are spread evenly across the 4 cores and very responsive.
I use PSP X2 (which really is a cycle hog at times) for editing and the performance compared to my ol AMD64 is a breath of fresh air.
I do have machines at work with 64bit XP (not that much of a gain for the money but the 4G is nice), Windows Server 2003 R2 (quite a boost) and Vista Business (Decent performance increase).
I have built my own rigs for almost 30 years now, but pricing out parts including cool cases and other ammenities I ended up with one of these new off the shelf pewters as they (AMD or Intel) offer quite a bit, and not worth me fussing around building one from scratch for the price. My only druther with the unit I got is the Power supply might be a tad weak if I start to get crazy and start adding to it...(thats ok as I have a nice Antec sitting on the shelf here if that day comes)
I opted for the nVidia 8800GT installed pewter as the ATI was the bottleneck in the system. When in the store looking at the (Vista based) systems always do the Windows Experience Indicator.
Windows Key + Pause/break key will launch the System dialog
Click the Windows Experience link and you will see the scores.
You can really get an idea if they are using weak parts in the Memory, Hard Disk and Grapix areas. A general indicator where a bottleneck might be.
The Machines I was looking at the one with the ATI scored a 3.(something) for desktop and gaming graphics, the one with the nVidia scored 5.9's for both.
Message edited by author 2008-04-30 10:42:58. |
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 12/28/2025 02:35:16 PM EST.
