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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> build your own pc from scratch for digital images
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 04/30/2005 02:37:11 PM · #1
Other than switching to a Mac.
What would you put in it to make the best possible PC for digital images ?
 04/30/2005 02:39:09 PM · #2
When you say best possible, that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Money not an issue? How much are you willing to put into such a system?
 04/30/2005 02:42:30 PM · #3
Originally posted by snackwells:
When you say best possible, that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Money not an issue? How much are you willing to put into such a system?


Money not a big issue ,just the best bang for the buck
 04/30/2005 02:49:25 PM · #4
CPU: For starters, you will need a fast CPU, the fastest you can afford.
RAM: As much RAM as you can squeeze into the system, multiple gigs of RAM sounds about right.
Drives: As large a hard drive you can afford with the fastest thorougput and RPM rating. Consider a second internal, or a RAID configuration plus a high capacity external. DVD burner for offloading all those pictures.

Now for the biggie: buy the most gorgeous, damned expensive and large LCD or CRT monitor you can afford.

As for switching to Mac, not necessary.
 04/30/2005 03:05:35 PM · #5
Originally posted by snackwells:
CPU: For starters, you will need a fast CPU, the fastest you can afford.
RAM: As much RAM as you can squeeze into the system, multiple gigs of RAM sounds about right.
Drives: As large a hard drive you can afford with the fastest thorougput and RPM rating. Consider a second internal, or a RAID configuration plus a high capacity external. DVD burner for offloading all those pictures.

Now for the biggie: buy the most gorgeous, damned expensive and large LCD or CRT monitor you can afford.
As for switching to Mac, not necessary.


Twin 21.3" LACIE LCD would be my choice for monitors .
I was thinking more like what mother board what chip ,video drivers etc
 04/30/2005 03:16:50 PM · #6
adding to the question if i may...
how big of a deal is the video card when it comes to photo editing?
 04/30/2005 03:26:10 PM · #7
Yep, fast CPU is good, however buying the fastest available usually costs quite a bit more, for very little gain. Buy the second-or-third-fastest available, but with the most modern design.
For a mobo, you want something with the fastest FSB speeds and definitely with the PCI Express bus. Also look for firewire capability so you can use the fastest card readers available (also see backup). You want to use firewire for the peripherals that require high data transfer rates, since firewire demands less CPU resources than USB does.
Get a good graphics card, but don't get hung up on 3D performance unless you'll also be using the machine for gaming. You want high-resolution capability and high-quality image output. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a review of a graphics card that isn't focused on gaming these days.
For hard drives, definitely at least 7200 RPM, or 10,000 RPM if you can afford it. SATA II is the preferred interface. A RAID array of 7200 RPM drives can really be a screamer if configured properly.
At least a gig of RAM is a necessity, and it's cheap enough these days. Make sure the RAM will support the highest speeds required by your chosen CPU and mobo combination.
For a backup system, I suggest a removable firewire drive. I have seen too many reports of "I burned DVDs and I can't read them." I use internal hard drives, and an external drive for insurance.
As far as a monitor, I still think the best bang for the buck is in large CRTs although the high-end LCDs are getting close. If buying an LCD, I would look at the Apple Cinema Displays, or other displays that use the same panel (I believe Samsung builds the LCD panels for Apple, but not positive on that). Also consider a dual-monitor setup. you use the main monotor for the actual editing process, and keep other windows and your toolbars on the other screen. Very useful.
Also think about a graphics tablet as an input device. I don't have one now, but it's on my list.
04/30/2005 03:38:25 PM · #8
how big of a deal is a firewire card reader? are CF cards read/write speeds that fast?
 04/30/2005 03:40:45 PM · #9
Originally posted by maxj:
how big of a deal is a firewire card reader? are CF cards read/write speeds that fast?


CF card read speeds are exceeding 10 MB/s (80Mb/s). Although in theory USB 2.0 should handle this easily, it still sems that the fastest readers are always firewire. In any case, firewire is an incredibly useful interface, and I would not be without it.
 04/30/2005 03:47:12 PM · #10
if I had to go the horrid PC path for digital imaging, then I'd go with a 16 processor AMD 64 with 256GB DDR2 and 6TB HDD , the videocard would be the latest 3DLabs card, wildcat realizm 800 with 640Mb ram

sounds extreem... well its not that big for $150.000 :)
 04/30/2005 03:52:36 PM · #11
Originally posted by DanSig:
if I had to go the horrid PC path for digital imaging, then I'd go with a 16 processor AMD 64 with 256GB DDR2 and 6TB HDD , the videocard would be the latest 3DLabs card, wildcat realizm 800 with 640Mb ram

sounds extreem... well its not that big for $150.000 :)


sorry, but how much does it cost? or what is it anyway, i mean where are you going to find 256GB DDR2?
 04/30/2005 04:24:30 PM · #12
I just want to say that if money is a bit of an issue after all, one thing I would NOT skimp on is hard drive speed/capacity. Look at SATA or SATA II - this is one of the biggest performance differences you can get. You can build a super system with a seriously fast CPU and tons of RAM, and if you've got a crappy old IDE HDD, you're going to have a bottleneck.

Data transfer speeds are so important. I have built my own systems for ten years now, and I've honestly never seen such a massive improvement as when I switched from IDE to SATA I when it came out, and I've made some big processor leaps.
 04/30/2005 04:27:16 PM · #13
Originally posted by mocabela:
Data transfer speeds are so important. I have built my own systems for ten years now, and I've honestly never seen such a massive improvement as when I switched from IDE to SATA I when it came out, and I've made some big processor leaps.


Amen!
Next system I build, SATA II and RAID. Oh Baby!
 04/30/2005 06:01:22 PM · #14
Originally posted by Grigolly:
Originally posted by DanSig:
if I had to go the horrid PC path for digital imaging, then I'd go with a 16 processor AMD 64 with 256GB DDR2 and 6TB HDD , the videocard would be the latest 3DLabs card, wildcat realizm 800 with 640Mb ram

sounds extreem... well its not that big for $150.000 :)


sorry, but how much does it cost? or what is it anyway, i mean where are you going to find 256GB DDR2?




this is just enough power for my emails :) and it can take up to 1TB RAM :)
 04/30/2005 06:27:26 PM · #15
Originally posted by DanSig:



this is just enough power for my emails :) and it can take up to 1TB RAM :)


Total CPUs: 4096
Total memory (TB): 8.2

So :-P

;-),
Nordlys

P.S. Ok, so I don't have an account on Thunder (currently ranked the 5th fastest computer in the world) yet, but should within a few months. Though if they catch me doing image processing on it I doubt I'll have my account for long. ;-)
 04/30/2005 06:50:37 PM · #16
Originally posted by mocabela:
I just want to say that if money is a bit of an issue after all, one thing I would NOT skimp on is hard drive speed/capacity. Look at SATA or SATA II - this is one of the biggest performance differences you can get. You can build a super system with a seriously fast CPU and tons of RAM, and if you've got a crappy old IDE HDD, you're going to have a bottleneck.

Data transfer speeds are so important. I have built my own systems for ten years now, and I've honestly never seen such a massive improvement as when I switched from IDE to SATA I when it came out, and I've made some big processor leaps.


I have heard to steer clean of the Sata HDD's as there are problems associated with them, just a report as I have just ordered a 160GB drive myself.
 04/30/2005 09:45:14 PM · #17
Originally posted by kirbic:
Yep, fast CPU is good, however buying the fastest available usually costs quite a bit more, for very little gain. Buy the second-or-third-fastest available, but with the most modern design.
For a mobo, you want something with the fastest FSB speeds and definitely with the PCI Express bus. Also look for firewire capability so you can use the fastest card readers available (also see backup). You want to use firewire for the peripherals that require high data transfer rates, since firewire demands less CPU resources than USB does.
Get a good graphics card, but don't get hung up on 3D performance unless you'll also be using the machine for gaming. You want high-resolution capability and high-quality image output. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a review of a graphics card that isn't focused on gaming these days.
For hard drives, definitely at least 7200 RPM, or 10,000 RPM if you can afford it. SATA II is the preferred interface. A RAID array of 7200 RPM drives can really be a screamer if configured properly.
At least a gig of RAM is a necessity, and it's cheap enough these days. Make sure the RAM will support the highest speeds required by your chosen CPU and mobo combination.
For a backup system, I suggest a removable firewire drive. I have seen too many reports of "I burned DVDs and I can't read them." I use internal hard drives, and an external drive for insurance.
As far as a monitor, I still think the best bang for the buck is in large CRTs although the high-end LCDs are getting close. If buying an LCD, I would look at the Apple Cinema Displays, or other displays that use the same panel (I believe Samsung builds the LCD panels for Apple, but not positive on that). Also consider a dual-monitor setup. you use the main monotor for the actual editing process, and keep other windows and your toolbars on the other screen. Very useful.
Also think about a graphics tablet as an input device. I don't have one now, but it's on my list.


Thanks for info
This is what I have now ,what would you change to make it faster?

Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.85 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. A7V8X-X REV 1.xx
Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software, Inc. ASUS A7V8X-X ACPI BIOS Revision 1010 04/09/2004
Drives Memory Modules c,d
122.89 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
65.43 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B [CD-ROM drive]
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4040B [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

eUSB Compact Flash USB Device [Hard drive] (254 MB) -- drive 1
Maxtor 6Y120L0 [Hard drive] (122.94 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Y33MJTJE, rev YAR41BW0, SMART Status: Healthy 1024 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DDR 1' has 512 MB
Slot 'DDR 2' has 512 MB
Slot 'DDR 3' is Empty

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 [Display adapter]
Radeon 7000 / Radeon VE [Display adapter]
CMO CMC 17" AD [Monitor] (17.1"vis, May 2003)
LGE 786LS [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 306AC01490, June 2003
04/30/2005 09:59:17 PM · #18
What you have is certainly not that far form today's standards. You can now get CPU & mobo supporting 400 MHz FSB, as opposed to the 333 MHz you have currently. Your current boards may not be fully supporting dual-channel DDR, it's nt clear fromthe description I found. you'd also benefit from a really fast hdd system, but your current dirve is 7200 RPM, and supports ATA 133, which is only somewhat slower than SATA I.

My advice, hang on to what you've got for at least 18-24 months, and then build from scratch.
 04/30/2005 11:08:01 PM · #19
How do you set up a dual monitor setup, Fritz? Do you need a video card that supports both DVI and analog? If so, then one of your monitors needs to have DVI capabilities, right? Is there something in the software to set as well?
thanks.

Originally posted by kirbic:
... Also consider a dual-monitor setup. you use the main monotor for the actual editing process, and keep other windows and your toolbars on the other screen.
05/01/2005 01:22:27 PM · #20
If so, then one of your monitors needs to have DVI capabilities, right?

Nope--you just need a DVI to VGA adapter. Some graphics cards even come with one incuded.

Nordlys
 05/01/2005 01:28:14 PM · #21
Originally posted by Nordlys:
If so, then one of your monitors needs to have DVI capabilities, right?

Nope--you just need a DVI to VGA adapter. Some graphics cards even come with one incuded.

Nordlys


Yup, and with a laptop it's even easier, since they have an external analog connector as well as the bult-in LCD. I run dual-monitor at work, using the 1400x1050 laptop display and a 1280x1024 17" CRT (that needs replacement desperately, LOL).
With a desktop system, you can also run dual graphics cards, though that's really not necessary sine it's easy to find cards now that support dual monitors. I am seriously thinking about going dual at home, but have some other priorities at the moment.
 05/01/2005 01:48:42 PM · #22
@ Randod300, that's a decent mobo, throw a AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton 333MHz ($120 at Newegg) and it will be a whole different machine.

Andy

ED: Newegg link with specs

Message edited by author 2005-05-01 13:51:06.
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