Desktop machine opinion - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

10/31/2006 10:57:45 AM · #1

What do you think of this machine?

Chieftec Silver Dragon' tower with built in

OCZ Powerstream

Intel P4 3.0GHz 478 PC800 HyperThreading prosessor.

MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R motherboard

2048MB DDR Dual Channel PC3200 CL2 RAM (TwinMos og OCZ).

Gainward GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3 AGP 8x
with Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 cooler attached.

Samsung Spinpoint P120S 250GB SATA2 harddisk.

NEC ND-3540A DVD-RW burner.

Pinnacle PCTV Stereo TV-card with remote

Creative SB Audigy Player sound card

Sony 3,5" 1.44MB floppy

3 EnerMax 80mm. Cabinet fan.

any thoughts? good bad, outdated?? I am looking at buying this machine used.

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

10/31/2006 11:03:03 AM · #2

BEWARE, IT IS NOT A MAC!

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

10/31/2006 11:04:49 AM · #3

exactly !

scarbrd

Leica M10

10/31/2006 11:11:10 AM · #4

Originally posted by leaf:

exactly !

If it's not a Mac then just pick your price and buy from Dell, HP, Sony, whatever. Or build your own for that matter. They're all the same.

PCs are commodities these days. They all have the same parts, just different labels on the outside. For a comparision, you should consider the differences between Windows, OS X, Linux, and Unix.

IMHO, of course.

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

10/31/2006 11:12:23 AM · #5

Originally posted by scarbrd:

I beg to differ. There's a huge difference between a custom PC built with reasonably high-end parts, and a low-end $400 POS Dell. Try playing any 3d games on that Dell, and you'll see what I mean. Try overclocking it, and you'll realize you can't...

Message edited by author 2006-10-31 11:14:52.

Olympus 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 Zuiko

10/31/2006 11:18:32 AM · #6

ok, well it seems they are asking an allright price.

It is in norway so it is sort of hard to compare prices, but is is 'about' in that price range. They are also including a leather office chair, keyboard, mouse, and a set of decent speakers (Logitech Z-640 5.1), and a LaCie PhotonVision 20" screen with 1 dead pixel... if the screen works good i think i could live with 1 dead pixel at a discount price.

DanSig

10/31/2006 11:27:23 AM · #7

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

Try playing any 3d games on that Dell, and you'll see what I mean. Try overclocking it, and you'll realize you can't...

if you are serious about photography then games are the last thing on your mind, and a computer for photoediting needs a completely different specs then a gamers machine.

and if you are thinking about overclocking a machine you are thinking about buying then it's outdated...

I used to have a G5, I sold it a few weeks ago to a printshop, and it will be their main photoediting machine, it served me well for 2.5 years, and is still today the fastest photoediting computer available.

and it can't be overclocked... and no need to, it has more power than you can use....

just to have the possibility to overclock your computer says only one thing.. it was made slow in the begining... what a stupid idea to make a slow computer when the technology to make it fast has been known for a long time... just to build in a possibility for the dumb user to overclock the computer and destroy it...

zanfar

Olympus E-3

10/31/2006 11:48:35 AM · #8

Originally posted by leaf:

What do you think of this machine?

Sounds like a PC. What, exactly, are you going to use this for? Can't really give you advice if I don't know the purpose.

xantangummi

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM

10/31/2006 11:49:25 AM · #9

whats the price in norska kronor?

Altough I wouldn't buy a motherboard with agp slots(if you want to play games) and the case doesn't look like its got really good airflow.

scarbrd

Leica M10

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

10/31/2006 11:54:41 AM · #10

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

Sounds like a good box... Depends on the price though. Used computer equipment goes down in price pretty fast. I would say no more than about $4-550. If my boss was going to buy it to sell, he would have offered them $300 or walk, heh

Originally posted by scarbrd:

If it's not a Mac then just pick your price and buy from Dell, HP, Sony, whatever. Or build your own for that matter. They're all the same.

PCs are commodities these days. They all have the same parts, just different labels on the outside. For a comparision, you should consider the differences between Windows, OS X, Linux, and Unix.

IMHO, of course.

I beg to differ. There's a huge difference between a custom PC built with reasonably high-end parts, and a low-end $400 POS Dell. Try playing any 3d games on that Dell, and you'll see what I mean. Try overclocking it, and you'll realize you can't...

I agree, my point was, pick a price range and you'll find that all the major manufacturers make similar machines for a given price range. If you want a $500 machine, they all have one, if you want a $3000 machine, they all have one. And at a given price range, they are all pretty much the same.

I'll give Sony props for making machines that are a little different, but you put the same OS on all those machines and the experience will be pretty much the same, dollar for dollar, machine to machine.

10/31/2006 11:58:37 AM · #11

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Originally posted by MadMan2k:
Sounds like a good box... Depends on the price though. Used computer equipment goes down in price pretty fast. I would say no more than about $4-550. If my boss was going to buy it to sell, he would have offered them $300 or walk, heh

Originally posted by scarbrd:

If it's not a Mac then just pick your price and buy from Dell, HP, Sony, whatever. Or build your own for that matter. They're all the same.

PCs are commodities these days. They all have the same parts, just different labels on the outside. For a comparision, you should consider the differences between Windows, OS X, Linux, and Unix.

IMHO, of course.

I beg to differ. There's a huge difference between a custom PC built with reasonably high-end parts, and a low-end $400 POS Dell. Try playing any 3d games on that Dell, and you'll see what I mean. Try overclocking it, and you'll realize you can't...

I agree, my point was, pick a price range and you'll find that all the major manufacturers make similar machines for a given price range. If you want a $500 machine, they all have one, if you want a $3000 machine, they all have one. And at a given price range, they are all pretty much the same.

I'll give Sony props for making machines that are a little different, but you put the same OS on all those machines and the experience will be pretty much the same, dollar for dollar, machine to machine.

my question wasn't so much if these were good brands however.. it was more directed towards are they decent parts for that price...

the price is kr 6000 for the works. (ie including the monitor and chair for whatever that is worth)

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

10/31/2006 11:58:54 AM · #12

and the computer will be mostly used for photo editing

Louis

Nikon D800

10/31/2006 12:04:22 PM · #13

If you're a Windows man and have the inclination, build it yourself. You'll save money and get a better piece of hardware. Also, think about a Core2 Duo processor, which runs cooler and faster than an equivalent P4 (in fact, where I am, we have a hard time getting new P4 processors any longer). Hyperthreading is out, dual core is in. :) You can use DDR2 PC6400 or even PC8500 memory. I use an Asus P5 motherboard with the fast Core2 Duo running Vista, and it's pretty sweet.

Plus, if you're really a Windows man, you'll be running Vista soon enough, and you'll want the extra horsepower of Core2Duo (at least I do).

edit: oops, just saw you're immediately preceding post, sorry for the off-topic. 6000 kroner is about 1,027 Canadian dollars, and I'd say that's a good price for that machine.

Message edited by author 2006-10-31 12:07:48.

buzzrock

Fujifilm X-M1

Fujifilm XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS

10/31/2006 12:10:14 PM · #14

Make sure its got a decent power suplly, thats alot of stuff running..

And is the TV card and Floppy really neccesary?

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

10/31/2006 12:12:56 PM · #15

well this is for a used machine so wether the tv card and floppy are neccesary is really irrelevant.

Louis > If i was buying a new machine i would definatly build it mysself, but since this machine came up used, i thought it might be a better deal than building a new machine myself. I realize there are better things out there, but since I since this is used, i can't expect it to have all the best things inside, especially if i want it at a good price.

Message edited by author 2006-10-31 12:13:51.

Louis

Nikon D800

10/31/2006 12:17:51 PM · #16

Originally posted by leaf:

Louis > If i was buying a new machine i would definatly build it mysself, but since this machine came up used, i thought it might be a better deal than building a new machine myself. I realize there are better things out there, but since I since this is used, i can't expect it to have all the best things inside, especially if i want it at a good price.

Understood. My opinion is that the price is ok, assuming everything works well. Especially if you're getting furniture thrown in too. :)