Need new system please help with choice

[designer112]

Hi

I am a graphic designer in desperate need for a new machine. Current machine is 5 yr. old P4 1.8 ghz / 1 gb ram / radeon 9700/ combo / cdrw / 15k scsi 36 gb boot disk / 120 gb Wd for storage / floppy / usb / firewire etc.

I am looking to buy a machine which will run very fast wih all uptodate software including Adobe creative suite, Quark & microsoft programs.
I have 5-10 programs running all the time & can have alot of photos & files open as well.

requirements...

1) processor - should i go with the E6xxx series or with dual socket system and get one dual core xeon with the option to later add an additional one when programs become optimized? also which one is faster dual core xeon or dual core E6xxx series? also will i have an advantage with going more then 2 cores for now?


2) hard drive - i need the fastest hard drive as this helps speed up the system in my work. i currently have the 15k rpm scsi, should i use that as boot disk or will the raptor which is only 10k rpm compare in speed since its a newer drive with newer technology? also if it is recommended to keep the scsi how will it interact with sata drives & could i use the same scsi card and ccables that i have in my other system? also for storage which harddrive will be the best?

3) ram - how much ram can i have maximum and it will still make a difference in performance levels? which brand and speeds?

4) video card - which video card is recommended for graphic design use & occassional video/movie watching? no gaming whatsoever.

all other components dont really matter for me as it doesnt improve performance, if somebody has a reccomendation on any other part of the system i am open to it. I will prob. run windows vista on it so this prob. has to have more ram etc. Money is an object, I want the system to be solid & fast for at least 2-3 years but i dont want to overpay on things which wont help performance as i want to get the best bang for the buck & if possible upgradable.

I am awaiting a reply from all of you
Thanks

 

[Wisecracker]

I'll take a shot at it . . .

Tyan Thunder K8WE --- $450

1 (or 2!) dual core Opty's (200 series) - - - $250 to $3,000

2 gb ECC PC3200 DDR Ram -- $250

ATI FireGL *V* series Graphics Accelerators $150 to $1,400

Hard Drive(s) -- $300 & UP!

Other Stuff (Case, Power Supply, DVD, New seat cushion because yer arse will get tired from working/playing on the new *Box*) -- $350

Grand Total: $1,750 to 'Get outa here!'

You can get onboard SCSI or move your controller/hard drive over to the Tyan. (I'm guessing it may be a PCI-X controller but "who knows?"

I luv that SCSI RAID in a workstation environment for sustained thru-put but you can find SATA II hard drives for $.25/gb if you look around. (NOTE: I never thought I'd see the day when you could snag 1 tb of storage for $250!)

I think the FireGL series will be your best bang for the buck though you may want to compare its optimization with the programs that you run. You can (edit: CAN'T) beat it for object modeling and CAD apps! For graphics work you will be able to open a bunch of big files and manipulate them - - bump up the RAM if this is a worry for you)

Don't let the *Fan Boys and Girls* push you into buying the *Latest & Greatest* Save some $$$ on the hardware for all your future software upgrades.

It ain't the machine - it's the artist behind it!

 

[m25]

Hi

I am a graphic designer in desperate need for a new machine. Current machine is 5 yr. old P4 1.8 ghz / 1 gb ram / radeon 9700/ combo / cdrw / 15k scsi 36 gb boot disk / 120 gb Wd for storage / floppy / usb / firewire etc.

I am looking to buy a machine which will run very fast wih all uptodate software including Adobe creative suite, Quark & microsoft programs.
I have 5-10 programs running all the time & can have alot of photos & files open as well.

requirements...

1) processor - should i go with the E6xxx series or with dual socket system and get one dual core xeon with the option to later add an additional one when programs become optimized? also which one is faster dual core xeon or dual core E6xxx series? also will i have an advantage with going more then 2 cores for now?


2) hard drive - i need the fastest hard drive as this helps speed up the system in my work. i currently have the 15k rpm scsi, should i use that as boot disk or will the raptor which is only 10k rpm compare in speed since its a newer drive with newer technology? also if it is recommended to keep the scsi how will it interact with sata drives & could i use the same scsi card and ccables that i have in my other system? also for storage which harddrive will be the best?

3) ram - how much ram can i have maximum and it will still make a difference in performance levels? which brand and speeds?

4) video card - which video card is recommended for graphic design use & occassional video/movie watching? no gaming whatsoever.

all other components dont really matter for me as it doesnt improve performance, if somebody has a reccomendation on any other part of the system i am open to it. I will prob. run windows vista on it so this prob. has to have more ram etc. Money is an object, I want the system to be solid & fast for at least 2-3 years but i dont want to overpay on things which wont help performance as i want to get the best bang for the buck & if possible upgradable.

I am awaiting a reply from all of you
Thanks

Hi, I am (like many people here) mad about PCs, studying architecture but work part time as a graphics designer.
Now, the primary concern in graphics is ram; you need plenty of it and you need it to be fast; right?! so the RAM could be between 4 and 8 GB at least, DDR2 800MHz (PC6400) CL 4.
A Raptor wil do the job as system disk while the CPU is not as much important; in most cases applying filters, RAM is your real concern.
You could put togeather a dual socket system with workstation components or just get a good dual core now and wait for some time. I'd do the latter because with server systems power is a concern while latter this year, developments in both AMD and Intel are expected to considerably drop power envelopes.