Need some advice here from people who know (cause I’m still learning).
OK, so I’m a freelance graphic designer. Two years ago when I first started into this I went to Best Buy to pick up a good workhorse of a computer. Thanks anyways, Best Buy.
What they sold me was a Gateway GM5446E with the following specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (64 bit processor, each core 1.86GHz, shared 4 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
-NVIDIA GeForce 7650GS 256MB
-Optical Drive DVD+RW
-500 GB SATA II HD
-2048 MB DDR2 (I’ve since upgraded to 4GB)
-300W PS
-24” Gateway display
-Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)...arrgghhh
…and some other features not so relevant.
This computer has been a fine entry level machine for me, other than Windows Vista (which actually had so much problems a few months ago that it was entirely locked and Gateway support advised me that I’d have to reformat the whole machine – which really sucked). All I really run on it, though, is Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium (Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, InDesign CS4, and though I don’t use them, Flash CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4).
Here’s my issue (apart from what may be the obvious): my computer is less than satisfactory when working with very large files in Photoshop, particularly files that are 300dpi resolution and larger than say 8 x 10 inches. Also my machine can barely handle it when I’m working back and forth between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign simultaneously. Recently Photoshop began refusing to do what I asked it to during one such occurance, with the error message: “Photoshop could not complete your request due to insufficient memory (out of RAM).”
I contacted Adobe for support and was lucky to talk with someone who really knew hardware (actually not lucky – Adobe’s support is always that good – best around). He advised me that first off I ought to be running a 64 bit environment. [Strike one, Best Buy. I now have to completely purchase a retail copy of Vista in 64 bit since Microsoft will not allow you to upgrade an OEM copy for free]
Second he informed me that my performance settings in Photoshop needed some tweaking, including setting Photoshop scratch disks to it’s own hard drive – specifically NOT the one Windows uses for scratch/virtual memory. I didn’t have a second internal hard drive (only an external, USB connected drive), but I soon learned how to partition my internal disk and I made a 50GB partition for Photoshop’s scratch disks. Check!
The third thing that this guy informed me, which was very helpful, if not MOST helpful, is that when CS4 was released by Adobe last fall, NVIDIA simultaneously released a graphics card in their Quadro line specifically for CS4 users. Now I know what you’re thinking: fancy marketing gimic for NVIDIA to make more moolah. Maybe. But to me that showed me that as a graphic professional, either way I need something better than this GeForce 7650 that is currently messing me up.
So, again, back to the main issue: I need to upgrade my PC on a budget without actually building a new one (at least not for another year). My budget is like $800 or less, and I need to get the following:
-Decent graphics card (at least better than what I’m using)
-A second internal hard drive
-A new external drive (gotta replace the USB one with an eSATA or at least Firewire – just found out about those speeds from the Adobe support guy)
-An eSATA card
-A bigger Power Supply
So the whole point of this post is really to get some advice on the GRAPHICS CARD, because I’ve done A LOT of forum lurking reading stuff about Pro level cards (like Quadro line) vs Gaming level cards. The trouble is, I’m not totally sure what category I fall into, and I want to get the best card I can afford, but not one I really don’t need.
I don’t work with Maya, AutoCAD, 3DSMax, or any other 3D software although in the future I’d like to begin working with C4D. But that’s far enough down the road for me that if/when I build a new machine I can take it into account then. So would I want a “Gaming Level” card? The biggest wrench in the info that I’ve found so far is that nobody seems to be talking about Adobe’s CS4 change that allows CS4 programs to use the GPU by taking advantage of OpenGL (don’t mean to sound smart about it, I’m really not). So does that mean I should have a 3D type card, or 2D? And further, should I stick to a Quadro, or would a GTX be OK? (Let’s just assume I’m set on NVIDIA for sake of argument).
Sorry for the long read. Also any other suggestions like where to purchase (tigerdir vs. newegg vs. other) are helpful.
OK, so I’m a freelance graphic designer. Two years ago when I first started into this I went to Best Buy to pick up a good workhorse of a computer. Thanks anyways, Best Buy.
What they sold me was a Gateway GM5446E with the following specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (64 bit processor, each core 1.86GHz, shared 4 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
-NVIDIA GeForce 7650GS 256MB
-Optical Drive DVD+RW
-500 GB SATA II HD
-2048 MB DDR2 (I’ve since upgraded to 4GB)
-300W PS
-24” Gateway display
-Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)...arrgghhh
…and some other features not so relevant.
This computer has been a fine entry level machine for me, other than Windows Vista (which actually had so much problems a few months ago that it was entirely locked and Gateway support advised me that I’d have to reformat the whole machine – which really sucked). All I really run on it, though, is Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium (Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, InDesign CS4, and though I don’t use them, Flash CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4).
Here’s my issue (apart from what may be the obvious): my computer is less than satisfactory when working with very large files in Photoshop, particularly files that are 300dpi resolution and larger than say 8 x 10 inches. Also my machine can barely handle it when I’m working back and forth between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign simultaneously. Recently Photoshop began refusing to do what I asked it to during one such occurance, with the error message: “Photoshop could not complete your request due to insufficient memory (out of RAM).”
I contacted Adobe for support and was lucky to talk with someone who really knew hardware (actually not lucky – Adobe’s support is always that good – best around). He advised me that first off I ought to be running a 64 bit environment. [Strike one, Best Buy. I now have to completely purchase a retail copy of Vista in 64 bit since Microsoft will not allow you to upgrade an OEM copy for free]
Second he informed me that my performance settings in Photoshop needed some tweaking, including setting Photoshop scratch disks to it’s own hard drive – specifically NOT the one Windows uses for scratch/virtual memory. I didn’t have a second internal hard drive (only an external, USB connected drive), but I soon learned how to partition my internal disk and I made a 50GB partition for Photoshop’s scratch disks. Check!
The third thing that this guy informed me, which was very helpful, if not MOST helpful, is that when CS4 was released by Adobe last fall, NVIDIA simultaneously released a graphics card in their Quadro line specifically for CS4 users. Now I know what you’re thinking: fancy marketing gimic for NVIDIA to make more moolah. Maybe. But to me that showed me that as a graphic professional, either way I need something better than this GeForce 7650 that is currently messing me up.
So, again, back to the main issue: I need to upgrade my PC on a budget without actually building a new one (at least not for another year). My budget is like $800 or less, and I need to get the following:
-Decent graphics card (at least better than what I’m using)
-A second internal hard drive
-A new external drive (gotta replace the USB one with an eSATA or at least Firewire – just found out about those speeds from the Adobe support guy)
-An eSATA card
-A bigger Power Supply
So the whole point of this post is really to get some advice on the GRAPHICS CARD, because I’ve done A LOT of forum lurking reading stuff about Pro level cards (like Quadro line) vs Gaming level cards. The trouble is, I’m not totally sure what category I fall into, and I want to get the best card I can afford, but not one I really don’t need.
I don’t work with Maya, AutoCAD, 3DSMax, or any other 3D software although in the future I’d like to begin working with C4D. But that’s far enough down the road for me that if/when I build a new machine I can take it into account then. So would I want a “Gaming Level” card? The biggest wrench in the info that I’ve found so far is that nobody seems to be talking about Adobe’s CS4 change that allows CS4 programs to use the GPU by taking advantage of OpenGL (don’t mean to sound smart about it, I’m really not). So does that mean I should have a 3D type card, or 2D? And further, should I stick to a Quadro, or would a GTX be OK? (Let’s just assume I’m set on NVIDIA for sake of argument).
Sorry for the long read. Also any other suggestions like where to purchase (tigerdir vs. newegg vs. other) are helpful.
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