Help with choosing new computer

[mrsdeets]

I'm wanting to upgrade my 8+ yr old computer to be more compatible with my Photoshop software. I'm currently using Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 7. Most of the time I can open the organizer, but cannot open the editor with the organizer to work on some of my pics. Occasionally I can get both of them to be open at the same time. When that happens some of the tools in the editor module will not work correctly, or work very slow. I like working with my photos, creating collages, slideshows with music, electronic scrapbooks, and post processing photos.

Any ideas on what I should look for in buying a new computer that will allow me to do what I've described above??????

 

[Outlander_04]

Memory/ RAM is probably the issue .

RAM is memory the computer holds programs or files in while it works on them . An 8 year old computer will be running XP and could have as little as 512 mb of Ram

Most computers today ship with 4 gigabytes of RAM . Thats 8 times as much , and they need to because programs are bigger [more complicated] ...and so are the file sizes of images .

Look for a computer with an intel core i5 or i7 , or AMD phenom cpu ,
a 64 bit version of windows 7 [ important as 32 bit versions cant use more than 3 gig of RAM no matter how much is installed ]
a minimum of 4 gig of RAM , and maybe 8 gig if you have a lot of files open at the same time

 

[mosox]

A new rig will be $500-700 assuming you can't reuse any parts.

 

[mrsdeets]

Memory/ RAM is probably the issue .

RAM is memory the computer holds programs or files in while it works on them . An 8 year old computer will be running XP and could have as little as 512 mb of Ram

Most computers today ship with 4 gigabytes of RAM . Thats 8 times as much , and they need to because programs are bigger [more complicated] ...and so are the file sizes of images .

Look for a computer with an intel core i5 or i7 , or AMD phenom cpu ,
a 64 bit version of windows 7 [ important as 32 bit versions cant use more than 3 gig of RAM no matter how much is installed ]
a minimum of 4 gig of RAM , and maybe 8 gig if you have a lot of files open at the same time

Thanks for your advice. I'm going to start shopping around now!

 

[mrsdeets]

A new rig will be $500-700 assuming you can't reuse any parts.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to start shopping around.

 

[bdbeall]

If you want a good quote, try custompcandrepairs.com. I know if you email them they will send back a quote relatively quickly. Also everything is custom built and ussually inexpensive. Worth at least giving a shot.

 

[mosox]

Here's an idea if you want prebuilt

* COOLER MASTER Elite 430 Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic
* ANTEC EarthWatts EA 650 Green, 80 PLUS® Bronze, 650W, 24-pin ATX12V 2.3 EPS12V, Two 8/6-pin PCIe, Retail
* GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H, AM3, AMD® 880G, DDR3-1800 (O.C.) 16GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 6 Gb/s RAID 5 /5, VGA+DVI, HDMI, USB 3.0 /2, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, mATX, Retail
* AMD Athlon™ II X3 450 Triple-Core 3.2GHz, AM3, HT 4000MHz, 3x 512KB L2 cache, 95W, 45nm, Retail
* KINGSTON 4GB (2 x 2GB) ValueRAM PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
* GIGABYTE GV-R545D2-512D, Radeon™ HD 5450 650MHz, 512MB DDR2 800MHz, PCIe x16, DVI+ 2x HDMI + VGA, Full-height/Low-profile, Retail
* SAMSUNG 500GB SpinPoint F3, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB Cache, OEM
* RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
* SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
* NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
* WARRANTY Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

$516.32

You can add Windows 7 64-bit if you need the operating system.

http://www.avadirect.com/custom-pc-configurator.asp?PRID=14248