Image Processing System

[multiweb (Marc)]

Looking to buy a new PC as I need to "beef up" to process mosaics.
I have Win7 Ultimate 64bit, for the CPU I have in mind an I7-930, I hear they perform pretty good and the I7-870 range is double the price. On an ASUS motherboard [1366 Socket] and 6 slots available/ So I start with 2x4GB DDRIII [Kingston - 1333MHz] and have room to build up to 24GB if need be using the same chip size so no mix and match.

I haven't decided about the graphic card yet. The mother board will have a basic on-board graphics system. Is it enough or do I need a separate graphics accelerator. I'd assume so as CS5 takes advantage of a GPU but it's not a gaming machine so I'm not after a fast frame rate. Would the on-board graphics cope with large files given the existing system RAM and CPU power?

If I do need a graphic accelerator what do you guys recommend in the $400.00 bracket? NVidia? ATI? Will I get away with 1GB Video Ram or do I need more?

Thanks for you help.

[Satchmo]

Marc

Fast cards have never been cheaper . You can get Nvidea series GT240 cards now for around $100-$110, which will be much faster than any on board graphics accelerator. They may help with screen redraws as you are tabbing through your windows. I wouldn't spend much more than $100 if you are not seriously into gaming. That being said my `old' Nvidea 9600GT still seems to handle any game I've thrown at it quite comfortably. I simply can't see how a $400 card would give you any advantage.

Heres an idea of some of the prices ( Beecom are my favorite benchmark ..my local computer guy will always match their prices if I quote them )
http://www.beecom.com.au/home.php?cat=407

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Interesting, Im heading this way too. I see the i7 is much pricier than the i5. They are both quad core, is there a huge diff?.

Been wondering if an extra SS disk is the go too (with win 7 64 ultimate?), for PS and CCD stack, the performance increase is worth it going by a test I saw, and I dont hear much of wear woes.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Satchmo

That being said my `old' Nvidea 9600GT still seems to handle any game I've thrown at it quite comfortably. I simply can't see how a $400 card would give you any advantage.

And NVidia still do better OpenGL drivers that ATI.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

In my experience, on-board graphics cards are very basic and not grunty enough for any serious thoughput. I'd always get a dedicated card. And after trying several different brands over the years, I always come back to the nVidia ones.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Thanks for all the information guys. I'll get a basic nVidia GeForce then. I've always used nVidia over the years. They're reliable and their drivers are a no brainer to install. Now for the $$$ ... and the SWMBO. That's the real challenge. Might have to cut the grass and start cleaning the garage or would that look too conspicuous?

[RB (Andrew)]

Marc I'm at the same stage too, where I need to upgrade my whole system, (still using a 3Ghz P4 atm).

I always use Gigabyte MB's (love them) and am looking at a 1366 Socket.
It's best to use a dedicated video card, again I always like using nVidia cards too.

Saw the latest Intel i7-980X Extreme (6 core) on the beautiful Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 MB at a recent computer show and wow what a beautiful setup. They also had it booting off a SS disk.

I wish I could justify the cost for a setup like this, LOL not that I'll ever need that much grunt.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by RB

Marc I'm at the same stage too, where I need to upgrade my whole system, (still using a 3Ghz P4 atm).

I always use Gigabyte MB's (love them) and am looking at a 1366 Socket.
It's best to use a dedicated video card, again I always like using nVidia cards too.

Saw the latest Intel i7-980X Extreme (6 core) on the beautiful Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 MB at a recent computer show and wow what a beautiful setup. They also had it booting off a SS disk.

I wish I could justify the cost for a setup like this, LOL not that I'll ever need that much grunt.

I had a look in SS disks. The biggest I've seen to date was a 64GB model. I can see this being an advantage for a gamer. Those guys don't want to wait for anything, even disk access. It's a matter of "life and death" If you check overclockers forums and such you get a fairly good idea of the configurations "with grunt" that they use. That's where I got the info for the I7-930 vs. I7-8** newer models. The new generation CPU can be very expensive. My motto is to fall back one generation and get something close for half the price. It's moving way to fast anyway. The latest gear will be half price next month too

I rounded up all the figures and I think I can get a very decent 8GB system (but scalable to 24GB) including 64bit OS for $1.8k ball park. Here's what I've gathered so far.

Win7 ultimate upgrade from vista: $340.00
CPU I7-930 [LGA 1366 Socket]: $399.00
MB Asus P6T-SE [6 slots up to 24GB DDRIII]: $369.00
RAM 2x4GB [Kingston DDRIII 1333MHz]: $468.00
Case: Budgetted for $150.00 for a good one including Power supply probably 400-500W.
Card maybe in the vicinity of $100.00 -$150.00

Hard drives are dirt cheap and I have plenty lying around.

[RB (Andrew)]

Yep I agree, these guys where gamers so they used SS disks to boot from.
Personally I'll be sticking to HDDs and like you say, I fall back to the lower echelons of the CPU ladder, save a lot of money and still get great performance.

Thanks for listing your system choices.