Reccomend me a desktop PC for image handling and processing.

[bloodhound31]

Before my laptop carks it, I think it might be wise to look into the next computer.

I've had it with laptops and really want the SPEED and power of a good desktop to be able to handle volumes of processing without having to go make a coffee while I wait for Photoshop to convert a 16bit image to an 8.

What sort of things should I be looking for? What does all that core/intel/centrino/duo stuff mean?

A decent monitor would be good too....

AND, I really like XP. Been using it for years. Surely there's nothing better yet.

Not going Mac.

Baz.

[cventer]

You want an i52600k Intel CPU
Get 8 or 12 gb of ram
Get an SSD drive for os and for images and a Samsung spin point f3 drive for storage and archive of images
Get windows 7 64 bit
Get a decent CPU cooler like Antec KUHLER H2O 920 CPU Cooler and you can over clock the i5 to 4.5 ghz in your sleep and even 5ghz

This will scream through any image stack you throw at it!

[Grimmeister (Anthony)]

Hi Bloodhound,

I think a laptop will still suit your needs if you want it to be portable in the field. Otherwise a desktop of similare spec would be fine, if you do want a desktop PC then just get a better graphics card the the spec below.

I have a Dell Latitude E6510 with the following spec's:
15.4" Full HD 1920*1080 Screen
NVidia NVS3100M Graphics Card
Intel Core i7 Q840 (@1.87 GHz)
8 GB of DDR3 Ram
256 GB SSD Hard Drive
The usual other bits and pieces that a laptop has.

I got this as I work in IT&T so use it for a wide range of things including image processing and it chunks through data at a massive rate without any hangups Mind you the total cost with Gold warranty was nearing getting up there, but you get what you pay for.

(Let the Dell haters start to flame LOL).

Cheers

Anthony

[Barrykgerdes]

For speed in processing you will need to go to Windows 7 64 bit with loads of memory but my personal opinion of windows 7 64 bit is that it is a pain to use til you get through a couple of months learning curve and it won't run compiled basic programs which irks me because I have so many little utilities for astronomical calculations.

So if your computer comes with Windows 7 64 bit back it up, partition your HDD, put your XP in a partition and then install Windows 7 from XP as a new system using someone's disk ( all you neded is the start up part to get your new menu) then overwrite the partition with your backed up image. (you can't install XP if windows 7 is already on the computer)

Next install VMware in your Windows 7 and you can have virtual copies of any operating system you like.

Barry

[alistairsam]

I wouldn't recommend SSD drives, from experience they're quite a bit slower than 10k drives.
We've been testing them in our Data Centres and they've not been practical for I/O intensive uses.

Look up track seek times for the HD you're buying, that makes a huge difference in performance. The lower the better. Also higher rpm is faster.

RAID10 would give you redundancy as well as better throughput than RAID 5 if you're thinking of RAID at all.

As for processor, there are so many flavours its hard to keep track but whatever has the highest cache would perform well. A quad core or dual core would be minimum.

A graphics card with an HDMI output and an LED monitor with HDMI would also be ideal.

Also depends on your budget.

some indicative prices here if you're planning to assemble or want to have an idea for add-ons
http://msy.com.au/

Lastly, you'd need a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor if you ever want to transfer data over your LAN and/or a wireless N adaptor card. handy to have it in there.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Originally Posted by cventer

You want an i52600k Intel CPU
Get 8 or 12 gb of ram
Get an SSD drive for os and for images and a Samsung spin point f3 drive for storage and archive of images
Get windows 7 64 bit
Get a decent CPU cooler like Antec KUHLER H2O 920 CPU Cooler and you can over clock the i5 to 4.5 ghz in your sleep and even 5ghz

This will scream through any image stack you throw at it!

No offense intended to Baz, but did you read his post? If he's asking what a processor is, do you think he's up to building something like that and overclocking it etc?

[dannat (Daniel)]

Baz I would be looking for core i7, I have a solid state drive in my laptop, if you want quick startup then you could get a 64gb, then a conventional 1gb for your data.

You might look for something like 12gb of Ram that should last you for a bit

Do you need graphics card advice?

Bugger it, go get yourself a 21.5" iMac & install windows via bootcamp - you know you want to

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

I'm tempted by a Toshiba - this one.

CPU i7 2630QM (2.0GHz - 2.90GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache)
Screen 17.3" Widescreen HD Resolution 1920 x 1080
Memory 8GB DDR3 (4GB + 4GB) (1333Mhz)
Storage 1.25TB (500GB (7200rpm Hybrid 4G) + (750GB) (5400rpm SATA))
Graphics NVIDIA® Geforce GTX 560M (3D Vision) 1.5GB
Optical Disc Drive Blu-Ray RW/DVD SuperMulti Double/Dual Layer Drive

You can substitute an SSD for one of the disks - at extra cost.

Rather heavy and power hungry but portable and quick.

[cventer]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

No offense intended to Baz, but did you read his post? If he's asking what a processor is, do you think he's up to building something like that and overclocking it etc?

Fair enough.

Baz whats your budget ? Sounds like you want a desktop. For a processing solution. I think this is best way to go as you can upgrade them as CPU's change, hard disks change, Graphics cards change much cheaper than a laptop.

If you dont have capability to buy parts and build your own then there are plenty of places that sell pre built systems for varying budgets

Here are a few in price/performance order:

These below are hard core gaming machines and unless you game you dont need all the money on dual video cards in the high end machines

$3999 http://www.scorptec.com.au/computer/...ornado-i7-s2v2
$3099 http://www.scorptec.com.au/system/147
$2599 http://www.scorptec.com.au/computer/...rg-storm-2500i
$2389 http://www.scorptec.com.au/system/166

Some full systems:

$2699 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products...id=7&sid=75936
$1349 http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=7

The show off desktop system if money is no object and you dont have skills to build your own: http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-area51-alx/pd

The next step up from here is dedicated workstation hardware. The sort used in engineering or 3D rendering business. These are typically Dual CPU's like Xeon X5690. These have 6 cores and can run 12 threads each. Not sure how much astro processing software can make use of 24 threads though ? Be interesting to find answer to this. This kind of server would set you back around 9 - 10 k

disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any companies listed above.

There is plenty to choose from. budget is one factor as is decision on laptop vs desktop.

64 bit OS is a MUST for serious data crunching. Also more cores in cpu = better if the software eg photoshop can use them.

$ for $ in terms of price for performance nothing touches intel i5 Sandybridge cpu's right now. AMD are rumoured to bring something out soon but who knows when. You also cant go wrong with i7 based CPU. 2 more cores than i5 can speed things up but an overclocked i5 at 2/3'r price vs i7 at stock speed I will be putting my money on i5 for most of the software we run.

[bloodhound31]

Hey thanks a lot everyone! There's some confusing info here, also some good stuff. Although there are many different opinions, I can see quite a few common themes.

I'm not up to building computers myself. I really know nothing about them. My main aim is to speed up my bulk processing for my raw files from my 5DMK II. I get a lot of jobs that are required the next day, so speed is everything. I'm up all night processing to meet a next-day deadline.

Yes, I do want a desktop and my budget ATM is really no more then a couple of grand. Less if possible. Really, I need a tower, decent monitor and a keyboard. As long as the RAM and Processor can handle lots of 25Mb RAW files at once, I'll be happy.

[Ric]

Hi Baz, I've also found these people very helpful when putting together a PC package.

you can also customize your PC to your own specifications.

http://www.techbuy.com.au/custom-pc.asp


Hope this is of help

Cheers

[netwolf]

I am also thinking of putting together a processing desktop, but i am cosnidering the AMD AM3 Phenom II X6 (Six-Core 3.3GHz/3.6GHzTurboCore) for the CPU. Cheaper than an I7. Most people thouh seem to be reccomending Intel for Video editing and Image processing. The i5 2500K seems to be the best processor option at the momement, from a price perforamnce perspective. Even though tthe AMD is 6core the I5 quad seems to take it on with no problem. So I would for most people reccomedn the I5 2500K.

A good place to look at is the whirlpool PC suggestion Wiki
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs

There are 3 configurations given for Video/Photo editing here. Note all but the last one are based on the I5.
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_...asking_configs

Note the prices shown are based on the cheapest part prices found by searching staticice.com.au. But i suggest email a few shops with the config and ask for the best price. Noting the prices given here as the best you have foind. Most shops will price match.

[Jules76 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

So if your computer comes with Windows 7 64 bit back it up, partition your HDD, put your XP in a partition and then install Windows 7 from XP as a new system using someone's disk ( all you neded is the start up part to get your new menu) then overwrite the partition with your backed up image. (you can't install XP if windows 7 is already on the computer)

Next install VMware in your Windows 7 and you can have virtual copies of any operating system you like.

That seems to be an awful lot of stuffing around, especially if your not too technically minded.

As long as you have Windows 7 64 bit Professional or Ultimate, you can just download Windows XP Mode for free from Microsoft, in and no time you'll have a Windows XP install you can use for those little apps which don't like Windows 7 64.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/w...indows-xp-mode