CPU for image processing & gaming?

[renormalised (Carl)]

The kids have a PS3 Wii and Xbox360 Ps2's iPods ( basically spoiled) so dad has no Takahashi LOL

"The kids", if it were me, would've got either a PS3 or an Xbox, that's all. There's no way I'd miss getting a Tak just for the sake of a couple of games consoles for the kids. They'd be better off out with dad using the Tak than rotting their minds in front of a games machine and TV.

[DavidU (Dave)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

"The kids", if it were me, would've got either a PS3 or an Xbox, that's all. There's no way I'd miss getting a Tak just for the sake of a couple of games consoles for the kids. They'd be better off out with dad using the Tak than rotting their minds in front of a games machine and TV.

Agreed !

[renormalised (Carl)]

They might learn something helping dad with the observations, and actually come to appreciate that learning is something worthwhile pursuing.

[DavidU (Dave)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

They might learn something helping dad with the observations, and actually come to appreciate that learning is something worthwhile pursuing.

The 2 younger ones have a look through the scope and the son is showing interest in CS2 processing.

[g__day (Matthew)]

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16681

NVidia vs ATI and the upper mid range level - and Tech Report are one of the better technical review sites:

Conclusions

Jeez. We plow through all of those numbers, and I still can't declare any clear winner. What we do know is that, with the Radeon HD 4890 and its OC variant, AMD has succeeded in establishing a new standard for performance at the $249 price point. This is a most excellent development, and it has forced Nvidia's hand. Fortunately, Nvidia's response is quite respectable, as well. The GeForce GTX 275 is a worthy competitor to the 4890, and which card is a better value may depend on how prices shake out once both options are out in the wild. Remember, the 4890 OC card we tested costs $265, and if anything, it was an almost exact match for our stock-clocked GeForce GTX. Then again, the first GTX 275 has apparently popped up at Newegg as I write, and it's priced at $259.99. So perhaps the 4890 OC is the most apt comparison—and the parity remains intact.

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Phil, the person I quoted stated to use XP 64 bit. Vista x64 rocks, and I was actually recommending it, over XP 64 bit ;-)

Dave

Originally Posted by acropolite

I have had no problems with Vista 64 Bit with drivers and it's more solid than my old XP machine, maybe older devices will have driver problems but we're talking a new system here.

Why use it... simple, to take advantage of the extended RAM capabilities and allow 64bit Photoshop, believe me it flies, particularly with the large 5DII raw files.

FWIW you can download windows7 Pre release and use it for 12 months for free, by all accounts W7 is the uprgrade that vista should have been. It is said that Microsoft will offer trial users a cheap upgrade path when the trial licence expires.

I haven't tried much Astro software but SNP version 5 at least runs fine on 64 bit ultimate.

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Agreed, especially on the PSU. I personally wouldn't recommend Antec, they're living on their name and reputation imho, their current stuff is not good quality. Better exists elsewhere. But definitely get a high quality PSU and definitely get a top quality motherboard.

My advice is (take it for what it's worth) - a smallish fast boot drive (WD raptor) for your operating system. A 2nd drive (500gb or larger) for your general data. Another 2 drives in Raid 1 for your images and essential data. Go hardware raid if possible - it's more expensive but a LOT better.

Don't worry too much about graphics - most modern cards excel at 3D but you don't that for image processing. As to RAM, get as much as possible, 8GB is fine and go for a quadcore - it does come in handy. It's not as fast (outright) as similar priced dual cores, but having 4 cores to load balance the work is better than 2 imho.

Final thing - get a good case, I'd recommend Lian Li. Expensive, but really nice cases, awesome finish, easy to work with, keep your PC cool, and they're beautiful to look at. I use a PC-V1010.

Dave

edit: if you're working on images - make sure to get a good monitor, m-pva or s-ips, rather than the cheaper tn stuff. Better colour consistency and accuracy. You pays for what you get. Oh, and get a calibration tool, at the least, a Huey Pro or similar, better still an Eye one. Shoot in RAW, Adobe RGB and make sure to always embed the ICC profiles.

Originally Posted by g__day

A suggestion - get a really good power supply (Brand and peak power on the 12V rails - e.g Antec, Topower) 600 Watts or more minimum and a top end motherboard (better quality capacitors). They're the core of your hardware platform - skimp there and you'll wish you didn't.

3D accelerators are so fast these days - ever since NVidia launched the 8800 GT they've got so powewrful its generally CPUs holding them back. $260 - $490 buys a hell of alot of bang for buck today. Sure you can go > $700 and or get two in SLI or Crossfire - but what resolution monitor are you driving that needs that? The technology of the mid range < $500 is still lead by ATI I believe (performance per $) but at the uber high end (too $$$) its NVidia.

You combination sounds reasonable indeed.

[DavidU (Dave)]

Thanks fellas ! A lot of reading to do. I will see what I can get together for my budget.
The processing speed tests on the i7 920 seem awesome for the $

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Originally Posted by DavidU

Thanks fellas ! A lot of reading to do. I will see what I can get together for my budget.
The processing speed tests on the i7 920 seem awesome for the $

Yes, read up on everything. It's always good to know what you're buying, and why. An informed consumer is a smart one.

tom's hardware and anandtech are 2 well respected hardware sites. Lots of good info over at the atomicmpc forums as well (www.atomicmpc.com.au).

Dave

edit: I forgot to mention go a 64 bit operating system. Windows 7 is shaping up to be very nice by all accounts, although there's nothing wrong with Vista imho. If you lived in Brissie I'd have happily helped you put a PC together.

[g__day (Matthew)]

AtomicMPC and PCPowerPlay are published each month - and generally have a two page section where they recommend the best gear at around four different price points from cheap, budget, mid range - unlimited cash. A key observation is they recommend well matched gear. Its crazy to build an unbalanced system - so read a review and see if their suggestions align with your thoughts.

Matt

[DavidU (Dave)]

Thanks Matt, I have not purchaced a PC mag for 10 years.
It's all so different now.

[DavidU (Dave)]

More investigating !
How about 24 256GB solidstate HDD's RAID 2 x i7 920 4GB DDR3 per core
look (lol) Rip a 700MB DVD in .8 sec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

crikey!

Dave

[MrB (Simon)]

Rip a 700MB DVD in .8 sec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

~13 seconds to open every program in the start menu..... ahhhh

[renormalised (Carl)]

And now for the clanger.....how much is all this going to cost??!!!

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

If funds are limited you could always go the way I did. Bought an upgrade kit on Ebay. MSI Mboard, 2.5 gig dual core Intel processor and 2gig DDR2 for $220. Used the existing drives. Runs great, cut my stacking times in DSS by 60% (latest version uses both cores) and can add a bit more RAM later when I get Win 7 on here (gave Vista a miss, tried it for a week and hated it, a wasted $175. W7 is the way Vista should have been)
Didn't have to re-install XP as all I had to do was reactivate it over the net with MS. I have seen cheaper upgrades, but they use AMD processors.

Bill