# Any of you computer nerds want to "sign off" on my new build before I buy?



## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

The title says it all....I am looking at getting a new box to support my CS6 and LR4 software and just for personal use.  This is my current configuration.  

Any recommended changes?  Thanks for looking...NERDS!  :mrgreen:  :geek:


Dell Precision 1650
Intel Core i7-3770 Processor (3.4 GHz) w/HD4000 Graphics
Windows 7
Energy Star Base/320W power
16GB Non-Ecc DDR3 RAM
512GB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 300
7200 RPM 1T HD (No RAID)
6x BluRay burner
MS Office
23" Flat Panel Widescreen monitor


What say you?  Too much box?  Too little?


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## unpopular (Sep 21, 2012)

If it weren't for the Dell...

also, what do you have for backup space?


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## 2WheelPhoto (Sep 21, 2012)

apple.com FTW


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## mjhoward (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> *Intel Core i7-3770 Processor (3.4 GHz) w/HD4000 Graphics
> *



First I would skip Dell and put it together yourself.  Second, for $20 more, you can get the i7-3770K which you can Overclock and will run stable at 4.2GHz.  I'd also use a SSD for your OS and software and attach another Platter drive for your storage.


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

unpopular said:


> also, what do you have for backup space?



2 500GB WD Externals
1 2T G Technology Array External
Blu ray discs


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

2WheelPhoto said:


> apple.com FTW




I'd really like to go there but right now it's just too much $$$.  I just bought that FLIPPING CS6 + LR4 "deal" from B&H and guess what?  It doesn't work on my existing computer because I am running XP.  My wife was already not happy about me spending $400 on that package, but when I told her I needed a new computer just to run the software, she was incensed.  So here I am..


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## xvvvz (Sep 21, 2012)

Looks potentially like a nice setup depending on the details for the components.  I would make sure to get a wide gamut monitor and suitable calbration software + hardware.  If you don't have the equipment to calibrate your monitor, a wide gamut monitor is pretty useless/frustrating for a photographer that needs accuracy.  If that Quadra video card has a displayport, it should be able to output at 10 bit depth in case you get a decent monitor that can handle that stream.  I didn't know to factor that in for my last build.  Always buy a quality displayport cable (NEC sells one on thier monitor site) or don't bother buying one.  Been there, experienced that.  Most cheap ones have poor designs that don't handle the larger data stream correctly.

Doug


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## mjhoward (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> 2WheelPhoto said:
> 
> 
> > apple.com FTW
> ...



Perhaps you just need to upgrade the OS to Win7 instead of buying a whole new computer?
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

mjhoward said:


> First I would skip Dell and put it together yourself.



I am not a computer builder and I need something now.  Not scared to try to build one myself, but I am not really in a position to even try to go there.  I work 80 hour weeks and have 2 kids, one a baby, so my time is very limited.



mjhoward said:


> Second, for $20 more, you can get the i7-3770K which you can  Overclock and will run stable at 4.2GHz.



No clue how to do this, and really, for my purposes, I'm not trying to build "THE" machine.  I just need a better box than I am currently running.



mjhoward said:


> I'd also use a SSD for your OS  and software and attach another Platter drive for your storage.




SSD is pricey, and again, you are talking a bit over my head at this point.  :mrgreen:


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

xvvvz said:


> Looks potentially like a nice setup depending on the details for the components.  I would make sure to get a wide gamut monitor and suitable calbration software + hardware.  If you don't have the equipment to calibrate your monitor, a wide gamut monitor is pretty useless/frustrating for a photographer that needs accuracy.




Thanks.  I'm not a pro.  I'm a hobbyist, and clearly everybody in this thread knows much more about computers than me.  :mrgreen:

The 23" monitor on my build is the recommendation from Dell.


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## Village Idiot (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> The title says it all....I am looking at getting a new box to support my CS6 and LR4 software and just for personal use.  This is my current configuration.
> 
> Any recommended changes?  Thanks for looking...NERDS!  :mrgreen:  :geek:
> 
> ...



There is absolutely no need for that card. A regular grade consumber Nvidia will work fine and save you some cash. I mean, unless you're planning on doing 3d rendering, video, or other things that will really tax a graphics card. I'd recommend a small SSD for the OS if you can afford it and then a second drive for your programs and storage.

Also, the monitor may be a waste unless it's at least an IPS panel. And 23" is a little small.

Also as recommended, building it is cheaper. If you can't do that, find a company that pre-builds computers with standard parts. Dell generally uses proprietary components that make upgrading as much of a hassle as upgrading an Apple computer. The Dell will have a warranty that will cover everything, but if you're not computer illiterare, you'd be able to fix any problems from another manufacture that arises out of warranty.


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## mjhoward (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> SSD is pricey, and again, you are talking a bit over my head at this point.  :mrgreen:



$85 isn't bad at all for 120GB: Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5&#34; 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive &#40;SSD&#41;
That should be plenty room for the OS and any software you'd ever want to install.


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## Village Idiot (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> I am not a computer builder and I need something now.  Not scared to try to build one myself, but I am not really in a position to even try to go there.  I work 80 hour weeks and have 2 kids, one a baby, so my time is very limited.



It takes maybe 15 minutes.


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

mjhoward said:


> Perhaps you just need to upgrade the OS to Win7 instead of buying a whole new computer?
> Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems




Can you expand on this?  Is it possible to just upgrade OS from XP to Win7 and be done with it?

My current computer is 6 years old.  It seems to me that at some point, it's easier to go with a new box than upgrading the old one.

Plus, it would be nice to have multiple computers rather than fighting over just one.


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## mjhoward (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> mjhoward said:
> 
> 
> > Perhaps you just need to upgrade the OS to Win7 instead of buying a whole new computer?
> ...



Yes you can upgrade JUST the OS.  As long as your computer meets the minimum requirements for the OS, you're set.  If it doesn't, you may be able to do something as simple as add RAM for $40 and be on your way.  What are the spec's on your current box?


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

Village Idiot said:


> There is absolutely no need for that card. A regular grade consumber Nvidia will work fine and save you some cash. I mean, unless you're planning on doing 3d rendering, video, or other things that will really tax a graphics card. I'd recommend a small SSD for the OS if you can afford it and then a second drive for your programs and storage.



The base card on this model may be fine, but this video card is a $130 upgrade.  Not that bad I didn't think, and one of the cheapest upgraded cards offered on this model.

The model I'm looking at requires the same HD size if you get >1 hard drive.  I'm not sure if I could do an SSD and a non-SSD for the other.

Why do you want one HD for your OS and another for your programs?  I have never heard of this before.


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## IByte (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:
			
		

> The title says it all....I am looking at getting a new box to support my CS6 and LR4 software and just for personal use.  This is my current configuration.
> 
> Any recommended changes?  Thanks for looking...NERDS!  :mrgreen:  :geek:
> 
> ...



I would custom build, and forget BD,  and put those monies towards a better monitor and graphics card.  Primary HDD should as stated earlier a SSD, and up for a x1tb of internal storage, 2tb external with win 7 professional OEM.....and there you go


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

IByte said:


> I would custom build, and forget BD,  and put those monies towards a better monitor and graphics card.  Primary HDD should as stated earlier a SSD, and up for a x1tb of internal storage, 2tb external with win 7 professional OEM.....and there you go



Did you see the stats on this system?  This is a high end video card and the drive is 1 Terabyte.  SSD is too expensive.

I have 3T external storage already.


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## jake337 (Sep 21, 2012)

What monitor do you have now?  Can you calibrate it?

I would hold off on the monitor, use that cash towards a SSD and better specs in the box.  Then spend about the same, next year(Taxes!), on a real nice wide gamut monitor.


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 21, 2012)

jake337 said:


> What monitor do you have now?  Can you calibrate it?
> 
> I would hold off on the monitor, use that cash towards a SSD and better specs in the box.  Then spend about the same, next year(Taxes!), on a real nice wide gamut monitor.



I've got a 19" Dell monitor that I've had for about 4 years.  It's fine.  A bit smallish, but not bad.

Better specs in the box?  This is a pretty good system I have set up I thought.  What "specs" would you improve upon?

16GB RAM
1T HD
i7 running at 3.5 GHz

I am just a guy shooting images for a hobby.  Reducing memories of my family to digital form and trying to learn and improve.  I'm not a professional videographer or photographer that needs the BIGGEST BADDEST BOX available.  

I appreciate all the comments, but boiled down to their core they just seem to be everybody's opinion about what they think is "THE" system to own, as if there is no other option.


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## Majeed Badizadegan (Sep 21, 2012)

Hey guys, I hear all these recommendations for SSD.  I haven't used it, or considered it. 

I have an extra drive bay that I could possibly upgrade to SSD. I assume with SSD the files are going to open faster, and write faster. But SSD is kind of spendy. What benefits are there to SSD that I'm missing?


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## unpopular (Sep 21, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> Village Idiot said:
> 
> 
> > There is absolutely no need for that card. A regular grade consumber Nvidia will work fine and save you some cash. I mean, unless you're planning on doing 3d rendering, video, or other things that will really tax a graphics card. I'd recommend a small SSD for the OS if you can afford it and then a second drive for your programs and storage.
> ...



I'd stick with the card. As time goes on more and more processes will be distributed to the graphics card. I am not sure if Windows has this architecture in place system-wide yet, but MacOS does - so I am sure it's only a matter of time before Microsoft incorporates this capability - and I am sure that if Photoshop doesn't already, it will regardless.

---

just curious, what is your budget?


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## HughGuessWho (Sep 21, 2012)

Rotanimod said:


> Hey guys, I hear all these recommendations for SSD.  I haven't used it, or considered it.
> 
> I have an extra drive bay that I could possibly upgrade to SSD. I assume with SSD the files are going to open faster, and write faster. But SSD is kind of spendy. What benefits are there to SSD that I'm missing?



SSD for the OS and apps. Secondary drive (not SSD) for data (picture files). Read and write speed is much faster and will greatly increase performance when processing.


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## bratkinson (Sep 22, 2012)

I second, third, and fourth the SSD for Windows and apps and 1TB HD for all your data. That's exactly what I am running on the build-it-myself box I built 3 months ago. The speed difference using the SSD will knock your socks off!

As far as upgrading your old Windows XP computer (I think you mentioned 6 yrs old), it would probably end up being too slow. I had been using a fastest-they-ever-made AMD single processor 6 or 7 year old box I built and when I put Adobe Lightroom 3 on it, time was measured in MINUTES to bring up and edit a single picture, after the HOUR+ import time for 200 photos, give or take. It was the turtle-slow speed that convinced me it was time to upgrade. The new box is less than a minute to import about 150 RAW images, and near instantaneous response in Lightroom and in Photoshop Elements 10. 

Believe me, the extra money (about $100-125) to add a 128 MB SSD (Solid State Drive) is well worth it! I even put my 'current project' on the SSD in a separate folder in My Documents, and move it all to the 1TB HD after I'm all done with it. I also backup My Documents to a thumb drive daily...just in case. Of course, I made an initial copy of the RAWs to the HD, just for safety.

I've also gone a bit on the overboard side of backups, too. I have a twin SSD and HD, both, have everything on 'sliders' for 3 second insertion/removal, and clone one to the other weekly, remove the originals, and run on the cloned versions to equalize wear and tear. Monthly, I back up the whole shooting match to an external 1TB that I keep off premises, in case the place burns down, wiped out by a tornado (we got hit 15 months ago!), or cleaned out by a crook.


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## jake337 (Sep 23, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> jake337 said:
> 
> 
> > What monitor do you have now?  Can you calibrate it?
> ...




My comment is more intended to have you wait on purchasing a monitor.  I regret not waiting to get a better monitor.  Which monitor did dell recommend by the way?


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## Derrel (Sep 23, 2012)

Rotanimod said:


> Hey guys, I hear all these recommendations for SSD.  I haven't used it, or considered it.
> 
> I have an extra drive bay that I could possibly upgrade to SSD. I assume with SSD the files are going to open faster, and write faster. But SSD is kind of spendy. What benefits are there to SSD that I'm missing?



SSD saves time, so a fellow can save time and watch the progress bar as the files are written over to a smaller, 10x slower drive that doesn't fill up after downloading three shoots to the tiny SSD. So, SSD is really a great way to free up time to watch progress bars on file transfers and stuff. It's awesome! The slooooowest part of the computer chain these days is the human operator, and his pathetically slooooooooooooow seek times and his pokey "contemplation and experimentation times"...SSD bypasses that human element and makes the 30 seconds you spend adjusting local contrast seem more like six days...it's awesome! It's like getting 1.457  extra MPG out of your car over a four day drive! It's like being able to brush your teeth in 10 seconds, and then driving to work and having that take 14 minutes....I mean, over the course of a lifetime, SSD drives save like an HOUR that you get to spend watching as the files are transferred to your storage drives!


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## jake337 (Sep 23, 2012)

Derrel said:


> Rotanimod said:
> 
> 
> > Hey guys, I hear all these recommendations for SSD.  I haven't used it, or considered it.
> ...



:scratch:

I thought they were meant to have your software stored on as to not use your computers drive, not your images?


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## JDFlood (Sep 23, 2012)

The approach I used last time was to go to Frys and get a basket and a geek sales person and tell him the proformance I am looking for. He'll pick out the components and for something like 59$, they will assemble it for you. I got a $4,000 system for about $2,000. You will also make a geek really happy for a week. They live to design a system on the fly. Seriously it is only about six or seven parts. JD


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 24, 2012)

jake337 said:


> jwbryson1 said:
> 
> 
> > jake337 said:
> ...




I just pulled the trigger.  I'm glad I listened to you, Jake, because the monitor that was included with the initial setup had bad reviews.  I upgraded to an 24" IPS monitor for an additional $45 (no brainer) and the sales rep upgraded me from the 512MB nVIDIA video card to a 1G nVIDIA card for free.

Yay me!


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## NewGuy12 (Sep 24, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> The title says it all....I am looking at getting a new box to support my CS6 and LR4 software and just for personal use.  This is my current configuration.
> 
> Any recommended changes?  Thanks for looking...NERDS!  :mrgreen:  :geek:
> 
> ...



Jumping in here late *and* I am new to this forum but had to put my 2 cents in. I learned the hard way not to spend money on overclocked gaming computers for graphic design.  I can run all listed programs simultaneously without any issues on this HP.  ($500)

Computer - HP Pavillion
AMD Quad-Core A6-3620
8GB DDR3
AMD Radeon HD 6530D
1TB HD
1 TB HP External HD  ($80)

*CS 5 Suite*
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks.  As these are the main programs that I use.  In addition, I run MS word, MS Outlook, 10 -20 browser tabs in Chrome, 5 - 10 tabs in Firefox, and several in IE.  I run iTunes all day and Safari when I have to for checking browser compatibility on new designs. Oh, and now, add LightRoom to that list.

So if you're looking to simply do graphic design and/or process photos, something like this HP that my family now owns 5 of, will more than do the trick.  Believe me, I was a sucker and got sold on gaming rigs for graphic design but I learned my lesson.  If you're not playing games on it, they aren't good for much more than bragging rights.  (That's not to say that they aren't great computers, it's just over kill in my opinion)


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 24, 2012)

NewGuy12 said:


> Jumping in here late *and* I am new to this forum but had to put my 2 cents in. I learned the hard way not to spend money on overclocked gaming computers for graphic design.  I can run all listed programs simultaneously without any issues on this HP.  ($500)
> 
> Computer - HP Pavillion
> AMD Quad-Core A6-3620
> ...




Always happy to get additional comments. Here is my final set up and I don't think I did poorly (and I don't want to hear "dude, you're a sucker"):

Intel i7 processor at 3.5GHz
16GB DDR RAM
Win 7
1T hard drive at 7200 rpm
24" flat panel IPS monitor
Energy Star base at 320v
Blu Ray burner
Etc.


TTL drive out about $2k.


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## NewGuy12 (Sep 24, 2012)

jwbryson1 said:


> NewGuy12 said:
> 
> 
> > Jumping in here late *and* I am new to this forum but had to put my 2 cents in. I learned the hard way not to spend money on overclocked gaming computers for graphic design.  I can run all listed programs simultaneously without any issues on this HP.  ($500)
> ...



Nah, I'm not here to call you a sucker.  I was merely commenting on my own self evaluation.  I am a graphic designer and have worked on everything from Mac, to Brand Name PC, to custom built gaming machines.  You can never have too much power.  I was coming at this strictly from a monetary stand point.  But if money isn't an issue, more power to you!    You have more than enough machine there to do pretty much whatever you want.


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## jwbryson1 (Sep 24, 2012)

NewGuy12 said:


> Nah, I'm not here to call you a sucker.  I was merely commenting on my own self evaluation.  I am a graphic designer and have worked on everything from Mac, to Brand Name PC, to custom built gaming machines.  You can never have too much power.  I was coming at this strictly from a monetary stand point.  But if money isn't an issue, more power to you!    You have more than enough machine there to do pretty much whatever you want.




My bad.  I wasn't suggesting that you are calling me a sucker.  :mrgreen:  I was referring to a number of others in the thread who were suggesting I go with a Mac (too much $$$) and were pushing hard for an SSD, etc.

I'd like a Mac but I don't want to spend the $$ on one.


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