Config for image editing machine

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gumdigger

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Ultimate Geek
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#57106 3-Feb-2010 10:29

Hi

I don't have a set budget but would like to keep it below $3500 (Just for the box)

So the computer will be mainly used for image editing. applications that i will be using are Maya, Adobe CS4 and little use of sound forge.

running on windows 7 pro, possibly 64bit version. Can i get some suggestions for the CPU, Graphic card and the amount of memory needed to keep the rendering time to minimum while i edit raw image files which can exceed 1000mb+

thank you.

Jamesfranklin

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#301708 24-Feb-2010 01:49

You can Borrow the Apple MacPRO 21".......I prefer it you man.It' just tremendous.

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wazzageek

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#301724 24-Feb-2010 07:41

Jamesfranklin: You can Borrow the Apple MacPRO 21".......I prefer it you man.It' just tremendous.

links removed

What's the Apple MacPRO 21"?

So, joined today for the express purpose of link dropping to a site that doesn't have any files uploaded?

boby55

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#301725 24-Feb-2010 07:55

Jamesfranklin: You can Borrow the Apple MacPRO 21".......I prefer it you man.It' just tremendous.

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SPAM

$3500 is a pretty big Budget,

I would go Core i7, 6gb Ram (tripple channel) a nVidia quadro Graphics Card and a few TB in hdd

wazzageek

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#301738 24-Feb-2010 08:59

boby55:

I would go Core i7, 6gb Ram (tripple channel) a nVidia quadro Graphics Card and a few TB in hdd

I don't know about CPU - I tend to go one under the "latest", as the price / performance trade off is not there at the top end.

I'd probably go more for 8GB, definitely a top end video card - quite possibly 1GB if you are editing 1GB files (obviously not a 1-1 translation here, but).

Multiple Hard drives running off seperate "channels" (this will depend on your rig). Have one drive for Applications / system, one for "scratch" (setup photoshop in this manner), a couple of external hard drives for backups.

You don't mention if you work off multiple screens (I'm a convert) or if you have the screens already.

Also - does the $3.5k include or exclude software costs?

redjet

299 posts

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#301883 24-Feb-2010 18:03

First of all you've got to go with a 64-bit OS as you'll need more than 4gig RAM I'd say. Also Photoshop CS4 64-bit edition would also be beneficial.

If I had that budget I'd probably go with something like this:

CPU - Intel Core i7 930 2.8ghz - $550
(I don't think it's worth getting the 3.0+ ghz 950 or 960 as they are double the price of the 930 but you won't get double the performance)
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=385690

Motherboard - would go with the Asus P6T Dexlue ($523) as has plenty of SATA and USB ports and is highly rated:
http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=374753

Hard Drives:
A 64gb Solid State drive for running your OS and apps on ($434):
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=379844

A RAID 0 config is your best bet for processing your video files as this will probably be your main performance bottleneck.
I'd go for 2 x 1000GB Western Digital RE3's ($300 each) as they are optimised for RAID performance and as a result will give you a single 2.0tb high-performance drive in RAID 0.
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=373637

Memory - I would start with a fast 3 x 2gb Tri-Channel kit ($361). If you find later on that you need more then you can just buy another kit as more than 6GB of RAM might be overkill to start with.
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=385483

Video card - am not an expert on card for video editing, but from what I've read teh CPU does most of the work hear so I'd imagine that the Raedon 5770 ($316) would do the trick with 1gb DDR5 RAM:
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=383660

Power Supply - I'd go for a 600w Zalman Ultra-Quiet model ($221):
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=351705

Case - A full tower would be the best way to go as you want a decent amount of room to add more hard drives should you want later. I'd go with the Silverstone Temjin TJ09 as it's suppose to be reasonably quiet ($355):
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=360167

That totals approximately $3360 which could possibly drop the solid state drive and and another 6gb RAM and just have the RAID 0 drives as your OS and editing drive.

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