New Computer - Dell XPS, Precision or AN Other?

Dinarius

I am processing very large digital camera files (220Mb > 1Gb) on a two year old Pentium 4 and it's groaning under the weight of them. It constantly crashes.

I need a new machine. But, what to buy?

RAM and CPU are my main concerns. Also, I will want either Windows XP 64 Bit or Vista 64 Bit as this permits Photoshop CS3 to "see" up to 8Gb RAM.

CPU-wise I want the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 at least.

In terms of RAM, I'd be grateful for suggestions as to what I should be looking for.

Thanks.

D.

Overheal

Dinarius wrote: »

I am processing very large digital camera files (220Mb > 1Gb) on a two year old Pentium 4 and it's groaning under the weight of them. It constantly crashes.

I need a new machine. But, what to buy?

RAM and CPU are my main concerns. Also, I will want either Windows XP 64 Bit or Vista 64 Bit as this permits Photoshop CS3 to "see" up to 8Gb RAM.

CPU-wise I want the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 at least.

In terms of RAM, I'd be grateful for suggestions as to what I should be looking for.

Thanks.

D.

This sounds familiar, wasnt this already posted?

Besides seeing up to 8gb or more (if you go Vista Ultimate) of Ram, you also get the joyous speeds associated with 64 bit processing. woof.

For Ram you'll be wanting DDR3 format RAM if you are talking about that kind of quality, with your fancy quad cores.

And as we're talking about pictures you'll blaze right through if you get a Nvidia Sli setup: you can have anywhere from 1 to 4 graphics cards running in unison to tear those files to shreds in seconds. check the nvidia site for more info.

So ultimately you could get a really sick setup, but its not the RAM that will hurt your operation its the Bus Speeds that govern the data rate between your hardware components. If you want to futureproof the machine get over 1000mhz at least out of your bus speed ratings (FSB is a short hand for it, Front Side Bus), for your Motherboard, Ram and CPU: its only as fast as your slowest component. eg. if my CPU can do 833mhz but my ram is 667mhz and my motherboard is 1000+mhz its just wasted potential.

But this is where me and graphics related hardware start to get a little hazy so ill open the floor to other people

AlmightyCushion

Overheal wrote: »

This sounds familiar, wasnt this already posted?

Besides seeing up to 8gb or more (if you go Vista Ultimate) of Ram, you also get the joyous speeds associated with 64 bit processing. woof.

For Ram you'll be wanting DDR3 format RAM if you are talking about that kind of quality, with your fancy quad cores.

And as we're talking about pictures you'll blaze right through if you get a Nvidia Sli setup: you can have anywhere from 1 to 4 graphics cards running in unison to tear those files to shreds in seconds. check the nvidia site for more info.

So ultimately you could get a really sick setup, but its not the RAM that will hurt your operation its the Bus Speeds that govern the data rate between your hardware components. If you want to futureproof the machine get over 1000mhz at least out of your bus speed ratings (FSB is a short hand for it, Front Side Bus), for your Motherboard, Ram and CPU: its only as fast as your slowest component. eg. if my CPU can do 833mhz but my ram is 667mhz and my motherboard is 1000+mhz its just wasted potential.

But this is where me and graphics related hardware start to get a little hazy so ill open the floor to other people

DDR3 is very expensive at the moment so it's not worth it for the price. Also last time I checked graphics cards made no difference to photoshop. Graphics cards deal mainly with 3d stuff so the like of photoshop would be quite cpu intensive.

Dinarius

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, expensive graphics cards are a waste of money for Photoshop.

It's all RAM and CPU that I'm interested in.

Any views either way on Vista 64bit or Windows 64bit? I'm not a fan of the Mac-like, bouncy castles look of Vista, but if it's considered better than Windows XP 64bit then...............

Also, I see that PC world are selling very fast PCs with the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 for under a grand and that's with a large screen. Seems cheap. Only problem is just 2Gb RAM. Anyone dealt with them?

Thanks.

D.


Edited: This is what I'm looking at now..............

http://tinyurl.com/5dde5q

A few questions........

1. CPU - Stick with the 6600 or spend the extra on the 8500. The money's insignificant, I only want to know if there's much of a difference in performance?

2. Doesn't seem to be any 64bit offerings, but I presume I can get around that if I order one.

3. The extra 1Gb RAM is only €22, but I'd like more. I presume that I can get around that too! ;-)

4. Are any of the graphics cards worth the extra few euros for Photoshop use?

5. Anyone in Dublin selling serious photo editing monitors? e.g. Eizo?

Thanks.

D.

AlmightyCushion

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, expensive graphics cards are a waste of money for Photoshop.

It's all RAM and CPU that I'm interested in.

Any views either way on Vista 64bit or Windows 64bit? I'm not a fan of the Mac-like, bouncy castles look of Vista, but if it's considered better than Windows XP 64bit then...............

Last time I checked xp 64 bit the driver support was still woeful. I'd go with vista 64 bit. A lot of people using it with no problems.

Dinarius wrote: »

Edited: This is what I'm looking at now..............

http://tinyurl.com/5dde5q

A few questions........

1. CPU - Stick with the 6600 or spend the extra on the 8500. The money's insignificant, I only want to know if there's much of a difference in performance?

I'd stick with the quad myself.

Dinarius wrote: »

2. Doesn't seem to be any 64bit offerings, but I presume I can get around that if I order one.

I think you can use windows anytime upgrade to upgrade to a 64bit.

Dinarius wrote: »

3. The extra 1Gb RAM is only €22, but I'd like more. I presume that I can get around that too! ;-)

http://www.shop4memory.com/products/ddr2.asp#6400

There is a 4GB kit there for €84, absolute bargain.

Dinarius

Thanks for the reply.

Been doing a lot of thinking and looking and I'm very tempted by this>

http://tinyurl.com/6atj7l

(the one on the left without the monitor)

I would add 2Gb RAM (oddly, in DELL's Customise option you can't choose any more than 4Gb) and more eventually.

I would also add Vista 64bit Ultimate (again, oddly not an option in the Customize menu).

Apart from that it seems fine.

Going by the Photoshop tests on Tom's Hardware site, this is a serious processor.

I don't want to have to upgrade my computer for quite some time and, if I buy this machine, I wouldn't anticipate having to.

Whadya reckon?

Thanks.

D.

evil-monkey

Hey man, I have always had a Dell XPS and a custom build PC for as long as I can remember, and the XPS has always performed really well. Bought a new one around Xmas for 2k and she runs very smoothly.

I just want to address your 64bit question. You asked;

"RAM and CPU are my main concerns. Also, I will want either Windows XP 64 Bit or Vista 64 Bit as this permits Photoshop CS3 to "see" up to 8Gb RAM."

Firstly, yes, you do want 64bit. 32bit will be dormant in another few years as hardware demands push the boundaries. You have to understand that if you go with a 32bit PC, you're computer can only address 4GBs of hardware. ie, with 768MB GFX Card you can only have 3.2GB of RAM. It's not a question of "seeing" RAM, it won't be used because it can't be addressed.

So the bottom line is, if you want more than 3GB RAM, which you should of course go for as it's so cheap, you want 64bit. I have Vista 64bit myself and have had no driver issues. The only issue I had was with an application that uses a 16bit installer (64bit doesn't support this) but that was something I coded myself lol, so I wouldn't worry about that. Very few apps use 16bit installers these days.

A note on upgrading. I don't think you can upgrade from 32bit to 64bit with anytime. Not sure. Your best bet is to buy 64bit seperate, get the OEM version for like 100dollars or so, and when you get the PC wipe it straight away and install Vista. You'll have issues doing a fresh install of Vista on a unit with 4GB of RAM, so take out 2GB, install Vista, put back in the other 2GB and download the hotfix for this issue and away you go!!

So bottomline, 64bit Vista, but certainly, 64bit something!!

Happy PC hunting!!

evil-monkey

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

Been doing a lot of thinking and looking and I'm very tempted by this>

http://tinyurl.com/6atj7l

(the one on the left without the monitor)

I would add 2Gb RAM (oddly, in DELL's Customise option you can't choose any more than 4Gb) and more eventually.

I would also add Vista 64bit Ultimate (again, oddly not an option in the Customize menu).

Apart from that it seems fine.

Going by the Photoshop tests on Tom's Hardware site, this is a serious processor.

I don't want to have to upgrade my computer for quite some time and, if I buy this machine, I wouldn't anticipate having to.

Whadya reckon?

Thanks.

D.

That's a fine machine man, go for it. You could do your own build - would be comfortable with that?? We could talk you through it...

Dinarius

Been suggested to me that water cooled is trouble waiting to happen and that I should be considering the Precision series. e.g. this one.........

http://tinyurl.com/6ntsw6

(the middle one in the above link.)

Well?

D.

SickBoy

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

Been doing a lot of thinking and looking and I'm very tempted by this>

http://tinyurl.com/6atj7l

(the one on the left without the monitor)

I would add 2Gb RAM (oddly, in DELL's Customise option you can't choose any more than 4Gb) and more eventually.

I would also add Vista 64bit Ultimate (again, oddly not an option in the Customize menu).

Apart from that it seems fine.

Going by the Photoshop tests on Tom's Hardware site, this is a serious processor.

I don't want to have to upgrade my computer for quite some time and, if I buy this machine, I wouldn't anticipate having to.

Whadya reckon?

Thanks.

D.

Nice system. I think the XPS 630 is a better choice for you though.
Even the XPS 420 would be more than enough or even an Inspiron.
The 730 is the top of the line entertainment system from Dell and you pay a premium just for that.

evil-monkey

Dinarius wrote: »

Been suggested to me that water cooled is trouble waiting to happen and that I should be considering the Precision series. e.g. this one.........

http://tinyurl.com/6ntsw6

(the middle one in the above link.)

Well?

D.

I wouldn't say that water cooling is trouble waiting to happen, but you don't really need to go down that route for what you want. it's unnecessary expense for what you're looking for

Dinarius

Cheers guys,

If you click on Customise for both the XPS and Precision range, you will see that the memory and CPU alternative choices are very limited in the XPS range. (oddly though, the Q6600 processor is NOT an option in the Precision range. Wonder why that is?)

Also, I'd like RAM in 4 x 2GB. Doesn't look like DELL offer that either, thought I haven't spoken to them about this. Maybe they would do it.

Also, 4Gb RAM is the most you can choose with the XPS and you can't choose ANY 64bit OS.

So, really looking like a Precision spec now.

D.

Dinarius

Sorted and bought!

I phoned DELL and mentioned that they weren't offering the very fast gaming processors with the Precision range and they told me that they were offered with the Precision T3400 range, oddly enough.

So, here's what I've ordered........

1 W05T31 - T3400 ESSENTIAL Q2 2,248.20 2,248.20 S
T3400 525W Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (3.00GHz, 12MB,1333MHz)
(Irish} System Documentation with UK/Irish power cord
Precision Vista Resource DVD
Vertical Chassis : Orientation (Minitower, W: 170,2 x H: 447.3 x 468.4 mm)
with IEEE1394 Front Connector

Memory : 8GB (4x2048) 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel ECC
Floppy Disk Drive : Not Included 1 S
Hard Drive : 500GB (7200Rpm) Serial ATA II
Additional Hard Drive : 500GB (7200Rpm) Serial ATA ll
SATA ,RAID 1, 2 Hard Drives
Roxio Creator 9.0 with Media
16X DVD+/-RW +16x DVD -ROM
Display : Not Included
512MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX 1700 (MRGA14L), Dual Monitor DVI or VGA
Graphics Card

Sound Card : SoundBlaster Xfi Xtreme Music Card & 1394 Firewire Controller
Card

Speakers : Not Included 1 S
UK/Ireland - Logitech - MX3200 - Cordless - Desktop
English - Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (64Bit OS)

The processor is about as fast as they come.

Check this out>

http://tinyurl.com/5h8t9o

I then haggled and haggled over the price and I got it for just under €2800 delivered to my door. (I'll get the VAT back on that too.)

I'm happy with that.

Thanks for the input.

D.


Edited: Just changed the RAM to this>

8GB (4 x 2.0GB DIMM) 800MHZ ECC Dual Channel Memory (requires 64-bit O/S)

Total price now just over €2800.

evil-monkey

Dinarius wrote: »

Sorted and bought!

I phoned DELL and mentioned that they weren't offering the very fast gaming processors with the Precision range and they told me that they were offered with the Precision T3400 range, oddly enough.

So, here's what I've ordered........

1 W05T31 - T3400 ESSENTIAL Q2 2,248.20 2,248.20 S
T3400 525W Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (3.00GHz, 12MB,1333MHz)
(Irish} System Documentation with UK/Irish power cord
Precision Vista Resource DVD
Vertical Chassis : Orientation (Minitower, W: 170,2 x H: 447.3 x 468.4 mm)
with IEEE1394 Front Connector

Memory : 8GB (4x2048) 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel ECC
Floppy Disk Drive : Not Included 1 S
Hard Drive : 500GB (7200Rpm) Serial ATA II
Additional Hard Drive : 500GB (7200Rpm) Serial ATA ll
SATA ,RAID 1, 2 Hard Drives
Roxio Creator 9.0 with Media
16X DVD+/-RW +16x DVD -ROM
Display : Not Included
512MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX 1700 (MRGA14L), Dual Monitor DVI or VGA
Graphics Card

Sound Card : SoundBlaster Xfi Xtreme Music Card & 1394 Firewire Controller
Card

Speakers : Not Included 1 S
UK/Ireland - Logitech - MX3200 - Cordless - Desktop
English - Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (64Bit OS)

The processor is about as fast as they come.

Check this out>

http://tinyurl.com/5h8t9o

I then haggled and haggled over the price and I got it for just under €2800 delivered to my door. (I'll get the VAT back on that too.)

I'm happy with that.

Thanks for the input.

D.


Edited: Just changed the RAM to this>

8GB (4 x 2.0GB DIMM) 800MHZ ECC Dual Channel Memory (requires 64-bit O/S)

Total price now just over €2800.

Nice machine but price looks a bit steep. I bought the latest XPS (720/730, can't remember off the top of my head), with only 4GB of RAM but better spec elsewhere for just under 2k??

Dinarius

I think you'll find that if you'd chosen the upgrade to the processor I've got and 4gb extra RAM, the price would have been very similar.

That processor carries a large premium.

Anyway, I get the VAT back, so cost to me is about €2400.

Happy with that.

D.

Dinarius

I may add extra and faster HD later.

Is it true that HD will only run as fast as the slowest drive in the machine?

In my case, all drives would be independent of one another. i.e. no RAID configuration.

Thanks.

D.