Photoshop Machine

[Tonnes]

Time to build or buy a new machine for Photoshop work!

I haven't been up on hardware specs for a couple of years now, hopefully you guys can come up with some good advice. The machine will need to be purpose-built for Photoshop. No games or anything like that. Mostly Big Tiffs - 200mb and up. Maybe even way bigger than that if I go to 16-bit tiffs. And lots of storage because there's lots of images. So...

What would you build, with an eye on performance but still not going balls-out with your wallet? Let's use a Dell 9150 system as a benchmark:

Dimension 9150
Pentium D 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
RAID 0 (2 x 250GB SATA HDDs)
300GB USB External Hard Drive (7200rpm) for backup
256MB PCI Express? x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce
16x DVD-ROM Drive
16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write capability
24 inch UltraSharp? 2405FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

$2,261 shipped.

A few questions:

Will Raid0 be the way to go for a photoshop machine working with large files?

The big question is about processors. Which is best for Photoshop? I'm assuming a dual core processor? AMD or Intel? Which is the best bang for the buck? Is overclocking worth a shot at saving a few $$ and getting better performance?

Thanks for your advice guys!!!

 

[Matthias99]

Will Raid0 be the way to go for a photoshop machine working with large files?

Yes, although I'd put money into the CPU and RAM first. 2GB of RAM will help a LOT working with big multi-layer files, especially if you like to keep a lot of them open at once.

The big question is about processors. Which is best for Photoshop? I'm assuming a dual core processor?

Yes.

AMD or Intel?

Both are pretty good at Photoshop.

Which is the best bang for the buck?

For low-end dual cores, usually Intel, although it evens out a lot as you start looking at faster CPUs.

Is overclocking worth a shot at saving a few $$ and getting better performance?

Possibly, if money's tight.

You also didn't ask, you but you need NOTHING in terms of a video card to run Photoshop. Unless you need a card with dual DVI or dual-link DVI, onboard video or very low-end discrete solutions will work fine.

I strongly recommend doing some searching, as MANY MANY MANY people have asked similar questions recently.

 

[Gomce]

Athlon 64 X2, 4200+ Dualcore, 2.2 per core stock, overclocks to 2600mhz easily (PR4800+), blows anything intel can offer ATM, costs round $300
--
DFI Lanparty Ultra-D SLI --> round $140
--
4 x 1GB Sticks, round $300
--
2 6600GTs ->> round $300 >> to drive 4 monitors ah the joy
--
1 x 24 inch UltraSharp? 2405FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel $600 used as main monitor, + 2 x 19" LCD monitors as satellites $300x2=$600
--
4551 NEC DVD RW DualLayer ~ $50
--
chieftec Case, Dragon BX or DX ~ $100
Coolermaster 550W PSU ~ $100
Zalman CNPS 7700 Al-Cu ~ $50
--
2 x 250GB Hitachi Sata2 Drives ~ $200
--

$2750

 

[TankGuys]

Okay, I'll throw in my thoughts:

1- I personally hate RAID 0. Performance increase is so small and you double your chance of hard disk failure. Granted, PS work can tax your hard drive, but I'd instead consider getting a Raptor 150 or something, and make sure your scratch volume is ona different drive than your program files. You'll get a ton of conflicting opinion on this though, so you're kind of on your own

2- Definitely go Dual Core. I'd tend to recommend an Athlon X2, or perhaps an Opteron 165/170 if you can find one at a reasonable price.

3- Overclocking can always squeeze a good amount of performance out of a budget system. However, you have to be patient, willing to trouble shoot, and willing to take the risk of hardware damage.