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It seems quite a few people agonise over what computer to buy, fearing spending a lot of money on the wrong thing. While many people have a lot of experience with computers there are still many who don't, there will be plenty of people on this site who know more about photography than computers, I hope there is anyway, I am an IT Pro not a photographer as hope to pick up a lot of photography tips here. Seeing as I am new here I'm sure some people will be asking who is this jumped up new kid on the block telling everyone what is the best computer to buy, but nevertheless I thought I'd share some tips I hope you will find useful.
1. Computers are Junk !
Yes really, whatever computer you buy today will be looking old and slow in no time at all and you will be looking to replace it. Don't spend more than you need in the hope that your computer will be future proof as that never works, standards change so quick and technology moves on so fast that a few years down the line it will be hard to buy anything that is still compatible with your computer. So consider carefully what your use for the computer is going to be now and for the next couple of years and base your decision on that. Don't for example think "I'm going to see about getting into HD video in a few years time when the kids have left school" and aim to buy a computer that is capable of HD video editing now. By the time you actually get around to experimenting with HD video you will be looking longingly at the new computer technology wishing you hadn't spent so much on this one forcing you to keep it longer than you really want to. Any computer sold today will easily deal with day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, email and instant messaging, even mobile phones are almost capable of doing that, although you'd probably want a bigger screen than the average mobile offers. If you plan on doing something a little more strenuous such as a bit of photo editing then something with a bit more memory and slightly better processor than the base model is probably a wise move so that it is responsive to your needs. For more serious work with RAW files or video editing then perhaps a decent multi-core processor with plenty of ram and storage space to store all those large pictures is the order of the day. Save a bit of money and put it towards the next computer you will inevitably buy or even better use the money to buy a better lens and you will get sharper photos in the first place.
2. Mac or Windows
On no the dreaded debate, zelots will tell you you must buy one or the other because one is vastly superior to the other, but it isn't important. The true question is what software do I plan to use on it as really the Operating System does not make that much of a difference. Most packages like Photoshop, Light Room, Office etc are available on both. Some packages are only available on one system, Corel for example is only on Windows, but then Aperture is only on Mac. If you have a preference for a particular software package then simply go for the system that lets you use that package. Windows users will claim that Mac's suck and Mac users will claim that Windows Suck, it is a religious war, but the fact is it has a lot to do with what you are used to. If you are experienced at using one system or the other and are comfortable with it why switch to something you don't unless there is some good reason to, a good reason is there is a tool that runs on that system, not because you mates or people in a discussion forum tell you that you should get it because it is so cool. The fact is both Mac and Windows are perfectly capable of doing most of the things you want them to do, only in slightly different ways.
3. Memory is King
Many computer systems are crippled by their lack of RAM. Because for so many years the focus has been on the GHz speed of the processor manufacturers have pushed the processor speed at the expense of the other components to grab the headline of super GHz for only small £'s. In reality a 3GHz computer with just 2GB of RAM is likely to be as slow as a snail when trying to edit a big RAW file, it is far better to go for the slightly lower spec processor, say 2.8 or 2.6GHz and use the money saved to boost the RAM to 4GB. Assuming that most people on this site are likely to want to work on RAW files from a 10MegaPixel camera or higher then somewhere between 4GB and 8GB of ram is currently about optimum, go for 8 if you can afford it. Anything over 8GB is not likely to offer any significant gain to the majority of people and is just expensive overkill. Memory is one of the few things that you might upgrade before you dump the computer, so even if you start off with just 2GB then make sure the system can take at least 4GB, memory tends to get cheaper over time so can be a reasonable way to extend the life of the computer a bit a year or two down the line.
I'd add a couple of points to the wise words above.
We bought CAD workstations for our photo-editing. Computing power and storage are awesome and they do just what we need and no more. Grandchildren can use other machines to play their computer games!
Fit several hard-drives so that operating system and data don't have to share a drive. Use an additional small, fast-access drive just for the Photoshop scratch disk.
If you never connect your workstation to the web, you don't need anti-virus and it can run faster.
Don't skimp on the monitor. If the budget is limited, buy good but small rather than large and cheap.
Quote: I'm sure some people will be asking who is this jumped up new kid on the block telling everyone what is the best computer
LOL......
Absolutely not, The more computing wizards with words of wisdom and advise the merrier........
But one wonders why you would want to join a photographic site, Just to jack daw about computers before perhaps uploading a few snaps, Or maybe even getting involved in some actual photographic topics......
How about starting a computing group.... Groups are all the rage at the Mo...!
Set out some guidelines for computer systems ( Apple or Microsoft ) starting with a basic but reasonable machine for digital photography on a budget.
Then do one or 2 more advanced setups for those with endless supplies of cash.
Perhaps expand into software, There is no end of questions surrounding the mysteries of software.
Or add a self help group to diagnose computer related issues, Kinda like a forum based phone support operation......
Reckon that one would get some attention......!!!
Quote: If you never connect your workstation to the web, you don't need anti-virus and it can run faster
Maybe, but you can't upload to epz, or even join in discussions in the forum.
Unless you buy another machine just for the internet - which will need antivirus!
Thanks for the tips. I'm shopping for a PC right now, expect to buy middle of next week. I've run the gammut, and researched top end PC's such as Alienware, and was thinking I need something to last, but as you say, things change so fast, better to get what you need, and when it becomes less than that, replace it. Prices are quite good now.
I'm in a bit of a quandry concerning two PC's, same brand, same price, but a few differences that I can't evaluate with my very limited knowledge. Here's a list of the differences;
Computer #1 - New model release; quad 4 3.1 Ghz processor; 4GB Ram/2slots available; ATI Radeon 4250 graphics; Sound card AMD 880G; USB ports 4 front 8 back + firewire; available hard drive bays 3 internal, 2 available; 1 PCI slot available; 1 PCI E x16 1 slot available, 2 PCI E x1 available; 2MB processor Cache.
Computer #2 - Release date unknown; quad 4 2.6 Ghz processor; 6GB Ram/0 slots available; ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics; Sound Card AMD 780G chipset; USB ports 4 front 4 back + firewire; Hard drive bays 3 internal, 2 available; 1 PCI slot available; 1 PCI E x16 available; 1 PCI E x1 Available; 6MB L2 Processor cache available.
Everything else is identical; which would you get?
I kind of set a limit of $600.00 on a pc. How does what you suggest fit? I think it's a waste to spend more on something I'll replace in no more than a couple years. I paid $4300.00 for my present system........11 years ago, and it was a bad investment, IMO. I've been struggling along for years with an obsolete system, trying to justify it.
Here's the thing:
Spend $600, replace in 2 years ? You get low performance for 2 years, then spend another $600 for the next 2 years.
Alternative:
Spend $1200, get stonking fast performance. In 2 years time, it's still as fast as the current range of $600 computers, so no need to replace.
Over 4 years, you spend the same, but get better performance for the first 2.
Oh my that kicked off a few opinions quite quickly, some quite the opposite to what I would suggest, so at the risk of stirring up a hornets nest lets look at some of them. I'll assume unless you tell me otherwise that your main aim is to use the system for internet access, a bit of general office work such as using MS Word and cataloguing and editing RAW images from a typical 8-16 mega pixel camera. We are not considering high definition Video editing, hardcore gaming enthusiast, or 3D rendering that would benefit from beefing up the system specs a bit more. We are also assuming that you are looking for a reasonably responsive system but are not worried if a photoshop filter takes 4.35 seconds to complete instead of 3.8 seconds.
As already mentioned by Big Bri, Alienware PC's are primarily aimed at gamers, A significant proportion of games rely heavily on 3D graphics rendering and gamers are keen to get as smooth as possible movement from their games to make the experience as realistic as possible and the last thing they want is for their computer to slow down for a couple of seconds to think about something as in the mean time they have been shot by a competitor while they are waiting. In fact a significant number of gamers are obsessed with the performance of their computer partly for bragging right and partly because they think it makes them a better player. They will obsess about graphics cards, water cooled over clocked processors, just so they can increase the processor from 3Gz to 3.2GHz so that their game will render one extra frame per second. the trouble is when you as what to buy in the company of this sort of enthusiast they will tell you what their dream system is and tell you that unless you have titanium water cooled magic with added supercharged wizardry your computer will be rubbish. Remember by their standards !, what they are really doing is spending vast amounts for very tiny incremental improvements in performance. I know for example that I wouldn't spend $975 on the 3.33Ghz intel i7 X975 when the 3.2Ghz i7 960 is $583 as I would be spending approximately 80% more money just for less than 10% improvement in processing speed. Not exactly vale for money wouldn't you agree ? So a photoshop filter that would take 4 seconds would now take take 3.6, if you need to apply the same filter to thousands of images every day it might make sense, but actually for most people the computer will spend more time waiting for you to decide what you want to do to the image than you will waiting for it to do what you want.
So what would I suggest in July 2010 would be the ideal processor at the core of the system, i'll stick to intel processors to keep things simple as they are used on Mac's and PC's, I'm sure you can find a similar AMD processor for yourself if you prefer. I would suggest that if you are a heavy user with high mega pixel RAW images to work on then the sweet spot would be the intel i7 870 @ 2.97GHz or you might be able to find a good deal on the tiny bit slower intel i7 930 @ 2.8Ghz. These are 4 core processors that will give you super performance if they are coupled with enough RAM. Ideally go for 6 or 8GB of RAM to go with this sort of system, note if you are buying a Mac, don't buy a memory upgrade from Apple, order a third party memory kit from someone like Crucial or Kingston memory and if you don't feel confident fitting it yourself take it along to a local computer store and have them do it for you, it will likely save you at least 40% on Apple's prices.
If you are a typical home user who takes photos as a hobby and sits at the computer on a weekend to work on a couple of hundred photos you have taken at a recent event then really the difference between 3 seconds and 5 seconds to apply a filter is not going to hurt the intel i5 @ between 2.6GHz and 3.2Ghz makes a really good system, I'm sure you'll be happy with the performance for all but the most complicated photoshop filters where you might have to wait 10 seconds instead of 6 with the system above. In terms of general system responsiveness for browsing the web, loading images etc you are not going to notice any real difference between the two, as these kind of tasks are limited by other factors such as your internet speed an the relative slowness of hard disks in comparison to the computer power.
Now to graphics cards, what about all the hype surrounding graphics cards ? If I'm working on big image files I need a decent graphics card right ? Well No you don't, all the hype around graphics cards is again because of those enthusiastic gamers. Virtually all the advances in graphics card performance in the last 10 years has been in 3D performance, photo editing is not a 3D activity it is 2D so a card that has all but wasted on a system used for photo editing. The exception being that some photoshop filters can use the processor on the graphics card to assist with the process. If you have a large screen of 24" or bigger then a card with at least 512MB of memory on it is an advantage. I would suggest the integrated intel on-board graphics that sometimes come built-in on the computer is not up to much, it well worth having an ATI or nVIDIA graphics card, something like the ATI 4550 would be ideal or even a ATI 4350 would do. I'm surprised at the inclusion of the 4250 or 3200 in the bundles in Stray Cats examples as they are quite old and I didn't think most places sell them any more.
As for USB3, I think that is not worth paying extra for at this time as it will take a while to catch on, external hard drives won't make use of the extra speed and cameras with USB 3 are not going to be available anytime soon and even if they are, are you about to buy a new camera as well. If you are planning on buying a camera in the immediate future that does have USB 3 then by all means make sure your computer has it as well otherwise don't bother. Especially if you have a desktop PC with expansion slots you will always be able to fit a USB3 card if you really need one later, but in my experience people tend to swap out their computer rather than fit upgrades as by the time you want to fit the upgrade you would rather put the money towards a new system that has so much more than the one you have.
Well, I didn't read all of that, but I think I probably agree with some of it
I usually buy one model down from the latest.greatest, so you still get great performance but don't pay the early adopter price.
So, I have a 3Ghz quad core machine - an i7 would have been double the money (this was last September). I wanted an ATI 4850, they had a special offer 4850X2 for the price of a 4850, and then the actually put a 4870X2 in there. 8Gb of RAM on Win 7 64-bit will see me right for years.
As to assuming what the main use of a PC is, that's dodgy ground. I use mine for:
gaming
photo editing
video editing
word processing
project work / spreadsheets etc
browsing the web
streaming media
programming
backing up my mobile devices
skype
etc
etc
I want a PC that can do whatever I want it too. I could buy a Mac and an XBox, but I won't
(Incidentally, I'm an R&D manager at HP, so I will try and sell you one of ours shortly)
Edit: running Crysis at a decent frame rate was priority #1
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