BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
I'm a professional photographer looking for suggestions to configure a new Photoshop Workstation. I currently have a Dell Precision 650.
Thanks,
BURKEPHOTOS
Thanks,
BURKEPHOTOS
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PHOTOSHOP COMPUTER RECCOMENDATIONS 4
- Thread starter BURKEPHOTOS
- Start date
- Status
From reading BURKEPHOTOS latest question about multi core versa's two physical CPU's.
They are the same as cdogg indicated but I will add dual (or more) socket motherboards are aimed at server type applications and so are configured and optimised for that role. Therefore the likelyhood is that these motherboards would not perform as well in the desktop work station arena. So quad core/desktop platform would be better for this application.
Martin
On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep
They are the same as cdogg indicated but I will add dual (or more) socket motherboards are aimed at server type applications and so are configured and optimised for that role. Therefore the likelyhood is that these motherboards would not perform as well in the desktop work station arena. So quad core/desktop platform would be better for this application.
Martin
On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep
- Thread starter
- #42
BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
I hear (and discovered when looking for reviews/sources) what everyone is saying about two socket motherboards. What confuses me is that Dell continues to offer many two socket Precision machines. Two dual core and even two quad core processors:
Maybe these are custom boards made only for Dell? More marketing hype than performance gains?
Burke
Maybe these are custom boards made only for Dell? More marketing hype than performance gains?
Burke
Marketing hype? Definitely, at least in many cases. A lot of customers I'm sure buy into it because it makes a good selling pitch!
The radiology department at the hospital where I work recently purchased some dual-xeon setups from HP (that's two physical CPU's) for their imaging workstations. Later on, we decided to purchase cheaper configurations for the "reading" workstations that didn't need all the bells and whistles that the main imaging stations needed. Turns out that the single e8400 core 2 duo performed just as well as two dual-core xeons.
It didn't come as much surprise since I had a hunch going in that most of the imaging work was GPU-intensive and didn't rely as much on the CPU. Obviously the dual-xeon configuration would dominate in other situations, just not here...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.
The radiology department at the hospital where I work recently purchased some dual-xeon setups from HP (that's two physical CPU's) for their imaging workstations. Later on, we decided to purchase cheaper configurations for the "reading" workstations that didn't need all the bells and whistles that the main imaging stations needed. Turns out that the single e8400 core 2 duo performed just as well as two dual-core xeons.
It didn't come as much surprise since I had a hunch going in that most of the imaging work was GPU-intensive and didn't rely as much on the CPU. Obviously the dual-xeon configuration would dominate in other situations, just not here...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.
- Thread starter
- #44
BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
Ha, ha. This quest of mine to figure out what I need to build (rather than just buy) a machine to run Photoshop reminds me of organic chem. Comparing what Photoshop supports, (and can use) vs what hardware is out there (a lot gaming stuff that does not apply) has been a task.
I do appreciate all the input.
Thanks,
Burke
I do appreciate all the input.
Thanks,
Burke
-
1
- #45
SimonDavies
MIS
There is actually a workstation orientated mother board out there with dual sockets, it's called Skulltrail, unfortunately it's an expensive board that uses expensive processors (none of the socket 775 in that board, it uses the socket 771 processors instead) and expensive ram (fbdimm's).
In all honesty I would go for a self build, use an X48, P45 (Intel) or N790\N780 (Nvidia) based chipsets, these all house Intel cpu's btw.
Processor wise I would look at a Q9550 or Q9650 Quad core cpu (unless you want to go Extreme in which case the QX9650 but that's perhaps overkill). I would also go for 8 of DDR3 ram (assuming you chose a DDR3 based motherboard).
I would also question whether you are going to upgrade to CS4 because if you do then you can use the CUDA plugins from Nvidia to offset some of the workload onto the GPU instead of the CPU.
gives you more information on the GPU for use with CS4 and would also help you spend that 5k.
Simon
The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.
In all honesty I would go for a self build, use an X48, P45 (Intel) or N790\N780 (Nvidia) based chipsets, these all house Intel cpu's btw.
Processor wise I would look at a Q9550 or Q9650 Quad core cpu (unless you want to go Extreme in which case the QX9650 but that's perhaps overkill). I would also go for 8 of DDR3 ram (assuming you chose a DDR3 based motherboard).
I would also question whether you are going to upgrade to CS4 because if you do then you can use the CUDA plugins from Nvidia to offset some of the workload onto the GPU instead of the CPU.
gives you more information on the GPU for use with CS4 and would also help you spend that 5k.
Simon
The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.
- Thread starter
- #46
BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
After many hours online, trying to select what I need, quick, not too wild, and yet something I can expect to use (Photoshop) for the next two years, I think I have a motherboard and processor:
ASUS P5Q DELUXE LGA775 INTEL P45
Item=N82E16813131297
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83 GHX 12M L2 1333MHZ FSB
LGA775
Item=N82E16819115041
Thanks again,
Burke
Would it be wrong to add this just because it's cool looking?
ASUS P5Q DELUXE LGA775 INTEL P45
Item=N82E16813131297
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83 GHX 12M L2 1333MHZ FSB
LGA775
Item=N82E16819115041
Thanks again,
Burke
Would it be wrong to add this just because it's cool looking?
BURKEPHOTOS,
Somehow, your links got a little off there - got split between two lines... Just thought I'd point that out.
Here are the correct links for anyone else seeing this after now:
ASUS P5Q DELUXE:
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550:
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Somehow, your links got a little off there - got split between two lines... Just thought I'd point that out.
Here are the correct links for anyone else seeing this after now:
ASUS P5Q DELUXE:
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550:
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
As for your choices, I personally think they are both very nice choices. You could save probably $150 to $200 total between the two, getting slightly lower-end products, but I'm sure you'd be well happy enough with these choices for at least 2 years.
The only thing I'd be curious about (b/c I've not particularly tried so far myself) would be whether you're able to setup RAID configurations for your SATA hard drives easily with this board, while also connecting 1 or 2 optical (DVD Burner) drives.
In reality, unless you do much burning of disks, you don't really need more than one optical drive. You could just hook up one optical drive via the IDE/PATA port, and then use the SATA ports solely for hard drives.
If you can do a SATA optical drive with RAID on the hard drives using the SATA ports on the same chipset, then I'd say go for 1 IDE/PATA optical, and 1 SATA optical.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
The only thing I'd be curious about (b/c I've not particularly tried so far myself) would be whether you're able to setup RAID configurations for your SATA hard drives easily with this board, while also connecting 1 or 2 optical (DVD Burner) drives.
In reality, unless you do much burning of disks, you don't really need more than one optical drive. You could just hook up one optical drive via the IDE/PATA port, and then use the SATA ports solely for hard drives.
If you can do a SATA optical drive with RAID on the hard drives using the SATA ports on the same chipset, then I'd say go for 1 IDE/PATA optical, and 1 SATA optical.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
- Thread starter
- #49
BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
I'm no expert on this but this was posted on my photo forum with the P5Q board:
Here is a custom build for PS that was suggested to me in September.
Here are the recommendations I reveived on PCMech forum. Please feel free to comment if you wish.
(2) LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model iHAS220-08 - Retail
Item #: N82E16827106265
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $59.98
($29.99 each)
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119137
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$5.00 Instant $84.99
$79.99
(2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148274
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy -$10.00 Instant $299.98
$279.98
($139.99 each)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148288
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy $74.99
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Item #: N82E16820223072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$5.00 Instant $34.99
$29.99
APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT 3.5" USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure - Retail
Item #: N82E16817362002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$10.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate $49.99
$39.99
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131295
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $129.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115036
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $189.99
Acronis True Image Home V11 & Disk Director 10 - Retail
Item #: N82E16832200006
Return Policy: Software Return Policy $39.99
ATI 100-505181 FireGL V3350 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814195045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $103.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139001
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145184
Not sure if this board has RAID capabilities.
Burke
Here is a custom build for PS that was suggested to me in September.
Here are the recommendations I reveived on PCMech forum. Please feel free to comment if you wish.
(2) LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model iHAS220-08 - Retail
Item #: N82E16827106265
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $59.98
($29.99 each)
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119137
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$5.00 Instant $84.99
$79.99
(2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148274
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy -$10.00 Instant $299.98
$279.98
($139.99 each)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148288
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy $74.99
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Item #: N82E16820223072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$5.00 Instant $34.99
$29.99
APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT 3.5" USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure - Retail
Item #: N82E16817362002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$10.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate $49.99
$39.99
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131295
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $129.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115036
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) $189.99
Acronis True Image Home V11 & Disk Director 10 - Retail
Item #: N82E16832200006
Return Policy: Software Return Policy $39.99
ATI 100-505181 FireGL V3350 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814195045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $103.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139001
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145184
Not sure if this board has RAID capabilities.
Burke
Well, my personal differences would be here:
DVD Drives - I highly recommend LG over Lite-On. In my personal experience, the LG drives run the same speed or better, and are MUCH MUCH MUCH quieter! I can't emphasise that enough. And I really use my drives. I currently have 4 DVD burners installed (1 IDE/PATA, 3 SATA), all LG, all work flawlessly, all super quiet. I can burn to all 4 at the same time, and somtimes can hardly tell they are working (audibly). The Lite-Ons in the same configuration (I actually got from NewEgg before, and sent them back) were just too loud. In comparison, I woulda thought I had a freight train coming through my "computer room."
Case - I have to say that the P180 case by Antec (pick your color - black, white, silver) will be head and heals above this one, as far as noise dampening. The only real con, I think, of the p-180 is that the cable routing from the power supply can be a little challenging, but not bad. That is b/c it's in its own separate chamber at the bottom. You can read the initial post about this one when it was first built (Case tech really hasn't changed much in a long time by the way):
Or if you can find a P190, it's the newer model of it, supposed to be better, but it costs much more. I'm not sure it's worth the difference. I've had a black p180 for a while now, and by far, it's the quietest case I've ever seen - I've got it loaded with fans, 4 dvd burners, currently 4 or 5 hard drives, a decent graphics card, and everything runs super cool and super quiet. I'd just add a fan to the front above what it already has - you can put one right directly in front of the upper hard drive cage.
...I'll get back to you about the rest...
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
DVD Drives - I highly recommend LG over Lite-On. In my personal experience, the LG drives run the same speed or better, and are MUCH MUCH MUCH quieter! I can't emphasise that enough. And I really use my drives. I currently have 4 DVD burners installed (1 IDE/PATA, 3 SATA), all LG, all work flawlessly, all super quiet. I can burn to all 4 at the same time, and somtimes can hardly tell they are working (audibly). The Lite-Ons in the same configuration (I actually got from NewEgg before, and sent them back) were just too loud. In comparison, I woulda thought I had a freight train coming through my "computer room."
Case - I have to say that the P180 case by Antec (pick your color - black, white, silver) will be head and heals above this one, as far as noise dampening. The only real con, I think, of the p-180 is that the cable routing from the power supply can be a little challenging, but not bad. That is b/c it's in its own separate chamber at the bottom. You can read the initial post about this one when it was first built (Case tech really hasn't changed much in a long time by the way):
Or if you can find a P190, it's the newer model of it, supposed to be better, but it costs much more. I'm not sure it's worth the difference. I've had a black p180 for a while now, and by far, it's the quietest case I've ever seen - I've got it loaded with fans, 4 dvd burners, currently 4 or 5 hard drives, a decent graphics card, and everything runs super cool and super quiet. I'd just add a fan to the front above what it already has - you can put one right directly in front of the upper hard drive cage.
...I'll get back to you about the rest...
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
On your hard drives, I'd say you might could do better with some other options. Now, more than likely you won't see a huge difference between any of the options, but I think my picks might be better - again, strictly opinion, though I've found test results to support it.
I actually went through picking out a whole setup the other day on NewEgg, but didn't get around to posting it. Also, I saved a "wish list" as a shared list, but it isn't showing as a public list, so you'll just have to click the individual items to see them.
Here's what I was going to post:
If I had to just flat down pick one, I'd go this route, based on price/performance/stability, and worth for your situation:
First, here are the considerations:
For editing images, I'm assuming you're dealing with RAW images. If so, then you're dealing mostly with large files. So a fast drive/array for the system would be good, and then more-so a high data transfer rate would be best for the storage drive(s)/array.
So, I'm going to put together what I think would be a good setup from top to bottom that would EASILY fit within your budget, and yet be one screaming fast (and quiet at the same time) computer:
[ul][li]Case/Enclosure: Antec P180 Series[/li]
[li]Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling 750Watt[/li]
[li]Motherboard: Asus ASUS P5Q-E[/li]
[LI]CPU/Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 45nm[/li]
[li]RAM: OCZ Reaper 4GB (2 x 2GB kit) DDR2[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Graphics: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130380]EVGA nVidia 9800 GT[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296]WD Velociraptor 150GB[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD2: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296]WD Velociraptor 150GB[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD3: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD4: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD5: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Optical1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144]LG DVDRW 22X IDE[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Optical1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152]LG DVDRW 22x SATA[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Additional Case Fan: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344]Silverstone 120mm Fan[/li]
[li]External HDD - backup: AcomData 1TB eSata and USB2.0[/LINK][/LI][/UL]
Here's my thoughts so far. First, let everyone here verify the matchup between the MOBO/CPU/RAM to be sure no one can see any issues. I'd take more time if I were buying.
The motherboard picked was based on your needs, and giving ample connectivity options without paying a huge price for stuff you'll likely never use. It's just under $150, so not real cheap, but not a $300 board either. But it should be more than adequate (has 10 possible USB 2.0 ports, 8 SATA ports, 1 eSata port on back, 2 Gigabit LAN ports, more than one PCI slot, more than one PCI Express x1 slot, etc)
The CPU is a 45nm Quad-Core CPU, though isn't the top of the line. The top of the line (before Core i7) costs much more, and I doubt you'd actually notice enough difference to be worth it. It's $250
The RAM is just dirt cheap, unless you want to go DDR3 ram. I still don't think the price difference is worth it, and in many applications, DDR2 still outperforms DDR3. The 4GB set was $100 before a $30 MIR.
Graphics - the one I picked was the 9800GT. No, you don't need that much power, but on the other hand, it's not the most powerful, and for $125 ($110 if send in MIR), it's a steal! It couldn't hurt having that much graphics muscle, especially when it gets a couple years down the road, and you want to hold off just a little longer before making the next upgrade.
Hard Drives:
The 2 Velociraptors (150GB ones) in RAID 1 if you want your system backed up well, and some improved performance, or RAID 0 for flat out performance. I'm thinking RAID 1, assuming you use the other drives for storage.
The 3 $210 1TB WD RAID-class hard drives in a RAID 5 array, so you have redundancy, but don't sacrifice much performance. According to Tom's Hardware, this drive is pretty much top of the heap for overall performance at this storage size. Not the absolute most throughput, but I/O operations by far the best. And it's really good on throughput as well. This way, you've got a balance between redundancy, storage space, and speed. I suppose you could mix in a 4th drive for an even better setup, but I'm not sure you'd need it. One thing to bear in mind, these drives were twice the price of a few others which were also solid performers. I just picked these, being they are rated at the highest level for ongoing usage, and specifically RAID certified. You could knock a few hundred off if you wanted to try the cheaper ones; I read some reviews on some where they had more issues in RAID arrays with at least one or two of those, however.
Then you would have the eSata/USB hard drive (1TB) as a backup to your data storage and even your system if you wanted, as I doubt you'll actually have a full 1TB of data unless you're taking lots of images, and keeping all the originals long term. If so, you can always pick up another external drive that's the same, or as many as you need. They aren't that expensive compared to many other items.
With this setup:
RAID 1 of the Velociraptors - Mirror, so if one fails, you can keep working until you replace the failed drive.
RAID 5 of the RE3 1TB drives (giving you an actual 2TB total storage available, yet with redundancy protection for your data)
Backup to the 1TB external drive - if only used for backup, this would simply be in case one or both of your entire RAID configurations just bit the dust. A controller could go bad, which could cause this. But if you have backups, then no immediate worries, other than lost downtime. For a backup of the controllers, using onboard RAID, you could keep an identical copy of the motherboard around, though I'm not sure that'd be totally necessary.
Total cost for this configuration (PC only, no peripherals, no monitor(s), etc) = $2,129.44 including shipping. And if you send all the rebates in, you'd get back an additional $95, so then the system cost would be $2034.44
This system also assumes you already have a copy of Windows and the other software you'll use. If you need to get a copy of Windows, then tack on an additional $100 to $300 depending upon which build/version you get.
Also, if you are wanting to get the newest version of Adobe PhotoShop to go with it, if you've got a prior version on hand, you can upgrade for $199, or buy full for $700 I believe it was.
This setup will do everything you need, and will run cool and quiet. The extra case fan I mentioned would be something good to put in the front of the hard drives to provide a little additional cooling.
The particular case I picked out is actually the same as what I currently own (except I have the black model). It is SUPER quiet). The only thing that is a real headache is that the power supply is below everything in its own chamber. I think this works out well, but it makes running the wires a little more of a headache. However, I'd still recommend it. With these choices listed, you should have a really cool quiet and FAST system.
You could also add in a 3rd party heatsink/fan for your processor, but assuming you're not going to overclock any, you should be more than covered with the stock heatsink/fan, and in the particular case, I doubt you'll hear much of anything.
This is the first or one of the first reviews of the Antec P180 case initial design:
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html
Basically, Antec got additional advice from the main guy, or one of the guys, over at SilentPCReview for the purpose of making an excellent case, both in regards to sound/vibration and regards to cooling components. Antec has been a solid case manufacturer for a long time, now. You can go with others for twice the price, but I doubt you'll benefit.
Please, if anyone else has the time to critique the pick of parts, please do so. I'm just suggesting this as a starting point for now, though it might end up being a good end choice. I didn't spend enough time, really, to make sure of the match between the mobo/cpu/ram as the best stability. You can run into stability issues if not properly matched.
I put all the items into a public NewEgg Wish List, so you can go there, and click the items directly for more detail, reviews, etc..:
It isn't listed in the public list yet, so apparently there is some delay in viewing that.
Here's the link to all the public lists:
The list I created is called "Photoshop Machine Proposal". But it's not showing up for some reason. I've not tried to make one "public" before, so I'm not sure what the deal is. The list ID is 11381968
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
I actually went through picking out a whole setup the other day on NewEgg, but didn't get around to posting it. Also, I saved a "wish list" as a shared list, but it isn't showing as a public list, so you'll just have to click the individual items to see them.
Here's what I was going to post:
If I had to just flat down pick one, I'd go this route, based on price/performance/stability, and worth for your situation:
First, here are the considerations:
For editing images, I'm assuming you're dealing with RAW images. If so, then you're dealing mostly with large files. So a fast drive/array for the system would be good, and then more-so a high data transfer rate would be best for the storage drive(s)/array.
So, I'm going to put together what I think would be a good setup from top to bottom that would EASILY fit within your budget, and yet be one screaming fast (and quiet at the same time) computer:
[ul][li]Case/Enclosure: Antec P180 Series[/li]
[li]Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling 750Watt[/li]
[li]Motherboard: Asus ASUS P5Q-E[/li]
[LI]CPU/Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 45nm[/li]
[li]RAM: OCZ Reaper 4GB (2 x 2GB kit) DDR2[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Graphics: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130380]EVGA nVidia 9800 GT[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296]WD Velociraptor 150GB[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD2: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296]WD Velociraptor 150GB[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD3: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD4: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]HDD5: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313]New WD RE3 1TB SATA2 Drive[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Optical1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144]LG DVDRW 22X IDE[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Optical1: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152]LG DVDRW 22x SATA[/LINK][/LI]
[LI]Additional Case Fan: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344]Silverstone 120mm Fan[/li]
[li]External HDD - backup: AcomData 1TB eSata and USB2.0[/LINK][/LI][/UL]
Here's my thoughts so far. First, let everyone here verify the matchup between the MOBO/CPU/RAM to be sure no one can see any issues. I'd take more time if I were buying.
The motherboard picked was based on your needs, and giving ample connectivity options without paying a huge price for stuff you'll likely never use. It's just under $150, so not real cheap, but not a $300 board either. But it should be more than adequate (has 10 possible USB 2.0 ports, 8 SATA ports, 1 eSata port on back, 2 Gigabit LAN ports, more than one PCI slot, more than one PCI Express x1 slot, etc)
The CPU is a 45nm Quad-Core CPU, though isn't the top of the line. The top of the line (before Core i7) costs much more, and I doubt you'd actually notice enough difference to be worth it. It's $250
The RAM is just dirt cheap, unless you want to go DDR3 ram. I still don't think the price difference is worth it, and in many applications, DDR2 still outperforms DDR3. The 4GB set was $100 before a $30 MIR.
Graphics - the one I picked was the 9800GT. No, you don't need that much power, but on the other hand, it's not the most powerful, and for $125 ($110 if send in MIR), it's a steal! It couldn't hurt having that much graphics muscle, especially when it gets a couple years down the road, and you want to hold off just a little longer before making the next upgrade.
Hard Drives:
The 2 Velociraptors (150GB ones) in RAID 1 if you want your system backed up well, and some improved performance, or RAID 0 for flat out performance. I'm thinking RAID 1, assuming you use the other drives for storage.
The 3 $210 1TB WD RAID-class hard drives in a RAID 5 array, so you have redundancy, but don't sacrifice much performance. According to Tom's Hardware, this drive is pretty much top of the heap for overall performance at this storage size. Not the absolute most throughput, but I/O operations by far the best. And it's really good on throughput as well. This way, you've got a balance between redundancy, storage space, and speed. I suppose you could mix in a 4th drive for an even better setup, but I'm not sure you'd need it. One thing to bear in mind, these drives were twice the price of a few others which were also solid performers. I just picked these, being they are rated at the highest level for ongoing usage, and specifically RAID certified. You could knock a few hundred off if you wanted to try the cheaper ones; I read some reviews on some where they had more issues in RAID arrays with at least one or two of those, however.
Then you would have the eSata/USB hard drive (1TB) as a backup to your data storage and even your system if you wanted, as I doubt you'll actually have a full 1TB of data unless you're taking lots of images, and keeping all the originals long term. If so, you can always pick up another external drive that's the same, or as many as you need. They aren't that expensive compared to many other items.
With this setup:
RAID 1 of the Velociraptors - Mirror, so if one fails, you can keep working until you replace the failed drive.
RAID 5 of the RE3 1TB drives (giving you an actual 2TB total storage available, yet with redundancy protection for your data)
Backup to the 1TB external drive - if only used for backup, this would simply be in case one or both of your entire RAID configurations just bit the dust. A controller could go bad, which could cause this. But if you have backups, then no immediate worries, other than lost downtime. For a backup of the controllers, using onboard RAID, you could keep an identical copy of the motherboard around, though I'm not sure that'd be totally necessary.
Total cost for this configuration (PC only, no peripherals, no monitor(s), etc) = $2,129.44 including shipping. And if you send all the rebates in, you'd get back an additional $95, so then the system cost would be $2034.44
This system also assumes you already have a copy of Windows and the other software you'll use. If you need to get a copy of Windows, then tack on an additional $100 to $300 depending upon which build/version you get.
Also, if you are wanting to get the newest version of Adobe PhotoShop to go with it, if you've got a prior version on hand, you can upgrade for $199, or buy full for $700 I believe it was.
This setup will do everything you need, and will run cool and quiet. The extra case fan I mentioned would be something good to put in the front of the hard drives to provide a little additional cooling.
The particular case I picked out is actually the same as what I currently own (except I have the black model). It is SUPER quiet). The only thing that is a real headache is that the power supply is below everything in its own chamber. I think this works out well, but it makes running the wires a little more of a headache. However, I'd still recommend it. With these choices listed, you should have a really cool quiet and FAST system.
You could also add in a 3rd party heatsink/fan for your processor, but assuming you're not going to overclock any, you should be more than covered with the stock heatsink/fan, and in the particular case, I doubt you'll hear much of anything.
This is the first or one of the first reviews of the Antec P180 case initial design:
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html
Basically, Antec got additional advice from the main guy, or one of the guys, over at SilentPCReview for the purpose of making an excellent case, both in regards to sound/vibration and regards to cooling components. Antec has been a solid case manufacturer for a long time, now. You can go with others for twice the price, but I doubt you'll benefit.
Please, if anyone else has the time to critique the pick of parts, please do so. I'm just suggesting this as a starting point for now, though it might end up being a good end choice. I didn't spend enough time, really, to make sure of the match between the mobo/cpu/ram as the best stability. You can run into stability issues if not properly matched.
I put all the items into a public NewEgg Wish List, so you can go there, and click the items directly for more detail, reviews, etc..:
It isn't listed in the public list yet, so apparently there is some delay in viewing that.
Here's the link to all the public lists:
The list I created is called "Photoshop Machine Proposal". But it's not showing up for some reason. I've not tried to make one "public" before, so I'm not sure what the deal is. The list ID is 11381968
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Sorry that was one long post. First, I detailed the items with links, and then I gave my reasonings, as well as my initial thought for a good setup.
You could also add another 1TB drive as an internal backup drive.
Also, another note on hard drives. Because the prices have dropped so low, and with the progress in that area, I'd personally think that at this point in time, it'd be the best idea to just get 1TB drives. 500GB drives do work, and they will hold your stuff, but it seems to me that the spindle-type hard drives are moving more towards the bigger stuff. Eventually, the 1TB+ drives will be the "standard", I would think. I wouldn't be shocked for that to be the case within 1 years time, assuming the whole economy doesn't collapse first.![[wink]](/data/assets/smilies/wink.gif "[wink] [wink]")
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
You could also add another 1TB drive as an internal backup drive.
Also, another note on hard drives. Because the prices have dropped so low, and with the progress in that area, I'd personally think that at this point in time, it'd be the best idea to just get 1TB drives. 500GB drives do work, and they will hold your stuff, but it seems to me that the spindle-type hard drives are moving more towards the bigger stuff. Eventually, the 1TB+ drives will be the "standard", I would think. I wouldn't be shocked for that to be the case within 1 years time, assuming the whole economy doesn't collapse first.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Trying to get to your individual items in your list now... I already said:
Mobo = Yes
CPU = Yes
Case = You're Choice, but I recommend the P180 over that
Hard drives - See my links
Now for this one:
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Item #: N82E16820223072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$5.00 Instant $34.99
$29.99
I don't personally think you need that. If you want a card reader, etc, I say get one without the floppy unless you just want a floppy drive. Just make sure (if you're going Windows XP) you don't need to install SATA/RAID drivers via F6 to get Windows to load your hard drive controllers. That would be the only reason (I can imagine) to keep a floppy anymore. If you go with Vista, you can load drivers from ANY source, it seems. I tried the other day just to see, was able to go from floppy, optical, USB thumb drive - anything that was connected pretty much.
.........
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Mobo = Yes
CPU = Yes
Case = You're Choice, but I recommend the P180 over that
Hard drives - See my links
Now for this one:
Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Item #: N82E16820223072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options) -$5.00 Instant $34.99
$29.99
I don't personally think you need that. If you want a card reader, etc, I say get one without the floppy unless you just want a floppy drive. Just make sure (if you're going Windows XP) you don't need to install SATA/RAID drivers via F6 to get Windows to load your hard drive controllers. That would be the only reason (I can imagine) to keep a floppy anymore. If you go with Vista, you can load drivers from ANY source, it seems. I tried the other day just to see, was able to go from floppy, optical, USB thumb drive - anything that was connected pretty much.
.........
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
On these two:
Acronis True Image Home V11 & Disk Director 10 - Retail
Item #: N82E16832200006
Return Policy: Software Return Policy $39.99
--I think this is not a bad idea. Using this, you could keep an image constantly created on your backup hard drive of your current system as is, in case of a system crash. If I were you, I'd create one static image of the system at install, first, and then do the continuous restore image as a separate file, in case you get a virus or something, and don't learn about it until it's already in that image.
---------
ATI 100-505181 FireGL V3350 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814195045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $103.99
I don't know on this one. It might be better for 3d graphics for someone using Maya or something like that. As far as day to day usage, and/or mostly 2D usage in Photoshop, I just don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say you'd be better off sticking to more "mainstream" cards, for support reasons - drivers, etc. But again, I could be wrong on that one.
Someone else can probably offer better advice here. If it does handle colors better than the others, by chance, then yeah, I'd go with that or something like it.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Acronis True Image Home V11 & Disk Director 10 - Retail
Item #: N82E16832200006
Return Policy: Software Return Policy $39.99
--I think this is not a bad idea. Using this, you could keep an image constantly created on your backup hard drive of your current system as is, in case of a system crash. If I were you, I'd create one static image of the system at install, first, and then do the continuous restore image as a separate file, in case you get a virus or something, and don't learn about it until it's already in that image.
---------
ATI 100-505181 FireGL V3350 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814195045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $103.99
I don't know on this one. It might be better for 3d graphics for someone using Maya or something like that. As far as day to day usage, and/or mostly 2D usage in Photoshop, I just don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say you'd be better off sticking to more "mainstream" cards, for support reasons - drivers, etc. But again, I could be wrong on that one.
Someone else can probably offer better advice here. If it does handle colors better than the others, by chance, then yeah, I'd go with that or something like it.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Also, on the computer case, I did look this up (couldn't remember). The P182 might be a slightly better pick. Both of those were designed by Antec with a lot of input from the author at SilentPCReview.com ... apparently now they have the P190 and the Mini p180. From the sounds of it, I think the p180 or p182 is still the best value.
Here's one listing of the p182 at NewEgg:
- $149.99 and free ship
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
Here's one listing of the p182 at NewEgg:
- $149.99 and free ship
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
The power supply (didn't notice one listed in your list) should be a very good one. There are others that are very good as well. Basically, I recommend sticking with a major brand there, and not generics. If the PSU goes bad, it can cause havoc on anything attached. I've replaced 2 generics before. I don't think it's worth the difference in price anymore to get the cheapie ones.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
- Thread starter
- #57
BURKEPHOTOS
Technical User
kjv1611, Thank you for all you suggestions, I appreciate it. I feel like I've looked at this stuff waaaay to much 
Wanted to share what some of my peers are using for archiving digital image files:
There's a move away from optical back up with the lower cost of large hard drives. Not sure if I agree, but the idea is to back up to HD (maybe a year at a time) pull the HD, label it and put it on the shelf.
Burke
Wanted to share what some of my peers are using for archiving digital image files:
There's a move away from optical back up with the lower cost of large hard drives. Not sure if I agree, but the idea is to back up to HD (maybe a year at a time) pull the HD, label it and put it on the shelf.
Burke
BURKEPHOTOS,
That link was bad for some reason - not sure why.
But if you're talking about a dock for quickly connecting and removing hard drives, I had read about that way back, and came close to getting one myself.
The ones I thought would be really neat were the ones found here:
(the top 3, at least today)
However, that upgright type (at least one brand) could be problematic if you use it a lot:
Apparently, some people have had them overheat on them, and at least the one guy had one totally melt down!
I doubt you'd run into that with images, but it's something to consider. If it's one of the 5 inch bay drives, then you would less likely have that kind of issue.
The idea of using hard drives instead of optical storage is what started that whole thread. Apparently there are all sorts of options for storing stuff that way.
But the thing is, you might still want some other form of back-up for your data if it's important. So, you could back-up to 2 different hard drives of differing manufacturers, or something like that.
Unless it's so big that you fill up 500 GB or 1TB every year or less, then I'd say the best solution is the RAID storage we talked about here, and an external back-up drive, which you run a nightly or weekly or however often you choose backup from the storage RAID to.
And don't forget that nowadays there are lots of online backup services to look into as well. It seems every company out there just about has at least a small package deal you can get for free, and big packages for differing costs.
Then, you could replace your backup drive every couple years if you wanted to, but you might not need to.
Of course, if your data is valuable enough, you might also want to consider tape back-ups as an alternative. That way, it's easier to do off-site, and you have a different medium.
You really can go as cheap/small or as expensive/big with this stuff as you want, nowadays.
And lastly, I know what you mean about looking at this stuff. I mean I LOVE looking at all the computer hardware reviews, and such, and looking at pricing of it all, and then the actual ordering, building, upgrading, etc, and at times I think "boy I've looked way too much at this stuff!"
The thing is that in our day, there are SO many choices, that it is very easy to get overwhelmed. In most cases, it's best to just pick something you think you like, and if you don't see any really bad reviews that would make you scared to try it out, then go for it.
Worst case scenerio with NewEgg is you'll have to send something back, b/c it's DOA (dead on arrival). I haven't had it happen often, but when it has, they are VERY quick about getting your situation resolved. Of course, I've not had any real issues with Directron either, but I think NewEgg is king when it comes to service.
And now I must hush - again.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
That link was bad for some reason - not sure why.
But if you're talking about a dock for quickly connecting and removing hard drives, I had read about that way back, and came close to getting one myself.
The ones I thought would be really neat were the ones found here:
(the top 3, at least today)
However, that upgright type (at least one brand) could be problematic if you use it a lot:
Apparently, some people have had them overheat on them, and at least the one guy had one totally melt down!
I doubt you'd run into that with images, but it's something to consider. If it's one of the 5 inch bay drives, then you would less likely have that kind of issue.
The idea of using hard drives instead of optical storage is what started that whole thread. Apparently there are all sorts of options for storing stuff that way.
But the thing is, you might still want some other form of back-up for your data if it's important. So, you could back-up to 2 different hard drives of differing manufacturers, or something like that.
Unless it's so big that you fill up 500 GB or 1TB every year or less, then I'd say the best solution is the RAID storage we talked about here, and an external back-up drive, which you run a nightly or weekly or however often you choose backup from the storage RAID to.
And don't forget that nowadays there are lots of online backup services to look into as well. It seems every company out there just about has at least a small package deal you can get for free, and big packages for differing costs.
Then, you could replace your backup drive every couple years if you wanted to, but you might not need to.
Of course, if your data is valuable enough, you might also want to consider tape back-ups as an alternative. That way, it's easier to do off-site, and you have a different medium.
You really can go as cheap/small or as expensive/big with this stuff as you want, nowadays.
And lastly, I know what you mean about looking at this stuff. I mean I LOVE looking at all the computer hardware reviews, and such, and looking at pricing of it all, and then the actual ordering, building, upgrading, etc, and at times I think "boy I've looked way too much at this stuff!"
The thing is that in our day, there are SO many choices, that it is very easy to get overwhelmed. In most cases, it's best to just pick something you think you like, and if you don't see any really bad reviews that would make you scared to try it out, then go for it.
Worst case scenerio with NewEgg is you'll have to send something back, b/c it's DOA (dead on arrival). I haven't had it happen often, but when it has, they are VERY quick about getting your situation resolved. Of course, I've not had any real issues with Directron either, but I think NewEgg is king when it comes to service.
And now I must hush - again.
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
I think kjv1611 and myself are thinking along similar if not identical lines. We both have our own preferences of hardware and here are my comments.
Raptors are quick but run hot and are noisey.
WD RE3's are great and my choice for a raid cobfiguration.
WD Black addition's are almost the same drive but optimised for desktop and so perfect for backup storage, they are considered to be the best all round performing desktop drive ATM but other drives ie; Samsung F1, Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 are not far off, basically all are good.
I agree with LG's (I picked litescribe version)
I really don't know what advantage buying a workstation graphics card would have in what is essentially a 2D application, I feel you will get more power with a similar priced mainstream card like the Radeon 4850 or 9800GT.
The Corsair PSU will be fine and is quality.
I do think the list that BURKEPHOTOS came up with was a bit weak: personally I would go quad core, liteon's are noisey, no mention of a better CPU cooler, the memory was slower PC6400 800mhz, not sure if the motherboard has raid? and it looked like there were no plans for Raid or redundancy, basically a straight desktop setup with no real attempt to optimise things for photoshop or build in redundancy to protect important images etc.
As for archiving hard drives!!!!!! well fine in theory..but drop one two feet onto a worktop and a whole year of work is likely up the swanny.
Hard drives are extremely delicate and can easily be damaged with the smallest of knocks. If you follow this trend then ask your local PC builder for a hard drive packing box, the type OEM drives come in with sponge slots for each drive. seal each drive in an anti-static bag, seal again in seperate plastic bags to prevent moisture, put in sponge slot and store with moisture crystals at room temperature.
Martin
On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep
Raptors are quick but run hot and are noisey.
WD RE3's are great and my choice for a raid cobfiguration.
WD Black addition's are almost the same drive but optimised for desktop and so perfect for backup storage, they are considered to be the best all round performing desktop drive ATM but other drives ie; Samsung F1, Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 are not far off, basically all are good.
I agree with LG's (I picked litescribe version)
I really don't know what advantage buying a workstation graphics card would have in what is essentially a 2D application, I feel you will get more power with a similar priced mainstream card like the Radeon 4850 or 9800GT.
The Corsair PSU will be fine and is quality.
I do think the list that BURKEPHOTOS came up with was a bit weak: personally I would go quad core, liteon's are noisey, no mention of a better CPU cooler, the memory was slower PC6400 800mhz, not sure if the motherboard has raid? and it looked like there were no plans for Raid or redundancy, basically a straight desktop setup with no real attempt to optimise things for photoshop or build in redundancy to protect important images etc.
As for archiving hard drives!!!!!! well fine in theory..but drop one two feet onto a worktop and a whole year of work is likely up the swanny.
Hard drives are extremely delicate and can easily be damaged with the smallest of knocks. If you follow this trend then ask your local PC builder for a hard drive packing box, the type OEM drives come in with sponge slots for each drive. seal each drive in an anti-static bag, seal again in seperate plastic bags to prevent moisture, put in sponge slot and store with moisture crystals at room temperature.
Martin
On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep
Yes, I didn't notice the dual core in the list he gave. I guess I overlooked it, b/c he mentioned that in the previous post. He mentioned:
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550
By the way, BURKEPHOTOS, I may just be assuming you were a male, so if I was wrong (my use of "he" just now), I apologize. I don't remember if there was a specification of that or not.
paparazi,
The Raptors aren't as loud as people give them credit. I've got 2 and never notice them being any louder than other drives - that's in my current and previous cases. Also another case where I put 2 in a RAID 1 for an acquaintance.
The VelociRaptors are a whole new animal. They are appx 30% faster than the Raptors, are 2.5 inch form factor (w/o the attached heatsink, and supposedly run much quieter and cooler. As a matter of fact, they run cooler than everything else or practically everything else tested against - that I've seen any reports on (online reviews).
2 of the 150GB ones in a RAID1 config would give tons of performance for the system, as well as redundancy. Of course RAID 0 would give a little more performance for the system stuff, but I don't think the benefit will be quite as much for photo editing if the storage is on a separate drive/raid array.
The mobo he mentioned DEFINITELY has RAID - it has RAID 0,1,5,10,Matrix RAID if I remember correctly.
I dunno, but that might be a little over the top. True things can happen, but if you simply have more than one backup method, you'll be covered.
I do agree that only backing-up to hard drives is not the best idea. But frankly, if your data is that important (and I would think in the photographer's case, this is true), then I'd backup to at least:
1. External Hard Drive
2. Online Storage and/or
3. Optical media or flash media or tape. My pick of the 3 would be flash media, for the price/performance/value. You can pick up a 32 Gigabyte FAST Thumb Drive now for UNDER $100! I'd personally recommend getting a couple of those. The specific one I'm talking about (I personally now own) is this one:
- $65 if you do the rebate.
You can read my mention of that one in this thread:
thread602-1504319
The short of it is this: Typical Read/Write speeds are:
Read = 25MB/sec (max was 33 or possibly 34/35 once, I forget now)
Write = 10 to 13 (max has been 15 if I remember correctly)MB/sec
I use one to transfer audio WAV files (and others) that are often 1 to 2 GB each, and it takes practically no time.
Also, according to one online reported test, it seemed to be the only thumb drive that large that could keep up with the smaller drives in performance and reliabilty. The larger drives have to use MLC(multi-layer-cell) memory instead of SLC(single-layer-cell) memory b/c of cost for that size of storage.
For optical media of that size, you'd have to go blue-Ray (which wouldn't be bad, really), but the drive costs around $200 at minimum, and the media is hard to find, and expensive for optical media.
I really need to stop typing. Something must have got me going on typing stuff today!
--
"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550
By the way, BURKEPHOTOS, I may just be assuming you were a male, so if I was wrong (my use of "he" just now), I apologize. I don't remember if there was a specification of that or not.
paparazi,
The Raptors aren't as loud as people give them credit. I've got 2 and never notice them being any louder than other drives - that's in my current and previous cases. Also another case where I put 2 in a RAID 1 for an acquaintance.
The VelociRaptors are a whole new animal. They are appx 30% faster than the Raptors, are 2.5 inch form factor (w/o the attached heatsink, and supposedly run much quieter and cooler. As a matter of fact, they run cooler than everything else or practically everything else tested against - that I've seen any reports on (online reviews).
2 of the 150GB ones in a RAID1 config would give tons of performance for the system, as well as redundancy. Of course RAID 0 would give a little more performance for the system stuff, but I don't think the benefit will be quite as much for photo editing if the storage is on a separate drive/raid array.
The mobo he mentioned DEFINITELY has RAID - it has RAID 0,1,5,10,Matrix RAID if I remember correctly.
[ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2]
I dunno, but that might be a little over the top. True things can happen, but if you simply have more than one backup method, you'll be covered.
I do agree that only backing-up to hard drives is not the best idea. But frankly, if your data is that important (and I would think in the photographer's case, this is true), then I'd backup to at least:
1. External Hard Drive
2. Online Storage and/or
3. Optical media or flash media or tape. My pick of the 3 would be flash media, for the price/performance/value. You can pick up a 32 Gigabyte FAST Thumb Drive now for UNDER $100! I'd personally recommend getting a couple of those. The specific one I'm talking about (I personally now own) is this one:
- $65 if you do the rebate.
You can read my mention of that one in this thread:
thread602-1504319
The short of it is this: Typical Read/Write speeds are:
Read = 25MB/sec (max was 33 or possibly 34/35 once, I forget now)
Write = 10 to 13 (max has been 15 if I remember correctly)MB/sec
I use one to transfer audio WAV files (and others) that are often 1 to 2 GB each, and it takes practically no time.
Also, according to one online reported test, it seemed to be the only thumb drive that large that could keep up with the smaller drives in performance and reliabilty. The larger drives have to use MLC(multi-layer-cell) memory instead of SLC(single-layer-cell) memory b/c of cost for that size of storage.
For optical media of that size, you'd have to go blue-Ray (which wouldn't be bad, really), but the drive costs around $200 at minimum, and the media is hard to find, and expensive for optical media.
I really need to stop typing. Something must have got me going on typing stuff today!
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"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me
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