View Full Version : Just So Many...........
Neverburn
06-12-2003, 15:31
Hello all i'm new to PC building and am overwhelmed by the amount of products on the market and so am calling to you all for your help and experience.
I would like to know about quality products available, what hard drives, memory, processors, motherboards...etc work most efficiently, quickly and quietly. Also what should I avoid buying? any products to steer totally clear of?
I am planning to build a high spec system so please keep that in mined. Thank you all in advance.
A high spec system that is going to be doing what? Once you give us that, we can start throwing ideas around :) .
Neverburn
06-12-2003, 15:52
Thought you would ask that. Ok, its going to be used for high quality photo and image editing running through photoshop and illustrator, these are generally very large size files and my current system has little ability to work with any speed. I'm also just starting to work with animation programs and Flash so these need to be taken into account as well.
Kustom don't sell cheap and nasty kit. Give them an e-mail at sales@kustompcs.co.uk, tell them what you want it to do and, unusually, it's safe to tell them your budget as they won't pile it on just to maximise their turnover!
I think you'll find that the answers you get here won't be too dis-similar but as Largo says, what do you want to do with it?
While we are waiting, here's some suggestions
If you aren't looking for the fastest processor on the planet, consider a P4 2.4'C' processor as the price is quite low but it's overclocking ability - without difficulty - is immense and that will give you something for nothing.
Are you looking for Small Form Factor or traditional case - for SFF have a look at one of the Shuttle models, for traditional midi towers, try the excellent Cooler Master Wavemaster case.
Hard Drive - Samsung Spinpoint SATA drive, 120Gb or 160Gb, 3 years warranty and one of the quietest hard drives available.
Do you need the best graphics card about, consider the Radeon 9800 Pro or XT. If you don't need the speed, try a Hercules 9800SE AIW which has a high success rate, using a software driver, of being modded to run at the same speed as a 9800 Pro for £100 less cost. In addition, it has all the All In Wonder TV features.
RAM. for an element of future proofing, consider OCZ PC3500, PC3700, or faster ram. In a dual channel motherboard, buy a pair.
Monitors - how high a resolution do you want, what wil you use it for. TFT Panels have huge advantages but, if you want to run high resolutions (e.g. over 1600 x 1200), run very fast games or movies and detest motion blur, then you have to get a good CRT.
Keyboard and mouse - buy a combination unit and the best is the Logitech MX duo (or it's new bluetooth version) for wireless goodness and one of the best mice in the business!
Well, that's for starters:D
CPU: P4 2.4GHz 'C'
Motherboard: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php?view=5545&PHPSESSID=69494a012a002332fdf74ba1b330a142
Memory: 1GB PC3200 [Corsair or Kingston HyperX are good]
HDD: Samsung SATA 160GB
GFX card: 9600XT/9800XT 256MB
Sort of a start :) .
Sounds like you won't be wanting an expensive gfx card for photo editing. The main things to look for are as much HD space for large image file storage, as much memory as you can stuff inside the PC (probably want to start at 1GB) and as fast a processor as you can afford. You might also want to think about a DVD burner for archiving purposes too.
Like the others have said, the guys at Kustom should be able to quote you something.
Cheers,
Stephen
If your not planning on playing games as well then a Matrox video card would be your best bet, something like the Millennium P650. It has dual DVI outputs so you could run two TFT screens in digital from it :)
Consider 2 HDD's if your photoshopping - it will use a 2nd drive as a scratch drive. Partitioning a 120GB wont work as well.
I noticed Kustom even make use of scratch drives in one of their editing systems.
Also if your a serious photo editing type then maybe TFT's won't be the best option. I'd look at a top end Sony CRT. I'd definately recommend some kind of dual display tho.
Originally posted by Clarksy
Also if your a serious photo editing type then maybe TFT's won't be the best option. I'd look at a top end Sony CRT.
Apart from the fact Sony have scrapped most of their CRT's in favour of TFT's ;)
you mention parts to stear well clear of. One thing I've learnt is that things just break or are faulty.
I had a really bad time with a supplier, ended up getting my money back from VISA, and the part was top quality, just faulty.
I therefore spent alot of time looking for another company to buy from, and I'm please to say I tried Kustom. I've only had to return one thing, which developed a fault, and Kustom were fantastic.
So the supplier is JUST as important as the parts.
image editing....
hmm... pair of big drives and at least a gig of ram.
intel have the edge over amd for photoshop, cos adobe added some intel optimised code in there....
Originally posted by TazUk
Apart from the fact Sony have scrapped most of their CRT's in favour of TFT's ;)
Yep, MOST! But they still make CRT's for professional use - which was my point. Viewing angles, back lights etc. all introduce visual artifacts. Thats why i said "if your a serious photo editing type, maybe a TFT isnt for you".
I'm only trying to be helpful.
Originally posted by Clarksy
I'm only trying to be helpful.
As was I :( The point I was making is that TFT's have improved greatly over the past year so there are fewer reasons to stick with a CRT.
Agreed
I have 2x TFT's, there crackin' for everyday use. I know people with digital darkrooms and they swear by CRT's.
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