yet another [b] update

[[b]]

Howdy folks,

I see we have a new design...I like!

I started a new job. It's dull. I sit at a computer all day answering e-mails. Really, that's my job. And I get paid a lot to do it.

I also applied for photography school out in California. Not sure when I'll know if I was accepted or not, but I'm more sure than not sure that I will be accepted.

I have a question for all you hard-core computer dorks. (And I mean that will all the love in my shriveled little heart) I'm going to try and build my first computer. I've found some sites that list what parts I'll need and how to do it. What I need are recommendations on what brands to get.

The computer will be used primarily to process pictures. I'll also use it to build and maintain a few web sites, but not hosting them. I only play one video game, Neverwinter Nights, but I'd like to be able to use this machine for that as well.

So I figure it needs a hard-core processor, good storage, memory, and a good video card, plus a motherboard capable of handling all of that. Sound won't be all that important, but let me know what you would put in there.

I also want cdr and dvdr if possible.

All help is appreciated!

 

[Luis G]

Welcome back

Justin will helps you with the brand choosing, as for "how to build it" it should be fairly simple these days, just plug everything where it fits

 

[HeXp£Øi±]

Hey there good to see you again. What's your budget for this machine?

 

[[b]]

I figured the build wouldn't be all that hard, just a matter of getting parts. I've been spending my time right now trying to find a case...*drools* my there is some interesting stuff out there.

Budget? Don't really have one, I figured I'd find out how expensive the best was and scale back from there.

 

[Luis G]

Best: over 5k
Very very nice: 2k-5k
Nice: 1k to 2k
You cheap bastard: less than 1k.

 

[kuulani]

!!

how's jan & ards & the kiddies? give them a hug for me if you see them!

 

[chcr]

The computer will be used primarily to process pictures.

Howdy, . Get lots of RAM. Processing pictures is very RAM intensive. I use AMD processors, generally more bang for the buck, although that gap has narrowed some. I don't have a specific mainboard to reccomend, but I'd get something with networking, usb 2.0 and firewire on board. N-force chipset seems the flavor of the month. If it was me, I'd also look at serial ATA and possibly RAID. My two cents for now, I can't imagine there'll be any shortage of suggestions around here.

 

[greenfreak]

Hiya ! I process a lot of pictures on mine also and do my website work. I only have a 1.2 ghz AMD processor but I have 756mb of ram. I don't notice any lag when using Photoshop or Dreamweaver.

I haven't built anything in a while so I don't really know what's hot right now.... But I wish ya luck!

 

[Justintime]

I'd get 2 sticks of 512MB DDR and an Abit NF7-S V2.0, maybe a Radeon 9500pro or 9600pro. The Seagate hard disks are really doing well imho, Barracuda 8mb cache drives are just as fast as my wds. Processor wise anything from a 2400+ to a 2800+ is decent enough. If you point us to the site where you are shopping and a budget would helps lots.

 

[HeXp£Øi±]

I'd get 2 sticks of 512MB DDR and an Abit NF7-S V2.0, maybe a Radeon 9500pro or 9600pro. The Seagate hard disks are really doing well imho, Barracuda 8mb cache drives are just as fast as my wds. Processor wise anything from a 2400+ to a 2800+ is decent enough. If you point us to the site where you are shopping and a budget would helps lots.

I was waiting for you to post Justin. I'd concure with most of what you've stated yet i'd go with the 9500 pro over the 9600 and personally i think one stick of 512 would do him just fine. The 2800+ is the beginning of a serious incline in price and offers awesome performance.

 

[[b]]

kuu: jan, ards, and v1.0 and 2.0 are doing well. there might be some job changes and a move in the future for them, but information on that is sketchy right now.

justin: i pretty much figured i get most things off ebay once i knew what i was getting, so i don't have a site that i'm shopping from right now. again, budget hasn't been set for this project. i don't want to spend 5k and i may have been a bit nieve in my own personal estimate of $1500 for something that rocked. i want something that's going to be able to last me for at least the next 3 years while i'm in school, so if i have to spend more now then so be it.

to everybody else, thanks for your suggestions!

 

[HeXp£Øi±]

Just a thought, Intel dude from hwc is selling his system and you might be able to work something out with him. Like i said just a thought but with him i'm sure this would be as good as anything from a vendor.

http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=149361

For the price i'm sure you can build something better but know that there will be humps along the way.

 

[fury]

Best: over 5k
Very very nice: 2k-5k
Nice: 1k to 2k
You cheap bastard: less than 1k.

What he said, but you can still build a pretty good one for under 1k if you've already got speakers, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Those usually outlast a computer by several months

 

[Luis G]

What he said, but you can still build a pretty good one for under 1k if you've already got speakers, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Those usually outlast a computer by several months

I forgot to make the clarification, those prices include "the whole thing".

 

[nalani]

!!!!!

this is how I build my puters:

step 1. call Brian at Network 2000
step 2. tell him what I want
step 3. fill out a Purchase Order
step 4. send out check
step 5. take puter out of the box

VOILA! Hope that helps



by the way - I'm looking into getting an Canon SLR EOS 10D (not for student use) to take pictures of whales breaching from the shore. What lens do you recommend? I'm looking at the 75mm - 300mm lens (since the imaging area of the 10D is smaller than 35mm, I figured the focal length should be about equivalent to a 120mm - 480mm - or am I figuring wrong?). The EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM/EOS runs about $230 and the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM/EOS runs about $500 - which of the two would you recommend and why? *secretly hoping you're going to say the cheaper one*

Nice to see you hun - *hug*

 

[Justintime]

I was waiting for you to post Justin. I'd concure with most of what you've stated yet i'd go with the 9500 pro over the 9600 and personally i think one stick of 512 would do him just fine. The 2800+ is the beginning of a serious incline in price and offers awesome performance.

since its photo editing and graphics i'd want as much RAM as possible to keep me out the swaps, if going for 512 then i'd get 2 256 MB sticks to take advantage of the Dual channel feature of the NForce 2 boards.

 

[Justintime]

What he said, but you can still build a pretty good one for under 1k if you've already got speakers, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Those usually outlast a computer by several months

Try decades

 

[HeXp£Øi±]

since its photo editing and graphics i'd want as much RAM as possible to keep me out the swaps, if going for 512 then i'd get 2 256 MB sticks to take advantage of the Dual channel feature of the NForce 2 boards.

Agreed. But then again i might also go for raid for serious photo or video editing work.

 

[Justintime]

screw ide raid, one SCSI hdd and end all

 

[HeXp£Øi±]

screw ide raid, one SCSI hdd and end all

Is it that bad? I just picked up a Shuttle AK35GT and was thinking about trying out the IDE RAID for the first time. Would i be better off just going for scsi?