My current machine (since last October) is a refurbished HP Pavilion
with AMD 4 core processor and on-chip video, 8GB RAM and Win 7. The
only additions to it other than as it came out-of-the-box were to add a
1TB SATA drive for image storage and an eSATA card to support the
Thermaltake BlacX drive dock for backups. The machine has USB 3.0 ports
which I tried to use for backup via a USB 3.0 to eSATA converter but it
proved unreliable. I don't know if the problem is the USB 3.0 ports or
(more likely) the cheap converter but it doesn't matter since the eSATA
card (from the old Dell XP machine) works just fine.
I paid $350 for the machine (with free shipping) and nothing for the
additions since they came from the old WinXP machine. I have made
absolutely no additions, modifications or tuning changes to support PS6.
I'm sure I could diddle with it and tune it to go faster but it's
working fine for me as is. I forgot to mention that it's running my
Dell 24" IPS display from the old machine which is still operational.
Both use the same monitor, keyboard (ancient IBM PC clicky type) and
mouse via a KVM switch.
On the other hand, I do not have 1/2 million images to manage.
Chuck Norcutt
On 6/11/2013 7:18 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 6/11/2013 3:34 PM, Tina Manley wrote:
>> ... Now it seems pretty slow and I'd love to go on to the next step. I'm
>> sure PC will
>> be cheaper, but I want to find one that is specifically built for
>> photo-processing which I have not been able to do, so far.
>
> I think you are looking for something that isn't marketed, both because it
> isn't a big market and it doesn't require
> anything all that special.
>
> - Latest top end Intel i7 processor with on chip GPU (i7-4770, til next year.)
> - The motherboards for this generation of i7 CPUs are all new, as the socket
> is new. So you just can't get an older
> design. They will all do the job you need. I'm being a little fussy in
> picking mine, as I want lots of SATA connectors
> and overclocking capability, without breaking the bank. But they all have at
> least 6 SATA III ports, multiple USB 3 and
> 2 ports, etc.
> - 32 GB of memory. Yeah, less will work, but it's little $, makes sure
> nothing gets memory bound and allows a big
> RAMdisk for the PS cache.
> - SSD boot drive, 240 GB or more. At the moment, I thing the crucial M500
> series has competitive performance and
> extended life.
> - SSD image/project working drive, 120 GB is plenty.
> - Big, fastish HD for all the other stuff that won't go on the smallish boot
> drive. I'm going with a WD Black SATA 3 1TB
> (ok, I may go bigger.) The Black line is made for heavier use and has a
> longer warranty for little extra $.
> - Win7 Pro
>
> So buy that, and if necessary, make a label to put on it identifying it as
> optimized for PS. That's all any maker could
> do for a best PS machine, without putting in extra stuff that isn't necessary
> for more profit.
>
> I'd be happy to send you a list of options for such a machine from AVAdirect.
> I've got everything nailed down for me but
> choice of case.
>
> It's really a much less demanding use that the gamer machines. You don't need
> massive power supply, additional, special
> cooling, and so on. Those are all for constant, heavy video processing.
> Certain video capabilities are needed to allow
> PS to manipulate what you see on the screen quickly and easily, video GPUs
> are simply designed to do that stuff better
> than the main processor, but the video processing speed and demands are
> infinitesimal compared to high end gaming.
>
> P. S. S. Moose
>
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