Judas

maybe CS5 will present some true GFX acceleration options

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blibbax

So what would you suggest? Something like a 2GB GTS250?

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Falstaff

I run photoshop on five computers of various makes, my daughter and son on IMAC's. All are adequate for the task, but myself nor my kith or kin do any batch work, was that your intention?
What software did you intend to use on this new machine besides CS4?

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Tipstaff

The key part, above all else, is RAM. Lots of it.

The second part would be storage. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it's reliable, there's plenty of it, and you have a backup of everything (or at the very least the important stuff) somewhere else. Doing this externally, say via NAS or external storage, is the smart way to do things. Most setups I've done have always had a fast OS drive, a fast scratch/working drive, usually a large mirrored storage drive, and a large external storage (mirrored as well). Some of it might seem redundant on the surface, but covering your ass(ets) isn't as expensive as having to pay money to Seagate, or whomever it might be, to recover your data. If they can recover it, that is.

Everything else falls into place after that. Get yourself a fast CPU that has a minimum of 2 cores, a video card that has a minimum of 512mb of RAM (it doesn't have to be a powerhouse of a card, but it does have to be a capable card, one that can display an image on a large screen without taking forever to do so.. a 9600GT is cheap, and would do the job nicely, but to be honest I prefer AMD/ATI for photo editing machines as I find their 2D color output to be better overall for that purpose, so I'd probably go with an HD3650 instead), a nice large professional grade monitor that can do high resolutions natively (be sure to get one based on an S-IPS, MVA, or PVA panel, in that order as they are the best for photo editing.. stay away from TN panels as they are made more for gaming), a 64bit operating system (otherwise all that RAM is useless), and a good sensitive editing tablet (such as the Intuos line from Wacom). The latter may seem like a frivolous item, but it makes editing photos 200% easier to do (ok, maybe not that much, but you get the idea).

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lepel

A tablet is certainly a good idea. All the professional photo editors I know swear by it.

Zardon

Id suggest you just turn GFX acceleration off and put any extra money you would spend on a GFX into memory or cpu power. The only other point id stress is this, if you are running 32bit windows then ditch it. Anyone serious about Photoshop needs a 64bit OS and to run the 64bit EXE. then go into application preferences and set the memory to a higher level than the default. I can post detailed instructions for anyone looking to maximise photoshop potential for their specific machine.

lepel

That would be interesting Zardon. I'm still on CS2 so I don't know if it will be the same for me (I suppose that you are on CS4), but I'm running Vista 64b.

OldBuzzard

Actually the very best monitor available is still a CRT. The Sony FW900 (24" wide Screen) or the HP and SGI branded versions of it. However it is VERY large and heavy, uses a lot more power, and they aren't cheap to buy. IF he is willing to put up with those drawbacks, there is nothing else that can touch it for image quality.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Zardon

not really oldbuzzard - perhaps 18 months ago, but not any longer. the new high end LED LCDs or Organic LCDs have better clarity. It is true you need to do more work to get accurate colour reproduction but its possible if you set it up correctly. I use a high end 30 inch LED Samsung panel (one I reviewed) and even my high end CRTS really can't compare - part of the reason I gave them away.

lepel

Lol. Are you sure OldBuzzard? Maybe in those days it was the best, but aren't there better solutions for monitors? And I also thought all CRT, and especially the big ones have color shifting on the sides of the screen.

Judas

I've still my Samsung 900IFT that still retails for a considerably large dollar... but i just can't stand a CRT after having set multiple LCDs beside it.

I'm guessing the CS4 is the only 64bit photoshop.....

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Zardon

Yes thats correct and its interesting its not on the macintosh, even though the mac has a native 64 bit operating system. Photoshop on OS X is written with the Carbon API. Last June Apple decided to kill 64-bit Carbon, forcing all future 64-bit application development on the Mac to Cocoa. Adobe had originally planned to ship a 64-bit CS4 as a Carbon app and port to Cocoa for CS5, but now the 64-bit version will have to wait for the CS5 Cocoa build.

Judas

i find that kinda funny considering that mac was the go to adobe photoshop machine.... then things changed....

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Zardon

I think if you look harder it is more that adobe are dropping the ball on a regular basis lately. Look at the multi core implementation within their code? that needs a complete overhaul and ive discussed it frequently in our reviews and on the forums ..... but they tend to focus on GUI changes rather than performance related improvements which is unfortunate.

We are somewhat off the track now and the thread starter has probably fled back to google thinking we are all clearly mental....

Judas

Well look at how long they've waited to produce a 64bit version of their application.. of all the 64bit capable apps out there, even freeware versions.... adobe should have been the first ones to produce such a version.

sorry bout the off topic.. but it's all really quite interesting.

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mariuscmorar

What do I have to get to make a Raid 6 system of 6x1.5TB HDD (6TB total) on this Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Can I use this motherboard
Newegg.com - EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Do I need to get a raid 6 controller or is the motherboard enough? What would be the best controller because I've seen many of them at different prices?

I need at least 6tb of safe storage.

kris23

RAID 6 isnt very common on motherboards, you would need to get a PCI-E RAID card to do that...

RAID 5 is considered pretty safe though....

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mariuscmorar

So is Raid 5 possible on the above motherboard?

I've read that the rate of HDD failure while the other disks recover the data is very high with the larger hdds. The larger the hdd (and 1.5 is large) the greater the probability that the hard will fail while recovering.

Also, if I get 3 drives and set them to Raid 5, can I add drives later and enlarge the system to 4, 5, 6 drives without formating or I have to format the drives in order to add an extra disk?

Thanks!

temeteus82

If I saw the specs correctly the mobo has IHC10R that supports RAID5 so you are ok with that.

If you want to put them on the same RAID 5 array then you need to format all the disk's... But if you add new drives you can create another array for those new disk's.

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mariuscmorar

If I put a 3.5'' HDD in a 5.25'' bay with adapter, will it slow down the hard drive? If I can fill 5.25'' bays with hdds, I'll have a total of 12+dvd-rom (I prefer 1.5tb to 2tb), although the mother board supports only 9 SATA. Also, will the tower keep cool with 9 HDDs inside?

Thanks!

Judas

making a standard hardrive fit into the large drive bays won't slow it down.. just that you have to be able to hook them to the computer.. and anything beyond 6 drive would result in needing an additional RAID or Sata PCI-ex controller.

actually mounting hardrives in the 5.25" drivebays usually provides an advantage due to better cooling.

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Tipstaff

More room around the drives for airflow, but better cooling? If he goes with the case that was suggested, the COOLER MASTER ATCS 840, then I'd say stick with the 3.5" bays. There's 6 of them in that case, and all of them sit behind a 230mm fan to keep them cool.. cooler than putting them in a 5.25" bay that has no direct cooling. Plus the hard drive cages are designed with airflow in mind by having openings in the cage between the drives.

@mariuscmorar
Another case I would look at is the Antec Nine Hundred Two. It has 2 separate 3.5" drive bays, each holding 3 drives. Each bay has a 120mm fan for direct cooling, and connected to each is a variable capacitor so you can change the fan speeds. Plus there's 3 more 5.25" bays on top. It's also a really quiet case when all the fans are on low, yet it moves a ton of air thanks the 200mm fan on top, and the 120mm fan on the top rear. It's also cheaper than the Cooler Master, but you still have to pick up a PSU as it doesn't come with one.

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Judas

I took his question for if he wanted to install more hardrives then what the case can hold in the standard hardrive zone...

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Tipstaff

I see what you mean. Sorry about that, Judas.

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Judas

no problem

here... have a hug

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Tipstaff

<gck> notsotight

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