Need to build a Photography PC

[Joe]

I'm looking into building a PC for Still photography - Processing images
with PhotoMechanic & Photoshop CS2 Both can address dual cores.

My ideas -
medium speed Dual core Processor or 64 bit
Gigabit NIC
2 gb RAM would like to be able to go to 4gb
SATA Controller
Dual monitor Video card - I have no clue about this
Multiple USB 2.0
Firewire

Any recommendations?
Also is 64 bit better then dual core - these are the to barebone system I
am looking at to start with.
Intel P4 775 640 3.2GHz w/Asus P5WD2 Premium Barebone
Intel Pentium D 830 3.0GHzw/Asus P5WD2 Premium Barebone

Thanks

 

[Mxsmanic]

I'm looking into building a PC for Still photography - Processing images
with PhotoMechanic & Photoshop CS2 Both can address dual cores.

My ideas -
medium speed Dual core Processor or 64 bit
Gigabit NIC
2 gb RAM would like to be able to go to 4gb
SATA Controller
Dual monitor Video card - I have no clue about this
Multiple USB 2.0
Firewire

Any recommendations?

Spend more money on RAM, and worry less about processors. Go all the
way to 4 GB if you can.

You are using 32-bit applications, so you don't need 64-bit
processors. Fast 32-bit processors will buy you more.

You don't need that much processor power for photo editing unless you
are constantly applying a lot of complex filters. Memory has more of
an impact on performance than processor speed in most cases.

Also, get a very fast disk and disk interface if you can; inevitably
Photoshop and other programs will swap to disk when there isn't enough
memory (and memory runs out fast when you're manipulating photos), so
a fast disk can improve performance a lot.

Finally, you don't need a fancy video card, since you won't need 3D
performance for photo editing. However, a card that supports dual
monitors can be useful, since you can put tools on one monitor and
your images on the other.

There's a huge emphasis on processor speed in PC systems, but actually
relatively few applications are truly CPU-bound. Disks are a major
source of bottlenecks, as is memory.

 

[Dave]

Spend more money on RAM, and worry less about processors. Go all the
way to 4 GB if you can.

You are using 32-bit applications, so you don't need 64-bit
processors. Fast 32-bit processors will buy you more.

You don't need that much processor power for photo editing unless you
are constantly applying a lot of complex filters. Memory has more of
an impact on performance than processor speed in most cases.

Also, get a very fast disk and disk interface if you can; inevitably
Photoshop and other programs will swap to disk when there isn't enough
memory (and memory runs out fast when you're manipulating photos), so
a fast disk can improve performance a lot.

Finally, you don't need a fancy video card, since you won't need 3D
performance for photo editing. However, a card that supports dual
monitors can be useful, since you can put tools on one monitor and
your images on the other.

There's a huge emphasis on processor speed in PC systems, but actually
relatively few applications are truly CPU-bound. Disks are a major
source of bottlenecks, as is memory.

You might also try posting in rec.photo.digital. There have been
several discussions about the ideal "digital darkroom" there.

Dave

 

[adsci]

get a (or two) CRT monitor(s) for that system.
no tft.