hardware options for primary Windows computer upgrade

[JoeThePhotographer]

Another update - 12Gb is the maximum but is not available online. Man, how stupid is that? It costs them next-to-nowt to list it, and now they have the cost of an online chat guy and then another to phone.

To Rebecca - I did consider splitting the thread but hopefully this is all relevant enough to your thoughts.

John

You are absolutely right that the Dell Studio XPS has 6 slots.  Make sure you don't buy them all filled up. with 1 GB sticks.  Most economical would be to get it with 3 GB and then buy 6 (3 sticks) or 12 (6 sticks) more from another store.  Or you could get it with 6 GIB (but make sure that only 3 slots are used up) and then buy 3x2048 sticks.

It's easy enough to buy your own RAM.  I used crucial.com when I bought my Dell Studio--the computer came with 4Gig and I bought 4 more from Crucial for less than $50.

Joe

[billseymour]

If I might, a quick 64-bit application oriented Question:

Photoshop: if one is upgrading hardware (buying a new box) from 32 bit to 64 bit system, does one install the same Photoshop? Or is there a different Photoshop application for 64 bit systems?

And most important of all: if you have a '32 bit Photoshop', do you have to pay upgrade type $$ to get to a 64 bit Ps?

Thanks.
--Bill

[johnbeardy]

Bill

No upgrade cost - not sure about the installation.

John

[johnbeardy]

...
I liked Ian's Mesh recommendation - but how do I get support for that in the US? Makes me a bit worried though I could get what I wanted.

Rebecca, Ian knows we live only a few miles apart in SE London so it was a sensible suggestion for me. I wouldn't recommend you buy a computer from a supplier in another country.

John

[robcar]

Rebecca,

Another option to consider is Puget Systems (http://www.pugetsystems.com/) based near Seattle.  They thoroughly test their components and machines and they seem to have a real passion for quality.  After 10 years of Dells, I'm considering having them build my next PC.

Cheers,
rob

[ScottBuckel]

Rebecca -

I have purchased computers from a small independent builder:  www.kc-computers.com/ .   I heard about Casey from another forum, I think nikondigital.org and several people their gave them rave reviews.  As custom computers go, he is a little more expensive than other small builders, but his customer service is oustanding.  His specialty is gaming computers, but has a good feel for what photographers need.

I purchased my computer from him almost 3 years ago and he has records of exactly what I purchsed and gives advice based on that information.  My computer came out to be about 66% the price of an equivalent Dell and it did not have all of the junk on it that Dell and other big builders put on their computers.  To keep overhead down he prefers doing the ordering via email, and his responses are amazingly fast.

Scott

[JoeThePhotographer]

Bill, you didn't say which version of Photoshop you are using. 

Rebecca--before you take the plunge with Vista 64, it occurred to me that you should double check that your hardware (other than the computer itself, which will be fine) is compatible.  Do you have any funky old printers, scanners, tablets and so forth?  If so, you might want to double check that the manufacturers have updated their drivers.  If you llist them here I'm sure somebody will point you in the right direction.

Joe

If I might, a quick 64-bit application oriented Question:

Photoshop: if one is upgrading hardware (buying a new box) from 32 bit to 64 bit system, does one install the same Photoshop? Or is there a different Photoshop application for 64 bit systems?

And most important of all: if you have a '32 bit Photoshop', do you have to pay upgrade type $$ to get to a 64 bit Ps?

Thanks.
--Bill

[johnbeardy]

Good point - and consider any Photoshop plug-ins which are important to you.

John

[rebeccaj]

John and Joe (and others),

Thanks for the info on the custom builders. I configured systems both at Puget and KC - and then took another look at Dell and noticed that the XPX 730x is i7 based with 4 SATA bays.

The builds for Puget, KC and Dell came out about the same for similar configs, the Dell cheaper (few hundred) for a bit more (better monitor, primarily). Right now I am considering KC, Dell XPS Studio (which it appears they may be phasing out), and the XPS 730x. Frankly, the i7 is really more than I think I need since I don't game, but my inclination is to go with the i7 for perceived scalability. Now I have jumped about $500 for total system price, to get more than I need, but seems that the value is better overall. I have definitely configured a high end system.

My Nikon Coolscan definitely won't work with Vista - Nikon doesn't support it, so I want to resurrect my failing Dimension 8300 to keep the scanner alive. Other than that, the hardware drivers claim compatibility. Drobo Dashboard reportedly doesn't work on Vista but I expect that may be fixed.

Once I decide I will post the configuration.

Thanks for your help.

Rebecca

PS - I should have guessed both John and Ian lived in London! I've had the good fortune to visit the area three times.

[johnbeardy]

A little tip, Rebecca. Dell has an Outlet, a link on their web site, which I've used on a few occasions to buy machines (Apple also have an outlet). When I get near buying and have a spec in mind, I start following what's on offer in the outlet and pounce as soon as a good one looks right. Each time it's worked out well in terms of getting a better machine for my budget. Well, yesterday I looked at the XPS Studio machines listed there, and I was really surprised how many were available. Maybe it's Christmas orders returned or the credit crunch, though I doubt it's the end of the line as it's a new processor. The other surprise was the level of discount - roughly 30% or double what I usually expected.

John

(spot who's suffered 20+ years as an ACA = CPA)

[johnbeardy]

I don't game (or regard it as a verb) but Lightroom works well with lots of RAM and multi-core processors.

John

[JoeThePhotographer]

Rebecca,

Nikon doesn't officially support the Coolscan scanners on 64 bit operating systems, but thankfully I was able to get my Coolscan 5000 to work with a relatively simple fix.  I'll email you the details when I get home.  (btw, this isn't just Vista; the same issue will probably be present with Windows 7.)

Joe

[robcar]

Joe,

I also have a Coolscan 5000 and am moving to Vista 64.  Can you post your workaround details here too?

Many thanks,
rob 

[JoeThePhotographer]

For getting the Coolscan 5000 to work under Vista 64 with Nikon Scan, see the first entry in this link:

http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00RIMk

Joe

[rebeccaj]

Joe, John, and others,

Finally back to close this (suffice it to say I'm having some non-elective sinus surgery next week).

After a final configuration comparison between the Dell XPS Studio and the Dell top of the line gaming system Dell XPS 730x (every option I could choose set the same), and a $1k price difference (! - 730x has 1kW power supply, better chassis, more slots), I settled on the Dell XPS. I read John's post and re-ran the Dell XPS price - it dropped 28%! There was a good promotion that weekend.

Expected ship date is about another week.

Thanks for the help and the info about the Coolscan driver for Vista 64.

Rebecca