What spec of computer do I need??

catherineblack

Hi,
My computer seems to be on its last legs. A couple of years ago it had an overhaul and certain elements were updated but I feel it is slowly dying. My partner complains that it is too slow to handle the programs he uses. So we are considering (ha, money spending again) buying a whole new system. We recently bought a new flat screen monitor, so the package can include a monitor (we would just sell it on) or does not have to include a monitor.
My partner is a graphic designer and uses multi-media programmes - all Adobe, Macromedia packages. And other programmes for web work, sound and video etc. These programs seem to take up a lot of space - so can you advise a specification we should aim for? He says he reckons we need the latest Intel Pentium. What would your advice be? What is the dream computer we need?
thanks for help!
Catherine

wolfman

Sounds like you might as well just build the base unit as you'll have most of the stuff already (ie TFT, Mouse, Keyboard, Windows Discs?)

Go for an AMD Athlon64, they're generally the better cpu to go for these days. In most cases they run faster and cooler than their Intel equivalents, and they use nearly half the power consumption. The AMD64 3500+ is very well priced at the moment.

A reasonable graphics card (maybe a GeForce 6600GT).

Lots of RAM. 1.5gb should be enough. Video editing, photoshop, etc... all eat up ram usage when they run.

Reasonable hard disk. 200gb will cost you about £70 these days.

Mostly importantly, don't skimp out on the case or power supply. Get something decent, for £80 the Antec Sonata II is brilliant, runs silently, has good build quality and it comes with a decent 450W psu.

I personally like to get a good mouse and keyboard too as it's all part of the experience, and besides the monitor you interact with them constantly.

catherineblack

Thanks wolfman! Actually, our mouse and keyboard are very old school to say the least!! There is a local computer shop who I reckon will be able to match this spec. Another question, (ah i may as well go on!) what do you think of this deal from PC world - i meant to ask earlier....
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/269548

Thanks again!

wolfman

No, that wouldn't be my kind of deal. It doesn't look like the best of deals firstly, and secondly I like to pick the best parts to make up my pc. If you're spending in that region, in my opinion, you'd be better off writing down a spec and getting a shop to build it for you (if the price is right).

I'd go for something like:

CPU: AMD64 3500+ - £150
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4 - £65
Memory: 1gb PC3200 Memory, branded - £65
Hard Drive: 200gb Seagate Barricuda SATA - £65
DVD Writer: LG GSA 4167 (in black) - £33
Graphics: GeForce 6600GT - £115

Case: Antec Sonata II - £80
Mouse: Logitech MX1000 - £38
Keyboard: Apple Wireless - £36
Bluetooth Dongle: D-Link DBT120 - £15

Total £662.

That's just quickly off the cuff looking through https://www.microdirect.co.uk and https://www.savastore.com. You could easily make a few cut backs and get it down to nearer £500 or even £450. You'd basically have a silent piano finish case, with complete wireless control. And some powerful components behind it all.

All of the parts are generally the best for their price. I'd especially recommend the Antec Sonata. The Logitech and Apple Keyboard are expensive, but are very nice and completely wireless. You could get something cheaper though. I'd recommend the Apple Keyboards, they are very good and do last. The wired version is near £20.

catherineblack

Wolfman - thank you so much! It's great to get advice that is not from a salesman! I have used a local computer store in the past and they have been great value. The downside - the confusing techie talk!! My partner would probably be able to speak to the IT dept at his work for extra advice, but hey, he's a designer, and spends his time dreaming of designs - that is why I come here for help!
I'm going to print this off and hang onto it (until after Christmas) - more saving ahead!
Catherine

ManAtHome

And save the old one so OH can test his work on something a bit more representative of his internet audience....

newfoundglory

Yeah, you do need a bit of power for the adobe creative suite + other apps and the macromedia studio.

Our (now relatively old 3ghz intel pentium 4 with 1.5gb RAM) runs them all well. In fact, not only does adobe creative suite 2 and macromedia studio 8 run well, it gets hammered for video editing with premiere pro too!

I would suggest you consider exactly what you will be doing (you will most definitely want loads of memory... its cheap... so go all-out on 1.5 or 2gb of the stuff!). Large hard drive which is at least 7200rpm (or 10000rpm if poss), perhaps 200 or 250gb (or maybe two drives, with say 150gb each, for backup)... powerful graphics card... and my favourite of all... a WIDESCREEN display. Probably worth investing in a 19 or 20" widescreen... DVD burner handy for large files...

Take InDesign or Quark for example... when working with spreads a widescreen is fantastic. And having a widescreen with adobe bridge is also handy. I have the whole lot on a 1.8gb pentium-m 17" widescreen laptop...

cheghead

check out https://www.ebuyer.co.uk they have some good deals on base units at the moment.

wolfman

catherineblack wrote:

Wolfman - thank you so much! It's great to get advice that is not from a salesman! I have used a local computer store in the past and they have been great value. The downside - the confusing techie talk!! My partner would probably be able to speak to the IT dept at his work for extra advice, but hey, he's a designer, and spends his time dreaming of designs - that is why I come here for help!
I'm going to print this off and hang onto it (until after Christmas) - more saving ahead!
Catherine

Yeah sorry. It's all makes, models, abbreviations etc...

Best thing to do is take the spec I mentioned along to a shop and speak to someone. See what spec they come back with and post it here. Write down anything else they say/recommend just in case they're "misinformed". Then you can get a few responses from the people here, and have something to go back to the shop with.

It's always good to have some prices with you too as a guideline, the ones I posted are roughly some of the cheapest, to give you a general idea.

It may be worth asking your OH to speak to people at work, see if any of the techies would help out/build it for a small fee.

catherineblack

Thanks again! I'll take the spec to our local computer shop. The guy there is very nice and has built computers for several friends. I just find his techie talk very hard to understand. I'll also consider getting the old man's IT dept to build a computer from all these components - might be worthwhile.
We've got a large flatscreen monitor - the creative old man needed a 19" for all those interesting projects. So thankfully we'll not have to splash out on that.
Anyhoo, it turns out we have only.......256mb of RAM - how awful! No wonder it is all so slow!
cheers guys
Catherine