[artshow_photo] Upgrade PC - was New Mac Computer

If you have to go with a brand name, I would stay away from
DELL and go with HP. As to CPUs Intel chips are more expensive,
but run cooler. The conventional wisdom says Intel chips run faster.
If you are buying a system with a $1000+ Intel cpu chip, that is correct,
however if you compare Intel cpus to AMD cpus in the same price
range the difference evaporates.

What OS you run can also make a difference. If you still run XP, that OS
takes little advantage of multi cores. Thus Clock speeds are more important
than multi cores. If you are running Win 7 64 bit, multi cores can be a
factor
IF the software is stet up for it also.

Win 7 64bit can make use of 8 gigs of ram. 32 bit systems cannot -
anything over 3-4 gig is a waste.

If your primary use is Photoshop editing with CS3 - CS5 then the Video
Card is extremely important. CS3,4,5 now make use of Open GL to
support the UI. They have a software switch to go back to the older methods,
but that slows down the software noticeably. Plain consumer type gamming
cards (ie. Geforce etc) have Open GL implemented OK, but do not have
"overlay planes". Workstation cards, like nVidia Quadros have better
implementations of open GL and support the "Overlay Planes".
This makes Photoshop's UI smooth as silk and run faster.
Recommended Quadro FX580 or AMD Fire Pro V3750 about $140-$180

In addition the current crop of workstation cards all have display port
interfaces
which gives you true 10 bit per channel RGB output for over a billion
colors and
expanded gamut. Of course you will need a monitor to match and they are
quite expensive. And the Windows GDI supports this only on Win 7.

I would buy the stock machine and add the video card afterwards as those
cards are usually not available in plain user desktops.

Hope this helps.

--
James Dunn
www.ImagesByJamesDunn.com

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