Photoshop and Xeon

[flamethrower205]

I need to help someone spec out a new comp used entirely for just photoshop. My main dillemma is with the CPU's- are dual Xeons (or even single) worth it over P4 with HT? Read some bs that Xeons support 64bitness, this true? Are dual cpu's really worth it for photoshop- any benchmarks?

So far, these r the specs
Pentium 3.6GHz HT
4GB DDR2
2x400GB SATA drives on raid 0
GF 6800 (image quality is good on this one right?)
built in audio and nic

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[P4Man]

This has been discussed recently. It really depends what you do in photoshop. Some operations (like certain filters) will benefit greatly from more than one physical cpu, others will not benefit at all, (and even perform worse on dual xeons because of lower clockspeed and/or FSB compared to the fastest single cpu P4s).

Im a pretty "heavy" PS user myself, and frankly, only few people need more than an ordinary high end PC with enough RAM and fast disks. Much depends on the size of the images you work on though (mine rarely exceed 2000x3000 in YMCK), and even more on the type of operations you perform. Normal editing (using tools like cloning, curve adjustments, the sort of things you'd use on your camera pics) isn't all that heavy, even when I typically have some 30 layers. More RAM does more than more processing speed for me, but YMMV.

It could be helpfull to know what PC he has now, and how desperately he needs more speed. If he has a 1 GHz P3 class machine with 256 Mb, and can pretty much do his work with that, dual xeons are going to be overkill. The price premium over single P4 is very significant, the speedup not nearly as much. If he already has a 3 GHz class machine with 1 GB or so of RAM, and still craves more speed.. well, then he should prepare to open his wallet.

One suggestion perhaps: if he can't wait for Pentium Ds (which could be a good fit for him), an alternative is to get a mainstream Athlon 64 machine, single core. If he thinks its still too slow, drop in a dual core Athlon 64 in a couple of months. Athlon 64 is roughly on par with P4 on photoshop, again, depending what operations you perform (win some, loose some). Most of P4s edge in certain filter operations come from its ability to process 2 threads (hyperthreading), but once both A64 and P4 go dual core, that edge will be lost. Just a thought.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[P4Man]

BTW:

>GF 6800 (image quality is good on this one right?)

If he does not need 3D performance for games or CAD, this is a total waste of money. If 2D image quality (and resolution,..) is your only concern, consider a cheap Matrox card (like the new PCIe Milleniums). If he is using an LCD with DVI, buy any cheap card you like as long as it supports DVI and the required resolutions. In fact, even for CRTs, most, if not all current video cards will plenty.

Now he uses a high end monitor with YPbPr analog inputs, you'll need a specialized card, like the Matrox Parhelia.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[flamethrower205]

Right now it's a 2Ghz Northwood with 1GB RAM. The PC feels pretty slow tho (slower than my 1.2Ghz....)
As for the video card....here's the catch. She'll only accept a Dell (we had a loooong talk and I offered several options but she will only go with dell) so thats the vid card offered at that level.

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[P4Man]

well.. whats the point in asking for advice if you are not going to follow it anyhow ? Let her get the Dell.. like a nice NW Celeron 2.6 GHz with overpriced DDR2, a 5400 rpm harddisk and all that. Maybe that will teach her <evil grin>

Oh well, I guess a Pentium D based Dell would make a lot of sense for her.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[flamethrower205]

Where is the P4 D offered? Most I see is an extreme edition on dell's site...

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[P4Man]

it isn' available.. yet..
if she can't wait a month or so either, get her the Celeron, I'm serious..

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[P4Man]

>If she's really tight on budget, she can always go with dual
>AthlonXP modded to MP

Good idea.. will be tricky to locate on Dells site though

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[Rugger]

Just make sure that you setup an 800 number where you can always be reached...

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[endyen]

Just make sure that you setup an 800 number where you can always be reached...

Any 800 # in India will do. Nobody could tell the difference anyhow.

 

[Rugger]

ROFL

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>