Wanted - a new PC

Folks - looking to buy a new PC. Key requirements:

1. Red hot graphics processing required
2. Lots of storage
3. Top end monitors (yes, I'd like two)
4. Tons of room for upgrades
5. Rather than worry about software issues, I'd prefer a windows machine but would consider a machine that can at least emulate windows with no performance issues.

Budget - a fair chunk of money available (over 2K)

Any tips of manufacturers to look at and manufacturers to avoid?

If anyone builds PC's to spec, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers
Dave

Ok, Dell is probably the safest bet.

Despite the apparent need, I don't think you need much special in the
way of a graphics card - for image processing you need raw CPU power,
so go for a Dual Core with the possibility of getting quad-core upgrade later.

Think about having non-LCD monitors. LCDs weakness is colour definition;
CRTs are better for this. Get a single CRT and one LCD maybe ?

Probably the biggest single need is disk space for merging lots of images
and data. Examine getting external disks from komplett.ie ; you can
bring them outside and plug them into a laptop while observing ...


Regards
Alastair

If you're gonna spend that much cash and you really want a good solid machine and good graphics etc then you need to at the very least consider two of the Mac offerings:

- The iMac
- The MacPro (formerly the PowerMac)

These machines don't need to emulate Windows, they can run windows natively both using a boot manager and using virtualisation so you can use both machines at once.

With the iMac you have a lot of choices, they start at just over a grand for the 17" version but if you want to go for the stunning 24" version (you won't need two monitors when you have one of these, played with one at work and it has all the screen you need/can use). You can keep shoveling in RAM and disk until you hit your budget .... or just spend your extra money on a second monitor!

The MacPro is a more 'traditional' looking computer, you have a tower etc. Again this is highly customisable up to totally insane specs like 16GB of RAM! Apple monitors are very very nice but they are not cheap so if you go the MacPro router I'd probably grab baseline MacPro for 2K and then spend the rest of your budget on one or more screens of what ever size you want from komplett.ie.

The nice thing about the MacPro is that it's more customisable than the iMac. Yon can upgrade your RAM and disk in the iMac but that's it really. Some people see that as a problem but I don't. These machines come with the latest and greatest of everything so they will last in terms of CPU and graphics for a long time. RAM always gets cheaper so that's what you're going to want to add to and you can very easily. I also get all my peripherals as USB/FireWire and put nothing inside my machine. This has the advantage of allowing you to move stuff from machine to machine without any bother and you can keep all your perifferals whenever you change machine.

For a manufacturer, try Dell, they are the only make I'd touch, I would not get one from a computer shop you might see on the high street. The spec always looks good until you scratch the surface and see that the mother board and RAM are dog slow.
For parts try, komplett.ie, they have good processors and high end graphics cards, dual monitor cards are very nifty and are what I use here.
I would avoid LCD monitors if you are going to be doing image processing. I'm going to build a machine in the next 6 months or so and source all my parts from komplett, the best thing is that the longer you wait the higher end processor you can get, as they get cheaper on an almost monthly basis.
SATA hard drives have enormous capacity and are real fast, get a motherboard that can carry atleast 4 of these.

Windows vista uses alot of the PC video memory resources, I personally would not upgrade to it from XP.

From my own experience, I would be reluctant to buy a Dell. Can create upgrade problems later. Systems options can also be locked out to prevent you from adjusting hardware settings. I can understand Dell's point in this, but it caused me no end of problems when it came to upgrading the PC later.

I don't know a huge amount about PCs but I spent a little time learning a bit about them and managed to build my own about a year ago. Got all the parts off komplett.ie and am very happy with it. Never had any hardware problems. If you are not comfortable doing this, you can buy ready-made PCs off komplett.ie also.

I wouldn't rule out Bart's suggestion either re the Mac. Worth looking at now more than ever. Whether it would be better performing or better value than a PC, I can't say.

PS.
For the first time in over 3 years, intels top processors are beating the AMDs
Intels Core 2 Extreme QX6700 or QX6800 are getting great reviews but are pricey, also this processor is very over-clockable as intel have removed the clock ratio lock, have a look at
www.nordichardware.com/Reviews/?skrivelse=487
If you are totally mad and want to run the processor at -100 degrees Celsius you'll get nearly 5GHz out of this baby ! :lol: