Help Configure Graphics Intensive Workstation

[Frank Chen]

Hello All,

My wife is in the photography business and she has outgrown her current
workstation (which only about a year old!). We are looking to get a new
workstation but are not sure which hardware will help the most with her type
of work.

She does a LOT of (image) photograph processing using Phtotoshop. She often
has over 20-30 images open at any given time and are running image
conversion functions within Phtotoshop. The obvious improvements are
definitely memory and CPU speed, but what about the following other factors:

1. Dual-processor - depending on the specific processor, this may add $1K to
the price tag. How much gain will we get out of it?

2. Processor speed and cache. Intel Xeon can come with either 1MB or 2MB L3
cache, is it worth it? How much difference would we see between a 2.8 GHz
and a 3.2 GHz processor?

3. How much improvement would we get from a higher-end graphics card? While
it's true that we're working with many images, but we're not talking about
3-D animations or video, so would a higher-end graphics card help at all?

Anyone want to take a shot at coming up with a configuration recommendation
for us?

Thanks in advance.

Frank

 

[Chris Stolworthy]

Hello All,

My wife is in the photography business and she has outgrown her current
workstation (which only about a year old!). We are looking to get a new
workstation but are not sure which hardware will help the most with her type
of work.

She does a LOT of (image) photograph processing using Phtotoshop. She often
has over 20-30 images open at any given time and are running image
conversion functions within Phtotoshop. The obvious improvements are
definitely memory and CPU speed, but what about the following other factors:

1. Dual-processor - depending on the specific processor, this may add $1K to
the price tag. How much gain will we get out of it?

2. Processor speed and cache. Intel Xeon can come with either 1MB or 2MB L3
cache, is it worth it? How much difference would we see between a 2.8 GHz
and a 3.2 GHz processor?

3. How much improvement would we get from a higher-end graphics card? While
it's true that we're working with many images, but we're not talking about
3-D animations or video, so would a higher-end graphics card help at all?

Anyone want to take a shot at coming up with a configuration recommendation
for us?

Thanks in advance.

Frank

Question 1.) If she is using a program such as photoshop then the dual
processor will show a huge leap in performance. If not then it is kind of
iffy, both the OS and the program have to support dual processors to get the
gain.

Question 2.)If you can get the lesser processor with the higher cache I
would do it. There is not a ground shaking difference between a 2.8 and
3.2, cache is going to be the big difference in that case.

Question 3.) No I do not believe so, since you aren't doing anything 3d I do
not believe the computer uses the video card for any rendering at all.

 

[Mark Shaw]

Question 1.) If she is using a program such as photoshop then the dual

processor will show a huge leap in performance. If not then it is kind of
iffy, both the OS and the program have to support dual processors to get the
gain.

If the OP is using 2k/Xp Pro, then it already supports 2 processors.
Definitely upgrade to 2Gig ram.

Question 2.)If you can get the lesser processor with the higher cache I
would do it. There is not a ground shaking difference between a 2.8 and
3.2, cache is going to be the big difference in that case.

A dual 2.8Ghz P4 system will be faster than a single 3.2Ghz HT P4 Xeon. Some
benchmarking software allows you to compare your current system with other
peoples on their websites. Then you'll get a better feel for comparable
performance.

Question 3.) No I do not believe so, since you aren't doing anything 3d I do
not believe the computer uses the video card for any rendering at all.

Cant imagine a super duper red hot graphics card will be beneficial. Spend
your money on a huge monitor instead.