• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

digital imaging machine

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Pinkpig

Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Hello all, i want to build a digital imaging machine to process images etc... I'll be working with raw imaging files etc....

I've never build a machine like this before, what are the major components dual setup? good video card?

thanks
L
 
A digital imaging machine...
Well u don't need an expensive video card unless u want to play games ...
lots of memory, good memory(corsair,...)probably 2 gig of memory at least
I would go with the AMD 64 system with NF4 mobo(ASUS/DFI)
A very good monitor, CRT I would go Samsung 19 "and LCD would go DELL 20"
I would get 2xSATAII HDD in a raid 0 config(like 2x120 gig minimum)
Epson FB scanner 4870 photo perfection and Epson R300 stylus photo printer
Internal card reader(all in one),cheapest floppy drive
And finally, a good DVD dual layer burner(NEC),a fast CD burner(dosn't really matter)
Mouse MX1000 logitech with a keyboard
cheapest speaker to listen to music while working with the onboard sound solution.Anything else???
 
RAID 0 is stupid if you don't back up often. And what programs will you use for editing? That is one of the more important things for what system you use.

Some of them do well for SMP or a P4, some are better off with a more responsive cache.
 
would a dual cpu system help me more?

i'll be using photoshop and Nikon capture to edit the raw files.

thanks
L
 
Last edited:
It helps a lot for multithreaded filters, but a lot of custom filters are not.

The most important thing you should be looking at is ram and monitor. 1gb for ram, and a monitor 19" is usually a good idea. I personally prefer P4 for PS, but it is not a requirement.
 
Don't use raid 0. If any raid, use raid 1 which mirrors the drives for drives so that you have more data security, or raid 5 which strips and mirrors. Raid 0 is too risky for image editing. Get at least 1GB of ram, maybe 2 if you are working with very big/a lot of files at once. Get the most processor you can afford (I would go with A64, but p4's work well too, nowadays).
 
My mistake,...Raid 1 is what I had in mind....
go with 2x big HDD.
If u go with dual cpu, you'll see a slight increase in image processing in photoshop.
It's all a matter of budget.
 
The other thing you've left out that is required to give reasonable advice is your budget. There are many ways to skin a cat, given enough money. Without knowing budget, here is what I would recommend for a best value configuration, essentially the minumum I would spend should this level of cost fit within your means.

MB-Abit AS8 i865pe LGA775 ($88)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-183&depa=0

CPU-Intel P4-3.0e LGA775 Retail ($184)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-116-200&depa=0

Memory 2x512MB TCCD Samsung DDR of your choice (Patriot and Mushkin are cheapest) ($112ea, $224 total)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-036&depa=1

Mushkin PC3200 Level2 V2 ($227)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-355&depa=0

Video-XFX 6600GT dual DVI ($164)
May seem overkill if you don't play games, but an Nvidia card with dual DVI is what you want for this application and this is nearly the cheapest I see:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-080R&depa=0

HD-2x160GB Hitachi SATA ($95ea, $190 total)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-051&depa=0

Power Supply-Fortron AX500-A ($89)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-934&depa=0

DVD Burner-NEC 3520 ($58 in black)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-035&depa=0

Case of your choice-Antec SL3000K-B ($55)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-152&depa=0

And of course, monitor. You probably want an LCD and for this application two is really nice. You can get smoking deals on my favorite, dell, right now:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=366704

Feel free to consider quality CRT monitors or other makers LCDs if you wish, but if you go LCD make sure it has a DVI input.

So that would make for a $1055 system, +shipping, tax and monitor (s).

88-----MB
184----cpu
227----ram
164----video
190----HDs
89-----PS
58-----DVD burner
55-----case
------
$1055
 
^^ver y ncie system you put together there - i would also go the P4 route.

As for the monitor - you may want to go CRT as they are still better then a LCD for "true" color quality.
 
Yes, color accuracy is nice with LCDs, as well as the ability to pivot the display to portrait mode. Two Dell 20s rotated to portrait is my idea of perfect for this application. Lots-o-screen real estate and effortless color matching is nice.
 
Hmmm aren't Matrox graphics cards still highly regarded for 2D work? I'd also suggest the more RAM the better, 2G might not be overkill, depending on typical image size. I'd also suggest DiamondMax 10's for the HDDs, they are the fastest SATA 7200RPM Drive around now, the 16Mb cache really helps them make the most of SATA bandwidth.
 
Matrox's were highly regarded for this work, 5 years ago. They haven't changed much since, and are pretty long in the tooth. You could use a P450 Matrox, but it costs nearly as much as the 6600GT, has essentialy no 3D capability, and offers no particular 2D advantage. So while you could use a Matrox, I'd surely use the 6600GT.

More ram is nearly always better, and can be run if you wish. Like I said, that is basically a practical minumum. I do pretty serious work on 1GB easily though, including printing 3+ GB documents as 13x19" 4800dpi hardcopy.

As far as the hard drives, any competent 7200rpm drive will do. While the Maxtor's interface and buffer is indeed good, the Hitachi's seek performance is distinctly better. While either will do, the Hitachi's silence, speed, 3 year warranty, and absense of heat make them very nice. Obviously 74GB Raptors would in theory also be better, but the reality is a 7k250 is a really nice drive in practice. Again, exact budgetary concerns would likely shape the decision were they made available.
 
Back