Digital Photography Build?

[CSC2100]

I am building a new PC for a friend and he wants it to be bitchin for digital photography, because he just bought a Sony 5.0 megapixel digital camera.

I have never done any builds for someone who wants a machine of this caliber, therefore, I have some questions. Based on what he has told me, I have put together some parts on newegg.com as a preliminary machine. They are:

~Enermax CS-3191L-S3A Aluminum Case w/350W PSU
~Asus A7N8X (new version, supports AMD Barton 400Mhz) mobo
~Asus V9250 GeForce FX5200 w/ dual DVI VIVO
~Athlon XP 2500 Barton 333 FSB
~Samsung Floppy
~Crucial 512MB 64x64 PC2700 DDR RAM
~WD 120 gig w/ 8mb cache
~Fuji Plus 17" LCD (model FP0217WX)
~US Robotics 5699B 56k V.92 modem
~Plextor 48x24x48 CD-RW
~Sony DDU1621 16x DVD Rom
~Windows XP Home w/ Service Pack 1

As I said before, I want to know if this is a good system for him, I don't know much about monitors, but I am pretty set on the AMD versus Pentium and I know that the video card is overkill, but he wants top of the line and...in the price range I feel that is top. Especially with that nForce2 chipset. Any help on this build as far as parts would be appreciated. Thanx.

[kissfan]

Hi,

As a LCD user myself, I would be incined to spend the money on a top range 19" CRT as he wants the best colour repoduction possibe, you also may want to look at the Soltek SL-75FRN-L for his MB, this, from what I have seen out perforems all the other nForce currently available, and also gives raid via serial ATA.

You should also consider upping the Memory to 1GB as he will be doing a lot of image manipulation.

IMHO.............

[Fraughton]

Would an ATI video card be better since they seem to be known for image quality, especially in 2D stuff? The fx seems like overkill since I dont think directx 9 will have much effect on anything 2D and its performance isnt anything special. I would think a radeon 8500 or 9000 would be a better choice for performance and image quality. Actually even a radeon 9500 is in the same price range and is definitely the best card in that range.

[sleepypost]

Yes, I would get the Radeon 9500 or even the pro.

Good choice on the HDD, as he will fill it up pretty quickly with his digital photos!

[CSC2100]

I am really not a fan of ATI, especially after the All-in-Wonder that I had burnt out my AGP slot on my last mobo and ATI's driver support sux.

I do agree about flat-screen V. LCD, but my friend expressed his want for LCD. I will give him the reasoning and show him the difference and we will see if he changes his mind.

Thanx for the help, keep it coming.

[Fraughton]

From what I've been reading there are actually more problems with the geforce fx drivers than with ati's. They've really stepped up in the last few years. I can see why you would be wary of ati though.

Either way, that is going to be one fast machine for most any use!

[sleepypost]

yea, ATi has pretty decent driver upgrades and their newer catalyst software (comes with the 9500 /Pro) is good. No probs...

I like the CPU. Why the Barton Core when the 2500 XP (thorougbred) is cheaper, right?

[Fraughton]

there is no 2500 thoroughbred, there is the 2400 and the 2600 thoroughbred and the 2500 barton...pay no mind to the run on sentence

[CSC2100]

I chose the barton core because of the 333 FSB as opposed to the thoroughbred's 266 FSB

and...as fraughton stated, there is no 2500 thoroughbred

[Tuf]

A CRT monitor would definitely be better for his use although LCD's are getting better. Still no LCD can match a good CRT and most LCD's are nearly impossible to adjust the colors correctly.

IMO the best bang for the buck in 2D video cards is Matrox. Their 2D image is unbeatable and their drivers are excellent in my experience and play well with Speciality Plug Ins for your programs.

[Cricket]

I agree with Tuf...Matrox video cards have excellent 2D image quality and would be a good choice for a system that will be doing a lot of digital image editing.

The US Robotics 2976 or 2977 would be a better choice for the modem as these are true hardware modems, not winmodems. Will provide much better performance.

Lite-On CD-RW and DVD will perform as well as the Plextor and Sony drives for a bit less money.

Although it's a minor item, I'd get a TEAC, Sony, Panasonic or Mitsumi floppy instead of the Samsung.

Rest of the system looks good.

Cricket

[sleepypost]

Oh sorry. I would still get the 2400 XP t-bred then and save some money. I doubt there will be a noticable difference.

[CSC2100]

We just finished ordering the parts for this build and I think that it is going to turn out to be a good experience, provided everything works out and there aren't many build problems. I ended up going with the following parts:

~Enermax CS-3191L-S3A Aluminum Case w/350W PSU
~Soltek-75FRN-L nForce2 mobo
~Asus V9250 GeForce FX5200 w/ dual DVI VIVO
~Athlon XP 2500 Barton 333 FSB
~Mitsumi Floppy
~(2x)Crucial 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM
~WD 120 gig w/ 8mb cache
~ViewSonic 19" TrueFlat E90f (.26 dot pitch)
~US Robotics 5699B 56k V.92 modem
~Plextor 48x24x48 CD-RW
~Sony DDU1621 16x DVD Rom
~Windows XP Home w/ Service Pack 1
~Microsoft Optical Wheel mouse
~Logitech Black Internet Keyboard

All this for a grand total of $1276.98 w/ shipping and tax. I didn't think that it was that bad of a deal... and I think that these parts should last my friend for quite some time. Hopefully I won't have any trouble with this build and things will go pretty smoothly. Thanx for all of your help everyone.

[bailey]

last but not lease, good photo editing software is a must,
the two I would recomend is
adobe photo shop ver, 7

paint shop pro ver. 7

both do a excelant job

[CSC2100]

I went with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (gotta love those educational discounts). :-)