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Choosing a Computer System for Digital Imaging
package before making a decision. Apple's current G4 computers top out at
867MHz. Intel's Pentium processors top out around 2Hz. Taken at face value, you
would assume the Intel-based computers are twice as fast as Power Macintosh
computers. They aren't, at least not in PhotoShop. The G4 is a RISC chip, and
processes more instructions per cycle than do the Pentium chips. The 867MHz G4
is actually as fast or faster in PhotoShop than the 2GHz Pentium IV. Ironically, the
1.3GHz Pentium III is faster than Intel's latest Pentium IV. Again, do your research
on current models so you don't make an expensive mistake.
Almost any computer you can buy today is more than fast enough for all but the
most demanding professional needs. Expansion room is more important than RAW
speed. Most bottom-of-the-line computers have limited expansion capabilities,
making them unsuitable for using as a digital workstation.
The decision often comes down to your comfort with a platform. Unless you are
willing to learn a new operating system and its foibles, you're better off sticking
with what you know how to troubleshoot. When something goes wrong you need to
fix it, not wait around a few days while a friend gets time to come over or you have
to take the computer to a shop and pay shop rates for fixing a software problem.
Hard Drives
Go for capacity. A few years ago SCSI drives were the only game in town for
digital imaging. No longer. Today's ATA drives are often just as fast as SCSI
drives, and cost less than one-third what an equivalent size SCSI drive costs. You
can spend more money on a SCSI drive and save a few seconds here and there
while you're opening and closing files, but the day will come soon when you need
more capacity. Those seconds will seem unimportant when you find yourself
installing a larger drive so you can work on your images. Go for capacity. You
won't regret it. Get a 7200 RPM drive with a 1MB or larger cache, and make sure
the access time is under 9 ms. If your computer doesn't have one already, invest in
an Ultra ATA 100 or faster drive controller too.
Whatever computer you choose, make sure it has multiple drive bays and a power
supply that can support the drives. You will run out of drive space eventually.
Adding a drive is easier that replacing a drive, and less expensive than adding an
external drive.
Having multiple drives opens another possibility; striping. You can buy software
that writes to two drives simultaneously, yielding noticeable gains in read/write
performance. This used to be the exclusive domain of SCSI, but recent software
works on ATA drives as well. Most of the new ATA controllers include striping
software.
http://www.photo.net/photo/computers (4 of 33)7/3/2005 2:19:07 AM