Re: Which video card(s) for CS 3 or 4?

RDOC wrote:
On Jan 9, 10:12 pm, JD <J...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
RDOC wrote:
On Jan 7, 10:55 pm, JD <J...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Father Kodak wrote:
How would you answer these questions:
In general, which video card maker, AMD/ATI or nVidia, has "better"
performance for CS 3 or 4? "Better" is a combination of stability and
performance?
If you were buying or building a new system today and Photoshop usage
was a key factor, what would you look for in a video card? How much
memory, what speed GPU, etc.
Thanks
Father Kodak
The more important question is what operating system? I built a new
system with an eye to using CS3 on Windows XP. Is that the OS you would
be using? There are certain RAM limitations in a 32 bit OS that may
limit your Video Card RAM. If you're interested I can elaborate on the
system I built. Are you building a new system or upgrading an old system?
--
JD..
Yes I would like to know more about the system you built since I am
about to build a new system and I am using CS4. Thanks
The system I built was for the 32 bit Windows XP home edition, I'm using
CS3. Are you still interested in the details? Most the parts were
purchased online.

--
JD..

Please if you it would be a great help to me. Thanks

For anybody else reading this, I'm not trying to get into a pi$$ing match over the details. RDOC ask for the details regarding the box I built.

From my research, a 32-bit OS can only address 4 GB of RAM so as one adds a video card and other hardware that takes some of that address space, the OS won't be able to address all 4 GB of RAM.

That said, I bought 4 GB of dual layer RAM because RAM is so cheap and I was told the dual layer RAM needs to be installed in matching pairs. I paid $100 for four sticks of RAM: Kingston 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz (2x1024MB). On the hardware tab of System Properties, it reports 3.25 GB of RAM so that unused .75 GB of RAM cost me about $19.

I've used AMD chips for 10 years. I paid $113 for my processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX - Retail. I was told Intel chips are better?

I've used Western Digital hard drives for 16 years. To put the PS scratch disk on a separate hdd I purchased two drives: WD Caviar 320GB SATA-3G HD 7200/16MB/SATA-3G. They cost $60 each. I bought these for the 16 MB buffer. Older drives are only 8 MB buffer.

I was told CS3 didn't need a bad-boy video card so I paid $100 for my 256 MB video card: Visiontek Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256MB PCIe. Some people said I should go with 500 MB on the video card but that would take away some of my memory address for the system RAM. Right or wrong on that never-ending system memory address discussion, the 256 MB card was purchased.

The video card came with the ATI Catalyst software which I use to create different monitor profiles. The default setting on my monitor is way too bright for me. I have profiles for PS, normal viewing and the default brightness which I don't ever use. The software let me setup keyboard shortcuts for each profile. I don't use any color calibration software although I've looked at the ColorVision DataColor Spyder2express Color Calibration System and may try that later.

I bought two DVDrw drives, one without included software and one with Nero 7 Essentials included and Lightscribe (which I'll never use): Lite-On DVDRW 20X SATA OEM. One drive was $25, the other was $30.

I did a custom install of the Nero 7 and it works OK for making and copying CDs and DVDs.

All the above parts except the processor came from TigerDirect. They offer limited telephone tech support but I didn't need it. Everything was shipped without damage although their shipping box had TigerDirect logos all over it which could be a concern if the box sat on a front porch after delivery. The box just says steal me!

I started with an Asus motherboard but I returned it. The SATA drive controller didn't work very well. Not sure what the problem was. The online reviews for the card were not that great but I wanted the e-SATA connector. I'll pay a little more attention to those online reviews next time I purchase a mobo.

I bought the original mobo and processor from NewEgg. They offer no telephone tech support but I was able to return the mobo online without a problem.

I ended up purchasing a Giga-Byte GA-MA770-S3 mobo from my local CPU store for $100. It works good.

I also purchased my case from the local CPU store: Raidmax SMILODON (Black) ATX-612WBP 500W Gaming Case for $119.99

It's a nice case although the online reviews reported some problems with the power supply. I've had no problems with the case or power supply in the five months I've owned it. The case has two side fans, one blows across the video card and one above that blows out of the case. There is a fan in the front blowing in and a fan in the back blowing out. The exhaust fans never blow hot air. It's a "cool" case. ;-)

Did I leave anything out? I use an older 22" widescreen LG LCD monitor. CS3 doesn't like the monitor profile so I don't use it and I couldn't find a new profile on the LG page but the monitor looks great. It's hooked up with a DVI cable.

I use a logitech mouse: Logitech LX3 Optical Mouse Slate. It cost $20 from TigerDirect.

I use a Micro innovations keyboard that I got online from Wal-Mart. It cost $10. I like it because it has a scroll on the keyboard and other buttons to open programs, etc. I have bought a few more of the same keyboard and found that not two the buttens (Print and Save)don't work but I can live with that. Ctrl P and Ctrl S.

I use an Epson Stylus Photo R280 printer that makes a beautiful photograph using Epson photo paper and I use an Epson Perfection V200 Photo flatbed scanner. I don't scan much but it works good when I need to scan something. The printer cost $100 at Circuit City and the scanner was $84 with free shipping from NewEgg. The printer uses 6 individual cartridges. The six cartridges cost more than the printer but I don't print many photographs.

I did a clean install of Windows XP home edition with service pack 2 and then used a CD created from a Microsoft .iso file for SP 3.

CS3 is faster on this box than it was on my older XP box with only 2 GB of RAM, a single core processor and one hdd. I've not done a side by side comparison.

I'm a retired advertising photographer that only uses CS3 for my digital photography hobby. Last time I worked as a photographer was in 1990. I used a wet darkroom and large and small format cameras that used film.

--
JD..
.

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