Desktop computer for photo editing

LCPete

LCPete

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Hi I need a new PC my old laptop is struggling with the files from my 550D
I have found this on ebay a dell factory reconditioned PC with 3 year warranty for £500:


Dell Studio XPS 7100 AMD X6 PC
Processor:
AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Six Core processor, 6 x 2.7Ghz cores

Ram:
8Gb DDR3 1333Mhz dual channel Ram installed (4 x 2Gb chip)

Hard drive:
1Tb storage 7200 rpm SATA hard disk

Graphics card:
ATi Radeon HD 5770 1Gb deciated graphics card - DVI & HDMI

I realise that its an old model but it looks like a good deal to me what do you guys think?
I am looking for something decent under £500:clap:
Would love an i7 machine but they are more like £700 with a decent graphics card
 
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arad85 said:
Have to say I'm not a big fan of AMD processors these days. Have a look here: http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pricelow&store=5&cat=191&filtersubcat=3131&limit=10&page=1 and see if anything catches your fancy (some of the cheaper ones don't have an OS, so budget on extra for that). You DON'T need a fancy graphics card if all you're doing is Photoshopping...
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Thanks Andy just had a look looks like some good computers in my price range :)
Would an i3 machine be OK or would I be better off spending extra on an i5?
Pete
 
Depends! What you are trading off in different cpus is number of cores and higher clock frequency. Something like lightroom/photoshop can use all the cores so 8 cores at 2.2GHz is probably better than 4 cores at 2.8GHz for photoshop. However for something single threaded you may find that the 2.8GHz is faster.

TBH, the AMD one is reasonably powerful (about the same as an i5-2300). What I do is find the processor variant and then look for it in this list: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php and compare the Passmark CPU Mark column numbers (higher is better)

Whilst you can never reduce processor performance to one number, it does give you an indication.
 
Thanks Andy found this one on ebuyer looks like it would be perfect for me:)
Acer Aspire M3970 Desktop
Intel Core i5 2300 2.8GHz
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
DVD Writer
nVidia 405
Windows 7 Home Premium
 
Assume it's the one at £399 inc Win 7 Home? I know I said graphics wasn't an issue, but you may find that graphics a bit limiting (it is the lowest of the low performance wise). Having said that, it's easy enough to spend £30-£50 on an add in graphics card if it does cause you problems.
 
arad85 said:
Assume it's the one at £399 inc Win 7 Home? I know I said graphics wasn't an issue, but you may find that graphics a bit limiting (it is the lowest of the low performance wise). Having said that, it's easy enough to spend £30-£50 on an add in graphics card if it does cause you problems.
Click to expand...

Yep it is that one :)
 
Just looked at the score on Andys link the pass mark cpu ratings and the scores for the
AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Six Core processor, 6 x 2.7Ghz cores
and the
Intel Core i5 2300 2.8GHz
are very similar so it looks like the Acer aspire is better value for money but the Dell one has more memory and a better graphics card and comes with a 3 year warrenty
 
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LCPete said:
Just looked at the score on Andys link the pass mark cpu ratings and the scores for the
AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Six Core processor, 6 x 2.7Ghz cores
and the
Intel Core i5 2300 2.8GHz
are very similar so it looks like the Acer aspire is better value for money but the Dell one has more memory and a better graphics card and comes with a 3 year warrenty
Click to expand...
Yup.... All tradeoffs and depends what you value in a PC purchase at the end of the day. I'm lucky, I build all my own PCs so I can really hone my tradeoffs appropriately for my circumstances.
 
The Dell will also have been built with far superior components and is likely to last longer than the Acer. The 3 year warranty is worth a lot - and reflects Dell's confidence.
 
I have to agree. Having worked in the industry for 15 years, the build quality, reliability and service of Dell is in my humble opinion second to none. This is why most large companies choose Dell for both servers and workstations.

In the unlikely event of an issue, their tech support is very good indeed. Next business day warranty is great.
 
Actually you are right Montagu and John about Dell
my laptop is a Dell and is a few years old now and had not missed a beat :clap:
 
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