Need some puter help

[Stargazer77517]

I need a stronger computer ans was wanting to know your opion of this one. No gaming just for Photoshop and such. Is this a good base to start with?

AMD VISION Premium Barebone PC - MSI 785GM-P45 Motherboard, AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core CPU, ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB, Cooler Master Elite 310 Mid-Tower Case, 350 Watt Power Supply at TigerDirect.com

[Rson]

Originally Posted by Stargazer77517

I need a stronger computer ans was wanting to know your opion of this one. No gaming just for Photoshop and such. Is this a good base to start with?

AMD VISION Premium Barebone PC - MSI 785GM-P45 Motherboard, AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core CPU, ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB, Cooler Master Elite 310 Mid-Tower Case, 350 Watt Power Supply at TigerDirect.com

You are limiting your self with such a small PS. You need to multiply the ram by 8, and what about the OS etc.

[Charles Putnam]

It's a no-name computer manufacturer, which would be my first concern. Although the reviews all appear to be positive, I'd have concerns over it being a "no name" brand.

Personally, if you're primarilly doing Photoshop, I'd seriously recommend swithing to a Mac. iMac if you need a desktop, or MacBook Pro if you want to go portable.

[Rson]

Originally Posted by Charles Putnam

It's a no-name computer manufacturer, which would be my first concern. Although the reviews all appear to be positive, I'd have concerns over it being a "no name" brand.

Personally, if you're primarilly doing Photoshop, I'd seriously recommend swithing to a Mac. iMac if you need a desktop, or MacBook Pro if you want to go portable.

It isn't no name, MSI makes great motherboards, ATI/AMD are very well known, Coolermaster makes great products also. As for the mac comment, I am not going to go there.

[Stargazer77517]

Thanks for the input. As for the OS, Thinking of staying with XP for now with the option of upgrading in the future, also will be increasing to 8 GB ram... I have CS3 Suite now so I will stay with that also. Just need something a bit faster than want I have now. It seems to have room for expansion if I decide in the future to do so.
No thanks on the Mac, Im comfortable with a PC, dont want to try a new platform at this time.
Yeah, the power supply is rather on the small side, but I do have a 450w that works with this formfactor i could swap out.
Anything else I am not seeing that could trip me up?

[texkam]

It's 2011, just go with 7.

[Stargazer77517]

Originally Posted by texkam

It's 2011, just go with 7.

If I go with 7 I will have to upgrade my camera drivers I know, but what about the CS3? Will it still work, or will I have to upgrade to CS 5 also? Dont want to get onto spending a bunch of money right now, Need to take small steps.
7 isnt all that expensive, but the trickle up thing I dont want to get wrapped up in were I have to start spending a bunch of cash in upgrades of all the softwear I currently have.

[Charles Putnam]

One problem you might run into with WinXP on this system is the lack of specific motherboard (and other) drivers. The newer systems are designed around Win7.

Nope to Rich - Agreed that MSI ATi/AMD are well known. I guess what always scares me is the "cheap" price. FWIW, I was a long time Windows user (beta tested Win95), but...after Adobe released PS CS5, it was time for me to make the switch to a MBP.

[Stargazer77517]

[QUOTE=Charles Putnam;1242228]One problem you might run into with WinXP on this system is the lack of specific motherboard (and other) drivers. The newer systems are designed around Win7.

Ah! didnt think about that, good point. Hmmm, maybe an OS upgrade is needed.
Thanks folks for the input.

[CtrlAltDel]

At first glance, it appears that CS3 will work correctly on Windowss 7.
Windows 7 and Adobe products

You mentioned that you want to upgrade step by step. If you purchase that system and upgrade the RAM, AND stay with Windows XP (people reviewing it state that it runs XP), bear in mind that XP will only recognize up to 4GB of ram.

I would suggest gettting that system, max out the ram, and purchase Windows 7 64bit version (the 32bit version will not recognize more then 4gb of ram).

However, in the end, you may find that by the time, after you add all of this up, that another system may be less expensive.

[Rson]

THoughts:

1: XP supports the MOBO so does the video chipset. So you can go win xp....but if you go xp, there are tradeoffs, 32 bit version works best as far as drivers go, the 64 bit version is sometimes spotty as far as support for some devices. BUT there is no direct upgrade from 32 to 64 bit. So if you get xp 32 bit, you cannot upgrade to win7 x64. It will have to be a fresh install.

Also, 32 os can only address about 3.5 gig of ram due to mathematical and overhead reasons.

2: The listed motherboard can grow, it supports the 6 core processors.

3: The power supply is very small and doesn't support much upgrading.

4: CS3 works great on all platforms.

I would use the above system as a base and customize. What is your budget and let us spend it for you.

[Some Idiot]

Originally Posted by Rson

It isn't no name, MSI makes great motherboards, ATI/AMD are very well known, Coolermaster makes great products also. As for the mac comment, I am not going to go there.

X2

also, you can build a faster windows based machine for the same or less money, every time.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Agree... dont do XP.
It cannot address the memory that you will want to run for high-end photo editing and possibly video work.
* Need to go with a minimum 750 watt power supply. I am running a 1.5kw power supply on mine.
* If on Windows, go Win7 64bit, minimum quad core or 6 core CPU. I am running dual quad cores.
* Minimum 6GB-8GB RAM for the system board
* Minimum 1GB RAM on the video card (ATI preferable)

[Stargazer77517]

Originally Posted by Rson

I would use the above system as a base and customize. What is your budget and let us spend it for you.

Trying to keep at or about 450-500.

Basic requirements I am looking for:
1 Photoshop work, nothing extreem, just need it snappy (CS3, Maybe lightroom in the future)
2. some office work ( MS office software)
3. Burn photos/ music to cd/dvd for storage, I have a 750gb ext drive, but want to finalize the photos for safe keeping for years to come.
4 Internet usage.

Thanks everyone for all the great info. Glad I asked, I would have really been in a spot if I would have gone with what I was thinking.