Built a graphic user system

[cc]

Two months ago, i build a system below. I run Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Illustrator 9 and PakeMaker 6.5 in Win98 SE.

Intel Pentium III 700
Asus CUBX
Matrox G400 max
Apacer 256MB PC133 SDRAM
Quantum FB Plus LM 20GB

But, even i overclock to 933, i feel it still no enough power.
Now i need another one work with same job. I will go with below.

Intel Pentium III 733
Asus CUSL2
Asus V7100
Apacer 256MB PC133 VCSDRAM
Maxtor Diamandmax Plus 45 15GB

Is that more better? or i really need go with Power MAC G4?
I haven't try with G4, is it better?

 

[Huma]

There's nothing I can do better on my mac at work that I can't do at home on my pc. Unfortunately, I'm on a b&w G3 at work only, but my home rig is a celeron 550 with the same 256mb of ram.

If you're doing print graphics, get more ram. 256 does fine for my 72dpi web work, but if you're running any two of your three programs together, more ram will definitely help. maybe 384 or 512 (total), but that should be good enough.

If you are doing print work, the benefit of the mac is better color matching utils, but the crap OS kills me at work. I don't see how people can argue that an OS without pre-emptive multitasking can be considered modern.

 

[cc]

Thanks Huma, i will go with 512MB RAM, because i run three or more program in same time.
And than, how about CPU? 733 is enough? need go with 800 or more?
GeForce2 MX is more cheaper than G400, how about there performence in 2D?
I think motherboard and HDD is no much difference, any recommend?

 

[sciencewhiz]

Try Win2k. Win 9x doesn't do a very good job at multitasking or handling large amounts of memory. Also, depending on how much you access your hard drive you could see a very large difference in performance by upgrading to fast hard drives.

Your CPU is most likely not the bottleneck. The 733 should be fine, though you may get better performance if you use a T-bird.

Based on what I have heard, there is virtually no speed difference in 2d among cards that have come out in the last 2 years. I have also heard that the G400 looks a lot better in high resolutions than a gforce2 based card.

 

[Huma]

ooh, almost forgot about the OS. Go to win2k pro. It's way more stable than 98se. Using it now, and love it. I used Photoshop, homesite, flash, and nn, and ie together alot, and I rarely ever have a problem.

And if you're not playing games, grab a g400, and consider two 17" or two 19" monitors. Dual monitors is awesome for work.

I'd get two 17"s over one 19" for work purposes.

 

[cc]

sciencewhiz,

If 2D is no speed difference, should i drop the MX and go with 752(815)?

http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q3/000918/aladin-11.html

 

[sciencewhiz]

Unfortunately, I am not an expert on 2d speed. Anand shows that 2d speed sucks on the i815 chipset here. Take a look, though, at the speed difference between the Geforce2 GTS and the TNT. Absolutly none to speek of.

Based on that review, I wouldn't use the integrated video. I think that the G400, max, or G450 would be your best bet, since you probably won't be playing 3d games on your work computer. If there is a chance that you will be playing games you should get a GeForce2 mx or a cheap Radeon.

 

[Crypticburn]

Ok, well, as others have said, it's not your cpu. If it were a problem at 933, then a 733 wouldnt help at all. 384mb or 512mb of ram will definately help in those graphics programs, expecially since you say you run 3 or more of them at a time and I assume it's more.... try win2k and see how much RAM + swap you are using and then increase your amount of ram to be greater than that amount... I dont think a change in graphics card will help you too much, although you can wait around for an athlon with ddr ram with a Matrox 800 etc.... but what you have with some more ram will work too.

Peace Out