I have an older Acer, Athlon x2 3800, 4GB, and Radeon 3650 for dual monitors, XP XP3. I'm thinking of a newer, faster rig with W7 64 bit.
Right now it takes almost 6 minutes to boot up; granted I have a ton of stuff including a MagicJack. The rig is used mainly for photo editing and office apps; no gaming. Mainly I use Nikon ViewNX, CaptureNX2, and Photoshop CS4 along with M$ Office 2003 and BOINC (TeAm Anandtech). If I have all three photo programs running at once I'm in the swap file in no time. NX2 sometimes takes 10 seconds sometimes 90-120 seconds to save a NEF. Sometimes even 60 seconds to save a jpg.
I'm also looking to have USB 3.0, SATA III, and at least two eSATA ports. I could reuse my graphics card and my 1TB Spinrite F3 (and my two 1TB external drives). Might look into a SSD for OS and apps. Or is there a better dual DVI card our there?
Does anyone know of a pre-built configuration that will give me 8-12GB of RAM and a fast processor, and expandability in terms of PCI-E slots for around $1200-1400? Or do I have to build it myself? My last build was almost seven years ago (with a lot of help from here) and I'm not sure I have the current know how, manual dexterity, or energy to attempt another one.
I'm pretty agnostic on Intel vs. AMD, just want to get the best bang for the buck. I'd like to make a move on this in the next few weeks.
Thanks
Right now it takes almost 6 minutes to boot up; granted I have a ton of stuff including a MagicJack. The rig is used mainly for photo editing and office apps; no gaming. Mainly I use Nikon ViewNX, CaptureNX2, and Photoshop CS4 along with M$ Office 2003 and BOINC (TeAm Anandtech). If I have all three photo programs running at once I'm in the swap file in no time. NX2 sometimes takes 10 seconds sometimes 90-120 seconds to save a NEF. Sometimes even 60 seconds to save a jpg.
I'm also looking to have USB 3.0, SATA III, and at least two eSATA ports. I could reuse my graphics card and my 1TB Spinrite F3 (and my two 1TB external drives). Might look into a SSD for OS and apps. Or is there a better dual DVI card our there?
Does anyone know of a pre-built configuration that will give me 8-12GB of RAM and a fast processor, and expandability in terms of PCI-E slots for around $1200-1400? Or do I have to build it myself? My last build was almost seven years ago (with a lot of help from here) and I'm not sure I have the current know how, manual dexterity, or energy to attempt another one.
I'm pretty agnostic on Intel vs. AMD, just want to get the best bang for the buck. I'd like to make a move on this in the next few weeks.
Thanks