Need recommendation for a new Windows 10 Computer (Page 2): I'm so with you love my iMac and not sure but why would any one store their images on the internal hard drive baffles me ALL...

Jeffcs Loc: Myrtle Beach South Carolina

PixelStan77 wrote:

Consider a Apple 27" iMac with Retina 5K Display (Late 2015) for $2100

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1190439-REG/apple_mk482ll_a_27_imac_with_retina.html

Have one and love it. I switched from windows last year and never looked back

I'm so with you love my iMac and not sure but why would any one store their images on the internal hard drive baffles me ALL of my images are on external hard drives yes my back up drive has a back up

PACSMAN Loc: MA

You're not the only one done with Apple. Trey Radcliff was a long time Apple guy; read what he says here and what he ended up buying.

http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2017/02/10/switching-from-mac-to-windows/

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

Gene51 wrote:

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonable, and you described the computer I just built for a friend for about $1900 based on an ASUS Z270 motherboard. It uses a Samsung 850 EVO m.2 SSD, but you could install a much faster 950 Pro NVMe board for 4x the performance but you'd add several hundred dollars to the price.

Asus Z270 ROG Maximum IX Hero LGA 1151 ATX with Intel i7-7700K $505
Fluid cooling for CPU, Corsair H100i $100
Diablotek EVO III ATX Mid Tower $45
Corsair CX850M power supply $90
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 1 TB SSD $350
WD RE or HGST Enterprise 4 TB $250
Asus GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Vram $215
G. Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4-3333 2x16 gb for 32 gb ram $235
wireless keyboard and mouse $50
DVD burner $25
Wireless network adapter $30
Windows 7Pro or 10 Pro $100

Total $1,995

You can build this yourself for about 3 hours of assembly time, or pay someone at MicroCenter $150 to build it for you.

This system can accept up to 64 gb ram. ASUS has other very good motherboards with other features, including support for XEON cpus, which may be useful for Lightroom, but not necessarily for Photoshop.

If you are going to double up on the displays, and you want to take advantage of that nice wide gamut and color depth, I would substitute a 4gb Nivdia Quadro K2200 which will drive the display to 30 bit color with Photoshop.

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonabl... (show quote)

I had a PC built to Gene's specs and it is dynamite. I can recommend his suggestions without reservation.

Ny5y Loc: Mississippi

Look into a Dell server with a Zeon processor and configure it with aDell server rep!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

BobHartung wrote:

Hey all, here is the pitch. I am a long time Mac ... (show quote)

So you're buying and not building. When I was buying, I liked the Dell XPS 8xxx series. I'm still using a couple from 2009 and 2012.

I would go with a smaller SSD. I have a Samsung 500GB, and it's less than half full, and I have LR, PS, Dreamweaver, and other large programs. My son has a 250 GB SSD, and he has plenty of room left, so it depends how many large programs you plan to install. SSD prices will be rising sharply and soon because of a shortage of NAND chips. I built a couple of machines recently, and I used M.2 SSDs - much faster.
http://www.computershopper.com/feature/2017-guide-the-best-m.2-solid-state-drives-tested

I always have a second HDD of 3 or 4 GB (7299 RPM), plus a couple of internals drives used externally as backups. I prefer HGST. Although I have always bought Core i7 processors, I see that there biggest advantage is profit to the seller. Save your money and get a Core i5.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-441204-1.html

I recently got a Dell SE2717HX 27" monitor for under $200. Very nice. I added a card that has five USB ports, and you can also add a network card for a second connection. As for the video card for two monitors, both cards I got for my builds support two monitors. If you're buying a ready-made computer, talk to the sales person. 16GB of RAM seems to be reasonable. As you add more and more, most of the difference is in the cost, rather than the performance. I put 32GB in my build because it was available at a reasonable price.

When I was buying Dells, I'd get one with a small hard drive and minimum memory. It's cheaper to add memory and upgrade the drive later.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Jeffcs wrote:

I'm so with you love my iMac and not sure but why would any one store their images on the internal hard drive baffles me ALL of my images are on external hard drives yes my back up drive has a back up

It's funny, but I think just the opposite. I guess it depends what you're used to.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

BobHartung wrote:

Hey all, here is the pitch. I am a long time Mac ... (show quote)

A customized PC would be best for you more or less. A commercial choice could be a Dell Alienware gaming computer with the Sound Card downgraded substitution if you are not also a game or movie / music fanatic. Likely any choice you make will need some factory or personal customization. Note, I don't have such a beast. I have a Dell XPS 8900. Not bad at all but I'd have to do a lot to bring it up to what you asked for. Don't fear Win 10, with a little thought and tweaking you can make it look and run pretty much like Win 7 (out of the box it is too "Win 8.1" for me). I'm happy with it now and you sound more tech savvy than I am. I'm not sure it's Windows or the other Applications on the PCs and their installations and setting but my wife's PC has a slightly different look to the interfaces. My PC was bought new with Windows 10 Home, my wife's has an upgrade installation of Windows 10 Pro. If you don't need the few, mostly business differences between the O/S's I actually prefer the Windows 10 Standard (Home) look and feel. There is one thing I don't like about Windows 10 and that is the color schemes, with our monitors calibrated for Photoshop / photography use the normal graphics are way too light or faint. ANYONE KNOW A FIX FOR THAT? Good luck.

PS. Someone mentioned a Zeon Processor. Yes, if money is not the main limiting factor, a fast Intel Zeon Processor would be a good customization. Though I am not sure what features other than reliability and general speed you get with Zeons. I have a i7 with 4 core / 8 thread 3.4 GHz. Also max your system out with 32 to 64 GBs of RAM!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Gene51 wrote:

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonable, and you described the computer I just built for a friend for about $1900 based on an ASUS Z270 motherboard. It uses a Samsung 850 EVO m.2 SSD, but you could install a much faster 950 Pro NVMe board for 4x the performance but you'd add several hundred dollars to the price.

Asus Z270 ROG Maximum IX Hero LGA 1151 ATX with Intel i7-7700K $505
Fluid cooling for CPU, Corsair H100i $100
Diablotek EVO III ATX Mid Tower $45
Corsair CX850M power supply $90
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 1 TB SSD $350
WD RE or HGST Enterprise 4 TB $250
Asus GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Vram $215
G. Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4-3333 2x16 gb for 32 gb ram $235
wireless keyboard and mouse $50
DVD burner $25
Wireless network adapter $30
Windows 7Pro or 10 Pro $100

Total $1,995

You can build this yourself for about 3 hours of assembly time, or pay someone at MicroCenter $150 to build it for you.

This system can accept up to 64 gb ram. ASUS has other very good motherboards with other features, including support for XEON cpus, which may be useful for Lightroom, but not necessarily for Photoshop.

If you are going to double up on the displays, and you want to take advantage of that nice wide gamut and color depth, I would substitute a 4gb Nivdia Quadro K2200 which will drive the display to 30 bit color with Photoshop.

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonabl... (show quote)

That sounds a lot like my machine. I got that Samsung drive in September for $270, delivered. Prices are rising!

The best keyboard I've ever had is the Logitech K800. It's wireless, charges via a USB cable, and the keys light up when I move my hands over it. That light is perfect for where I work. I like the Logitech M510 wireless mouse that uses a dongle that can be paired with other wireless devices - Unifying Receiver.

As for the three-hour build time -

Maybe if you're familiar with the components, but my build was spread out over several weeks. Building my son's machine after I finished mine was like starting fresh because he used several different components. Many of the directions were next to worthless, and the diagrams and pictures left much to be desired. Manufacturers do have good support, though.

A modular power supply will have no cables connected, so you can connect only those cables that you need.

I didn't see any reason to spend more to get Windows 10 Pro.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Ny5y wrote:

Look into a Dell server with a Zeon processor and configure it with aDell server rep!

Well you could, but you'll pay more $ for less performance. Xeons are great for commercial servers because of larger L3 cache, more available cores on the high end, better high temp specs and no on-board video, plus all Xeons, even E3s allow hyperthreading. But they are more expensive for lower performance given the same price point (and can't be overclocked). For example, an I7-7700, such as Gene suggested, is still faster than even an 8 core Xeon E5-2640, which you'll need to buy a Dell T430 server ($3679 sale price) to get. Xeons are optimized for workflows that support multiple concurrent users in an enterprise environment where conservatively rated servers run 24x7x365 and cost is secondary.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Gene51 wrote:

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonable, and you described the computer I just built for a friend for about $1900 based on an ASUS Z270 motherboard. It uses a Samsung 850 EVO m.2 SSD, but you could install a much faster 950 Pro NVMe board for 4x the performance but you'd add several hundred dollars to the price.

Asus Z270 ROG Maximum IX Hero LGA 1151 ATX with Intel i7-7700K $505
Fluid cooling for CPU, Corsair H100i $100
Diablotek EVO III ATX Mid Tower $45
Corsair CX850M power supply $90
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 1 TB SSD $350
WD RE or HGST Enterprise 4 TB $250
Asus GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Vram $215
G. Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4-3333 2x16 gb for 32 gb ram $235
wireless keyboard and mouse $50
DVD burner $25
Wireless network adapter $30
Windows 7Pro or 10 Pro $100

Total $1,995

You can build this yourself for about 3 hours of assembly time, or pay someone at MicroCenter $150 to build it for you.

This system can accept up to 64 gb ram. ASUS has other very good motherboards with other features, including support for XEON cpus, which may be useful for Lightroom, but not necessarily for Photoshop.

If you are going to double up on the displays, and you want to take advantage of that nice wide gamut and color depth, I would substitute a 4gb Nivdia Quadro K2200 which will drive the display to 30 bit color with Photoshop.

Bob, that is a very good spec, perfectly reasonabl... (show quote)

mjgoulet

If I were to buy a new desktop I'd to go Dell/Alienware. You can build your own to a certain degree. 512GB SSD Plus 6TB storage drives and video cards that will run anything you can through at them. 4K monitors are available. They are not cheap but powerful. You get a years worth of support and it's very good. Take a look at their site and build your own. This is my third Dell and I am happy with them. Get as much RAMM as you can. Plenty of USB ports.

thegrover Loc: Yorba Linda, CA

I built a similar Win 10 system for Photography. Two monitors are a must. I also recommend X-Rite ColorMunki for calibrating the monitors. I use a Macbook Pro for my laptop.

dj1957

Bob, I build custom desktops and I currently have a unit ready to build. I have a few questions that I'd like to ask: 1. How fast a processor do you require (the higher speed processor determines how fast your computer and you applications will respond to your commands)? 2. How many cores (each core can handle different application), i.e., one for your O/S, one for Internet, one for your graphics and/or sound (unless you really want faster graphics/sound, then I recommend a PCI-E graphics card), and one or more for sub-applications (such as MS Office products, Photoshop, etc.). While Intel only makes a Quad-core (4 cores) Motherboard, they also incorporate Hyper-threading technology (which allows one core to handle multiple tasks), AMD Motherboards can handle up to 8 core processors. This allows your processor to split up tasks and gives you faster response times over multiple applications. There are positives and negatives to higher core processors: much faster response times, especially with regards to audio/visual demands; but also generates tremendous power consumption and heat production. I recommend a liquid-cooled heatsink and a 650 watt (minimum if you will have more than one video screen monitor or other high wattage peripherals connected to Motherboard via USB). 3. How much RAM (Random Access Memory) do you require? The more RAM you have available for the various functions, the quicker your core processors handle raw data. This will come in handy if you are using any photo/video/sound processing applications. Send me your requirements and I'll give you a spec recommendation and price quote.

dj1957

My apologies, Bob. Send your computer requirements to me via email: david.johnson@giantslayersystems.com

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

BobHartung wrote:

Hey all, here is the pitch. I am a long time Mac ... (show quote)

My current machine (Dell XPS8700) isn't very old (2-3 years), but when I need another one, the first place I'm gonna look is Dell, at the Alienware offerings.