Save for i7 or stick with q6600?

[vicar]

Stick to Q6600 cheaper imho.

[aidanjt]

But, according to Scott Byers (Principal Scientist at Adobe) Photoshop is a memory-bandwidth bound app. Part of the reason for that is that some people use VERY large files, and they aren't going to fit in memory. And even if they do, as soon as you start working on them, you're going to be creating layers etc and you'll rapidly need several times the size of the file which, if you're working with GB-sized files, is a serious demand.

GB sized images?.. Are they using the Moon as a billboard these days?

[Saracen]

GB sized images?.. Are they using the Moon as a billboard these days?

As I said, depends what you're doing.

Adobe's definitions :-

Small files = <50MB
Medium = 50MB up to about 200MB
Interesting = 200MB up to about 500MB
Large = 1GB
Super large = 2GB.

I have a flatbed scanner that does 6400 x 6400 dpi (interpolated), 36-bit and is A3. Not A4, A3. And it's an old device, and low-res by today's standards, as it's only 800 x 600 optical. But even that produces some respectably whopping files.

If you're talking about large drum scanners .....

[aidanjt]

As I said, depends what you're doing.

Adobe's definitions :-

Small files = <50MB
Medium = 50MB up to about 200MB
Interesting = 200MB up to about 500MB
Large = 1GB
Super large = 2GB.

I have a flatbed scanner that does 6400 x 6400 dpi (interpolated), 36-bit and is A3. Not A4, A3. And it's an old device, and low-res by today's standards, as it's only 800 x 600 optical. But even that produces some respectably whopping files.

If you're talking about large drum scanners .....

Still, that's only 120MB odd in raw format, and lossless image compression has come a fair way since.

I suppose I'm thinking too much in terms of technology, and what's needed, rather than what e-artists perfer.

I can just imagine it now, e-peni contests about who made the bigger multi-GB image file.

[Webby]

A lot of file size in Photoshop comes from layers for example my GF (illustrator) will start off with a hand drawn piece of work scan it in at ~600-1200dpi (max resolutions of ~20000*15000) and then work from there. The thing is that she probably will have 20-30 layers (depending on the piece) by the end so file sizes get big real fast. The final image will be "relatively" small once all the layers have been flattened and the DPI/resolution reduced for printing.

[chilled]

Not knowing what you do with your PC and how much you can afford to spend, I'll tell you my thoughts.

As a general rule to stop me wasting money on my PC for incremental gains, I upgrade the core of my system (Mobo+CPU+RAM) every three years, sticking to the base speed of a high-end line CPU, with a fairly expensive mobo. 12-18 mths after that I'd purchase a newer CPU. Graphics cards and HDD are upgraded on a needs be basis, but usually every 2 yrs.

My previous core system components are handed down to my dad.

I'll upgrade to the i7 920. Right now I'm running a dual-core Opteron 170 @ 2.6, 2GB RAM on an nForce 4 SLI mobo. I don't see upgrading to anything less as worth it, especially since I'll only sell the core components of an AthlonXP 2100 system now.

Right now, the gains of a 920 over a Q6600, especially if OC'd will be quite small, and IMHO money best spent elsewhere or saved. But, if you're looking for future potential and the possibility to drop in a better cpu later on, then get the 920.

[RIX]

I'm in the same situation, i'v got a maximus formula (x38) + q6600 (3.6 air) + 4gb 1066 ram in an antec p182. And after seeing what the core i7 can do i want one.

So what i'm doing is moving everything to a zalman home theatre case (inc the HDDs) because i want a media pc aswell.

Then i will start again with an x58 set up, i'v already got the mobo (asus p6T deluxe) need to wait for pay day to get the rest lol. The price isnt bad compared to a high end x48 setup, I got my p6T for &#163;237 delivered from specialtech.

[Jay]

RIX you must be nuts!

[RIX]

Maybe but alot of my mates are getting HTPCs, so instead of building a chep one might aswell use the old stuff lol.

[matty-hodgson]

Maybe but alot of my mates are getting HTPCs, so instead of building a chep one might aswell use the old stuff lol.

so basically you want to be able to wave it at them?

"mine's bigger and better than yours, ner ner na nerr nerr"

[RIX]

so basically you want to be able to wave it at them?

"mine's bigger and better than yours, ner ner na nerr nerr"

Yep thats it, but i want an sli set up and from the results i'v seen X58 is alot better than the 780/790 boards

[Saracen]

Still, that's only 120MB odd in raw format, and lossless image compression has come a fair way since.

I suppose I'm thinking too much in terms of technology, and what's needed, rather than what e-artists perfer.

I can just imagine it now, e-peni contests about who made the bigger multi-GB image file.

Yup, it's about 120MB ....per square inch.

But if it's A3, it's up to about 17.5 x 11.5 inches, so you've got >200 of those square inches.

Or scan a 6x6cm medium format slide at 6400 dpi 48-bit using a slide scanner. What size then? You're up into what Adboe refer to as "interesting" and pretty close to Large.

[ljames28]

I'm in the same situation, i'v got a maximus formula (x38) + q6600 (3.6 air) + 4gb 1066 ram in an antec p182. And after seeing what the core i7 can do i want one.

So what i'm doing is moving everything to a zalman home theatre case (inc the HDDs) because i want a media pc aswell.

Then i will start again with an x58 set up, i'v already got the mobo (asus p6T deluxe) need to wait for pay day to get the rest lol. The price isnt bad compared to a high end x48 setup, I got my p6T for £237 delivered from specialtech.

I was thinking of doing the same, I have a E6400 on water cooling, a IP35 Pro, and 4gb of ram, I was going to put that in a media centre case but I quickly realised with a full sized motherboard a media centre case will just be a normal computer case on its side and with air cooling wont be that quiet.

So instead I bought a MATX mobo, a cheap energy efficient AMD chip, Antec Fusion case etc, everything excluding the HDDs for £220! The same price as a I7 motherboard.

This way I can build the media centre now, and upgrade to I7 in a few weeks/months hopefully when its cheaper, I reckon I can get the Mobo, Ram, and CPU for £515 hopefully.

[magneticman]

if i scan an image into my scanner at 1200 dpi, add a couple of layers of retouching, the file size rapidly heads towards 1gb.

even 48-bit images/raw photos start to eat up space..