New PC

Little Prince said:
By the way, please let me in on a little bit of lingo. What is a 'scratch' disk?
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A scratch disk is a place for programs or the operating system to write temporary files. It is not used for permanent storage, similar to a swap disk.
 
I don't know the technical jargon for a scratch disk but in simple terms it is a disk (usually seperate) that photoshop uses for cache/memory/swap. I'm not sure if any of those terms are accurate but in a nutshell photoshop uses it to run faster. someone else should be able to tell you how if you are interested.
 
No matter the installed RAM, Photoshop writes to disk. Having a fast second drive assisgned in Photoshop as "scratch" frees the primary disk from that responsibility and is valuable when routinely dealing with large files. Partitioning the primary drive is of little value, while having a "first" partition on a second drive 10x your maximum file size is desirable. Use the balance of the second drive as image storage, backup, etc.
 
OK, here is what I am going to do. I have copy of photoshop 7 for the mac. I am going to load it on the mini and see how it works. If I can deal with the single monitor I'm going to upgrade memory and disks and run with it. If not I'm going the pc route. It seems the processor isn't the biggest thing. ther is a local company that sells Dells of of Gov't lease cheap here. I can get a p4 2.4 GHz with a drive in it for $175 ~$200 bucks. I'll add 2 gb ram and a video card that will dual head. I'll add another drive and run with it. I've got enough response that 2meg on a 2.4 is usable. My only concern with that is the pc133 sdram compared to newer systems with DDR.
 
I support a pro photographer on a mini set up as we have discussed and it works fine for large Canon RAW files. Your monitor needs are the primary consideration here. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the pc133 RAM. Newegg has good deals on HD's, though I recently bought a 120G 7200 RPM Maxtor at CompUSA for $49 after rebate. You may have an extra drive in your parts box, it doesn't need to be large...skip
 
Thanks, Skip. This is comfrting since it will save me some $$$$. I think I'll start by just start by loading up photoshop and adding a scratch drive. I must have an external usb somewhere. From there I'll get 1gb memory and be happy.

Thanks everyone for all of the good responses. It looks like you may have saved me some money for another GAS ATTACK :D
 
grizzz said:
I must have an external usb somewhere.
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FireWire is what you need for speed :) In Photoshop I work at 100% or greater for everything but cropping, such an approach may be helpful to seeing your monitor...skip
 
OK, I'll get a firewire drive. One of my co workers has a 24 inch monitor that looks like it would work for me if I can't do the 19. It's going to have to really be needed though cause thoses suckers are not cheap. Thanks for all of the help....
 
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