Best Computer to use for Work Station

[onestringer]

I have a 17" Dell Precision Laptop that is insanely heavy for a laptop. So, I'm thinking of downgrading my portable and picking up a desktop to use in house as a workstation...

I design primarily in flexi and photoshop and right now if I have both open (which I do often moving from one to the other) one or the other inevitably crashes.

I print to a Mutoh VJ1204 and a Falcon (which I'm thinking of selling...anyone?)

So, I'm looking for a workstation that I don't have to replace every year or two. I house all designs on an separate unit with constant dual backup so no worries there...just need something that is functional, fast, and capable of keeping up.

What is the best option? Anyone?

 

[petesign]

I have a design computer and a ripping station at the same desk. You can get a pretty decent machine and just let the rip handle things from there, and continue to design on your design machine. My rip station is a dual core E5200 pentium with 4 gigs of ram.. you should be able to pick up something like this for pretty cheap. I run a KVM switch to change machines and use the same monitors, keyboard and mouse for both. If you aren't running anything but your rip on that machine, it will more than keep up with anything you are printing. Then you can focus entirely on what you are designing without the rip bogging you down.

I also use the rip machine as a backup server. File swapping is incredibly fast and it gives me a little peace of mind


**I re-read your post... I wouls still recommend a separate station to rip and print from... but don't know how that helps you if you design in photoshop and flexi, since I assume you are using flexi to also rip and print. Can you have two copies of flexi.. one for your workstation, and one for a print station? I am asking, because I wonder if it is the added burden of preparing the file and printing the same while you are still designing that's causing your machine to crash.

 

[drive]

i purchased 3 AMD quadcore (2.8ghz), 4gb ram systems (no OS) for $500. they came from a local pc parts and system shop. I bought them with the next 2+ years in mind.
Anyhting less would probably not be worth it. imho

happy hunting

 

[SignBurst PCs]

There is a lot that goes into deciding what is the best workstation(s) for any given situation. You should really consider:

1. The software you plan on using
2. The size of files you are dealing with
3. How many years you expect to use the computer
4. Your data storage requirements
5. Your data backup requirements
6. The level of support you need / expect
7. Your shop's production requirements
8. Your shop's physical setup and devices
9. Your level of hardware / software experience
10. How much $$$ potential down-time will cost you

 

[onestringer]

i purchased 3 AMD quadcore (2.8ghz), 4gb ram systems (no OS) for $500. they came from a local pc parts and system shop. I bought them with the next 2+ years in mind.
Anyhting less would probably not be worth it. imho

happy hunting

Thanks...

 

[onestringer]

Wow...I guess I should speak in full sentences:

I have a server that houses all of the designs, important files, etc
it is setup on a network directly wired to a dedicated rip/print workstation
there are 3 other computers on this network (all are equipped with it's own copy of flexi and photoshop)...mine is setup for design primarily: I have a 3.5gb system with dual core pentium processor (dell precision m6400) that is connected wirelessly. There is one other laptop that is wirelessly connected as well, but is more for books, etc. We have one other desktop that is on the network but not really used...this is the one I plan to replace and move my current workstation into backup and for when I am out of town and still need to keep up.

I'm hoping that makes more sense.

 

[jfiscus]

For a workstation, go custom-built, no off-the-shelvers will do (or hit close on price if they would do).

Find a buddy or relative that knows computers & how to build em. Take him to the local PC store & have him build a dream machine for you. My new home PC has the fastest AMD available & runs EVERYTHING lightning fast & was out the door under $500 (with no OS) 2 months ago.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

For a workstation, go custom-built, no off-the-shelvers will do (or hit close on price if they would do).

^+1 First time I went custom built never looked back. Night and day difference.

 

[Joe Diaz]

I'm a fan of custom built too. We have someone local. And I like having the peace of mind knowing that the guy who put it together has a shop down the street and can fix it should a problem arise.

If we weren't fortunate enough to have someone local who is very good at what he does (and is also a family friend), I would get a signburst. From everything I've read and heard from Casey, he knows his stuff. And the fact that he builds machines specifically for this industry, is a very nice cherry on top. That means your machine is designed to do signwork.

 

[onestringer]

Thanks I think I'll give Casey a call soon. I have had one system built and it just seems that having someone without a good knowledge of this business build it isn't a good idea.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[choucove]

A custom system can be a really good call, but it's very hard to say 100% that "Custom is always the way." Why do I say this when even I always choose custom? Because I know what I'm looking for.

There are a LOT of custom computer builders out there who know what they are doing but either don't know enough about the specific details (or are just too cheap) and will only go with medial or even sub-quality components. If you think that by going with a slightly cheaper brand all that could happen is spending a little less money, trust me you are wrong. Poor quality parts combined with slightly incompatible other parts can lead to a gigantic loss of money when it dies a year down the road. Custom built does NOT always 100% mean high quality. Make sure the person you're ever going to have a custom system built by uses top quality brands, and if you're not sure, ask us.

Now that that's said, to address the original question. If you are wanting to go with something pre-built there are quite a few options out there, but I would not recommend buying a standard consumer-line desktop to use for a design computer. Order a business-line computer such as the Dell Precision or HP Z200/400/600 workstations. These computers offer higher performance, higher quality, and better warranty. However, you're in the end you're going to pay more than custom-built desktops in the end (unless your builder is really wanting to get some extra cash out of your pockets!)

As Casey mentioned above there are a lot of things to consider when looking into a new computer for design work, it's not just as simple as listing off a model number and clicking "Add To Cart" really. To make sure you have everything to accommodate your needs and your expectations, you need to consider those things Casey has mentioned.

The prices in today's technology market are steadily dropping. You'd be surprised how powerful of a system you can get for $800 anymore. I've been building very powerful quad-core desktops for dozens of customers lately for around $600 so you don't necessarily have to plan on several thousands of dollars to get the job done. The desktops that we configured for several new design stations here were $1200 each. But I would try and wait a little while as well before making any kind of computer purchase right now.

Intel and AMD are both on the verge of releasing their new processor platforms into the market. With any kind of new platform release, prices are going to really shuffle around a lot. New and more powerful equipment will be available for those with the extra bit of cash, and the currently leading generation of platform will probably see a noticeable drop in price to accommodate the sales of the newer platform. These platforms might not be available widely in pre-built systems for a few months, but if you can wait I'd recommend seeing how prices will change by then.

 

[wetgravy]

I've been building systems for almost 2 decades now, and I have to say ... most of your needs in recent years comes in 3 categories, how long will you use this work station, what is your storage situation and what software needs are you looking at?

Overall most processors while radically different from dual core to quad core, amd to intel, etc All have the longevity for multiple years of processing power.

Ram is ALWAYS a big issue. Any system you buy needs to be able to support increasing the ram without having to completely replace it all and be able to let it grow over the years as your machine needs it.

Operating system, I wouldn't say it's not important ... but overall you need to make sure that the OS matches the ram requirements for the future and that your software is compatible with it ... we all remember the vista/flexi issues ... and I still have a copy of adobe software that was a month old, old machine died, got a new one (vista) and none of the software worked right in it.

hard drive size. while it's always important to have a large hard drive ... having massive amounts of storage without a secondary backup is never cool. try to have atleast a second hard drive in the system or an external hard drive to make regular backups of jobs and important files

video card, always good to have lots of video ram on the card and have solid processing power to support large graphics and still maintain video rendering.

A decent dvd burner is good, but really any cd-r is good enough 99% of the time.

rest is really toppings on the cake. Try to make sure there are plenty of spare card slots on the motherboard, and expandability in bays (extra hard drives, burners, etc)

That being said ... if you really don't want to build your own or deal with a lot of hassles ... this is the machine (link) I'm going to be getting in a month or two. 4 gigs of ram base, can easily expand to 8 gigs later (2 free ram slots), 64 bit OS (can support upto 16 gigs of ram) quad core processor, hefty HD and a semi decent processor with plenty of card slots for things like usb cards, new video card for dual monitor displaying, etc. From what I heard, some of the older software can now work with windows 7 .. so I will have to play with that, but as I'm going to be upgrading the software in my computer almost completely in the next few months ... this will be almost the perfect machine for me ... and just over $500 bucks. Also it's HP and I've never had problems with HP machines before, so bonus with that.

 

[TheSellOut]

Thats a good looking cpu for the price!

 

[visual800]

First off...off the shelf computers WILL work. We are running two Dell XPS 410 with windows XP. They are both awesome. I have installed two hard drives in each and one is used as a backup and is NOT hooked up to the internet. They are older machines which is fine with me. one thing to remember about computers is NOT to have 10 programs opened at once and watch the junk you load on them...AVG, NORTON and of course every "helpful" program microsoft has come out with to keep junk off your comp...whatever!

I bought both of these used off ebay and they are approx 4 years old.
Intel core 2 duo
2gb ddr2 memory
other than this nothing special. normal video card, ethernet adaptor, 2 optical drives.
None of that overboard excessive crack speed video cards and lightning fast memory.
these comps even have a low power supply compared to most.
No frills, workhorses, plain and simple

I will never buy a brand new computer. These units use were about $450 per tower. I like Dell. Cheaper versions of comps suck in any brand. Of all the comps I fix on the side I have seen more HPs come thru DOA than any other brand, especially laptops. Preference I suppose

 

[WildWestDesigns]

First off...off the shelf computers WILL work. We are running two Dell XPS 410 with windows XP. They are both awesome. I have installed two hard drives in each and one is used as a backup and is NOT hooked up to the internet. They are older machines which is fine with me. one thing to remember about computers is NOT to have 10 programs opened at once and watch the junk you load on them...AVG, NORTON and of course every "helpful" program microsoft has come out with to keep junk off your comp...whatever!

I bought both of these used off ebay and they are approx 4 years old.
Intel core 2 duo
2gb ddr2 memory
other than this nothing special. normal video card, ethernet adaptor, 2 optical drives.
None of that overboard excessive crack speed video cards and lightning fast memory.
these comps even have a low power supply compared to most.
No frills, workhorses, plain and simple

I will never buy a brand new computer. These units use were about $450 per tower. I like Dell. Cheaper versions of comps suck in any brand. Of all the comps I fix on the side I have seen more HPs come thru DOA than any other brand, especially laptops. Preference I suppose

Running XP helps you get away with only 2GB of RAM, Vista required at least 1GB if I recall correctly just to run the OS.

While I don't have 10 programs open at once, I do have 2 or 3 programs open at any given time and a couple that I usually have open most have 3D rendering and that eats up RAM. Hell even my embroidery CAD program will use up a GB itself if the computer has it free.

Off the shelf computer will work in some instances, but I would make sure of the specs. Go over them with a fine tooth comb. XP or actually Win7 would be the best for off the shelf if you go PC, Vista is just too much of a hog. 7 uses more then XP, but not has much as Vista.

 

[jfiscus]

I couldn't funtion without running 10 programs at once, the minimum I have open at any time is at least 6 or 7. Can't see how it'd be efficient to close one to open another all day long.... that would cost you money in the time wasted waiting on the software/large files to close/load every time.

 

[Finishline Signs]

I would highly recommend calling Casey at Signburst. I bought his Inferno System about 4-5 months ago and I'm very pleased with the purchase. I run Flexi Pro 8.6 and PS CS5 and have had zero problems with it.

 

[onestringer]

Yep, need to be able to run a lot simultaneously...we'll get there. Just got off the phone with Casey. Thanks for all the input...

 

[choucove]

When it comes down to off-the-shelf computers versus something custom built, it really is in the details. If you have someone who can custom build you a system and understand what difference those details are, you're going to get better performance and possibly better longevity out of your computer as well.

For example. Most of the HP and Dell computer systems advertised today come with very expansive hard drive capacities (750GB and more) but if you aren't saving all of your artwork files on this specific computer, you should never need that much space for your primary hard drive. Additionally, these computers I've found quite often come with LP (Low Power) versions of these large capacity hard drives to save money. What that means is the hard drive operates slower than your standard hard drive (such as running at 5,900rpm instead of the standard 7,200rpm) which CAN make a noticeable difference in your entire computer's speed. Finally, continuing with the hard drive, the amount of cache included in the hard drive can make a huge difference. Often times these computers come with cheaper Samsung or Fujitsu hard drives with only include 8MB or at best, 16MB of cache. If you know what to look for, you could instead get a 640GB hard drive with up to 64MB of cache meaning very rapid storage system. Another area that is often sold short is in their memory. While a processor platform may support very fast memory speeds, they may stick with the absolute cheapest and slowest possible memory for that platform. An example is an Dell computer from a customer currently sitting on my desk. It's an AMD platform that supports and runs up to DDR2 1066 without any overclocking required. However, Dell instead decided to include very cheap DDR2 533 memory - that's running half the speed at which the computer is possible of running normally - which, unsurprisingly, is now showing up with errors during Memtest 86+ scans.

The details go on an on from total PCI-Express lanes available for additional cards to power supply capabilities. But in the end it's still a matter of do you know someone who understands these finer details and can build you a quality system for a good price?

As mentioned above, Dell computers, just like HP, Acer, Gateway, etc. all WILL work for you, but I would not recommend trying to go cheap with these computers as that's just what you'll get: a cheap and usually poor quality desktop that will not expand for you in the future and will be lacking in the minor details that can make such a big difference.

 

[Mosh]

I used to spend thousands on desktops. Now I go to Wal-Mart every six months and just get a new one for $700. They run Corel and versaworks as fast as I need. Don't be fooled by computer geeks, save your cash for important stuff, like ammo and beer.