What computer should I get?

[Flyndutchman]

I am running Flexi, Coral Draw and Photoshop on my laptop.
I'm having issues of running slow and locking up, I'm looking into getting a PC. What is a good PC and should I get all the components separately?
If so what should I get to run all of this so I don't have these issues in the future? All advice will be taken seriously.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Techman]

Goto tiger direct and order an I7 system. Minimum of the I7 2600 cpu.
Get a matching motherboard and build yerself a hyper machine.

I just built one for using with CNC 3D renders.

It is so fast compared to the older core duo CPU that it seems like it was not rendering anything but a straight line..

 

[Flyndutchman]

Thanks Techman, I'm going to check them out. Just went to the website and bookmarked it. Will post here when my final decision is made.

 

[Richard G]

Have to agree with Tiger Direct AKA Comp USA I put one together with 2 video card 12 gb ram and an I 7 chip with Windows 7 64 bit and its an awesome machine

 

[visual800]

I am running 2 dell XPS 410 you may wanna look into them newer versions are xps 420 but the newest is xps 8300 just the tower will set you back $700.00. tiger direct is probably cheaper though

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Have to agree with Tiger Direct AKA Comp USA I put one together with 2 video card 12 gb ram and an I 7 chip with Windows 7 64 bit and its an awesome machine

Close to what mine is, I just have one video card, but it has 2 GB of dedicated ram and 2 SSDs. My i7 is overclocked though, don't know about yours.

Now my dad on the other hand has 16 GB of ram, but he also has the new Asus Max. II mother board, i7 at 3.4 hyperthreaded(not overclocked). Fast machine. A lot faster then he actually needs.

We got everything from Newegg and Amazon though.

 

[Sign_Boy]

If you wanted to stick with a laptop check this one out
http://promos.asus.com/us/g74/index.htm
I got it and it's great I only wish the battery would last longer

One question for you. What os are you running right now?

 

[FrankenSigns.biz]

A Mac Mini is as fast as any of the above. $599 and keep your monitor, keyboard and mouse.

 

[SightLine]

The one for $599 is not as fast as any of the above except maybe the Dell 410. For $599 the Mac Mini will have

Core i5 2.3ghz (far inferior and slower than the i7 2600)
2GB ram - lol
Single 5400 rpm 500GB hard drive - slow
On board Intel 3000 graphics - actually fine for 99.9% of the 2D work we do but still very lame.

Mac Mini with i7 2600, 8GB ram, dual 7200 rmp 500GB hard drives, same crappy intel 3000 video (can only get decent video on the i5 model) $1199

Now you could select the i5 model and pay to have the i7 upgrade added but that model restricts you to a single hard drive. So if you went that route you could get the i7, 8GB ram, 7200 rpm 750gb drive and decent Radeon 6630 video for $1249.

Dont get me wrong - the new apples are decent machines but the mini's are so tiny that your options and upgrade paths are extremley limited with one. And god forbid should the motherboard or power supply die - wonder what one of those ultra proprietary deals will cost if it's out of warranty? At least the Mac pro's are farily upgradeable. Regardless I still think (comparing same spec hardware) that Mac's are way overpriced.

A Mac Mini is as fast as any of the above. $599 and keep your monitor, keyboard and mouse.

 

[Donny7833]

Last month I bought a Dell XPS 8300. I7 2600, 12GB of ram, 2TB hard drive, AMD Radeon 6770 with a 23" HD display. $1500 total with shipping. Using this as a RIP station running Onyx Production House and Ergosoft. It also has PhotoShop loaded so we can do quick touch ups without going back to one of the graphics work stations.

Smoking fast, at least compared to the machine it replaced. You can build one with components from Tiger Direct for less money, that's if you have the time to tinker, I don't. I'de rather pull it out of the box and get to work.

Design stations are all Macs. If you go the Mac route plan on spending some money. Our 3 work stations are 27" imacs with I7, 16GB, 256GB SSD with a 1TB secondary. A touch over $3K each. PhotoShop runs faster on the imacs, probably due to the SSD.

 

[Bobby H]

The OP said he is using CorelDRAW. That doesn't work under OSX.

Now you could select the i5 model and pay to have the i7 upgrade added but that model restricts you to a single hard drive. So if you went that route you could get the i7, 8GB ram, 7200 rpm 750gb drive and decent Radeon 6630 video for $1249.

Add another $100-$200 for a copy of Windows to load on the Mac Mini. Windows is required for running CorelDRAW.

Flexi has apparently gone Windows-only as well with the latest version (10).

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Happy i7 2600k user here.

Definitely get an SSD.

Also get 64 bit win7 - with plenty of RAM - at least 8gb.

Get a 2TB to store your data on (cheap as chips, maybe get 2?).

 

[Locals Find!]

We have a merchant member here I think its Signburst or something like that. Who builds computers specifically for the sign industries needs.

I went on his site a few week back his pricing is very competitive for getting a machine tailored to your businesses needs without all the garbage of starting from scratch from a big box store or website.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Flyndutchman, I would be more than happy to discuss your computer needs. We are partners with Flexi, Adobe, and Corel. We build systems specifically tailored to sign and wrap shops' needs.

BTW, thanks Adtechia for plugging a Merchant Member!

 

[Locals Find!]

Flyndutchman, I would be more than happy to discuss your computer needs. We are partners with Flexi, Adobe, and Corel. We build systems specifically tailored to sign and wrap shops' needs.

BTW, thanks Adtechia for plugging a Merchant Member!

Hey no problem. I am planning on purchasing one of your systems. I am pinching pennies to put the funds together. Hopefully the one I have now will hold out long enough to get me there.

 

[Finishline Signs]

I have a Signburst Inferno and would highly recommend them to anyone. I have always built me own computers in the past and they worked very good but they were never as fast as the Signburst computer. They are well worth the money.

 

[jtrainor56]

I would suggest SighBurst, I've been in IT for 25 years and it pays to go with someone that know your business... but if you are looking to spend about 7 grand on a laptop go see Falcon Northwest.. their machines are over the top...

 

[Mosh]

You all know where I get my computers....

 

[SignBurst PCs]

You all know where I get my computers....

Mosh, I wouldn't wish a Walmart computer on anyone.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

I am running Flexi, Coral Draw and Photoshop on my laptop.
I'm having issues of running slow and locking up, I'm looking into getting a PC. What is a good PC and should I get all the components separately?
If so what should I get to run all of this so I don't have these issues in the future? All advice will be taken seriously.
Thanks in advance.

There is a merch member (i think signburst) who has some wicked machines. look them up.

I've been using design computers for way too long ... your average computer down at office depot/max/despot/hideaway/whatever is going to have a better quality computer for less money than a lot of the electronic stores ... and less loaded with junk.

Here are the things you need to look for:
Ram ... make sure you've got atleast 4 gigs minumum. also make sure the slots for your ram on your motherboard are 4 or more in quantity with a larger (MUCH LARGER) amount of ram you can upgrade to ... my current computer is at 8 gigs and can be upgraded to 32 gigs of ram ... windows might not support that much, but my hard drive can.
processor ... go for multiple cores, quad cores are preferred for longevity and not needing to upgrade immmediately.
OS ... make sure it's 64 bit and can support more than 3 gigs of ram.

pretty much everything else is preference.