Fast Windows PCs for Prepress??

[DavidGreen]

I'm researching new PCs to replace our aging machines for a Prepress Dept. that is all PC. I come from a Mac background, so I'm looking for input & suggestions on what brands of PC and what kind of configuration in terms of processors/RAM/graphics cards others are using and can suggest.

I'm looking for off-the-shelf machines that are/can be vendor-configured to be fast and suitable for graphics-intensive work in what is primarily a PDF workflow (Momentum Pro workflow, Presstek Dimension platesetter, Heidelberg DI, some colour copiers). Currently we are using Dell OptiPlex 780 boxes, 2.93 GHz Core Duo CPUs, a miserable 2 gigs of RAM and little 17" monitors. This is our IT Dept.'s concept of what is needed in a Prepress Dept. Please stop laughing.

Also, please don't bother replying if you can only offer comments like "switch back to Apple", it's not my decision and it's not going to happen. Thanks.

[mattbeals]

Well, there are a lot of options. I guess the first choice would be which processor, Intel i5 or i7 and 4 cores? You could look at AMD but the Intel's tend to be faster overall even with fewer cores. How much RAM, 8GB ought to be more than enough for many. You could go to 12 or 16 but I don't know that as a practical matter you will need it. If you go with that much RAM and if you have a network/domain then I'd look at Windows 7 Ultimate or Pro (64bit versions). Video cards, ATI nVIDIA is where it's at. Anything with more than 512MB of RAM will be fine. You probably will want HDMI. Dual head cards are great but only if you have multiple monitors or one huge monitor. Don't worry about the SLI cards. I doubt you'll be combining two or more cards into one virtual card. Hard drives, SATAIII or SATAII, 7200 RPM or a 10,000 RPM drive if you can find one.

Look at HP's or Dell's website. You can roll your own if you want. But if you do then you're on your own. The premium for a name brand is generally well worth it when something goes wrong. I'd figure about $2,000 for a good HP or Dell workstation. Less of course if you go with a pro/con-sumer computer.

[rbailleu]

I just bought a dell precision workstation 1500, core I7 only 4 gig of ram windows 7 1 gig video card display port. all standard. seems zippy( completely objective). did not want to go 64 bit just yet. and less than $200 for a reasonable(not great) 22 to 24 inch monitor. yes it cost more than $600, but how many do you need.

[Cliff]

off the shelf, then HP or configured custom then dell, ( please go through corporate ) since support is from north america where personal is ( last time ) India.
I7 is the top processor , windows 7 64 bit is a must with as much ram as you can afford. Dual screens or large 27 or better, stick with name brands ( led is best ) since lcds tend to skew color at angles, raids 1 or 10 are always a great improvement but more data risky only raid 1.

all depends on budget. Xeon processors are great and can be paired. processor then ram then disks are the rule. Macs are fine but are budget burners.

[mattbeals]

I think you mean RAID 0 or RAID 1. RAID 10 or RAID 01 is a pretty specific application. If you want RAID on this workstation then go with RAID 1 is mirroring. What is written/removed from one drive is written/removed from the other drive. If the drive crashes you can boot from the other drive by pulling out the bad one.

With RAID 0 all data is split between the drives. If one drive goes bad then all your data is gone. This is the fastest RAID level but also the most fragile.

[Cliff]

I think you mean RAID 0 or RAID 1. RAID 10 or RAID 01 is a pretty specific application. If you want RAID on this workstation then go with RAID 1 is mirroring. What is written/removed from one drive is written/removed from the other drive. If the drive crashes you can boot from the other drive by pulling out the bad one.

With RAID 0 all data is split between the drives. If one drive goes bad then all your data is gone. This is the fastest RAID level but also the most fragile.

No I meant exactly that since the two are a little different depending on what sort of performance and redundancy you want.

Nested (hybrid) RAID

sorry for the link
RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But either or are pretty specific

thanks

[mattbeals]

If you're going to go down the road of RAID 1+0 or 0+1 you really only want to use RAID 1+0 because you can survive a drive failure. This is a horribly expensive solution since it requires at least four drives AND a RAID card that supports such a configuration. Most RAID cards won't and those that do are going to be more expensive.

As a practical matter if you are going to look at RAID 0+1 or 1+0 for a workstation then you might as well just by a solid state drive. If you need redundancy then look to RAID 1. This is really what most critical computers should be using. You can get into the idea of having hot spares and all but a simple hardware mirror is the most practical solution for most situations.

And if you want to get further into it when running SQL databases and other high I/O applications it can be more advantageous to break up a large RAID5, RAID 6 or 1+0 set into multiple RAID 1 (mirrors) to reduce the read/write times by sending I/O requests to individual drive pairs rather than one monolithic RAID array.

Are there places for RAID 1+0 and 0+1? Yes. Just very few in prepress for a prepress workstation.

David, don't be fooled by software mirrors. Do it in hardware if you are going to at all.

[Cliff]

Agreed,..

its all a matter of how much speed and or protection you are looking for. I prefer speed with offline backups during idle times,
Its surprising how inexpensive raids have become ( relatively to a few years ago )

anyway the input is great.


also agree that fake raids, ie software raids are bogus.

[Bhopfner]

I used to work at a place that gave all the designers dual Xeon Dells with 8GB ram and 15Krpm SAS drives. Now I would recommend SSD. I'd stick with the Xeons but order them with the cheapest video available - even downgrade - but purchase Nvidia 470 or 5xx video cards for that extra GPU powered oopmh in apps like photoshop. I would also suggest their UltraSharp monitors, anything less is just hell on the eyes. I have two 20" monitors but two 24" monitors would be even better. RAID is fine for work files and backup drives. I think spending at least $3000 for a fast Xeon box will pay for itself in employee productivity within a year. Dual monitors have to be part of the equation to maximize benefit.
I hope you got your new machines by now though!
cheers,
Bob

[Cliff]

Nice,... SSD Drives are great but large sizes are pricey,...err at least the last time I checked.

Nice set up.