please help!

[snake eyes 28]

guys i know this question is played out. but please help! im green when it comes to pc's im planing to buy a pc need pointers on wich pc is good for photo shop? how much ram is needed for photo shop? lol i want to play with the big boys to. i can finally show my art to you guys..... i also like to know prices and whats the best scanner

[Dash Martin]

Any current PC on the market has enough power to use Photoshop...even the $400.oo special from DELL will run PS smooth as butta'.

[Fredzo]

The biggest PSD file ive worked with so far is about 500mb (8000 by 6000 pixels RGB). When i load it, and start working on the 30-40 layers, photoshop creates a .tmp file that gets up to about 3000mb. Since i only have 128mb of ram, my harddrive is acting as the overflow for that remaining 2872mb (and you can guess; it takes FOR-EVER to catch up)...

3 gigs of ram would definately be living the good life.

-Fredzo

[Travis]

Yeah, but for 3 gigs of ram, you can just buy a second or third computer, and make your own personal lan party.

[xadrian]

Keep in mind 30-40 layers isn't really the average, but he's right. The scratch disk (RAM usage) in PS can get pretty high the more layers you add on, and while RAM is pretty cheap now, getting 3gigs of it would run ya a good chunk o' change.

Get a 1-1.4 ghz pentium, 512 ram, 40 gig drive and you should be more than fine. I usually have dreamweaver and PS and flash all open at the same time and I don't notice much lag.

[Travis]

Why is everyone saying "RAM is pretty cheap?" I mean, I believe you, but am I just poor, or am I looking in the wrong places?

I mean, I search for it and can find 128megs for like....$100 bucks. Is that cheap?

[Robin Riggs]

Originally posted by Neon
Why is everyone saying "RAM is pretty cheap?" I mean, I believe you, but am I just poor, or am I looking in the wrong places?

I mean, I search for it and can find 128megs for like....$100 bucks. Is that cheap?

It depends what sort of ram your machine takes but no that's not a good price even for the fastest. Take a look here . I've bought ram for my Mac from them and they're good to deal with.

[Dash Martin]

Originally posted by Neon
Why is everyone saying "RAM is pretty cheap?" I mean, I believe you, but am I just poor, or am I looking in the wrong places?

I mean, I search for it and can find 128megs for like....$100 bucks. Is that cheap?

I just bought a 512mb stick for $38.50. Here's a hint...don't buy it in stores. Go to http://www.pricewatch.com or http://www.ibuyer.net

[Travis]

When it says PC****, does that mean your processor speed?

[Dash Martin]

Like PC2100/PC2700/PC3200? They usually have DDR RAM written right after that...which would be a dead giveaway that it refers to RAM speed. Well...sort of...but that's an easy explanation.