Well, I just upgraded to CS2 and one thing is for certain, I'll need a new PC. My currrent configuration is about 3 or 4 years old: P4 1.6 with 512MB of RAM. I'm wanting to build a new box that will allow me to run CS2 and process RAW files quickly with lots of room to spare. I'm an Intel person but am open to other suggestions. I also favor ASUS boards but once again I can look as others as well. My currrent PC has a Matrox G450 which is a nice video card, so I'm thinking about keeping this in my new box. Any suggestions on what I should look at in the new PC would be appreciated. I'm seriously looking at 1-2 GB of RAM and am leaning toward 2GB.
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Help me build a new PS CS2 PC
- Thread starter John P.
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Nic Christie
Veteran Member
However I have an added question If I just upgrade the motherboard and processor can I just plug all my other bits on ( i.e. hard drives , running xp cdrom, dvd etc) will XP pro just say 'no problem new mother board processor' and carry on ok or will i be info all sorts of problems and have to wipe the hard drive and reinstall? any help?
Cheers
Nic
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Cheers
Nic
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Since you're basically starting from scratch, I'd go for maximum ram, say 4 gigs, since CS2 can use this much - well, 3.5 according to Adobe.
If you don't max out on ram, buy 1 gig sticks so you've got room to go to 4 gig later.
I'm assuming that your new system board will only have 4 memory slots, of course.
I think that Intel procesors outperform AMD with Photoshop, and that the newest LGA 775 640 is the processor to go with now.
Good luck with your project.
If you don't max out on ram, buy 1 gig sticks so you've got room to go to 4 gig later.
I'm assuming that your new system board will only have 4 memory slots, of course.
I think that Intel procesors outperform AMD with Photoshop, and that the newest LGA 775 640 is the processor to go with now.
Good luck with your project.
Martin127954
Leading Member
No, you cannot do that. The chips and their drivers that talk to everything else will be different. So no it is not that simple and you are most likely better off installing everything from scratch.
If you ever want to really get into the guts of this OS stuff, a really nice thing to do in a fresh install is to install Windows on one drive and the ENTIRE documents & settings portion on a different drive. I'm not talking about simply putting your My Documents folder on a separate drive but the entire envelope that holds that folder and every thing else to do with settings and documents. Remember this topic in case you really want to try it later.
Doing this actually makes what you had hoped to do possible later.
If you ever want to really get into the guts of this OS stuff, a really nice thing to do in a fresh install is to install Windows on one drive and the ENTIRE documents & settings portion on a different drive. I'm not talking about simply putting your My Documents folder on a separate drive but the entire envelope that holds that folder and every thing else to do with settings and documents. Remember this topic in case you really want to try it later.
Doing this actually makes what you had hoped to do possible later.
However I have an added question If I just upgrade the motherboard
and processor can I just plug all my other bits on ( i.e. hard
drives , running xp cdrom, dvd etc) will XP pro just say 'no
problem new mother board processor' and carry on ok or will i be
info all sorts of problems and have to wipe the hard drive and
reinstall? any help?
Cheers
Nic
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Martin127954
Leading Member
Well, actually it makes keeping things the way they were less of a pain in a transition.
Nic Christie
Veteran Member
THANKS FOR THE INFO ... HOW DO YOU DO THE INSTALL XP ON THE ONE DRIVE AND THE ENVELOPE AS YOU SAY ON THE REST?.. IS THERE AN EASY GUIDE? ALSO HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHAT THE MAX PRCESSOR MY BOARD CAN TAKE ( K7VT2 BIOS P1.20)
THANKS
NIC
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
THANKS
NIC
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Karma16
Member
HI All,
This is my first post on this forum. So, howdy y'all.
Around Jan 1 this year my home made P4 3.0gh Aopen mother board quit. Since I was never really happy with the Aopen's stability, I bought a new Asus MB and a new 3.2gh P4 processor. Since I didn't want or need to change anything else, I simply installed the new MB in the case, plugged everything in including 2 gigs of RAM and dual hard drives, made a few set-up adjustments (explained in the manual) and turned the power on. Initially, none of my PCI boards were plugged in. I wanted to start with the simplist possible system.
Guess what? The system simply booted and I got no error messages. Even areas where I expected problems like my dual video card set-up worked with out a problem. Even my separate ICC profiles got applied. Understand that my hard disks were fully loaded with the XP Pro operating system and all of my applications. One by one I installed each of my PCI boards. XP recognized each one and did a Plug and Play install and every thing simply worked. During the whole process I got no (as in zero) blue screens. I did run into a mixup with my serial port assignments for my Wacom Intuos II tablet which I fixed in the Bios. I did not have reinstall a single piece of application software or driver!!
Basically, I can't imagine a smoother operation. I was totally astonished. The system continues to work as well as any computer I have ever owned. It's fast and efficient. I love the Asus MB and recommend it.
Good luck, Sparky Shaver
This is my first post on this forum. So, howdy y'all.
Around Jan 1 this year my home made P4 3.0gh Aopen mother board quit. Since I was never really happy with the Aopen's stability, I bought a new Asus MB and a new 3.2gh P4 processor. Since I didn't want or need to change anything else, I simply installed the new MB in the case, plugged everything in including 2 gigs of RAM and dual hard drives, made a few set-up adjustments (explained in the manual) and turned the power on. Initially, none of my PCI boards were plugged in. I wanted to start with the simplist possible system.
Guess what? The system simply booted and I got no error messages. Even areas where I expected problems like my dual video card set-up worked with out a problem. Even my separate ICC profiles got applied. Understand that my hard disks were fully loaded with the XP Pro operating system and all of my applications. One by one I installed each of my PCI boards. XP recognized each one and did a Plug and Play install and every thing simply worked. During the whole process I got no (as in zero) blue screens. I did run into a mixup with my serial port assignments for my Wacom Intuos II tablet which I fixed in the Bios. I did not have reinstall a single piece of application software or driver!!
Basically, I can't imagine a smoother operation. I was totally astonished. The system continues to work as well as any computer I have ever owned. It's fast and efficient. I love the Asus MB and recommend it.
Good luck, Sparky Shaver
Martin127954
Leading Member
Right here:
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/CPUSupport_K7VT2.htm
As for how to install the OS separate from documents & SETTINGS, I don't think you should try it yet. You probably are not ready. (You had to ask how to find the above link.)
But here is the information for future reference:
http://www.hytekcomputer.com/Articles/XPInstall/1.shtml
This line must be in the GuiUnattended section:
ProfilesDir="D:\Documents and Settings"
In other words, CHANGE the ProfilesDir setting to that.
This assumes that D: is your second hard drive.
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/CPUSupport_K7VT2.htm
As for how to install the OS separate from documents & SETTINGS, I don't think you should try it yet. You probably are not ready. (You had to ask how to find the above link.)
But here is the information for future reference:
http://www.hytekcomputer.com/Articles/XPInstall/1.shtml
This line must be in the GuiUnattended section:
ProfilesDir="D:\Documents and Settings"
In other words, CHANGE the ProfilesDir setting to that.
This assumes that D: is your second hard drive.
THANKS FOR THE INFO ... HOW DO YOU DO THE INSTALL XP ON THE ONE
DRIVE AND THE ENVELOPE AS YOU SAY ON THE REST?.. IS THERE AN EASY
GUIDE? ALSO HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHAT THE MAX PRCESSOR MY BOARD CAN
TAKE ( K7VT2 BIOS P1.20)
THANKS
NIC
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Martin127954
Leading Member
Hi Sparky. Welcome and congrats on your luck installing Windows that way. Also, you were smart to keep your expansion cards out and install them later after Windows had a chance to adjust to its new climate. That also helps make my point to Nic that it isn't a simple as just hooking the new board back up to all the old hardware.
You were lucky that the essential drivers to talk to the motherbaord's CPU and chipsets were fairly old (or similar to your old board) and thus already in the Windows system files. If you had a very new board you may not have been so lucky.
Here's a tip for you in case you have not done it. (You said you did not have to install a single driver.) You will want to run the CD that came with your new motherboard to install the CHIPSET drivers for your motherbard. Windows can exist without them BUT quite often your motherbaord's spped and new features will not be fully operational or optimized without them. They may not be available on the Windows Update site.
You were lucky that the essential drivers to talk to the motherbaord's CPU and chipsets were fairly old (or similar to your old board) and thus already in the Windows system files. If you had a very new board you may not have been so lucky.
Here's a tip for you in case you have not done it. (You said you did not have to install a single driver.) You will want to run the CD that came with your new motherboard to install the CHIPSET drivers for your motherbard. Windows can exist without them BUT quite often your motherbaord's spped and new features will not be fully operational or optimized without them. They may not be available on the Windows Update site.
Karma16
Member
HI,
Actually, I said I did not have to REINSTALL any software or drivers. After the dust cleared I did install the software provided by Asus including their probe routine.
This mother board is incredibly stable. I have insulted it in more ways than I can describe yet it takes it all in stride. No blue screens at all. Amazing!
Sparky
Actually, I said I did not have to REINSTALL any software or drivers. After the dust cleared I did install the software provided by Asus including their probe routine.
This mother board is incredibly stable. I have insulted it in more ways than I can describe yet it takes it all in stride. No blue screens at all. Amazing!
Sparky
Martin127954
Leading Member
I know you said that -- nobody WOULD REinstall the old drivers unless they were misinformed. I just offered that advice since you even mentioned not having to use the "drivers" but did not mention that you DID install the new motherboard drivers.
Martin127954
Leading Member
Hi Shad,
Yes you can only have the entire documents & settings aspect of the Windows operating system put on a different drive than the OS while doing a clean install. This is becuase it is setting MANY, MANY things in the registry to point to that second drive.
However you CAN easily move your "My Documents" folder itself anytime but even doing this when not doing a clean install can cause a few strange things to happen in Windows.
The great thing about doing a clean install with the douments & settings on another drive is that not only your documents are stored on a drive away from the OS but ALSO ALL of your settings like menu organizations, desktop settings, EVERYTHING that you have done to adjust your OS to the way YOU like it.
What this does is that you could make restore DVDs for the OS hard drive and if you ever wanted to restore the OS then you pop it in and yet all your data, settings, passwords, favorites, tweaks, etc, etc, would still be the same as yesterday! It is really great.
What advice do I have? I would just keep it simple. Don't get into some of the advanced stuff those articles were talking about. Just make a floppy disk for the unattended install and temporarily set your BIOS to boot from your CD ROM drive.
Oh, one thing I found to be important was to have both hard drives already formatted in NTFS before starting the unattended install. This is only important if you like to keep Windows on the C: drive and the data on the D: drive.You can use Partition Magic or temorarily hook the drives up to a friend's computer to format them.
Yes you can only have the entire documents & settings aspect of the Windows operating system put on a different drive than the OS while doing a clean install. This is becuase it is setting MANY, MANY things in the registry to point to that second drive.
However you CAN easily move your "My Documents" folder itself anytime but even doing this when not doing a clean install can cause a few strange things to happen in Windows.
The great thing about doing a clean install with the douments & settings on another drive is that not only your documents are stored on a drive away from the OS but ALSO ALL of your settings like menu organizations, desktop settings, EVERYTHING that you have done to adjust your OS to the way YOU like it.
What this does is that you could make restore DVDs for the OS hard drive and if you ever wanted to restore the OS then you pop it in and yet all your data, settings, passwords, favorites, tweaks, etc, etc, would still be the same as yesterday! It is really great.
What advice do I have? I would just keep it simple. Don't get into some of the advanced stuff those articles were talking about. Just make a floppy disk for the unattended install and temporarily set your BIOS to boot from your CD ROM drive.
Oh, one thing I found to be important was to have both hard drives already formatted in NTFS before starting the unattended install. This is only important if you like to keep Windows on the C: drive and the data on the D: drive.You can use Partition Magic or temorarily hook the drives up to a friend's computer to format them.
Martin127954
Leading Member
I see from another of your posts that you are not only a good photographer but also seem to be able to build a nice computer.
Check your e-mail. You can e-mail be back if you have any more questions about unattended installs with the D&S on another drive.
CC: e-mail
Check your e-mail. You can e-mail be back if you have any more questions about unattended installs with the D&S on another drive.
CC: e-mail
Nic Christie
Veteran Member
Ok I get it ...I think... so would you also install other programs CS, Rswshooter etc on the second drive and just have XP on its own on a drive or the other programs on with the OS...How many drives can a motherboard have or is that also a silly question?
sorry ... learning though
Cheers
Nic
I do have two drives at the moment one i use just to store my images and doc's on the other runs the os and everything else
thanks again
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
sorry ... learning though
Cheers
Nic
I do have two drives at the moment one i use just to store my images and doc's on the other runs the os and everything else
thanks again
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Alekhine
Veteran Member
Martin127954
Leading Member
I have the OS and programs on the C drive and the Documetns & Settings on the D drive.
Don't try it. You are not ready!
Don't try it. You are not ready!
Ok I get it ...I think... so would you also install other programs
CS, Rswshooter etc on the second drive and just have XP on its own
on a drive or the other programs on with the OS...How many drives
can a motherboard have or is that also a silly question?
sorry ... learning though
Cheers
Nic
I do have two drives at the moment one i use just to store my
images and doc's on the other runs the os and everything else
thanks again
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Martin127954
Leading Member
Oh, the number of drives a motherboard can have is up to the specific board of course.
Ok I get it ...I think... so would you also install other programs
CS, Rswshooter etc on the second drive and just have XP on its own
on a drive or the other programs on with the OS...How many drives
can a motherboard have or is that also a silly question?
sorry ... learning though
Cheers
Nic
I do have two drives at the moment one i use just to store my
images and doc's on the other runs the os and everything else
thanks again
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
Nic Christie
Veteran Member
not ready maybe but I may still give it a go. i've zero filled hard drives and all my important data is on a separte disc so got nothing to loose i guess!!!
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
--
'The decisive moment'....
Always happens when I not looking!!!!!
Pic-nic4u
http://www.pbase.com/picnic4u
Comments welcome
extension.
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