System requirements D800

Digifrog

Digifrog

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Hi TP

With the new camera imminent I was wondering what fellow D800 users use with regards to their PC set up. I don't think I have a particularly slow PC (?) but it's no i7. Currently I use...

AMD Athlon 7750 Dual Core 2.7GHz
4GB RAM
Nvidea GeForce GTS250 Graphics Card
32 Bit OS

Will I cope? :shrug:

Cheers
 
Hi digfrog

I use a hp laptop 2.2 ghz with 4 gb ram it's ok to handle the big raws but bit slow in lr4 and ps5, wil be upgrading in few months when windows latest version comes out.

More ram I think prob 8gb ram should do trick with fast processor also
 
4GB is a no no for the starters these days (that was 2009). 8GB is about minimum for 20-ish MP work, I would say get 16++GB if you can. 32Bit Os won't handle any of that, so say hello to 64bit world.
apple is going to refresh their lineup in June, so why not pick up an imac or macbook pro? I am almost certainly buying one.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by cope as everyone is different. I would want at least 8Gb ram and probably an SSD drive if editing lots. I have Canon 5DmkII bodies and want more than my current 6Gb on an i7-1860QM. If you are not playing with RAW it won't be nearly so bad.
 
Thanks.guys

I use CS3 with Color Efex Pro 3 Complete & Silver Efex Pro and it's editing in these that is my primary concern. I don't mind if it's a little slow but if it's painfully slow to app hangs or crashes then it's obviously going to be a pain.

As for 64 bit OS, I'm not sure if I can run the apps I need in 64 bit. I can probably add another 4 GB of RAM using my current set up and hope that that will do.

I'd love a new PC set up (DX58so2 + i7 + Intel SSD's but you can appreciate after buying a D800 this may not be immediately possible.

Tomas, can't do Mac mate, means I have to reinvest in all the above apps.
 
Digifrog said:
As for 64 bit OS, I'm not sure if I can run the apps I need in 64 bit. I can probably add another 4 GB of RAM using my current set up and hope that that will do.
Click to expand...

32 bit windows will only support 4Gb as far as I know so adding RAM won't do anything (I think).
 
mark1616 said:
32 bit windows will only support 4Gb as far as I know so adding RAM won't do anything (I think).
Click to expand...

you're quite right. unfortunately 32bit OS will only utilise approx 3gb of 4gb of ram. so having 8gb in there will have show no improvement. if you want more than 3-4gb ram then you have to go 64bit.

what apps do you have that must run on a 32bit OS. i'm sure there is a workaround out there somewhere for them
 
mark1616 said:
32 bit windows will only support 4Gb as far as I know so adding RAM won't do anything (I think).
Click to expand...

Ah, any clarity would be great here.

If that is the case...

As I have another 2 slots on my MB to whack on another 2 memory sticks, thus giving me (theoretically) 8GB. Now if my 32 bit OS cuts total RAM off at 4 GB, if I download and run the Howorks patch...
http://www.howorks.com/2011/02/24/how-to-remove-windows-7-32bit-4gb-memory-limit/
I will have my 8GB RAM no? I've only just looked into this so I really don't know. My OS is Visto HP btw.

Cheers

thekwango said:
what apps do you have that must run on a 32bit OS. i'm sure there is a workaround out there somewhere for them
Click to expand...

CS3 (?), Color Efex Pro 3 Complete (64 bit compatible), Silver Efex Pro (?)
 
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manualfocus-g said:
You won't be able to load D800 RAW files into CS3 I'm afraid, You'll need CS5. Unless you are planning on converting the RAW files into something else before opening in to Photoshop?
Click to expand...

I know, I have that covered thanks.
 
IIRC windows 32bit will only use 3.25Gb ram regardless of how much you put in. You should be able to get a Windows 7 Home 64bit for between £60-70 as long as your motherboard can run it. Check the manufacturers website for drivers to make sure. Then you can load up as much RAM as it can hold.
I've got an AMD Quad core 3.4, 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz RAM, 1Gb Nvidia graphics and 2Tb of hard drive space and it runs everything with ease.
 
Dragging my poor old C2D 2009 MBP with 4gb RAM along until the new iMacs arrive but so far the laptop is fine until you start opening multiple RAWs or creating a few layers. No doubt it's not 'snappy' though!

Fair to say to do heavy editing 'quickly' you need a lot of grunt to push the D800 files along. Especially once converted to TIFFS!
 
Going to System Maintainence > System I see that my System Rating is 5.5 (if that means anything), which is pretty high.

7229143516_b0c1350981_o.jpg


I don't multi task when I'm editing (except for the AV runnng in the b/g).

It looks like I'm just going to have to wait and see how the machine performs. I wouln't mind a more powerful PC/OS but I say this every 3 years. After forking out for a D800 it's a bit of a no go for a while yet.
 
All 32bit apps will happily run on 64bit windows OS (same on Mac). It's the 20-year old 16bit ones that won't but it is mostly unlikely it could be relevant.

I am running a 2.4GHz C2D 4GB RAM machine without anti-this and that. It is just able to cope with 16 MP files with a bit of heavy processing in LR3. RAM is the very obvious bottleneck, and the problem is made worse by a slow conventional HDD. Since yours is similar spec with the anti stuff I really cannot see it going smoothly.
 
daugirdas said:
All 32bit apps will happily run on 64bit windows OS (same on Mac). It's the 20-year old 16bit ones that won't but it is mostly unlikely it could be relevant.

I am running a 2.4GHz C2D 4GB RAM machine without anti-this and that. It is just able to cope with 16 MP files with a bit of heavy processing in LR3. RAM is the very obvious bottleneck, and the problem is made worse by a slow conventional HDD. Since yours is similar spec with the anti stuff I really cannot see it going smoothly.
Click to expand...

What is the "anti this" you mean Tomas??

So you are saying the very least I need is a 64 bit OS & extra RAM?
 
Digifrog said:
What is the "anti this" you mean Tomas??

So you are saying the very least I need is a 64 bit OS & extra RAM?
Click to expand...

RAM makes by far the most difference. Once it's full the PC uses HDD to swap memory and that is painful. Only by installing 4GB I could push my MBP through 5 years of service. CPU / GPU speed is more relevant for video editing and gaming.

P.S. I am referring to anti-virus, spyware, and probably some more. That can steal a lot of speed, particularly where HDD reading / writing is involved. No real need for it on Macs (yet!). Oh, and don't let the system backup or index your PS temporary / working directories - that can be a killer.
 
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