Message-Id: <mailto:199504240035.TAA22297@library.wustl.edu> Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 20:00:37 -0400 From: "mailto:Walter_Gilbert@UMAIL.UMD.EDU--Maryland" <WALT@UMDD.bitnet> Subject: Re: Request for help spec'ing PC platform To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
On Fri, 21 Apr 1995 11:54:57 -0700 Normandy Helmer said: >I currently have a 486SX/25 running Photoshop, Illustrator, and Omnipage
>Professional, among other things. From time to time, it bogs down and
>bails out on me during multitasking of these programs.
** Gaaak! I'd expect this machine to have trouble running NotePad and ** Solitare at the same time. >This machine is
>intended for pilot scanning projects for preservation of and access to
>library materials. I've been asked to draw up specs for a better PC, ...
*** I'm responding to the list since this may be a common problem. The first thing you need is memory--RAM, lots of it. Rule of thumb: after Windows and everything else you run has enough memory, you need three (3) times as much memory as the largest image you plan to process with PhotoShop (the new image, the current, and the back-up/undo image). In my case, 32MB is close enough. If you munge large images, you may need more.Next you need a copy of Windows with fewer bugs--we all do :-)
Third, you need all of your software to be well-behaved. Even on my 32MB machine, I always run out of the mailto:@$%&* 640K of DOS memory first. (Thanks, Microsoft.) "Why?" you ask. This space is often used for incidental purposes by Windows application. Even some famous-name applications do not properly release this space all the time (Netscape 1.0 is an example.) When this *&$%# 640K is used up, Windows croaks (actually, it withers away).
Next, you need fast processing speed. For this, one is tempted to buy the latest and greatest 120MHz Pentium. However, the speed of the CPU chip can be very misleading. Reading just about any PC evaluation article will show about a factor of 2 between ostensibly identical computers. The main reason is bus speed. Some computers still run their zillion MHz CPUs on an 8MHz bus, others aren't so bad. However, figuring out which machine will be best for you applications is pretty much a crap shoot unless you can benchmark them--but who can? Read the evaluations. (The same, by the bye, goes for CD ROM speed. There are double-speed CD-ROM drives which are faster than quadruple speed drives. Read the evaluations.)
Finally, since you do image processing, get a video card and monitor that can do 24-bit color at an accepatble screen size. Walt
Walter Gilbert, Asst. Dir. mailto:Walter_Gilbert@umail.umd.edu Computer Science Center Manager: Teaching Technologies University of Maryland at College Park 20742-2411 (301)405-6727