New Computer for Old Photographer- Advice needed

4 years 10 months ago #648110 by vindibona1
Hi everyone! 
This is my first post here. Later I'll say hello in the other area. But first I need some advice. 

I'm a semi (mostly) retired long time professional photographer. I've actually been working in digital photography since 1996, starting on a Quantel Paint Box (bet most of you don't even know what that is :) . )  I migrated to Photoshop on Version TWO and never looked back. I remember back when there were only one or two video cards that had CLUTs that could be used with Photoshop.  While I subscribe to the creative cloud I can do almost everything I need to do on PS CS3 (and if I can think it I can do it- even on CS3).  I don't have anywhere near the volume of work I had 9 years ago when I had a brick and mortar studio.  Mostly light catalog stuff. Not thousands of images or chasing brides (since 2001). My studio used to run on Macs but started a changeover to PC's in '03 due to exorbitant Mac costs and comparatively short life (never had a Mac go longer than 5 years). My 12 year old HP quad core business tower which has served me well (for the most part) just kicked the bucket. It's hard to believe how much that thing could do without a hiccup.  And other than new software which required a newer/better graphics card I didn't really need much else. But I'm wondering if I didn't limit myself too much with the old PC.  

And so I need a new PC.  With limited income cost is now a factor- but VALUE is a bigger factor. I'd like to spend as little as possible to the most for my needs with a little growth headroom. I haven't kept up with graphics card or processor speeds but have started research on *specs* but need real-word advice from imaging pros...

1) Dedicated vs integrated graphics card?   A dedicated card will bump the price point of a computer up. I am sensitive to image nuance. Will I notice a visual difference between an integrated card or do I just need to forget about that and just go with dedicated?

2) Processor: I'm thinking i7-8700 or Intel Xeon E3-1230V6 in some of the computes I've been eyeing. I know that the Xenon 1230 isn't the top of the line Xeon.  Thoughts? 

3) If you had to choose one of these two.... or recommend another at the same or better price points which would you buy? 
a)   Lenovo P320 
b)  Dell XPS8930   Cheaper by about $250  Save the money as this one will be far and away good enough?
c)  Alienware desktop  with Intel Core i7-8700 Processor 3.2GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5;  I can get it for about $1000 incl. tax


Thoughts anyone?  


,
4 years 10 months ago #648127 by KCook
My Dell is basic, and it has been fine for my use (I don't do video). Dunno whether any of the color management systems trip over the fancy video cards.

The one annoyance with my Dell is their proprietary Help / Diagnostic app called Cortana. I never use it, but cannot get rid of it, and it keeps nagging me to update it.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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