Advice required on the best off the shelf buy

lozza · 5 Feb 2011 at 13:36

Hello,

I'm looking into purchasing a computer for small business use, something off the shelf is most likely as I want to have access to support should anything go wrong. As such I'm thinking along the lines of a Dell.

I'm very out of touch with hardware these days hence looking for advice.
Current spec is a Dell P4 2.8ghz with 2gb ram but it's just so slow for what needs to be done.

what needs to be done - well it needs to be a system that can multitask between the following applications that are used constantly without falling over as the current system does.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 (current system running CS3)
Omega 4.0 (current system running Omga 2.1)
Clarity Pro (can't find required specs but is running on current system)
Email Thunderbird or Outlook express
Web browsing

Monitor is not necessarily required as current one is adequate. Size of hard drive is not an issue as all files are saved to a NAS drive.

I'm thinking 4gb ram, but not sure if i need a dedicated graphics card or not.

Any help or guidance would be most gratefully received.

infernox · 5 Feb 2011 at 13:39

You could get a pre built here, you will get 1 year warranty and all the forum help you desire .

budget in mind ? i can find one that will suit your needs ?

lozza · 5 Feb 2011 at 13:49

Well... although these forums are pretty good, you don't always get the fastest response but it is something to consider...

Budget for just a base unit would be in the region of ~£400.. if you could find something that would suite it would give me an idea on what spec wise I'm looking for, cheers

infernox · 5 Feb 2011 at 13:53

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-270-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

This is what your after then, faster intel i3 dual core, 4gb ram and you can choose the Graphics upgrade if your not sure whether the on-board can handle the programs you want to run.

95thrifles · 5 Feb 2011 at 13:56

^^^ +1 was about to recomend the same, the onboard gfx will be fine, but if any of the progems you use can take advantage of offloading work to gpu or using CUDA or the like then adding the 430 will be beneficial, if not then dont bother

Nikumba · 5 Feb 2011 at 14:03

That might not be any good, depending on what dongle he is using for his Omega software

♦ 2 USB Ports (OMEGA 4.0 security key requires 1 USB Port)
♦ Serial Port (9-pin): (for connecting plotters and/or routers) - 2 highly
recommended
♦ ECP Parallel Port (25-pin): Required for use with GERBER EDGE® 2 (unless you
purchase the USB-to-Parallel option)
♦ Parallel Port (25-pin): Required for use with GERBER EDGE and/or paper printers)

Kimbie

lozza · 5 Feb 2011 at 14:07

Thanks for that recommendation. Do I need to go for a 64bit os?

lozza · 5 Feb 2011 at 14:16

Nikumba said:
That might not be any good, depending on what dongle he is using for his Omega software

♦ 2 USB Ports (OMEGA 4.0 security key requires 1 USB Port)
♦ Serial Port (9-pin): (for connecting plotters and/or routers) - 2 highly
recommended
♦ ECP Parallel Port (25-pin): Required for use with GERBER EDGE® 2 (unless you
purchase the USB-to-Parallel option)
♦ Parallel Port (25-pin): Required for use with GERBER EDGE and/or paper printers)

Kimbie

Well spotted... the current Dongle is a USB and will remain a USB...

No need for the Serial port as the Gerber Edge is run off another computer.

Normal printer is networked.

infernox · 5 Feb 2011 at 14:40

To utilize the 4gb ram you will need 64bit os

lozza · 5 Feb 2011 at 14:49

Thanks for that..I thought that was the case as I had in my mind 32bit only recognises upto 3gb ram