Photo Editing Workstation (LOTS of Photoshop)

[beatbox32]

Hey folks,

My girlfriend's mom is looking to put together a photo editing machine for around $1000. She just needs the brains (CPU/mem/motherboard/etc) as she already has a nice flat-panel monitor.

Now, I know at least 2GB of RAM and a multi-core processor is a given. Can anyone recommend a good vendor that sells pre-built models or would it be best to piece this together myself (I've been in IT for awhile, so I know my way around a PC).

Do I need to go with a RAID setup? How about the video card? Do I need something with a lot of onboard video RAM or is that really only worthwhile for gaming?

She is a very heavy Photoshop user and does the usual occasional web surfing. She may do light video editing from time to time as well.

Thanks in advance for your help everyone. You're awesome! :cheers:

beatbox32

[mechmike0034]

I'd look for a deal on a high-end Dell, personally.

[Jeffbx]

:stupid:

I'd point her to the Precision 390.

2GB RAM is fine, no RAID, and a high end video card is not important since it's 2D work. However, she might want to look at a 10k RPM primary drive if she's going to do video editing.

Probably would be worthwhile to have a look at the machines in the Dell outlet (http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb).

[beatbox32]

Thanks for your opinions guys. The Precision 390 was my first thought, but I didn't know if there was something else out there that might possibly give me a decent bang for the buck.

Anyone else have thoughts?

beatbox32