Photography + Light Gaming Setup

beedster · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:01

I've recently taken up photography as a hobby and I'd like to purchase a new system for this purpose, so I basically need something that will run photoshop CS4 and then CS5. I'm not a big gamer but I do play World of Warcraft after work and it would be really nice to have something that can handle it at max settings at a nice resolution.

I currently have a Toshiba Satellite laptop that runs WoW ok at low settings and I have a cheap and nasty 19'' LCD that I plug in for photoshop.

I do not have time (or want) to build my own system, so i'm hoping you can recommend one of OCUK's prebuilt systems which would suit my purpose.

I would also appreciate some advice on a monitor as I'd like to upgrade to preferably a 24 incher. I'd been looking at the Dell U2410, but 450 quid seems a bit overkill just for a hobby, is it really worth the extra to get IPS? I saw Dell do a 22 (or 21?) IPS screen for under 200, but I was hoping for a bigger size. Could I get away with a non IPS 24''+ screen?

I don't want to spend too much, so the cheaper the better really.

Didaco · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:04

about the monitor prices shoot up after 24 inches so i think you are better of with a 23/24 inch check out the Dell SP2309 is good
about the main spec how much do you wanna spend

beedster · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:10

Absolute max of 1000 for system,monitor and O/S. But if I can get away with less then that's preferable. It's not a disaster if it can't run WoW at high settings and I assume almost anything will run Photoshop.

Didaco · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:18

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-042-OE&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=
that with windows 7 and possibly a better graphics card
id say get the SP2309 as you monitor
i play WoW too and it is a generally undemanding game and more processor biased that GPU it will run on max with that system
another idea is the AMD system, get an AM3 quad core that is Phenom II X4 if you dont do AMD

Plec · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:29

If you can't justify/afford a 24" IPS then the Dell 2209WA e-IPS monitor at under £200 is superb and an absolute bargain when compared to its 24" counterparts.

This thread - link - discusses its merits in detail and has useful links to user reviews and stats etc.

beedster · 24 Oct 2009 at 20:44

The 2209WA was the one I'd mentioned in the first post. It sounds ideal, the only thing that niggles me is the resolution, only 1680x1050 compared to say 2048x1152 of the SP2309. I guess I need to decide if real-estate or quality of image is more important to me.

Thanks for all the advice so far, I will check into all of it!