Spec me an 27" Imac alternative

"Photoshop CS5 and CS4 leverage the graphics display card's GPU, instead of the computer's main processor (the CPU) to speed its screen redraw. For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU that meets these requirements:

* supports OpenGL
* has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions--at least 128 MB of RAM. The recommended amount of RAM for the best experience in Photoshop is 256 MB or more.
* has a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0.
"
 
Syphon said:
"Photoshop CS5 and CS4 leverage the graphics display card's GPU, instead of the computer's main processor (the CPU) to speed its screen redraw. For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU that meets these requirements:

* supports OpenGL
* has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions--at least 128 MB of RAM. The recommended amount of RAM for the best experience in Photoshop is 256 MB or more.
* has a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0.
"
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this
 
Just revisiting this guys. I have the monitor now, and it's sweeet :)

If I was looking to save a bit would I be disappointed with this bundle:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-042-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=

Over the I7 one posted earlier. Both overlocked to 4.00. I may be looking to get back into PC gaming as well with the new Arma II Arrowhead game, so would be running it at the huge 2560x1440 res. Would the I3 vs the I7 make a difference, or would that be more down the graphics card I choose (thinking GTX460 1GB).

Ta
 
I don't think an i3 and 460GTX would cope with arma 2. Not that it isn't a great combo, just that arma 2 needs a lot more performance to run well.

Article on Arma 2 performance
Even on overclcoked highest-end hardware (Core i7; 12 GiByte RAM and a GTX 285 with 2 GiByte VRAM) ArmA 2 becomes a slide show (less than 15 fps) running at 1,280 x 1,024 pixels with very high details. You have to go to low or medium details and have to activate Pixel Doubling (which is ugly) to get playable framerates. Given the performance you shouldn't even think about Anti Aliasing, but the Real Virtuality Engine doesn't support it, as well as any SLI or Crossfire modes, anyway.
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(I think patches have helped a little) That is with older graphics cards, but I think even a 5970 would strugle to get away with > 30fps at your res. Something beefier than an i3 is also a must :(

As far as photoshop goes, you will be fine for performance with pretty much any setup. The new hex core Phenoms are very good for desktop/editing use but not quite as good as an i7 for gaming. They are also quite cheap and overclock well - the lesser memory bandwidth (dual channel) shouldn't run into any bottlenecks, but it means a cheaper motherboard and cpu.

An i5 + dual channel ddr3 option might also suite you well, as long as you aren't going for 2 high end sli/xfire graphics cards :P Infact, a well overclocked i5 can be about as good as a mediumly overclocked i7 920.
As for graphics, 5830s in xfire or 460GTXs in sli provide a lot of performance for the price - but they put more strain on the CPU I believe, i.e. arma will not be happy. (and having more cores won't help as much as it should).

For some future upgradability, you could get a first half of an sli/xfirable gpu setup. i.e. get one 460gtx on an sli p55 i5 system with the option for another later, or 1 5830/5850/5870 on more or less any board/cpu (maby not i3) and another later. If you want to game I think the future is beginning to look away from dual cores (i3), though I could be wrong - people have been for a while about that.

If you are still looking towards the pricy end of the spectrum. i7 920, asus p6t palm edition, 6GB triple channel ddr3, prolimatech megahalems + 120mm viper fan.
As for graphics, 2x 460gtx still looks good - but there are a lot of other possible options, depending on budget. (2x 460 is very good price/performance). Either way, it's cheaper and more powerful than a mac system.
 
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I always thought Arma 2 was more CPU dependant? i7 clocked to 4ghz+ would be the choice then really.
 
Thanks for the really detailed response. Very helpful. Yes it's been patched since then and the new stand alone addon is supposed to make further performance improvements. Sounds like I need to invest in the CPU though as you say. When you say the phenoms aren't quite as good for gaming over the i7, are we looking at a huge difference or worth making the saving for do you think?

ta
 
Syphon said:
Thanks for the really detailed response. Very helpful. Yes it's been patched since then and the new stand alone addon is supposed to make further performance improvements. Sounds like I need to invest in the CPU though as you say. When you say the phenoms aren't quite as good for gaming over the i7, are we looking at a huge difference or worth making the saving for do you think?

ta
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I would say phenoms (x6) should do about the same (or a little better) for video editing tasks but about 10-15% worse for gaming, depending on the game. Bearing in mind that most games only care about 2 cores, so clock-for-clock is more important than the fact there are 6 cores in that regard. At least currently, some games may use more cores eventually (probably not 6). Remember though, the black edition should overclock to upper 3GHz or 4GHz, thats 6 cores! While producing less heat than an i7 @ 4GHz. You might want to find some benchmarks for the specific video editing software you will be using, as performance seems to be quite random with the Phenom hex core. (hex: £395 for mobo + cpu! HEY ocuk put the price up a LOT! about £45!)

If you wanted to save but still game, an i5 could be a good option. (£277 for mobo + cpu)

i7 920 would come to £315 for mobo & cpu, stick with dual channel ram though or add £30 ontop (for triple channel) when comparing price differences.

No, go i7... unless you want to get a cheaper phenom board I was factoring in an expensive £160 one because I think a good overclock would have been more-or-less a requirement. i7 wins after all. Or i5 if you want to go for a cheaper option, it's certainly not a bad option. Then you have to think about your graphics card/s - if you want to multi card (can get very good price/performance) I suggest i7.
 
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