Camera Labs

This weekend I'll be upgrading my old computer. I'm replacing my old AMD Athlon X2 5000+ (2,6GHz) Dual Core, with 2Gb DDR2 667MHz RAM, with a brand new Intel Core i7 860 (2,8GHz) Quad-Core and 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM.

I saw that the i7 is about 4 times faster in Photoshop CS4 than my current CPU, so I'm really looking forward to this upgrade .Finally some components worthy of sharing space with my Radeon 4870! . This fall or perhaps winter, I'll be buying some new hard drives as well, but that will have to wait for now. I'll upload some pics of my build this weekend, stay tuned

p.s I'll also install the 64-bit version of Win 7.

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Nikon D90 (Primary), Nikon D40 (Backup)
AF-S DX 35mm f/1,8
AF-S 60mm f/2,8 micro
AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR
2 x Speedlight SB-600

Nice upgrade, enjoy it bud!

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Canon EOS 50D/EF-S 18-55mm IS/EF-S 55250mm IS/EF 50mm F1.8 II /Lowepro AW Slingshot 200/ Digital Ixus 860 IS

PC>Q6700/MSI P45 Zilent/6GB 800mhz DDR2/2x 4870 1GB/Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB/Maxtor 200GB+80GB


My Flickr

'Grats. I went from an AMD X2 4600 to an I7 920 and 6gb 1066 DDR3 ram with W7 Pro 64 bit. Glad I didn't go for Core 2 duo.

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

As promised, a pic of my new build I know it's very crowded in there...the PSU isn't a modular one, so there's lots of cables just lying around in there, but I like my case anyway.

Just thought I'd share some thoughts about this. I've actually haven't had THAT much use of the new CPU, simply because it's so fast. It's lightning fast. Nothing that I do can make it work harder than 10%. I'm not kidding. It's is a beast.

The 4Gb's of RAM really makes a big difference compared to the 2Gb that I had earlier. When I throw everything I have at it, it consumes about 3,4 Gb of my RAM, so I'm seeing noticeably better performance.

HOWEVER, there's a downside to all this. The extreme speed of my new components makes it painfully obvious to me how extremely slow my hard drive is. It's a first gen S-ATA, and even though it is in fact a 7200 rpm drive, it's very, very slow compared to the rest of my system.

The solution? I'm buying new hard drives as well...in a couple of months. I'm thinking a 80Gb SSD (Intel X25) and a 1TB Samsung F3. The SSD will house Win 7, Lightroom, CS4 and a couple of games (Should be enough space for that I think), and the Samsung will house the rest of my files.

But you're probably thinking, what about your images dude? Well, I was thinking like this. When I import my images after a shoot, I import them to the SSD, to get the best possible performance when editing in Lightroom and CS4. Then, when I'm done editing, I'll simply move the files to my storage drive, and let them stay there. Does it sound like a good solution to you guys?

Anyhow, I have some questions regarding Lightroom and hard drives, and it involves some keywords...but that story belongs in another post.

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Nikon D90 (Primary), Nikon D40 (Backup)
AF-S DX 35mm f/1,8
AF-S 60mm f/2,8 micro
AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR
2 x Speedlight SB-600

Please don't take this the wrong way, but that's a mess.

You need to learn how to route cables and you might want to get some cable ties as well, they really help.

Even though you don't have a modular PSU, there's no reason why your system should have to look like that.

I'd also suggest tucking the front audio cables under the graphics card, rather than stretching them over the graphics card. The spare cables would cause less of a mess if you put them in the spare 5.25in drive bay and you can most likely route the AUX 12V cable under the front of the graphics card (there's a small gap there).

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Canon 500D, 18-55mm IS, 55-200mm IS, Nissin Di622

I know it's a mess...but like I said, I'll be installing new hard drives in a couple of months, I'll probably sort things out then. I actually have some cable ties, you can see them on the left ...

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Nikon D90 (Primary), Nikon D40 (Backup)
AF-S DX 35mm f/1,8
AF-S 60mm f/2,8 micro
AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR
2 x Speedlight SB-600

It's not a medium tower, so it's kinda impossible to not get it super cramped. At least with a PSU that isn't modular. =)
In all fairness it doesn't really matter either, cooling wont be problem, just the esthetic's.

Btw, if you are going for an SSD purchase, look for OCZ's with the sandforce controller. Check out some reviews.

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Canon 5D MkII -|- Sigma 24mm f/1.8 | Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 | Canon 50mm f/1.4 | Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Lensbaby Composer
Canon A-1 -|- Canon 28mm f/2 | Canon 35mm f/2.8 | Canon 50mm f/3.5 Macro

Thanks, will do.

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Nikon D90 (Primary), Nikon D40 (Backup)
AF-S DX 35mm f/1,8
AF-S 60mm f/2,8 micro
AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR
2 x Speedlight SB-600

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Also the Indilinx controller - for example check out the bit-tech.net review of the G.Skill Falcon 2 128GB SSD.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.