First M101

[Gina]

This refurbished PC from Morgans looks interesting :- http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/13107/HP-Elite-7100-Intel-Core-i5-2-6GHz-4GB-500GB-Media-PC-Windows-7-Pro-64Bit/

No messing about replacing bits in my present workhorse or reconfiguring and installing software. The cost of OEM W7 represents half the cost of this whole working box!

[Quatermass]

Yes that would do the job very nicely. Are you wanting an excuse to buy a new pc then if so this seems like a good one to go for.

[Mark72]

Hi Gina,

I just downloaded your M101_Autosave file.

I has strange artefacts to the rights in the middle. I'm not sure if it could be processed away. Where do they come from?

Mark

[Gina]

This article should be helpful to you about ram needed

http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=1247538&seqNum=3

Thanks - very useful

I dont think windows 7 or xp matters its the amount of ram and the processor that matters with PS more is better. When you start using lots of layers you need lots of ram to keep it smooth. I get away with 3gig 4 would be better still 2 would be just ok.

Thanks Yes, I would think 4GB would make sense. I also think a fast processor would be good as the faster things work the better. Also, 64 bit systems will be faster than 32 bit and the more cores the better assuming the software can use them.. With only 2 cores my AMD is looking distinctly ancient.

Anyway, I'm investigating my various options with regard to value for money. I've have several refurbished or nearly new items from Morgans and always been very pleased with the goods and the service.

[Quatermass]

I love my second hand dell its better then my last compaq from HP goes like a rocket and is nice and sturdy as well for outside use.

Yes go for 4gb if you can that will really help when your using lots of layers and hide all layer mask some times you can have loads of them that your working on and lots of ram really helps to keep it all running smoothly nothing worse then a laggy slow pc.

[Gina]

I love my second hand dell its better then my last compaq from HP goes like a rocket and is nice and sturdy as well for outside use.

Sounds just the job

Yes go for 4gb if you can that will really help when your using lots of layers and hide all layer mask some times you can have loads of them that your working on and lots of ram really helps to keep it all running smoothly nothing worse then a laggy slow pc.

Tell me about it!!!

[Gina]

Upgrade route :-

Mobo Kit :- http://www.maplin.co.uk/asus-eruption-amd-a6-3500-x3-apu-motherboard-kit--4gb-amd-ddr3-memory-626350

Windows OS :- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-OEM-Windows-Professional-Service/dp/B007TL4BSU/ref=sr_1_25?s=software& - £ -ie=UTF8&qid=1337263136&sr=1-25

Total cost : - £160 + £178 = £338

Comparing Morgan offer :- £375 + £7 delivery = £382. That's just £44 more.

[Gina]

Hi Gina,

I just downloaded your M101_Autosave file.

I has strange artefacts to the rights in the middle. I'm not sure if it could be processed away. Where do they come from?

Mark

I think it's due to condensation in the camera - I have improvements to make to the cooling system.

[Gina]

Yes that would do the job very nicely. Are you wanting an excuse to buy a new pc then if so this seems like a good one to go for.

Not exactly wanting an excuse to buy a new PC but there's not much point in collecting lots of data and then not having a powerful enough computer to process it on. That's how I see it.

So looking at the options :- I can't find suitable 16bit image processing software for Linux and Windows has better support as more people have it. I haven't really looked at OS X software yet - the other possible option. I also haven't looked at other Windows software such as PixInSight but I suspect that would also require plenty of RAM and a fast processor.

Comparing XP and W7 it seems that W7 OEM 64 bit Pro is actually cheaper than XP 64 bit. So no cheaper to choose XP as part of an upgrade.

[Gina]

Options with conclusions :-

1. Add some RAM to a P4 desktop box - P4 too slow, 2GB RAM limit
   
   
2. Set up dual boot on my present AMD desktop with XP Home 32bit - 32bit only supports 2GB RAM
   
3. Ditto with OEM XP (32 or 64 bit) dual boot with Linux - OEM XP 64 bit too expensive
   
4. Ditto but W7 64bit instead of XP - possible but lots of work
   
5. Buy a second hand desktop or laptop - looking a good option (about £44 more that 4.)
   
   
6. Buy a new desktop/laptop - slightly more expensive, poorer OS
   

Option 5 looks favourite so far. But purchase will have to wait a while - probably until next month before funds allow. Options 1. or 2. would be possible earlier.

[Mark72]

Gina,

If you use mainly Canon then you do need a faster processor. I was starting with Hyperstar - lots of 30 sec. exposures. On XP it would take me a whole night to stack them. Win7 64bit was 10 times quicker with a faster processor. You can also consider buying ImagesPlus. It's very fast and very good with DSLR. In fact, PixInsight is not better with Canon files but a lot slower and requires a lot of RAM for stacking.

Mark

[Gina]

Gina,

If you use mainly Canon then you do need a faster processor. I was starting with Hyperstar - lots of 30 sec. exposures. On XP it would take me a whole night to stack them. Win7 64bit was 10 times quicker with a faster processor. You can also consider buying ImagesPlus. It's very fast and very good with DSLR. In fact, PixInsight is not better with Canon files but a lot slower and requires a lot of RAM for stacking.

Mark

Thank you Mark

I expect to be going for the HP Elite 7100 Intel Core i5 2.6GHz 4GB 500GB Media PC Windows 7 Pro 64Bit by Morgan is it's still available when I've got the funds. Meanwhile, I've ordered 3 512MB RAM modules (just under a tenner from eBay) to add to the one that's in there to give one of my XP desktop boxes 2GB of RAM. It'll be slow I know but at least I should be able to use PS.

[Quatermass]

The hp elite seems like a good option and getting more ram to bring you up to 2gb should be good enough to start using ps for now I would have thought. And getting a work horse pc for processing is a good idea.

[Gina]

The hp elite seems like a good option and getting more ram to bring you up to 2gb should be good enough to start using ps for now I would have thought. And getting a work horse pc for processing is a good idea.

Yes, that's what I thought I've had a couple of used/refurbished HP machines and been very pleased with them. Excellent professional build with levers and catches to open things and change things like hard drives etc. no screwdrivers and screws in awkward places.

[Gina]

The three memory modules have arrived and I'm just about to install them in my P4 XP desktop. Watch this space - as they say

[Gina]

Desktop box opened up and RAM modules inserted in the slots, booted up and system recognised the full 2GB RAM This machine has a nice new 512GB HD (divided into 2 NTFS partitions for XP stuff) as well as the system drive which has several partitions. Now moving data files off drive C: and onto drive G:. Meanwhile I'm copying the PS install folder onto the desktop. I'll have to see how much space I can move off drive C: or I might have to boot into Linux and give XP more space. This machine is set up for dual boot with Linux Mint and XP Pro.

[Gina]

Made enough space on drive C: and now installing PS etc. also moving all the files and folders from my USB drive to drive D: (256GB quoted size = 232GB real size). Then when the USB drive is empty I shall move the AP files onto there from my netbook, then onto drive D: with the others. This may take more than one go. I intend to transfer all my AP files to the desktop, some them out and reprocess them. I'm sure I have already amassed some quite usable data. So plenty to do for the next few days waiting for clear nights

[Quatermass]

Amen to some clear nights im all set up and ready now. Hope your pc upgrades go well.

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[Gina]

Nearly finished the file transfers so will be ready to sort them out soon then do some processing. Meanwhile, while that's been going on I've been playing about with my camera cooling.

[Quatermass]

Well my laptop keeps giving me the blue screen and after about 4 restarts comes back again. I have another that needs a new key board so next clear night if this one kaks up on me than I have a back up plan one way or another I will not be beaten!

[Gina]

Well my laptop keeps giving me the blue screen and after about 4 restarts comes back again. I have another that needs a new key board so next clear night if this one kaks up on me than I have a back up plan one way or another I will not be beaten!

Sorry to hear that Could it need the dust cleaning out? A thought

[Quatermass]

I took the hard drive out and wiped it again and re-installed everthing now its being a nice laptop again.

[Gina]

Good

[Gina]

Been playing with PS Certainly better than GIMP though I've only tried the things I already know - curves, colour settings, sharpness, noise etc. Took an Autosave from DSS and opened it again in DSS and saved an unmodified picture as 16 bit TIFF which I then opened in PS. I'll post the result later when I've transferred the image across PCs. Current JPEG is too many bytes for attaching here.

[Quatermass]

Happy to report no more crashes and i got my camera cable so i can use backyardeos to control my sub plan now which is very cool. Now just need a clear night and im going to go for the bubble nebula and the trifid what will be your target?

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