The Letterville BullBoard: how many gigabits do I need?

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Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

What is more important for graphics, Memory, processor speed or hard drive space I just got a pentiumIII wih 64mg ram 15 gigs of this 56k of that and bunch of KB, qustion is what do I have? what does it all mean in signpainters terms?

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :

It depends on what you want your computer to do. Here's a run down which is what I think you are asking....

Software: What is your favorite lettering quill.

Hard Drive: How much storage space do you need for your signs.

RAM: How much work space do you need on your desk/work table to do several different signs at one time.

CPU: How fast do you want to be able to think and react while designing a sign.

Video Ram: How fast do you want to be able to letter a sign and be able to make changes as you go along.

56K Modem: Maximum legal speed on the highway is 53, but your truck can go as fast as 56.

ZIP Drives / CD-RW: How big of a truck do you need to haul signs.

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Compost Happens!

Design is Everything!
Glenn Taylor
in beautiful North Carolina

http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphics
walldog@geeksnet.com

[This message has been edited by Glenn Taylor (edited July 08, 2000).]

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

Ken..If yer a sign "Painter" then all ya need is a couple of brushes!!!

If you are serious about the question..then I would say trust your computer builder!! Processor speed and "memory" are the two most important parts..Aw heck I know yer just havin a good time, pokin fun, at the expense of us computer (not REAL) sign makers!!

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Dave Grundy shop#340
AKA "applicator" on mIRC
"stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!"
in Granton, Ontario, Canada
1-519-225-2634
dave.grundy@quadro.net
www.quadro.net/~shirley
"A PROUD $ supporter of the website"

Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :

simply put ken....15 gig..is 15 x 1000megs,which is like havin a the biggest best tool box sears sells. pictures and softwear, and fonts and graphics..fill up that tool box....and ram is like having that big tool box and having 32, 64, 128 guys workin on cars with that tool box...more mechanic faster the work gets done...processor speed is how good & quick those guys are....trainees, line mechanic, or top of the line specialist.....ergo 200, 500 or 900mgz.....56k...is the speed of the phone connection....to and from your computer...just like the speed limit....56 is the fastest... 33,6k is the next slowest, then 28,8k.....ok.....do dat hep.....hehehehe

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joe pribish-A SIGN MINT
2811 longleaf Dr.
pensacola, fl 32526
850-944-5060
BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND

Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :

If yer a sign painter that doesnt do computer art, you have alot of machine there for running accounting software and Solitaire. =)

If you do computer art but it's limited to solely cutting vinyl/masks using CorelDRAW or other design/sign software, you still have quite a bit of machine for the intended purpose.

If you do heavy duty super high resolution graphics using a program like PhotoShop and you do alot of full color printing, you've got a decent machine but it can always be better.

It all depends on the way you intend to use the computer.

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Mike Pipes
Digital Illusion Custom Graphics
Lake Havasu City, AZ
http://www.stickerpimp.com

Posted by Barry Branscum (Member # 445) on :

The three most important things are : PROCESSOR:500 mhz and up these days....
VIDEO CARD:8-16 megabytes for graphically intense stuff('specially bitmaps and syuch if you are a digital shop)
RAM(Random Access Memory): Basically it determines how fast and how MANY things your comp can do at once. This is very important when vectorizing a complex scan for instance.
minimum 128 megs of RAM.

If I can be of more help to ya, please email me!

Barry

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Master's Touch Signs & Screenprinting
Clinton AR
5017456246
ICQ 17430008
Signs of Excellence!!!

Posted by Bob Darnell (Member # 27) on :

You didn't say what speed your processor was, or how intensively you're going to be using it, but the amount of RAM seems kind of low. It depends on what you're using it for though. I know Signlab uses RAM more effieciently than CorelDraw does (or is just a lot smaller). I don't think I'd have any problem whatsoever with Signlab & 64 meg, but CorelDraw would be unbearable with only 64.

I you find that there is a lot of disk activity when you're working, it means that your computer is storing things on your hard drive to free up it's physical memory. Then when it needs what it stored on your disk, it will go get it again. This slows things down quite a bit. If this isn't happening, you probably don't need more memory.

But, adding more RAM is by far the most cost-effective performance boost people will see. (other than throwing the computer away and doing it by hand) It doesn't matter if you had a 1 gigahertz processor, if you're running things that constantly need more RAM than you have, you've got yourself a slow computer.

So to answer you original question, like others have said... it depends on what you want it to do. It's all important for graphics.

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Bob Darnell
London, Ontario, Canada
_______________________
bob.darnell@home.com
Online Portfolio available at: www.members.home.net/bob.darnell

Posted by Mike O'Neill (Member # 470) on :

I use the following anology of cars when talking 'puters.

Hard Drives = Trunk space - will it hold what you want to carry?

Ram = Engine Size - does it have the power to pull the load?

Processor Speed = Turbo charger - Does it have sizzle?

Today, even entry level 'puters usually have lots of speed, whether the thing runs at 500 mhz or 650 mhz doesn't mean a hill of beans, chances are if you're waiting for a 'puter to do something, it's read/writing to it's hard drive which it uses as memory once it runs out of ram. Avoid celeron processor which is handicapped by lack or limited cache on board.
For graphic use get a minimum of 128meg ram, go 256 or more if money permits. Ram is the single most important item in getting a 'puter to run faster.
If you intend to get a 17" or bigger monitor, and run it at a decent resolution, a good graphics card is a must, minimum 16 meg agp, 32 meg preferable; 64 meg is not really necessary unless you're playing hi-end games or creating animations.
Hard drive size is not really an issue , entry level today usually includes 10 - 15 gig, additional hard drives are relatively cheap, and can be installed later when/if you need more space. Obviously faster drives (7200rpm) are better than slower (5400rpm) drives, scsi drives give faster access times but are more expensive. - If money is tight I'd lean towards more ram rather than scsi.

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Mike O'Neill

Trans-Labrador Signs
Labrador City, Labrador

'Durn vinyl won't stick to ice'

moneill@crrstv.net

"The best things in life aren't things"
Art Buchwald

Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

Hey Ken, you did just fine with that purchase. Now that ya got it, what'r ya gonna do with it? Will there be a followup post asking what the 'best' layout software and plotter is?

In case you were planning to ask that question next, I have an idea... Since there's no one right answer to it, ask instead what's the worst plotter or layout program we ever saw. That would be just as revealing and more fun to answer. Anyway, enjoy the new toy!

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Joe Rees
Cape Craft Signs
(Cape Cod, MA)
http://www.capecraft.com
http://www.dave-joe-show.com
e-mail: joerees@capecraft.com

Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

Woops! forgot to tell you guys a few things I guess. I am not sure now but I think my processor is 533 and I am going to be running Flexi-sign, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator along with quickbooks. the guy who sold it to me says I can go from 64mg to 128mg pretty easy, sounds like I might want to. Oh yeah I got a Zipdrive too.

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by Louis A Lazarus (Member # 763) on :

If you want to spend some money on that system and get the most bang for your buck...add some ram...another 64k would speed things up a lot.

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Louis A. Lazarus
Milt's Sign Service, Inc.
20 So. Linden Ave. #5B
650-588-0490
fontking1a@aol.com

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