The Sports Photo Guy

Reviews, Technique, Portfolio, Prints

The Sports Photo Guy header image 3

Computers

Computers are clearly becoming tools that are almost as important as cameras and lenses to the modern photographer.  This page contains a summary of some of the systems and technologies I am using today.


Once You Know, You Newegg

Support this site by shopping at newegg.com for your computer needs

Desktop System.  I have been tinkering with and building my own PC-based systems for nearly 20 years, and thus most of my desktop systems are custom built.  I tend to look for bargain components and mix-and-match features striving for a reasonably high level of performance.

My current desktop workstation consists of the following components:



I use Nero 8 Ultra Edition for all my disc mastering & audio/video needs

Laptop.  My last two laptops have been Toshibas, that I’ve purchased from my local BestBuy.  My current model is an M300-ST4060, my third Toshiba, this one purchased direct.  Equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (2.4 GHz), 4GB of RAM (upgraded from stock), a fast HITACHI Travelstar 7K200 200GB hard drive (also an upgrade), and DVD SuperMulti Drive, this laptop is a decent mobile workstation.  I opted for a smaller 14.1″ screen and am glad I did; it’s not much smaller than the ubiquitous 15.4″ screens and a whole lot lighter than a 17″ model.   The built-in wireless 802.11b/g/n support is great for transmitting on-site at events.  Do yourself a favor and upgrade your notebook hard drive to a 7200 RPM model like the Travelstar above; this makes a big difference in system performance.

File Server.  I maintain a dedicated file server on my home network which basically serves as a home for my photo and document backups, although it can serve as a backup workstation in a pinch.  It is equipped as follows:

  • Basic components: AMD Athlon 3200+ single-core processor; 1GB dual-channel (2×512) RAM; Windows XP Professional.
  • Foxconn 6150BK8MC-KRSHN2 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard : This very inexpensive motherboard provides two essential components for a file server: gigabit (1000 mbps) LAN and RAID 5.  I recently had to rebuild my RAID 5 array and the system handled it without a hitch.
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive : My RAID 5 array is built with four of the very similar 7200.10 Maxtor-branded Barracuda drives (STM3500630AS) which provide a sustained throughput of 187 MB/sec in my RAID.  I use the Seagate-branded IDE version of this drive (ST3500630A) as my system drive and for additional backup storage, which by contrast achieves sustained throughput of about 65.4 MB/sec.
  • Thermaltake Xaser V Damier Silver Computer Case : The server is housed in this massive case, which features great fan and temperature monitoring capabilities.

TigerDirect

No Comments

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment