New PC advice, what would I need?

[Zeb]

Originally Posted by John Hallas

Beware the 4Gb of memory. Sounds good but unless you are using 64 bit Windows (I am assuming you are using Windows as most people do) then it will not recognise memory above 3Gb.

Any 32bit operating system can only go up to 3.5GB

I've got 32bit XP Pro and Windows can only see 3.5GB even though I've got 4GB installed.

Currently saving up to buy Windows 7 64bit.

As for a machine make sure you get a decent core speed. If using something like Photoshop or GIMP to process large images (as in width/height and file size) it quickly gets frustrating having to wait for your PC to process one command before you can do anything else.

For example, applying a filter over a photo and every time you move a slider to tweak the desired effect having to wait until the computer has finished processing each tweak. Not fun.