help me configure my z690

Im trying to decide on a few options, if they are worth it or not.

1. should I spend $50 more on the 2.53 or will the 2.4 be enough... I would like the 2.66 because of the L2 Cache, but $250 seems like a steep price. I will primarily be doing photoshop image editting as my most intensive application.

2. standard 160 gb 5400, or upgrade to 320 gb 7200 for $90? I am leaning toward the upgrade because its reasonably priced. Buying a drive myself and upgrading will cost between 60-80 and I will void the warranty.

3. 2gb ram or 4gb? I feel like I could probably buy another 2 gb on my own for $50 through my brief websearches. I dont think the $100 premium is worth it. Plus I wont void the warranty by upgrading the ram myself.

4. Just a question... Does the premium carbon fiber add anything in terms of strength to the housing, or is it purely an aesthetic thing?

Any help on these options would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

With the 320gb 7200, the top of the line processor and the premium carbon, you will still be paying a helluva lot less than I paid for the same machine as a configured 590 with the 2.53 and 200gb 7200. Plus you get the 64. Go for it! I paid the early-adopter price with my eyes open, but I just love the Z. My 7th laptop, and by far the best package. I got the bluray, too, but have hardly used it.

 

For photoshop I would definitely upgrade the hard disk and memory. The processor upgrade isn't really cost effective.

The memory is easy to upgrade and simply requires the removal of one screw.

For the harddisk $90 for the larger/faster drive is not a bad deal, about equal to the cost of a replacement drive. If you are handy and careful replacing the drive isn't difficult and you could either use the old disk as a backup drive or keep it for a complete restore to original. I could find no where in the legalese where it stated that replacing any components voided the warranty though it does, of course, state that Sony won't cover the replaced component nor damage done by the user installing it.

A 2nd external 7200rpm drive with a Firewire or ESata connection (through the expresscard) will be at least 2x as fast as a cheap USB external 2.5 inch drive and give you the ability to put photoshop's scratch file on a seperate disk from the OS. For large files or lots of history states this can make a big difference.
Doug