Thoughts on this PS build? Thanks!

[DancingPossum]

Greetings from a potential new builder-
Any thoughts on the new build below? It's primarily a PhotoShop CS machine.
I have a monitor and Windows XP already.
Thanks for your help!


ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BL Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Model #: X-DISCOVERY-BL
Item #: N82E16811144176

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N-SLI Premium
Item #: N82E16813131540

eVGA 256-P2-N381 Geforce 6800XT 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: 256-P2-N381
Item #: N82E16814130261

Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: TPII-550
Item #: N82E16817103931

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA4200BVBOX
Item #: N82E16819103547

(2) - CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3 - Retail
Model #: VS2GBKIT400C3
Item #: N82E16820145579

LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer - Retail
Model #: LKA-CR15B
Item #: N82E16820300901

(2) - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701

Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 BV3-00003 Black USB RF - Retail
Model #: BV3-00003
Item #: N82E16823109144

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - Retail
Model #: SHM-165H6S
Item #: N82E16827106015

[seanarmenta]

does amd support DDR2? why not go intel so you can get a board that supports DDR2, no? or is the difference insignificant? dual core proc is great.

how about an upgrade to CS2 which will be able to address 3GB of RAM instead of the 2GB limit that CS has?

i would suggest at least 3 HD's, one 40-80GB drive for your OS to reside, a 80-250GB fast drive that you do all your editing from, and one large drive for storage. you can then utilize the work drive and storage drives as your scratch disks, just put the primary scratch disk on the faster work drive. then use your DVD burner for backing up and archiving files.

maybe a wacom tablet as well?

[Alaron]

AMD does not support DDR2, yet.

Everything you have there will work fine together. The only suggestion I have is to save some money on the motherboard if you don't plan to use SLI. If you do, that's a great choice. Otherwise the Asus A8N5X is a good choice.

When you do the build, remember to not hook up the card reader until after the OS is installed. If its plugged in at first, it will steal the C: drive designation.

[DancingPossum]

I've thought about intel but read alot in this forum about them running slower and hotter than AMD.
I am going to be using CS2 not CS. Sorry.
Any thoughts on the best intel processor?
I have one external drive for storage and will use the two Western Digitals for OS and applications and the other for scratch.
Thanks for your input.
Chris

[seanarmenta]

chris, i think with processors, it's really a budget question. i only have experience with intel.

there are 2 different types of intel dual cores, the pentium D and pentium extreme edition dual core, the main difference being the latter features hyper threading while the former does not. so the extreme edition will run sort of like a quad, using 4 threads to process. but unless you've budgeted $700 for your processor, you'll have to go with a regular pentium D.

as far as heat goes, the newer 900 series processors feature 65nm technology, which is made to run cooler. a pentium D 930 will run around $330, and it's a 3GHz processor.

[DancingPossum]

Great input. Thanks!
I've revised the build and this is what I've come up with:

ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BL Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASUS P5GD1-VM Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915G Micro ATX Intel

eVGA 256-P2-N381 Geforce 6800XT 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card

Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

Intel Pentium D 930 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor Model BX80553930

2-CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3

LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer

2-Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 BV3-00003 Black USB RF

2-LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - Retail

[seanarmenta]

chris -- i wouldn't go below a 945 chipset with that processor. get a motherboard with either a 945, 955, or 975 chipset which supports dual core processing.

my suggestions:
intel D945GNT
intel D955XBK
intel D975XBX
ASUS P5WD2, P5WD2-E, or P5WD2-E Premium
ASUS P5LD2 or P5LD2-VM

you'll have to get DDR2 RAM, and i would suggest corsair value select. someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i think you can use DDR2 533 PC2 4200 modules. i would max it out at 4GB in dual channel config.

[DancingPossum]

So now we have, for your approval, the following:
ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BL Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Intel BOXD955XBKLKR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 955X ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA 256-P2-N381 Geforce 6800XT 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
Intel Pentium D 930 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor
2-CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered System Memory
LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer
2-Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 BV3-00003 Black USB RF2
2-LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S

All this adds up to $1600 and change. I'd like to cut it back a few hundred but don't think I can. Oh well....

[MakeYourslf2012]

Do you plan on using the 2 raptors in an array? If not, getting a normal Western Digital Caviar as a secondary drive could easily save you $50, while giving you alot more storage.

Also, you could save a little more by switching one of the DVD burners to a DVD-ROM. Unless you have a specific reason, theres no real use to having dual burners unless you were doing direct burning from disk to disk.

[kram 2.0]

If you will be working with images, my presumption is that storage, as well as speed, is necessary. That said, look into a larger 16 MB Cache 7200 RPM hard drive to complement one WD Raptor.

While I realize that Photoshop CS2 chews a lot of memory, 4GB looks like overkill. 2 or 3GB will work fine. As well, you don't need an expensive graphics card. 6800XT isn't overly expenisve, but you can cut down further to get closer to your budget.

kram

[gary_hendricks]

I do agree that 4GB of RAM is overkill. Try 2GB instead.

[DancingPossum]

You've all read my mind. I had already made all of those changes before I saw the suggestions. I'll be placing my order soon. Thanks to all of you for your advice. I appreciate the help.
Chris

[DancingPossum]

For 2GB total, is it best to install 2 - 1GB or 4 - 512MB sticks?
I'm sure this has been covered before.

[MakeYourslf2012]

2x 1GB modules, that way - it leaves 2 more slots open IF you ever need to upgrade.

[glc]

Is it too late to suggest an ATI video card? They have nicer 2D graphics than Nvidia consumer grade cards. You also don't need DDR2-667, DDR2-533 is plenty good enough if you aren't overclocking, which an Intel motherboard won't do anyway.

[DancingPossum]

It's not too late at all. I've yet to place the order. I'll take a look at the alternatives you've suggested.
Thanks!