New PC - Photoshop Mostly

[chrisg_75]

Hi Guys

Looking foradvice here. Pretty much a noob but have done a little investigatino to get things started. There are some things im not sure of yet so ill list and see how we go

Looking for a new pc predominantly for heavy photoshop use.

Case - Not sure of any special requirements except that it can house what is needed. I know there ar lots that come with built in PSU's. I checked at the local computer fair and they ranged form 450w up to 600w so not sure what i need. Cases ranged form about $45aud up to over $150. WHat is the big difference.

PSU - relates to the case but not sure what size i am after

MoBo - Was looking at Gigabyte GA965P DS3 / DS3P / DS4 / DQ6. Saw all of these at the fair and not sure what my requirements would be with regards to these. I was thinking maybe DS3P ??

CPU - Porbably looking at intel E6600 anyreason to change this ?

HDD - I already have a 74gig and 140 gig. Have been looking at 74gig 10000rpm to run the OS and apps. DO i need the 10K rpm hdd or 7200 rpm ok ?? All would be Sata. Not sure what the older ones are that i have yet. Have to check I can always just keep the older machine for storage once completed kind of thing.

RAM - Not sure what i need for this really I know there is heaps of types with regards to speed etc but i know i would get 2gig

Sound - happy with th eMoBo sound i think

Video - not sure here really either. Was looking at the 7300GT or 7600GT but then there are the GS versions as well. And 256Mb as opposed to 512Mb. Not sure what i would require.

The only other thing i guess i need is cooling fan ?????

Thanks for any help and other suggestions

Cheers
Chris

[glc]

Any case will work - it's the power supply quality that's important. Here in the US we recommend the Antec Sonata II case - or any case that's sold without a power supply and then get a decent separate power supply. You don't need a powerhouse power supply if you don't put a huge gaming video card in, any *quality* brand ATX 2.0 spec unit 300 watts or better will be fine. The Sonata II comes with a 450 watt 2.0 Antec.

Any of the GA965P boards are okay, but the Asus P5B series is better in my opinion.

The E6600 is the most bang for the buck now that Intel has reduced the prices.

There is no real need for 10k rpm drives, but if you already have one, that would be the best bet for the OS and your applications.

2 gigs of ram is a good choice - get a dual channel kit, DDR2-667 or better.

Video is relatively unimportant for Photoshop, as long as it has discrete memory and is *not* Turbocache or Hypermemory. This is the best place to save - even a cheapo Radeon X300SE will suffice.

All needed fans should already be in a case of any kind of quality, and the retail boxed processors come with a heatsink/fan assembly.

If you get a P965 chipset board from any manufacturer, a SATA optical drive is recommended as the 3rd party IDE controller has some compatibility issues. We recommend 100% SATA - opticals and hard drives - for best stability.

[chrisg_75]

I dont have a 10k rpm drive. Only 7200rpm 74 gig and 140 gig. But these i think would probably be better staying in old system and using for storgae only once finished with files.
OK so with the PSU there is no smallest requirement kind of long as over 300W ??

Why do you think the Asus is better board ?
feature etc or what ?

thanx

[glc]

Asus has the highest consistent quality and stability. The QUALITY of the power supply is more important than the power rating. I've seen 500 watt junk units roll over and die under the same load that a quality 300 watt unit can handle.

[doubledragon5]

Here is a guide to use when deciding which brand to purchase.. It list the quality brands and the brands to stay away from...

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

When you have you parts and are ready to build, we also recommend this very useful guide..

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

[chrisg_75]

I have kind of narrowed it down i think
I will get
CPU E6600

MoBo GA 965P DS3P (im still not sure which of these gigabyte boards but resting on this one
at the moment

PSU greater than 450W good brand

A couple of questions though are
I was looking at the 7300GT GPU. is this suitable to operate two monitors ? Also, do i need 256mb or 512mb board ??

Ram - DO i need DDR2 667 or 800 ? what is the difference and is it worht extra cost ?

Thanx again.

Chris

[LeftyAce]

MOBO: I'd still encourage you to go with ASUS, as they're very stable/reliable.

GPU: the 256 MB card is fine, provided you're not planning on playing games.

ram: 667 is the fastest that CPU can talk to ram, so 800 would be overkill unless you plan on overclocking....not a good idea on a production machine :-)

[Jester]

Take it from me. I have had Gigabite boards

my first one died unexpectedly.

On the second one the 5v rail is more than 10% loare than 5v thus not stable.

Gigabyte has never been able to stablize voltages. I think it might have to do with the capacitors they use.

[glc]

Hopefully, now that Gigabyte has merged with Asus, Gigabyte boards will improve - the only thing I'm afraid of is Asus boards might be pulled down.........

[chrisg_75]

Ok Then

Now you have me thinking again. Thought i was close.

Would someone be able to advise on the Asus line which would be comparable to the GA 965P DS3P board ?

Thanx again

[glc]

Any of the P5B series.