build for photo editing

[milkdemcows]

Looking to build a PC for my wife and I. She's a photographer, so the heaviest use I think will go to editing images with Photoshop, Lightroom, and the like. Another concern is longevity, something that will last a while. Gaming is more wishful thinking than actual criteria...(we have 2 young kids, and I'm in grad school...not a lot of free time!). I haven't built a PC yet, though I've replaced most parts and have tinkered with things like BIOS, so not too concerned, but do have a few questions.

1. CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo seems fine? Suggestions for the speed (or, what is the fastest than we would actually be taking advantage of)?

2. Hard Drive: this is what I have the most questions about at the moment. I think I should be looking at SATA II 3.0. Is going up to 10k rpm going to help? Should I go RAID? (For back-up storage purposes, I think I'd rather go with an external HD.) One HD or two?

2b. Anything else related to speed and data transfer.

3. OS: XP or Vista? XP is oldish now, but Vista is, well, Vista. Thinking maybe XP, and then Windows 7.0 down the line.

Anything else I should have as preliminary considerations? Thanks for advice.

[not important]

For photo editing it might be worth the extra expense to go Quad Core.
I would go with the external HDD for backup and storage. Purchase the HDD and enclosure separate.
Apricorn external enclosure (comes w/a version of Acronis) and WD HDD.

[tomtoon]

Whats your budget? Myself or others can put a build list together for you...

[milkdemcows]

As far as budget...$1k range I suppose. Fairly flexible though. Usually try and go with parts at the top of the curve, before price starts to outweigh performance (spend more and get less).

[glc]

$1k should get you a "sweet spot" build - in the Intel socket 775 world this would be based around an Asus P5Q Pro and a Q9550, maybe a Q9650. Other suggested components would be an ATI-based video card in the $100 or less range and a single Western Digital Black 1tb drive - with an external for backup. We recommend building your own external - check the sticky in the drives forum.

I'll reserve comment on i7 and AMD, neither are my thing at this time.

I'd use XP Home and 4gb ram at this time, bypass Vista and wait for Windows 7 to be released and cleaned up/debugged later.

[jdeb]

807.00 before shipping... you can't go wrong with the cpu glc and I recommended... super fast and the price is right as well. glc recommended asus board which is great too, I prefer foxxconn but the majority here like the asus p5qpro which is a fine board as well

motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186148

memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115041

dvd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136152

video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127399

power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

computer case with power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024

os
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116511

[chuck4456]

She won't get to use it very long if you go sticking that ANTEC PSU in there.
Use something reliable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703005

[shadowpr]

I thought that antec psu was good quality.

One of the few case/psu combos that are good.

[brianb]

I've had great luck with Antec. I'm running the Earthwatts that came in both of my Sonata 3 cases with 3-4 drives in each and folding 24/7 for pcmech....

[not important]

I have no problem with Antec PSU's but I don't like ANY case with a door.
I believe the Earthwatt series is made by Seasonic.

[jdeb]

i have never had one problem with antec and I used over a 50 in two years

your picture on your system specs is interesting

[milkdemcows]

i) So it would be worth jumping $100 from duo to quad? I had the impression the quad capabilities (over the duo) wouldn't wind up being utilized.

ii) Thanks for the mb suggestions. I probably would have gone with the Gigabyte boards that show up at the top of the Newegg lists (bad tho?) I like the $30 rebate on the Foxconn board right now!

iii) To clarify re: HDD, single internal HDD with external HDD for back-up is fine? Or is there good reason to go with multiple internal, RAID or not?

Thanks.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by milkdemcows i) So it would be worth jumping $100 from duo to quad? I had the impression the quad capabilities (over the duo) wouldn't wind up being utilized. ii) Thanks for the mb suggestions. I probably would have gone with the Gigabyte boards that show up at the top of the Newegg lists (bad tho?) I like the $30 rebate on the Foxconn board right now! iii) To clarify re: HDD, single internal HDD with external HDD for back-up is fine? Or is there good reason to go with multiple internal, RAID or not? Thanks.

quad cores are better multi taskers and usually people doing art work (photoshop type work) have many windows and or programs up at one time, and are applying layer changes and renders simultaneously. Quads really shine in this area over 2 core. 2 Core does the job but quads lay them into the dust, plus photoshop and light box take advantage of 4 core technology. I have a separate Art PC and it uses a Q6600 and it is very impressive when I am creating art verses what is in my signature but I will eventually go with the cpu that was recommended.

The gigabyte board is very nice as well, the top three are all p45 chipsets... Asus is the most popular, then gigabyte, foxconn. You can't go wrong with any of them. Asus has the best and biggest name, I am simply and mainly a Foxconn user and builder is all. In terms of support on this website, the majority here are Asus users and very smart and have integrity.

HD with external backup is all that is needed. here is a link to explain the differences in raid, there are some advantages but only you can answer this. take a little time and see if it has value to you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redunda...ependent_disks

[glc]

Chuck, the Earthwatts and the PC P&C you recommend are both made by Seasonic.

jdeb, that video card is overkill for a non-gaming box. No way do you need 1gb of video ram for that use.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc Chuck, the Earthwatts and the PC P&C you recommend are both made by Seasonic. jdeb, that video card is overkill for a non-gaming box. No way do you need 1gb of video ram for that use.

i meant to put the 512 in there but the good news is that it would work

[milkdemcows]

Oh, I did want to mention we wanted capability for dual-monitors.

[glc]

That's not an issue these days - almost all new video cards have dual heads. I'd go for a dual DVI card with a passive cooler - such as this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131135

[milkdemcows]

Okay, so I think I'm looking at this so far, per recommendations and reviews:

HDD: Western Digital 500Gb yadayada

CPU: Core 2 Quad 2.83 GHz Yorkfield

Mobo: Asus P5Q Pro

DVD drive: LG 22x etc. (already had, bought a SATA once when I needed IDE)

Still have some questions about the vid card. I probably should have said lite gaming. We do have Sims2 and plan on getting Spore. The Radeon 4650 and 4670 cards suggested above aren't listed in the Spore specs (maybe they work anyway?), only the 4850, and all 3000 series. This one looked good to me, comparable specs and price:

SAPPHIRE 100248L Radeon HD 3850

Or this:
POWERCOLOR AX3850 512MD3 Radeon HD 3850

Found this for a Case/PSU:
RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply
I don't particularly care that it's modular, and I'm not particular about visual appearance, just that it looks like a good deal, with good ventilation and reviews. How is the PSU quality? Other suggestions welcome too.

[milkdemcows]

Actually, started looking at energy efficiency PSUs instead.
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

[not important]

Either of those graphics cards should be OK but the one glc linked to would be a stronger card.
Corsair PSU's are very good.
Good choice on the Asus MOBO.

[glc]

Decide on your video card budget, then check here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...deon,2151.html

You don't HAVE to get passive cooling, I only suggested it to make the thing quieter. If you have dual DVI-capable monitors, get a dual DVI card, not a single DVI/single VGA.

Raidmax PSU's are not too good. I really like the Corsair 520HX and 620HX modulars.

[Cricket]

I recently built a new computer with photo editing with Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom 2 in mind. I decided to go with a Core 2 Duo instead of a Core 2 Quad for now since it was my first multicore processor system and I wanted to have a chance to play with a dual core processor before I moved on to the quad core processors.

Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 Dual Channel Kit
SeaSonic SS-500ET 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 Power Supply
SAPPHIRE 100264L Radeon HD 4350 512MB PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD in a Apricorn external housing for backups
LITE-ON Black 20X SATA DVD Burner
My old Antec case
WinXP Home

This computer replaced my 5 year old P4 2.8GHz based system that was used mostly for photo editing until the motherboard died. Performance difference between the 2 computers is unreal. I thought my old computer handled photo editing well, but this new one just breezes through everything. I plan to replace the E8500 with a Q9650 later on once the prices drop a bit more.

Cricket

[SmokeytheBear]

milkdemcows,
I saw your build list over on the other thread. Last month I built practically the same pc, except I used the Saphire HD4830 vid card. Easy OC to 3.4Ghz with the Q9550. (Of course, the team was a huge help)
System is running great.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by jdeb i meant to put the 512 in there but the good news is that it would work

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127415

here is the 512mb 49.99 after rebate. I was in a hurry, the card looks almost the same as his 1gb sister. Super value for 50 bones, very nice card

[milkdemcows]

Thanks (again) for advice, all. And sorry about the cross-post!
One thing I haven't added yet was a separate CPU cooler--I'm gathering the stock ones with the chip aren't that great?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by milkdemcows Thanks (again) for advice, all. And sorry about the cross-post! One thing I haven't added yet was a separate CPU cooler--I'm gathering the stock ones with the chip aren't that great?

They work fine and they will keep you within warranty for three years. If you plan on doing heavy overclocking, then you might consider getting a different one but other than that, they are solid. I play around with overclocking (for fun) but I do it more to see what all the hype is about and frankly, I don't get it really...due to the fact I am not a big gamer.