4 photoshop and video edit

[WesC]

I have been a reader of the forums but havn't had a question till now so I registered.
Thanks in advance for any help.

I am looking to replace my HP Pavilion m8120n with a new desktop. I would like to keep it around $1100. I found a site that will build it for me... seems like a good price.

The problem is I am clueless as to which is good on this list.
Could someone please help me configure a machine?
I know I want at least 8gb (dual channel) or 9 gb (triple) ram ... as my photoshop documents get pretty stinking huge.

here is the link
http://www.ewiz.com/system_conf.php?...&preid=87&c=CJ

[NewAtthis]

What are you gonna use the computer for. Gaming, Web browsing. Would help to know what the PC is gonna be used for to help configure a parts list.

[WesC]

4 photoshop and video editting

[Khalil]

OK welcome to pcmech, here goes.

Asrock motherboards are refuse, what you need is a solid reliable motherboard if you are serious about using Photoshop and video editing so buy an Asus.
The X58 chipset is not recommended, you are better going with the i5 P55 platform.
Super Talent is about the worst memory on the market, so bad that some of the larger retailers like newegg dumped them. You need Crucial or Kingston for your application.

I would not buy from SuperBiiz.com, buy from newegg.com and save yourself a hassle.

If you give us a budget we can recommend the right parts list to fit your application and budget.

[pam123]

Nothing swallows hard drive space like a lot of video files
I would recommend two hard drives, one for your video work and one for everything else.
So that's a 500 GB 'C' drive, Win7 64 bit for the OS and other programs, and a 1 TB for the video :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136294

For the video : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

both drives come with 5 year warranties.

You're correct about needing as much ram as the budget allows just make sure it comes from motherboard's qualified vendor list.

DVD burner : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106335

Your monitor will be tricky as color accuracy will be more important for you than for an average user.

I'm listing this NEC monitor as a suggestion because NEC usually gets good reviews for color accuracy : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824002498

but your best bet would be to go over to Tom's Hardware and check out their monitor reviews : http://www.tomsguide.com/us/review/C...nd-Monitors,9/

That way you can decide if stretching the budget a bit is worth it to you.

A quad core is a good buy for a video editing machine so if you want to go Intel this would be a good budget quad core with a future : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115207
I would take Kahlil's advice for the motherboard.

The video card can be one of the new low end ATI 5XXX series cards (If you don't game.) like this one : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102871

The case is a matter of personal taste but the psu is another matter.
When you've decided on your parts go here and use the this : http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

[WesC]

"The X58 chipset is not recommended, you are better going with the i5 P55 platform."
May I ask why? I thought i7 was faster etc. ?


"If you give us a budget we can recommend the right parts list to fit your application and budget."
around $1100

[WesC]

pam123, I have a great monitor and plenty of firewire external drives for video storage.

I will mostly use this machine for photoshop. I two page wedding book spreads with very large photo files. Its not the odd to have one file that is 600 mb.

[glc]

You can put an i7-860 into a P55. The only difference between a quad core i5 and an i7 is the i7 is also hyperthreaded.

[WesC]

ok this is what I have come up with....

I already own... power supply and video card

and am going to buy
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $70

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop $110 each buying two sets

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $130

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor $280

LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support - Bulk $149

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $104

total $1,118.91

Am I getting the best bang for the buck? Anything you would get instead?
Everythign compatible? Would I be better off with a Dell for the money?
Assuming I have nothing other than whats on this list... I need sata cables? anything else?

thanks in advance

[pam123]

Originally Posted by WesC pam123, I have a great monitor and plenty of firewire external drives for video storage. I will mostly use this machine for photoshop. I two page wedding book spreads with very large photo files. Its not the odd to have one file that is 600 mb.

You may need a fire-wire card for the drives but that sounds OK.
A few extra SATA cables are always a good idea ( Having run short at an inconvenient moment I make it a point to have a few around these days. Best Buy charges "company store" prices for them. So yeah, I learned that one the expensive way. ).

If you do enough work to make a Blu-ray burner a good idea then, by all means, go for one.

Nice ram

It looks like you've gone to some effort to "future proof" your build.

What monitor are you using?

[glc]

You should have 3 hard drives for Photoshop. One for OS and apps, one for data, and one for a scratch drive. The 500gb Black is good for the OS drive, I'd recommend a Green for data and either a Green or a Blue for a scratch drive.

The motherboard comes with at least 2 SATA data cables, it may come with 4.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by WesC ok this is what I have come up with.... I already own... power supply and video card and am going to buy Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $99 Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $70 CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop $110 each buying two sets ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $130 Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor $280 LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support - Bulk $149 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $104 total $1,118.91 Am I getting the best bang for the buck? Anything you would get instead? Everythign compatible? Would I be better off with a Dell for the money? Assuming I have nothing other than whats on this list... I need sata cables? anything else? thanks in advance

The parts you picked look good only thing I would add is this video card

Windows 7 is sluggish with onboard video, a DX11 video card will make it work to it's potential.

[WesC]

Khalil, is the video card I have good or are you telling me no, get that one
I have this one

glc, I usually partition my main drive and use half (none OS part) as scratch drive
in this 500gb drive probalby split it 245ish for C and 200ish for scratch drive
and will have a second internal for working files etc
Or are you saying its better to have seperate drives... and do I need 500gb drive for scratch?

[WesC]

Originally Posted by pam123 You may need a fire-wire card for the drives but that sounds OK. A few extra SATA cables are always a good idea ( Having run short at an inconvenient moment I make it a point to have a few around these days. Best Buy charges "company store" prices for them. So yeah, I learned that one the expensive way. ). If you do enough work to make a Blu-ray burner a good idea then, by all means, go for one. Nice ram It looks like you've gone to some effort to "future proof" your build. What monitor are you using?

I have a Dell UltraSharp 19" 1900FP (which I bought in 2004ish paid a mint for it but love it)
and a Dell 17" for my second monitor that I keep my photoshop tools etc on
both are managed by Spider 3 Pro calibration

[Khalil]

The 9500GT you own will work just fine.

[glc]

It's better to have separate drives, but what you want to do will work. If you are spending $1100 on a computer, what's another $50 for a dedicated scratch drive?

[WesC]

ordering this week.

My only other question is...
thinking on getting better ram than the one I have listed above
maybe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231303
the second one is $10 more but is cas latency of 7 compared to the first one of 9
but the overview says "Ripjaws Series memory is designed specifically to complement Core i7 processors and the X58 Express Chipset."

Any advice on better ram to buy

[glc]

I'd go with the lower voltage ram. CAS 9 is fine.

[WesC]

Was JUST about to order when i thouhgt I would double check...
do I need anyhting else?
calbes?
heat sink?
fan?
stactic cable?
compound?
screws?

[glc]

Motherboard comes with cables.
Heatsink comes with the CPU.
Case comes with fans.
Static cable is optional.
Compound is already on the heatsink.
Screws come with the case.

[WesC]

I wanted to thank everyone for the help.
The computer has been built and running for a month.
Everything went together smooth with no issues.
Everything is running perfectly.

I ran a benchmark test 3DMark03
and got a score or 114603 ... although I am not sure if that is good or bad.