$600 Budget - Girlfriend's Computer for Adobe Photoshop/ illustrator & indesign

luca26 · May 19, 2016

I am in the process of building a PC for my girlfriend, she's going to be using it for mainly Adobe Photoshop,illustrator and in design, shes just starting out. Looking at a $600 Canadian budget, I already have an 120GB SSD drive for her.

At first I thought you needed a good graphics card for those programs but turns out a strong processor is more important, so if someone can clarify this?

I decided to go with an i5 6600K Skylake and take advantage of the new integrated graphics instead of purchasing a dedicated GPU, save some money.

I didn't put much thought in the case or PSU, planning to just get the best one on sale at the time, im more focused on the CPU,RAM, motherboard, cpu cooler a this time.

Does anyone have any insights and recommend something different?

Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.93 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($56.21 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $594.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 20:24 EDT-0400

Dulith1118 · May 19, 2016

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xswxZL

she doesnt need the option to overclock the cpu so u can save few bucks and get the 6500 and use the stock cooler..
with the remaining money get her a good mouse and keyboard or get a wifi adapter

Hlsgsz · May 19, 2016

For those programs, this is the best you can do for her:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.00 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($83.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $650.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 20:59 EDT-0400

Worth the extra? You bet! (Especially since most of the "extra" is from the PSU i chose. The CXs are bad.)

Morad Tamer · May 19, 2016

Don'y get a keyboard and a mouse with the savings you just made from the cpu
Instead get a mid range graphics card
a GTX 750 ti is great
or if you can afford the extra money
get her a GTX 950 [Maybe as a gift

]

luca26 · May 19, 2016

Dulith1118 :

Ya I was thinking that, but then I leaned to the thought that its always good to have the option of overclocking but I dont really see the point, may just save the $40 right there.

Hlsgsz :

Wouldn't it be better to stick with Skylake because its newer and has a better integrated graphics, also newer chipset and DDR4 ram? Ive never really looked into the Xeon series.
______________________________________________________

Im also trying to avoid the need to buy a GPU at the beginning, she will only be using Adobe & Youtube.

Hlsgsz · May 20, 2016

luca26 :

Dulith1118 :

Ya I was thinking that, but then I leaned to the thought that its always good to have the option of overclocking but I dont really see the point, may just save the $40 right there.

Hlsgsz :

Wouldn't it be better to stick with Skylake because its newer and has a better integrated graphics, also newer chipset and DDR4 ram? Ive never really looked into the Xeon series.
______________________________________________________

Im also trying to avoid the need to buy a GPU at the beginning, she will only be using Adobe & Youtube.

[strike]In principle, ofcourse it's better to get the newer platform and if she were mainly gaming an i5 6500 is what i would recommend. But this Xeon in basically an i7-4770, witch is a different ball games considering her workload.[/strike]
Strike all that. I forgot that this does't have integrated graphics.

Hlsgsz · May 20, 2016

There you go:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($66.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.35 @ Vuugo)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $582.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-20 05:23 EDT-0400

luca26 · May 23, 2016

Took everyone's advice heres the final build I came up with, any advice? I already have an SSD drive which is why I left out the hardrive portion.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($57.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($75.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $478.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-23 19:22 EDT-0400

BadActor · May 23, 2016

This is one of the few instances where I would recommend using AMD over Intel. AMD has an advantage over the i5 for Adobe.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($66.35 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.17 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($198.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: DIYPC Solo-T1-BK ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($43.68 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $657.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-23 21:55 EDT-0400

Bearmann · May 23, 2016

Photoshop is primarily single threaded, so you'll want to stick with an Intel processor with strong single core performance.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/

luca26 · May 23, 2016

I really want to stay away from AMD, ive had far better experiences with intel and feel that they are a far superior brand when it comes to performance.

I forgot to mention this will be mostly for graphic design using illustrator and less photo editing.

bicycle_repair_man · May 24, 2016

Illustrator CC can utilise the power of a GPU, but it's restricted to certain functions and has only been available since the 2014 release. You shouldn't sacrifice the CPU or RAM for the sake of the GPU.

Illustrator also favours a faster clock speed over multiple threads, so an overclocked i5 will offer better performance than a lesser-clocked i7. Unfortunately, your budget doesn't allow for an unlocked i5 with a Z series motherboard and CPU cooler.

You already have an SSD, which is great, but you should use another SSD to separate the OS and programs from your girlfriend's personal files. If the OS goes up the creek, there's no risk of data loss.

This build comes in a little over-budget, but the extra RAM and SSD is worth it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($112.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($75.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ NCIX)
Total: $643.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-24 05:23 EDT-0400

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