video card question

[wisbill]

My dad has asked me to build a system for him, and i am trying to figure out what kind of video card to get. I was thinking about a 4850 but that might be a lot more than he needs. his primary use of the computer will be photo and video editing, and web page design. However he does do a lot of multitasking and have seen him have as many as 20 images opened in Photoshop.
Thanks for any help
Paul

 

[bdollar]

What is the rest of the build?
Budget (if you don't know the rest the build then at least GPU budget)?
Monitor(s) size and resolution?
Does he play any games at all?
How often does he get new systems and/or upgrade (so basically how long do you want to try and make this last without changes)?

 

[Proximon]

Sounds like he might need a workstation GPU, if the budget permits.

 

[wisbill]

thanks for the quick responses

as for the rest of the build i am still working on it but i was thinking:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
4 GB ddr2 800 ram
2x (raid 0) Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
the monitor i have not picked out yet but he wants at least 22 in but i think he is wanting me to find a 24 in
AeroCool HorsePower 750W Modular LED SLI Power Supply (this is possibly way to much overkill)
SABRENT TV Tuner / Video Capture / MPEG Recording PCI Card with Remote Control TV-PCIRC PCI Interface ( i am not sure about this i haven't found a lot of reviews tv tuner/ video capture cards)

this is still ruff because he has not given me a budget yet as he is waiting on some money he should be getting in and i might have to cut back or beable to spring for a little more i am guessing it will be around 1000-2000 because of the last time i bulit him a system.

he gets a new system about every 6 years but updates about every 2 with minor changes like more ram or a faster cpu if hardware allows.
thanks again
Paul

 

[bdollar]

wd 640gb is probably cheaper ($85 each)

power supply is over kill and you want to get a good brand. corsair, pc power and cooling, antec are examples. 500w should be plenty. 4850 is a great card especially for the price and considering he keeps the computers a long time it should last him quite awhile.

p45 is a great board

the cpu is probably more than he needs but it should fit the budget and will be very good as far as lasting awhile.

4gb is good spot for ram. get 1.8v standard.

get 24inch monitor. that will fit in his range and look great. will take advantage of 4850 and help to justify it.

don't know about the tuner

does he already have a case? dvd drive?

 

[Shadow703793]

STOP. Start with a good quality PSU. Get a Corsair or a PC Power & Cooling. (Or even Antec, Thermaltake,OCZ)

Also worth noting is that all upgradability to that rig (CPU wise) will die when Nehalem becomes mainstream.

Unless you plan to OC you can drop down to a lower level motherboard (ie P5Q, P35-DS3R, P45-DS3R)

Imo, any GPU above a 8600GT will work perfectly fine.

Also what OS?

 

[mexpedip]

wait for nehalem.

If he is doing video editing and web site design he should (according to most rumors) benefit from the nehalem chips. According to unnamed and unverified sources the new processors will start at or near $300. Plus the new chip does not use the LGA775 socket. If you get him a LGA775 socket board he might have trouble upgrading in 2+ years.

Sorry to be so vague but I didn't want you to think I was quoting anything from intel etc. It's mostly info form various forums etc. Maybe someone a little more knowledgeable can fill in some of the blanks?

 

[wisbill]

Thanks again for quick response
is the extra 16mb worth of cashe not worth the $10?
ram -mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
5-4-4-12 1.8V
however i have always used Kingston in the past but a guy i met at school said that mushkin is just as good.

no - I will be getting a new case, DVDrw drive, and either a DVD player or a second DVDrw driveI just have not even looked at them as of yet: suggestions are always appreciated!
just to note on this case it will be used in his home bus office and my dad is fairly conservative so lots LEDs will more than likely be a turnoff. That being said he will want something stylish.

 

[megamanx00]

You should reconsider having both hard drives in raid 0. Yeah it's a good performance booth, but you're also doubling your failure rate. Remember if one drive dies, there goes all your info even if the other drive is perfectly fine.

 

[EYE]

I would recommend going for a Phenom, Intel CPU's are great overall and specially for gaming but for video editing AMD is better (that,s what i have read in the TOM's reviews, use the charts).
More important, you can save some money and go for Nahalem in 2+ years.

As for the video card, your father will be better served with a professional video card with a large RAM, read the latest TOM's review on that to make sure

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/FireGL-Quadro-Workstation,1995-6.html

Nvidia Quadro FX 370 -- $150

 

[Proximon]

I don't think 2 months is an unreasonable wait period on this build, given that he only builds every 6 years.

You could look at PSUs and cases and such for now. MB CPU and RAM needs to wait.

 

[wisbill]

Thanks for all the advice I think I can talk him in to waiting and even if the cpu mobo are out of budget they should lead to serious drop in the quad 4 systems. I’ll have to ask him if he wants to give up some upgradeability in exchange for the lower price.
thanks again everyone this has been very helpful for a casual tech who has not built a system in some time I am sure I will be here asking questions again in the future
Paul