New photo editing build

miamihoosier

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Dec 31, 2008
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18,510
Trying to build a PC for using Photoshop and storing a large amount of pictures.

Thanks for any help! $1,300 total build below...

1 COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower
Computer Case - Retail $49.99

1 Rosewill Stallion Series RD600N-2DB-SL-BK 600W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.2 / SSI standard EPS 12V
SLI Ready Active PFC Active PFC Power Supply - SLI Ready - Retail $69.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $119.99

1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
$189.99

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate $64.99 $54.99

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM $99.99

1 VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $179.99

1 LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM $22.99

1 Open Box: SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q
$17.03

2 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A35155) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $219.98 ($109.99 each)

1 SAMSUNG 2232BW+ Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $239.99

1 Creative Inspire 245 4 Watts 2.0 Speaker - Retail $19.99

1 Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard and Mouse - OEM $21.99

1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $5.99

1 ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail $45.99
 

Noya

Distinguished
Jan 8, 2006
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Go for 8gb of RAM (depending on the megapixel size).

A 4850 is overkill for a photo editing PC.

Are you going to RAID 0 those hard disks? Might want to add another drive for photo saving...

An open-box DVD burner? I don't think so.

If you're not overclocking the stock cooler is fine.


We need more details on usage? Are you gaming also?
 
Try these 4850s

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770
SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $159.99
($144.99 after $15.00 Mail-In
Rebate )

or

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
ASUS top overclock at 680Mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272

or

(Extra 512 will be very useful for high resolutions and am sure ur 22" monitor will like it )
SAPPHIRE 100258-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $161.99
($151.99 after $10.00 Mail-In
Rebate )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102802

And so mayb saving a few dollars wit the gfx u can put those to get a better powersupply...mayb any 1 frm these...

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $99.99
($79.99 after $20.00 Mail-In
Rebate )
Best Power Supply Manufacturer 2008 by Custom PC’s readers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

or

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3 / SSI Standard EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171023

or

PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $104.99
($69.99 after $35.00 Mail-In
Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

or

SILVERSTONE ST60F 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $109.99
($79.99 after $30.00 Mail-In
Rebate )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163109

The corsair is the top of the lot....even u can go wit the coolermaster real power...

 

miamihoosier

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2008
7
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No gaming. Just basic family internet access on this one along with Photo business.

Good idea on 8 Gb of Ram. How do you know you have "enough" for photo editing (10-22 Mb pictures)? What is the max that Vista 64 can use? What is the max that Photoshop can use?

I was going to order the open-box DVD because New Egg was out of stock of new one's. They're cheap enough to not cause a major problem if it's trash!

Thanks.
 

eatboulders

Distinguished
Dec 21, 2008
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18,510
I hate to say it on a PC site, but I just like Photoshop better on a Mac :( ...I couldn't really tell you why, and I'm not saying PC's are bad for running the program, they're great, but I just like the way Mac OS run's photoshop. It's a personal preference and a total opinion, plenty of pro's run Photoshop on PC's and plenty run it on Mac's. Check both options out...if you were gaming as well I'd obviously instantly rule out the Mac.

Now, first things first, I would personally swap out those drives for some smaller ones. If you're running photoshop and working with a lot of photos the first thing you do is invest in external drives. I'd drop it down to dual 500 GB HDD's in a Raid 1 in your case, maybe Raid 0. It's all about backup.

Next check out your external options, THESE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHATS IN YOUR PC, and I don't mean buying an external drive. Research around and find the best cases you can find for your price point and build your own. You'll get a much better quality product for the price. As soon as money allows I'll be upgrading my external setup but right now I'm running a jerry-rigged setup (you don't wanna even know). Drobo's are nice from the research I've done and the owners I've talked to, they take out the hassle of Raid setups and can hold up to 4 drives. Unfortunately Drobo's cost $500 and come empty...above your budget right now. Netgear makes some very nice cases as well that are cheaper, the ReadyNAS series. The ReadyNAS Duo runs in at $400 with one 500GB HDD already installed. Just buy another 500 GB internal drive and pop it in yourself to the hot-swappable tray and bingo you've got yourself a NAS storage setup in a quality case that monitors your temps and keeps your drives from overheating with automatic shutoffs. There are some higher end companies out there that make top notch dual drive (and much larger) external enclosures with large cooling fans and heat sensors that will automatically adjust fan flow rates, and can emergency shutoff your case and drives before they overheat if something malfunctions. It's not a question of if a HDD will fail, but when. And backup and data storage is your most important concern with photo editing.

It really depends how seriously your photo editing is, and how much data you'll be storing. But in the end I will always go smaller HDD's in the actual computer, and multiple backup drives. 300-500 GB drives (2) in the tower, and 500-1000 GB drives (2 or 4) in your external cases. How much data are you planning on accumulating? How serious is your photography? Is it your profession or soon to be? If you're just shooting as an avid hobbyist then you'll need less in your external setup. If you're looking at making this a soon to be job, then archiving becomes one of the most important aspects of your workflow and you need to consider some more serious external storage options. I'm sure there are much more experienced photoshoppers on here that can give some better advice on external HDD setups and digital archival, but that's just a starting point. Let us know what kind of work you're doing.

P.S. forgot to mention but I'm against the Samsung monitors for photo editing, they may be great for gaming but their contrast ratios are way too high and harsh to your photos. Far too overly saturated. Also the 2ms refresh is total overkill as you're working in a static environment (is that the right word?). If you were working with video maybe then you would need the 2ms but for photos it adds no benefit. If you're on a budget, Dell monitors actually come highly recommended for the photog on a budget. Definitely check them out as your #1 choice. You want to steer clear of glossy/glassy finished monitors as well as they detract from your photos and make it hard to work around (the Samsungs are like this). If you've got some more money to spend...well NEC, LaCie, and Eizo, make some really sexy monitors for photo work...but those will cost you as much as your PC build price.
 

miamihoosier

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Dec 31, 2008
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P.S. forgot to mention but I'm against the Samsung monitors for photo editing, they may be great for gaming but their contrast ratios are way too high and harsh to your photos. Far too overly saturated. Also the 2ms refresh is total overkill as you're working in a static environment (is that the right word?). If you were working with video maybe then you would need the 2ms but for photos it adds no benefit. If you're on a budget, Dell monitors actually come highly recommended for the photog on a budget. Definitely check them out as your #1 choice. You want to steer clear of glossy/glassy finished monitors as well as they detract from your photos and make it hard to work around (the Samsungs are like this). If you've got some more money to spend...well NEC, LaCie, and Eizo, make some really sexy monitors for photo work...but those will cost you as much as your PC build price.[/quotemsg]

Thanks for your input! Any specific Dell monitor in the $250-$350 price range that you like?