Photo/video editing + web browsing build

UPDATE: Check my last post at bottom for a spec list

Time for a new system. I'll be using this computer for photo editing, some video editing, and surfing the web (watching movies, videos, and all the other stuff the web is good for). I won't be doing any gaming on this machine. I have a ps3 for that stuff. Actually, if I do any gaming it will be some old school counter strike.

I want to keep this build around the $500 mark(excluding monitor and operating system). I've been out of the computer building game for a while now, so I'm not sure which route to take. Intel v. AMd etc...

I'm currently using an old PowerPC mac with less than a ghz processor. Needless to say, editing photos is a nightmare with this machine. Not to mention trying to load and watch videos online.

So throw out some suggestions for me. Any and all are welcome.

Thanks.

This build's a little over budget, but it's kind of hard to put together something decent for less than $500.

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115132 $119.99

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3LR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ep45-ud3lr $104.99

GIGABYTE GV-R455D3-512I Radeon HD 4550 512MB 64-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125250 $57.99

G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231219 $44.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139008 $59.99 - $10.00 MIR

WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Hard Drive
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] t=celebros $49.99

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-thre [...] 06549.html $61.65

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136152 $24.99

Total - $524.58 - $10 MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115052

Processor link... It's the same as shortstuff mentioned above.

^ Actually that depends on if OP is willing to OC or not.

Yeah, if he is going to OC then no, stay away from Dell etc etc

I don't really look at Dell or HP these days so i am not sure the value you can get at 500.

Another question is what about the OS? Gonna have to add 100+ for an OS unless he already has that taken care of. (I could be nice enough and supply a Vista Business 32-bit key that can upgrade to 64-bit but i would have to think about that lol)

^ If you have it why NOT use it? It's still a great OS.

Should I look to buy this stuff now? Or will prices drop soon? Or have prices already dropped for things like the mobo, CPU, gfx, etc....

Prices for CPU/motherboard won't drop much till March/April/May.

Oh, looks like i left a hard drive out, you can get a 500gb hard drive for 60 bucks. There are a lot of ways to go. AMD would save ya money as well

Actually, prices are slightly up from the Xmas season specials. Internet deals were great for some specific items if you wanted them.
For the system I listed, only about $10 up from the best prior deals. The extension on the 20% psu deal has really helped.
PC Power & Cooling really makes good stuff.
Don't expect much of a change until:
1. AMD releases Phenom II, when Intel will drop cpu prices a few $$$.
2. Intel releases it's new socket processors with integrated gpus (got a while for this yet).
3. The U.S. economy really goes into the dumpster, which right now is only predicted as a 10% or so down market. Timing??? Who knows.

Don't pick nits, be useful. I stand by my post.

Bringing my old thread back from the dead....

I never built that system I was planning on building.

New job, new goals but still building this system to do the same stuff....

I have some questions we'll get to later, but here's what I'm thinking now.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1-3 weeks from now

BUDGET RANGE: trying to keep it around $500 - 750 range

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, case, will be using a copy of XP for now

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg for the most part

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not today. Maybe in the future

MOBO:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $114.99 with $20 MIR

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail $219.99

RAM:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail $54.99

HD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM $94.99

GFX CARD:
MSI R4670-2D512/D3 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $54.99 with $20 MIR

PSU:
SILVERSTONE ST60F 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $99.99 with $20 MIR


Anything I'm missing? I think I have the essentials. Now onto my questions.

First; where can I save money?

I know I don't need a 1TB hard drive right now, so I will probably down size that to like a 640mb or so. That should save a couple dollars. I suppose I can go even cheaper on the GFX card since I don't do gaming, but that's reallly not expensive so I may just stay in that ballpark. I'm not too sure about the PSU. I know that's one place you don't what to go cheap, but I'd like to spend less than $100 on a power supply. I do want a modular unit though. I think it's a great idea, and I want to jump on that bandwagon.

As for the RAM, I figure 4 gb is a good starting point. I know XP won't use it all, so I'm considering just using 1 stick until I upgrade to windows 7 sometime down the road.

Motherboard: Again, don't know much about it, but people seem to suggest it a lot and it gets good reviews. Seems like a good price too. Any others I should consider?

CPU: Here's a major issue. I can get the i7 920 for $199.99 at micro center, but after taxes it comes to $223.99. Basically the same price as this Q9550. On all these various charts I've been looking at they seem to be around the same, performance wise, with applications I plan on using. If I go the i7 route, wouldn't I need one of those x58 boards and ddr3 ram? That's a lot more money. Doesn't seem worth it for minimal performance increase. So I think I should stay with the Q9550, right?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully respond with some insight.