How does this computer set up look?

[computerclueless]

First of all, I don't know anything at all about building a computer and parts needed. I have someone putting this all together for me and I'm just supposed to trust that what he is doing is right. I was hoping someone can look at these parts that I'm about to purchase and tell me how it all looks. There seems to be a lot of people here that know A LOT about computers.
First, this is a computer that I use for my business. I do a lot of graphic design and work in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I also run a software program that lets me access all the products available in the promotional products industry, QuickBooks, and Outlook for my email. Most of the time I have all of these running at the same time and my current computer is always crashing...ALWAYS. I need something that is going to allow me to run everything at the same time and still run fast. I'm also worried that the video card he picked out is going to give me crappy graphics. What do all of you think. (I hope this all makes sense.)

ASUS M4A79 Deluxe AM3/AM2 /AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4 GHx 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor

Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240 Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0GB/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0GB/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Sapphire 100295HDMI Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Crossfire Supported Video Card

LG Black 8x BD-R 2x BD-RE 16x DVD R 5x DVD-RAM 6x BD-ROM 2MB Cache 8x Blu-ray Burner

Sony Black 18x DVD-ROM 48x CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive

AFT XM5U All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader

Sunbeam Freezing-Storm IC-FS-US-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

(Sorry this is so long. I have no idea what info is vital so I just gave it all to you.)
HELP PLEASE!!

 

[hunter315]

That build has you spending way to much on stuff you dont need since you arent going to be gaming. Head over to the homebuilt forum and post using the format in this template
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

Your build can be made significantly cheaper without affecting the performance, particularly, the 790FX board, and the 965 are not a good choice, a 785G board and a 955 would be significantly cheaper and not affect your usage.

 

[welshmousepk]

if you do graphic design, id say spring for a slighlty more powerful GPU. the cou is prpobably overkill though.

a 955 or even just a 720 (tri-core) would probably do the job.

you have a specific need for the blu ray drive? if you plan on watching blu-ray movies on it, faiur enough. other than that its kinda pointless.

what hunter said about the mobo is probably true too, but id say get a cheaper mobo/proc combo and put the saved dough toward a better gpu (5770 maybe?)

 

[ubernoobie]

core i5 @ microcenter for $150, it's a good alt for amd phenom II but finding mobos could be hard

 

[jerreece]

core i5 @ microcenter for $150, it's a good alt for amd phenom II but finding mobos could be hard

If one was to go AMD 955 or 965, you might as well do the Core i5-750, coupled with a decent P55 Micro-ATX motherboard. Since you're not doing gaming stuff, Micro-ATX with a single modern GPU should be good enough and could save you some cash. Now, if we were talking about rendering and 3D modeling and such, I might suggest going i7-860 simply for the Hyperthreading ability. But general graphic editing should be fine with a non-HT quad core.

Realistically, if you're just doing photo editing type stuff, you don't need anything that fast or higher end.

Depending on which way we go with this, the 450W power supply may not be enough if we start looking at any video/graphic cards better than the ATI 4670 you have listed.

By the way: Why the 320GB hard drive? Many times you can get much larger hard drives for similar money. (Western Digital is a great brand choice though!)

 

[computerclueless]

Thanks for all the good advice. Looks like I have a full night of research ahead of me.

How do you think Cyber Monday deals will compare to Black Friday deals?

Oh, and Jerreece, my IT guy explained it like this to me: The 320GB hard drive is a smaller hard drive but a lot faster. I would be running Illustrator and Photoshop and some of the larger programs on this hard drive. The other hard drive is larger (1.5TB) and would be used for storage of all of my files.

My problem with the current computer I use right now is that, for example, when I'm designing a brochure or report that has a bunch of large pictures, the computer runs really slow, locks up, and gives me error messages that I don't have enough memory. I currently have a Dell Vostro (yeah I know, funny huh.)

 

[Shadow703793]

The 320GB hard drive is a smaller hard drive but a lot faster. I would be running Illustrator and Photoshop and some of the larger programs on this hard drive. The other hard drive is larger (1.5TB) and would be used for storage of all of my files.

That is true (The WD Greens run at 5900 rpm IIRC?). Imo, I would not pick either one. I'd go with 1x 500GB Samsung F3, and 1x 1TB Samsung F3. Or 1x WD Black 640GB and 1x F3. The F3s are some of the faster HDDs out currently.

@OP: List max budget.

 

[Shadow703793]

One more thing: DDR2 is DEAD/DYING. Get DDR3 RAM and compatible motherboard. Right now, DDR3 2*2GB is the same as DDR2 prices. Expect DDR2 RAM prices to increase as manufactures stop producing it and stocks run low.

 

[computerclueless]

BUDGET: I'm just trying to keep it under $1500 if possible. But I will pay what I have to pay to get a machine that doesn't lock up and run slow. If you tell me that it will cost $3500 to build something that can run graphic design programs, then so be it. I will pay it. My sanity is worth that amount. Lol.

 

[Shadow703793]

Well for $1500 you can build a kick @ss i7 build.

Here's a common build for your needs:

i7 920

ASUS P6T SE

3*2GB DDR3 1600 from OCZ, Corsair,etc.

1x 500GB Samsung F3 for OS (Alternatively you can get a Intel X25-M G2 80GB SSD if read/write speed matters to you)

1x 1TB Samsung F3 for storage

Antec 900, HAF 922, HAF 932, Antec P183

Corsair 650TX or 750TX or other 600W+ good quality PSU

ATI 4750 or 4670 or GTS 250

That should be about $1100 or so.

 

[computerclueless]

Thanks for the help!

Someone had asked about the blu-ray burner. ...That was my husband's contribution.

Does Cyber Monday usually compare to Black Friday in deals??

 

[Shadow703793]

Does Cyber Monday usually compare to Black Friday in deals??

Imo, the Black Friday deals this year were cr@p. The only good deal was on the X25-M G2 for $220 @ Newegg. And some good case deals on the HAF 932,etc.

As for Cyber Monday, I have no idea.