$1000 Photo and Video Editing, Software Dev PC

[jls_online]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:
Within a month

BUDGET RANGE:
$1000 before rebates. I could reluctantly stretch to $1200

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:
Regular raw photo editing with Lightroom and Photoshop CS4
Regular software development with Visual Studio 2008 and Eclipse
Minimal video editing with Adobe Premiere. Probably 3 times a year, with consumer camcorder. I just need the system to be usable enough.


PARTS NOT REQUIRED:
Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
Newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
USA

PARTS PREFERENCES:
Intel CPU

OVERCLOCKING:
No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE:
No

MONITOR RESOLUTION:
Have one already. Currently set at 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Thanks in advance. I built my first system about 7 years ago, crashed last year, and been using laptop (vista, AMD64 AthlonX2, 1 Gig RAM) with an external monitor.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Intel Core i5 Lynnfield Central Processing Unit

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB

Corsair 550watt Power Supply Unit

Not really sure whats the best motherboard and ram to get, some else will take over.

 

[jls_online]

Cool, thanks. I guess I'm getting 2 of those hard drives. I like my OS and data on separate drives.

 

[1898]

■Xigmatek MIDGARD
■ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58
■Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield
■ASUS EN9500GT/DI/1GD2/V2/A GeForce 9500 GT
■G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
■SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3
■Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model
■CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX

$992.92
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12410812


I chose the Xigmatek because I like the design, however, Antec Three Hundred or COOLER MASTER RC-690 will do fine as well.
Decent motherboard.
Socket 1336, more power (Arrh, Arrh, Arrh!) and supports triple channel.
El Cheapo video card but you don't need more.
G.SKILL, good price/performance ratio.
F3 = teh w1n
DVD Burner, do you actually need one?
450W should be enough.

 

[WhyFi]

Also keep in mind that more and more Adobe products are using compatible graphics cards for accelerated rendering - zooming/panning/etc - and that the utilization of these resources will only increase. If you're going to be stitching large images together, this can really improve the feel of your overall workflow, specially zoomed in 1:1, looking for blemishes, sensor dust, etc.

 

[1898]

Certainly, but all those gimmicks don't really tax the graphic card that much. As long as it supports Shader 3.0 and OpenCL 2.0 it should be running smoothly.

 

[jls_online]

Yeah, it's more like the CPU that does the most work, right? Including in Lightroom when it applies changes to a photo.

Anyway, I think I'm placing the order tonight, for next weekend project. My laptop has been testing my patience too much.

Thank you so much for the suggestions.

 

[WhyFi]

The CPU does all of the final calculations at this point, but a GPU handling the "gimmicks" makes for a much less tedious experience if you're busy with your post processing for hours at a time.

Side note - have you downloaded the LR3 beta?

 

[jls_online]

I see. I don't use Lightroom heavily, mostly just adjusting the white balance and sharpness, so I should be good.

I haven't downloaded the beta, though I'm curious with the upgraded noise reduction because I've been holding off getting Noise Ninja.

 

[jls_online]

■G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

Are you suggesting that should install 64-bit OS? Because 32-bit only supports up to 4 gig of RAM, right?

 

[1898]

Absolutely! Totally forgot to mention that.