High perfomance system for Adobe CS4 Master Collection

[JLittle2]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: As soon as possible.

BUDGET RANGE: $2000 / After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: This system is primarily for Adobe CS4, Video, Photo, Dreamweaver, Light CAD,

PARTS REQUIRED: I need a complete system, Case, Intel I7 quad core motherboard (with on board sound), cpu and cooler/fan, memory 12GB, case fans (if not supplied with case), fan speed controls (if necessary), power supply, RAID disks, dvd player/burner, OS (Win7 Ultimate?), Curious about virtualization for Ubuntu(LAMP)/Win setup.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com, Anywhere with good deals/good customer service.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Asus MB, Intel I7 920. Flexible here but want high performance for Adobe CS4 Master Collection.

OVERCLOCKING: I've never overclocked a system, but I'd like to have overclocking as an option.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: I do not think this is important b/c I am not a gamer.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200. 21 to 24 inch (prefer 23 or 24 inch)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: My current system is all old technology ide drives, pci boards. I'm mentioning this because I have no experience with PCIe, RAID, SATA, etc, any warnings are appreciated. I've configured the following components based on a discussion tread "System for editing HD in Adobe Premere" on this forum. Specialk90 was very helpful in providing input for this system. I just want to make sure I'm correctly interpreting his specifications, particularly related to getting a RAID setup. SpecialK90 has a wishlist system on newegg but most of the components are no longer available. I only plan to create DVD quality video rather than HD.

1 Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819115202 $288.99

2 LG 22X Super Multi DVD Writer Black SATA Model GH22NS40R
Item #:N82E16827136171 $79.98

1 CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139009 $139.99

2 Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822136322 $399.98

1 ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard (I would get the SE but it is out of stock)
Item #:N82E16813131365 $289.99

1 Antec Nine Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
Item #:N82E16811129021 $99.99

2 Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822136313 $319.98

1 GeIL EVO ONE 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10660) Desktop Memory
Item #: N82E16820144349 $356.98

Total: Around $2,000.

 

[specialk90]

Thank you very much for the kind words.

Since I last made those newegg wishlists, things have changed and I have upgraded my PC to i7.

I upgraded my 4 Raptors in Raid for the OS to a single Intel X25 80GB SSD, and WOW! This little SSD makes those Raptors feel 10yrs old. Don't worry about the space available as I have CS4 Production, Cinema 4D 11.5 (3D app), Nuke 5 (3D Compositing app) installed with 36-38GB free on Win 7 Ultimate x64. I highly recommend an Intel X25 G2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023 --This includes an adapter to fit the 2.5" in a 3.5" slot.

I am assuming you had the Velociraptors listed for the OS so a single SSD costs less. I recommend Intel SSDs because they automatically defrag themselves which keeps performance as close to 100% as possible, and I trust Intel for quality and stability. I forgot to mention that booting up is done once you see your desktop and Photoshop opens in just under 2 seconds.

Because you will have 12GB of ram, Windows will set a 12GB Page File. If you have a spare drive, just tell windows to place it there because you don't want it on the SSD due to fragmenting.

The WD RE3 1TB drives are not necessarily needed so you can save yourself money and get either the WD Blacks or Seagate 7200.12. The 7200.12s have a far higher read and write throughput which is why I have 8 of them in my PC. I am not going to get in a debate about WD vs Seagate vs Samsung or Hitachi - everyone has a personal preference. I have used over 20 Seagates in the last 3yrs with Zero dead while I have used 8 Raptors in the last 2yrs with 2 dead.

I have the ASUS P6T which is a step above the SE. For video production, I didn't see anything better in the Deluxe V2 vs the P6T. I didn't want the SE because it uses inferior capacitors (better capacitors help prolong the board's life).

I am using the OCZ Obsidian 1600. I just checked newegg and their ram prices have jumped 25% since August. I decided to make a wishlist for you and included the same Geil EVO ONE ram but used their 3x2GB kits since its cheaper.

I like Antec cases but their P183 is much quieter than the 900 but also costs a bit more. It comes down to personal preference on how quiet the PC needs to be. However, the 7200.12 drives are very quiet so if the fan speed on the front fans are adjustable, then it might not matter.

I don't see a video card so I included an XFX 9800GT ($110). For Adobe and Premiere, I prefer Nvidia due to CUDA. Nvidia and Adobe have been working together to speed up Premiere using the video card's GPU. I saw a video recently showcasing Premiere and an nvidia card and what they were able to do was just amazing. I assume the Premiere version is CS5 since this spring is the next update in their 18month cycle.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=13014086

$1806 total with Win 7 Pro x64. There is at least 1 Combo for the P6T + i7 for $15 off and there might be other combos (check Win 7 + the Seagate 7200.12)

I also added the Noctua cpu cooler as it is the best and gives you the option for overclocking later on. I would get it now because you have to install a support plate on the back of the motherboard and its a pain removing everything later on in order to install it. I don't know for certain if that Noctua fits in the Antec 900 so double check that. (I think it should)

And I added Arctic Thermal compound for between the cpu and cooler.

If you live near a Microcenter, they have the i7 920 for $200.

 

[shadowduck]

As specialk said get rid of the Raptors- complete waste of money. SSD is a better choice.

Put in as much RAM as you can. Photoshop especially loves RAM. 12GB is a good start though.

Great choice on the PSU. Top brand, highly rated unit.

 

[JLittle2]

Thanks for the updates to your earlier post. The solid state disks sound great.

I appreciate the wish list but something is wrong with the link and it will not open, but I think I got all the components figured out.

Is any of your work posted online? It would be interesting to see what you are working on. You are so detailed on your system knowledge (down to capacitor quality) I imagine your work reflects the same detail.

I really do appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge. A lot of information on the web is geared to gaming. Your posts got me on the right track for video/photo processing. I'd become somewhat of a ATI/AMD bigot now I'm an nVidia fan.

 

[JLittle2]

This wish list link fixed:
wish list

 

[1898]

Looks good.
Personally, I'd get this RAM(CL7), this HDD, this PSU and this heatsink.
The reason being, the RAM is not only faster but also cheaper. Same goes for the hard disk. The 850W PSU is totally overkill, I think even my recommendation might be overkill but a reasonable overkill. The heatsink is unbeatable when it comes down to price-performance ratio. The Noctua might cool 2-3 degrees lower but that doesn't justify the price.
All in all you'd probably save $100 for the same/better performance.

Nonetheless, the current system looks good but there's room for improvement.
Additionally, if you were into gaming I would swap the graphics card with a HD 5750 but that doesn't seem to be the case, so the 9800 should be good enough.

 

[specialk90]

The 850w PSU is a bit much for this current system. I have a PC Power & Cooling 750w with an i7 920, 12GB ram, 8 internal drives, 2 Raid controllers, 8800GT but before the i7 and Intel SSD, I had a Q6600 and 6 more Raptors.

The ram is fine and you want at least 1333 so you can overclock later on. A fellow videographer on dvinfo.net has his i7 920 at 3.6GHz with full load temps at 71-72 C using the Noctua. I originally had a Zalman 9500 and my full load temps were 68-70 C at stock clock. The i7 is a hot processor and it requires some serious cooling. And from what I have read, the Noctua is one of the best, if not the best cooler for air cooling.

 

[1898]

My watt estimation was based on the wish list where 550W will be more than enough.
As you can see, the RAM I suggested is a PC3 10666 and has a lower latency, thus being faster.
I agree, the Noctua is great but frankly, not worth the money. Here's a good comparison between both and the difference is 2 °C.

 

[vznoobie12]

I can personally vouch for the hyper 212+. It's on my i5 and does extremely well for it's price.

But what I really wanted to recommend is getting the antec 902 over the original 900. I can't readily recall the small benefits the 902 has over the 900, but the big one would be adequate cable management, which the 900 completely lacks. Just a small suggestion for you're going to stick to the 900.