Image editing Core i5 build, $900ish. Suggestions please

[bcheely]

Thank you in advance for any assistance that you guys can provide!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: March
BUDGET RANGE: $900 or so

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Image editing/photoshop, web and email. No time for gaming!

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg or wherever

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm planning on using an Intel Core i5-750, other than that, no preferences.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200


This is what I have in my newegg shopping cart for now....like I said, I'm open to suggestions or changes. I like the idea of the SSD for a boot drive and for some of the main programs. I'll mostly be doing image editing (RAW and JPG). Other than that it will be web and email. I have a bunch of external USB drives that I use for backing up images so I don't need a huge internal HD. 500GB to 750GB will be fine.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail
----Also looking at the UD3 model (I think that's it....$40 cheaper and it looks like the only thing that's missing is Firewire, which I don't really need)

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 - Retail

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ... - Retail

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ... - Retail

 

[EXT64]

Pretty good overall. I'd try switching the PSU to a Corsair, Seasonic, Antec, or at least OCZ.

If not OCing, the max memory speed for an i5 is 1333MHz (having faster ram doesn't hurt, you just won't be running at full speed (as I do as you can see in my sig))

The only major benefit the UD4P adds over the UD3 is the ability to split the graphics lanes into 8x/8x from the stock 16x. The UD3 cannot do this, but if you are not crossfiring/SLIing, this is a non-issue.

 

[cadder]

1. You could buy a less expensive video card if you aren't gaming.
2. 40GB may or may not be enough for your boot drive and apps.
3. I have had good luck with the Gigabyte UD3R motherboards.

 

[bcheely]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm redoing the combo a bit and going for the Gigabyte UD3 motherboard (I like the USB 3.0 support). I also swapped down to a Radeon 4670 based on some more reading.

RAM is now:G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT

And I also swapped cases/PSU based on EXT's recommendation:
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I think I'll be OK with a Win7 install along with Photoshop, Office and one or two other apps on the SSD, right? Everything else can live on the regular HD.

 

[bcheely]

One more question about Windows 7....I have a valid copy of WinXP....can I buy the upgrade version of Win7 and use that? Do I have to install WinXP on the drive first? Or does it just ask for the product key from XP?

 

[cadder]

I have Win7-32bit installed, along with an older version of office, Photoshop elements, some other apps, and my C: reports 22GB used.

If you have WinXP then you can buy the upgrade version of Win7. You cannot install WinXP and then do an upgrade install from XP to 7, but there are several ways to install 7. You can search the net and find different ways to do it. That's what I did- I have a valid copy of XP and I installed 7 from scratch.