Graphic Design PC rebuild

[okdawn]

Hello,

I do Graphic Design (no gaming, no video editing). I am looking into upgrading my desktop because it has become sluggish. I deal with very large files and need more memory. I use PhotoImpact & PhotoShop. Currently my mobo takes DDR 400 and I don't think it's worth putting in such old technology.

I would like some advice on a new motherboard, cpu, video card & memory (4-6 GB) combination that would work well for what I do. I have an Antec 430 watt power supply, so not sure if that needs replacing as well. I don't do overclocking (nor do I really know what it is). Obviously, I want good quality components but I don't want to break the bank either.

This would be my first attempt at rebuilding so any advice will be helpful I'm sure. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[WR2]

Antec Earthwatts 430? You'll want to keep that. It's plenty for you want.
You have a budget in mind? $750 a good target for us to shoot at?

 

[okdawn]

Antec Earthwatts 430? You'll want to keep that. It's plenty for you want.
You have a budget in mind? $750 a good target for us to shoot at?

430 Watt Antec TRUE Quiet Power Supply with Dual Smart Fans

If $750 is what I need to spend, fine.

 

[WR2]

[strike]We[/strike] You can spend less than $750 - I was looking at 8GB of RAM but you can easily knock that back to 4GB and also trim a bit in other parts.
Core i5 750 CPU $200
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard $105
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 $110 x2 $220
WD Caviar Black 640GB HDD $60
ASUS DVD Burner $26
EVGA 210 Cuda $50

And of course a copy of Win7 64bit $100

What style of case would you like?

 

[WR2]

How old is your Antec 430W PSU?

 

[okdawn]

9/2005

 

[okdawn]

I have an aluminum full ATX case from Velocity Micro.
I also have 250 GB Western Digital WD2500JD- OOHBCO, 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache. Do I really need to upgrade that?

So the i5 is good enough for what I want to do? I don't need to go for the i7?

Lastly, wondering if I need to get a better video card. I have a 128MB eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT. Is that comprable to the one you're suggesting?

 

[WR2]

You can recycle the case and your HDD. And there isnt any reason you can't use the Geforce 6600GT either. It's a PCI-e model, correct?
Im thinking a new PSU to replace that 5yr model is probably a good idea.

The question of which CPU...... you earn a living with PhotoImpact & PhotoShop work?
If so..... yeah, maybe a i7 is your better option. If not? i5-750 is a quad core CPU.
What are you using now for a CPU?

 

[okdawn]

AMD Athlon 64 x 2 4200+ Processor with Dual Core Technology, Frequency 2200Mhz

 

[okdawn]

You can recycle the case and your HDD. And there isnt any reason you can't use the Geforce 6600GT either. It's a PCI-e model, correct?Im thinking a new PSU to replace that 5yr model is probably a good idea.

not sure what PCI-e model is. sorry

 

[WR2]

To give you an idea of what you have and where you're going next:
Passmark CPU Benchmark scores:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ = 1180
Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67GHz = 4206 $200
Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz = 5525 $280
Intel Core i7 930 @ 2.80GHz = 5839 $289 (and a more expensive motherboard and a bit extra for 6GB of RAM)

 

[WR2]

The 6600GT might be either an AGP slot or PCI-e slot video card.
What motherboard do you have now?

 

[okdawn]

The 6600GT might be either an AGP slot or PCI-e slot video card.
What motherboard do you have now?

Ok I thought PCI-e was something different than PCI slot. Yes it's a PCI slot.

Asus A8N SLI - NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI MCP, PCI Express Motherboard with DDR

 

[WR2]

Definitely the PCI Express x16 version.

 

[okdawn]

Why do you like the i5 over the AMD Phenom II X4 965? I've read the cooler is junk on the i5 and you have to buy a different one. That's the one thing I'm a little worried about doing myself. Was hoping to have a good heat sink already in place.

 

[WR2]

I actually like the Phenom II X4 965 just fine. It's a great CPU.
Did you read about the junky i5 cooler on an AMD website? It's perfectly fine even for light to medium overclocking.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 = 4326 $186 140W Quad-Core
Core i5 750 @ 2.67GHz = 4206 $200 95W Quad-Core

 

[okdawn]

No several consumer sites, including newegg. People are complaining that both cpus are noisy and run hot but many complaints on i5 heatsink being a plastic piece of junk.

What the hec is overclocking?!

 

[Wamphryi]

The CPU you want to use is the i7. If you are constrained in budget go for the Lynnfield i7 Kit. You would be hard pressed to get any gains out of more than 4 GB RAM. RAM is fine at 800 MHZ as there is little real world gain above 800. The Seagate Barracuda's are fast drives at a good price but I recommend you have them in Mirror RAID. Get an Intel chipset Motherboard. The Graphics card should be a Nvidia GTX 260 which is where the sweet spot is as a far as bang for buck goes.

 

[WR2]

No several consumer sites, including newegg. People are complaining that both cpus are noisy and run hot but many complaints on i5 heatsink being a plastic piece of junk.

Probably everyone who used 'junk' or 'sucks' also used 'overclocking' in the same set of comments?
No doubt they're upset the i5 750 doesnt come with a bigger CPU cooler like the Black Edition X4 965.
But the overclockers also complain about the X4 965 cooler too.

Overclocking is getting the extra performance out of a CPU by pushing it beyond it's default (stock) setting with the help of a motherboards tweaking capabilities (and often with the help of aftermarket cooling to offset the faster, hotter operations).

And then there is Turbo Boost and Threads to talk about.

 

[okdawn]

so are you saying that I will be just fine with any of the coolers that come with the cpus? Since I do not overclock the cpu.

 

[WR2]

Pretty much. For an 'average consumer' each has the right cooler. For enthusiast overclockers? A different story. Both CPUs seem to need an aftermarket cooler to keep the top 10% of customers (the overclocking enthusiasts) happy.

The X4 965 Black Edition has the beefier cooler with the expectation that the "Black Edition" is geared to overclockers. The Black Edition is AMD's way of telling enthusiasts it's CPU core multipliers are unlocked as an aid to overclocking.