Photoshop PC for Dad

X-Nemesis

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Apr 26, 2009
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So he wants to spend around 5-600 for this...but less is better. He doesn't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

I'm thinking an AM3 build and wants it in a small form factor...small tower or mini itx I guess? We're also buying from Newegg.ca so keep that in mind please. Can you guys pop off some builds for me to check out that you think would do him just fine for a photoshop pc. And do you think he'd need a quad or would an x3 or even dual do him just fine? Also no OS is needed.

Much thanks
 

Alvin Smith

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Athlon-II x3 or Phenom-II x3 @~3.0+/-.4 GHz 125W
ANTEC 300 CASE
CORSAIR 440W PSU (80 PLUS) SINGLE RAIL
Nice DDR3 1333 CAS7 2x2GB DUAL CH KIT
ASUS OR GIGABYTE 890 CHIPSET MOBO
EVGA nVidia 220 GTS ~680MB GDDR3
SPINPOINT F3 500GB HDD
SAMSUNG SATA 22X DVDR
 

Alvin Smith

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I am a little surprised that no senior support exists for a discreet nVidia option.

Even if this Dad is (only) an advanced family photog, I would think, that if for no other reason, to give back shared integrated graphics memory ... to give that memory back to the CPU ...

Is it really a myth that ADOBE products, in general, and Photoshop, in particular, are actually looking for an nVidia specific hardware architechture ?? That, all recent CUDA type cards are directly and specifically leveraged by many pro graphics products ?? I have heard and read these things ... on several professional forums.
Not to hijack an otherwise simple thread, but would be nice to get some sort of hard-core analysis, to support or debunk this "school".

= Al =
 

X-Nemesis

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Thanks for all your info so far...what do you guys think of my dad using a 60 or 64 gig ssd drive as his main drive. He already has two 160's and he doesn't use alot of space on them. Would that be a much better route regarding photoshop.
 
None of these cases are small.

Here is a small case that works quite well:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119193

This should be a good PSU to pair with it
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151075

Those two together should be less than the Antec Sonata.

Of course, you want a mATX board with that:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157177&cm_re=785G-_-13-157-177-_-Product

Pair those with the rest of Obsidian's build and you should be under 600 by a good bit.



 

Alvin Smith

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The main thing about an SSD as your Boot/Apps drive is that it is very snappy and reliable. Photos and content and secondary games and apps should go on the mechanical drives but Win7-Pro64 and IE and PS and most used can go on the 64GB SSD.

Frankly ... as a "gift of love", I would like to see the smile on his face when he boots it up, for the first time. But it ain't cheap ! ! !


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139132&cm_re=kingston_64gb_ssd-_-20-139-132-_-Product

ALSO ADVISE DAD to always leave 20% (13GB) free disk space for TRIM FUNCTIONS MANAGEMENT

= Alvin =
 

itsgrandpa

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If he was building this PC strictly for photoshop, wouldn't CUDA would greatly improve the performance since the GPU could act like 'limitless' CPU core, hence the ability to process multiple threads. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
 

Alvin Smith

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My only reason for posting the Acer Ready-Built was to bracket the cost/performance limits and to show that (somewhat attractive) SFF packaging.

I had no thot that the OP would actually consider it ... Remember, it was I ALSO who reommended the GT220 ... so ... somewhere between the ACER and a P2x4 with a GT220. And to establish the cost/performance on the low end.

= cute little box tho =

 
The truth is any PS work done at home is probably not intensive at all. There's very little you can do in PS Elements with a 10 MP file that is going to take any time at all, as long as the processor and RAM are modern.

If dad is batch-processing several gigs of photos at a time, that would be different :)