~$1000.00 General Purpose Build

[rebel conquest]

I am looking for some input on a build I will be doing for my dad. I have taken a quick look at some components and put together a general list of what I was looking for. He does a lot of work with pictures and has recently purchased a HD video camera so a speedy processor was a must. I am struggling with what video card to get for him. Another one of his concerns and main reason he commissioned me to put a pc together was the start up time and application start up time. He had an old HP and it is just atrocious (speaking from personal experience here)

Take a look at what I came up with and give me some suggestions on how to improve the build please.

Case: Antec 300
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 945
Motherboard: MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 W0379RU 500W ATX 12V v2.2
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5750
Hard drive- SSD: G.Skill Phoenix Pro
Hard Drive Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB
Disc Drive: LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner

Grand Total is around 1064.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Helltech]

Would you need an operating system also?

XFXPOWER
EMCYWPZ27

This is just a build I put together becuase I"m a bored. Has a slightly faster CPU and RAM. Much faster HDD. Better PSU and GPU. Less storage, however. Also comes with an Operating system.

You would have to use these promo codes at NewEgg.
XFXPOWER
EMCYWPZ27

~$1030 after MIRs, and Promo Codes.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136181
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148361
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.494029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493112

Just something to look over and give you ideas.

 

[rebel conquest]

Thanks for putting the time in and actually giving me a nice comparison build. The thing is storage is basically the most important part of the build for my dad. I think he would use up that 64 gig ssd way too quickly, and he really wants the two tb storage drive. I opted for the wd green series because performance from that drive will not be important at all.

And don't you think a 650 watt psu is a bit overkill for that rig?

 

[Helltech]

The problem with the 2TB drives, is not only do they have bad reviews, but I got 2 TB Green WD hdds and they both died within a week, so I just RMA'ed them both and got a single 1TB drive. Maybe I had bad luck, but looking at the reviews of WD's 2TB drive it seems to be a common problem.

A 650W PSU is overkill, yes, but its on sale and a really great price (I think it was actually cheaper than what you picked out).

Anyway, you could just add another 1TB drive (wouldn't add too much to the price) Or maybe add another one in the future when you need it, you'd be suprised how much data you can cram on a 1TB drive. The 64Gig SSD would be for boot only, meaning all you put on it is your operating system and maybe the few speed intensive programs you use/programs you use all the time. That 64Gig SSD I picked out is also one of the only budget drive Toms Hardware suggests.

My 128Gig SSD only has 40GB used and I have quite a few programs (Maya, Cad, Photoshop, Microsoft Office,a few more and my operating system) on it. I put my games and programs that I use less frequently on one of my 1TB drives.

 

[batuchka]

He does a lot of work with pictures and has recently purchased a HD video camera so a speedy processor was a must. I am struggling with what video card to get for him

Thankfully we have this article
http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/reviews/a-case-for-gpu-computing-adobe-premiere-pro-cs5-and-the-mercury-playback-engine/

This project consists of compressed 640×480 video footage. These small video files were being eaten alive by the massive 1090T hexa-core processor and 8GB of RAM. Premiere Pro CS5′s increased performance with multi-core systems coupled with bleeding fast hardware will make fast work of any simple projects such as this, not giving the GPU enough work to really make a difference. These results do suggest that if you’re editing small-time video footage, you will not benefit much from using Mercury Playback.

So what i do is hit a 1055T + after market cooler like CM Hyper 212+ and an 800 series chipset with IGP like 880G if peeps aren't decided over if Mercury playback engine and GPU assistance is worth it for their needs hehe