$1K Build Advice for PSB Photo Editing- PC Noob

[LudwigTrout]

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: $1000-1200USD

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Image editing, web surfing (No gaming or video editing)

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference, based in Southern California so local access to Micro Center, Fry's

Parts Preferences: Must be compatible with at least one 27" Apple Cinema Display, ideally two

Overclocking: Maybe, no experience with it but I tend to tinker with what's in front of me

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 2560x1440

Additional Comments: I need to put together a system for editing large photo collage art projects (eg, very high resolutions, hundreds of layers, unusually large print sizes, several 10-20GB PSB projects open simultaneously). I've been using Macs for the last ten years.

After reading through reviews and forums over the weekend I started pricing the following system:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz Quad-Core Unlocked CPU
***Overkill? Thoughts?

GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
***See video card notes below

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX160G 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
***Is this overkill for a main drive running primarily Windows 7 and CS5? Woefully unfamiliar with Windows

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
***Not necessarily a WD, but something along these specs. 7200Rpm/32Mb, overkill? Do I need to worry about cooling for a single 7200?

SAPPHIRE Toxic 100315TXSR Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
***From what I understand I would've been fine running PhotoShp w/o a graphics card with the H67 chipset, but since I need the mini-displayports for the 27" Cine Display I might as well go P67 and get a card. Is my thinking correct on this, and if so am I overdoing it with a 1GB card? Again, no gaming or video editing although some of my PSB projects require upwards of 600-700 layers and enabling OpenGL seems to help, at least on the Mac.

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

I appreciate any feedback.

 

[dogman_1234]

Hello, and welcome to THG.

If you have been using macs over time, why switch over to PC's? I cannot assure you that the Apple monitors will work with Windows. Unless you are doing an Mac OS, then I would say do further research.

I will look further into your build.

I also want to see other THG members post their ideas as well.

 

[LudwigTrout]

Thanks.

I'm switching because of the price differential, mainly, and more flexible scalability.

 

[dogman_1234]

May I look into newegg for you?

 

[aznshinobi]

http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore

Check out the 1000$ build at that res, 2GB vram will actually help a bit.

 

[LudwigTrout]

Best answer selected by LudwigTrout.

 

[Noxtreme]

Hello, and welcome to THG.

If you have been using macs over time, why switch over to PC's? I cannot assure you that the Apple monitors will work with Windows. Unless you are doing an Mac OS, then I would say do further research.

I will look further into your build.

I also want to see other THG members post their ideas as well.

apple cinematic displays work fine on pc

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar