First Build - Photo/video editing - CS5 ~ $2,000

[SirSavage]

Hey guys, so I need some advice here. This is my first build and I'm still unsure about a few parts. I'm planning on using this primarily for photoshop, lightroom, after effects, premiere pro, etc. Mostly picture/video editing, probably very little gaming. If I could get some feedback on how this looks I'd appreciate it. Still not 100% sure on the MOBO and whatnot. Any advice greatly appreciated! These are Australian prices, btw. And the U2410 will be my primary monitor, and the LG will be secondary.

Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3 SATA II 7200RPM 32M – $59.00
LG W2343T-PF 23 Wide 5ms Full HD DVI-D Tilt – $159.00
LG H22NS50 SATA 22X+- Super Multi DVDR Black with Software – $29.00
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Universal Cooler – $32.00
Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 Mouse w BlueTrack Retail – $69.00
G Skill 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 RL 9-9-9-24(CL9D-8GBRL) – $105.00
SilverStone ST60F-P 600W PSU 80+ – $99.00
Gigabyte GF GTX460 1G OC DDR5 2xDualLinkDVI miniHDMI – $199.00
Intel Core i7 2600K Processor LGA1155 3.4GHz CPU – $329.00
PCCool Thunderstorm 3000 Midi Tower Case – $69.00
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3 L1155 P67 Chipset 4x DDR3 SATA3 SATA2 USB3.0 $179.00
Corsair Force Series 115GB SSD2.5 MLC SSD – $239.00
Dell UltraSharp U2410 – LCD display – TFT – 24" – $528

Total $2095

Alright, so, my main questions... I still hate spending this much on an SSD, but I guess it seems worth it. If I'm going to shell out the $, I want something reliable. Is the Corsair one I have listed fine, or would it be better to get the Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5 MLC Solid State Hard Drive 3.5"Kit for $217. Obviously its smaller, but I know the failure rate is really low on Intels.

Any opinions on this final build are greatly appreciated. Going to order everything soon. Thanks!

 

[jbakerlent]

Looks pretty good overall, is that the Force 3 120GB SSD? If so its great on paper, but I can't speak as to its reliability since its so new. If reliability is top priority, I'd get a 320.

 

[SirSavage]

Looks pretty good overall, is that the Force 3 120GB SSD? If so its great on paper, but I can't speak as to its reliability since its so new. If reliability is top priority, I'd get a 320.

Ah no I don't think thats a force 3, that'd be this one: Corsair Performance 3 Series P3-64 64GB 2.5 SSD. That one is about $40 less than the 80gb intel, so if it was down to that I'd just get the Intel probably. I would LOVE to get the 320. Unfortunately I can't even find that in Australia. Plus, its about $320 in the US, which means it'd be about $450 here. I really want to keep my SSD to around $200 if possible.

I'm kind of guilt tripping myself about spending this much money on an SSD when its really not NECESSARY, I just want it. From what I figure, I need 45GB for Windows 7 + CS5 Master Collection. So would a possible middle ground be this...

Corsair Force Series 60GB SSD2.5 MLC SSD, 285/275MB/Sec, SATA II, SandForce controller, TRIM f

This is $100 less than the 80GB Intel. If 60 won't cut it, I might go for the Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5 MLC Solid State Hard Drive 3.5"Kit. Then I can just upgrade to the 320 when the price comes down a bit. I know I'm pushing it on space, but I gotta try to save some money if possible. If there was an impressive HDD that could compete on any level, I'd probably just opt for that until prices come down, it just seems like no HDD can even compare.

 

[mosox]

I think that mobo doesn't have Quick Sync.

 

[SirSavage]

I think that mobo doesn't have Quick Sync.

***, I didn't even realize what that was until you just said it. I looked it up, looks like it does help quite a bit for video editing and whatnot? Okay so maybe upgrade to something more like this?


ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Z68 4xDDR3 3*PCIex16 GBL RAID DVI HDMI DS

or...

Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3 1155 2PCIEX16 SATA2/3 USB2/3


I'm not going to lie... MoBos scare the sh*t out of me. I don't really understand that much about them and I realllly don't know how to pick one. Any advice on this is GREATLY appreciated, lol.

 

[jbakerlent]

Doh, meant to mention that, good catch mosox. Yeah you'll want Z68 for sure. The ASRock gets my vote, both are fine though.

 

[ggbroughton]

AMD Athlon 3GHz Quad Core CPU, 4GB of RAM 1.333GHz, ATI RADEON HD 5570 1GB CROSSFIRED with ATI RADEON 3000 1GB, 2TB Samsung SATA HDD, 850 watt PSU, some random £40 case, SILENT KNIGHT II Cooling system CPU temp whilst NON overclocked @~30 degrees when overclocked @~50 degrees, random Samsung DVD-RW and ASUS M4A78LT-M mobo

gaming standard^

thats my config

oh and by the way about the solid state drives... its not worth it... seriously they may cost twice as mutch as a normal drive but really all solid state drives are good for is how cool they are and the read and write. and if its images you are editing a standard disk would be perfect for the job images come in like 1-20MB at thier best and the read/write is virtually infinite.

also enjoy your new computer!

ALL FOR £592.99
or ~ $976.30

purchase from www.maplin.co.uk

before installing the os using this please press 4 on the bios loading screen (activates all 4 cores)

 

[jbakerlent]

gaming standard^

Regardless, he's not gaming.

 

[SirSavage]

Regardless, he's not gaming.

Yeah, not going to be gaming. Just looking for the best pic/vid editing machine I can afford.

Any final opinions on this build before I pull the trigger? Last minute rants about SSDs, etc? If not I guess I have a couple final questions. I'm thinking about holding off on the overclock for a bit, just to make sure its all stable. So I'll probably drop the cooler for now. Anyways...

Will the Gigabyte GF GTX460 1G OC DDR5 2xDualLinkDVI miniHDMI be fine for running 2 monitors?

Would 12GB ram really be a lot better than 8GB?

 

[ggbroughton]

i was just showing what you could get for your money. thats all. i know this guy didnt want to be gaming but still look at the budget and what you can get for half of it.

 

[ggbroughton]

Yeah, not going to be gaming. Just looking for the best pic/vid editing machine I can afford.

Any final opinions on this build before I pull the trigger? Last minute rants about SSDs, etc? If not I guess I have a couple final questions. I'm thinking about holding off on the overclock for a bit, just to make sure its all stable. So I'll probably drop the cooler for now. Anyways...

Will the Gigabyte GF GTX460 1G OC DDR5 2xDualLinkDVI miniHDMI be fine for running 2 monitors?

Would 12GB ram really be a lot better than 8GB?

it depends on what operating system you intend on installing as i think windows XP only recognises 4GB or maybe it was 8 but for photoshop you need 2GB of ram to run it so 8 should be enough (even thoughh i manage to fire it up on 128 MB of ram verry laggy though)

 

[addison]

The geforce will do fine, but a 560 will do MUCH BETTER.

 

[mosox]

Nothing for the hardware, a few links you might find useful:
Transcoding quality
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/video-transcoding-amd-app-nvidia-cuda-intel-quicksync,2839-9.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9
Hacking CS5 Mercury Engine (the a-holes want you to buy an expensive video card):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/adobe-cs5-cuda-64-bit,2770-3.html
http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4ERi5t_Eo&feature=related
Best quality - X264:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264
http://x264.nl/

 

[SirSavage]

The geforce will do fine, but a 560 will do MUCH BETTER.

Okay, well there's quite a few 560's that are actually only about $40-50 more. Recommendations? Preferably from this list:

http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=82

 

[addison]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=555323&CatId=3669


This is perfect for what you need it for.

 

[SirSavage]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=555323&CatId=3669


This is perfect for what you need it for.

What is the difference between the 560 and the 560Ti? I can't find that exact model here in Australia. Would any of these work? I realllllly wasn't looking to spend this much on a video card, but obviously this is a key component I'm going to need. So I guess give me an honest opinion on this. If the Gigabyte for $230 is going to be realllly close to the eVGA for $300, I'd really rather save the $70.

Gigabyte GTX560 OC 1G GDDR5 PCIE DualLink DVI - $230

Asus GTX560 1G DCII 2DI GDDR5 - $259

MSI GTX560 Twin Frozr II OC - $259

Leadtek GTX560 1024M 2xDVI-DL Mini HDMI PCIE - $260

Gainward GTX560Ti 1G DDR5 Golden Sample - $275.00

Gigabyte GTX560 Super OC 560TI DDR5 1GB HDMI PCIE - $289

eVGA GTX560 Ti 1024M 2x DVI-DL Mini HDMI PCIE - $300

Gainward GTX560Ti 2G DDR5 Phantom - $315

 

[addison]

The ti is slightly more power, but the 560 is good for what you need it for , the Gigabyte better buy it now! that's a VERY good price,


Proof: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=657&card2=641

 

[SirSavage]

The ti is slightly more power, but the 560 is good for what you need it for , the Gigabyte better buy it now! that's a VERY good price,


Proof: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=657&card2=641

I was wrong, this one IS actually the Gigabyte GTX560 OC 1G GDDR5 PCIE DualLink DVI - $230 is the Ti version:

http://umart.com.au/pro/products_review.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=82&sid=71424

And its only $230, so I'll definitely get that. Wooooo! Think I finally settled on a card! Thanks for the help! Now if I can only decide if a SSD is worth it, lol.

 

[addison]

The pro and the cons of a SSD

Pro's:
Faster loading speed
Very fast at reading
Easy to install
Data install much faster

Cons:
Has low memory supply
Can get VERY expensive i'm talking possibly 600$ for a SSD! that has only 320 gb which isn't so much.

So I'd get 1 SSD and a 7200 1tb HDD or 2tb.

This a ideal SSD : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6642538&CatId=5300

And for a HDD : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7114217&CatId=4357

Also this CPU http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073162&CatId=6988 is less powerful but still a great cpu this is the one a lot of people are buying, no need to wast a extra 100$, this will do what you need it for GUARENTEED. I'm trying to save you alot here

And for a cooler cpu http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6101295&CatId=6994

And for a cooler case http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7195058&Sku=C13-6001 (may need it to fit the CPU fan)

With all fans in that case your pc will run VERY cool, Also 12gb needs a lot of cooling 8 gig's is fine for video editing. And for the O.S http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213938&CatId=4622 has many security features that will be helpful to keep a virus free PC , that is really it other than that the pc is GREAT.

Total: 2025.94 (from the first post excluding mouse jeyboard your listed cpu cooler) Also you save 120$ from the CPU you first listed, so really plus the keyboard and mouse it would be 1900ish$ or more.

 

[SirSavage]

The pro and the cons of a SSD

Pro's:
Faster loading speed
Very fast at reading
Easy to install
Data install much faster

Cons:
Has low memory supply
Can get VERY expensive i'm talking possibly 600$ for a SSD! that has only 320 gb which isn't so much.

So I'd get 1 SSD and a 7200 1tb HDD or 2tb.

This a ideal SSD : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6642538&CatId=5300

And for a HDD : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7114217&CatId=4357

Also this CPU http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073162&CatId=6988 is less powerful but still a great cpu this is the one a lot of people are buying, no need to wast a extra 100$, this will do what you need it for GUARENTEED. I'm trying to save you alot here

And for a cooler cpu http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6101295&CatId=6994

And for a cooler case http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7195058&Sku=C13-6001 (may need it to fit the CPU fan)

With all fans in that case your pc will run VERY cool, Also 12gb needs a lot of cooling 8 gig's is fine for video editing. And for the O.S http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213938&CatId=4622 has many security features that will be helpful to keep a virus free PC , that is really it other than that the pc is GREAT.

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! Okay so here's my concerns with that...

1) I was originally going to get a Vertex 2 but the reviews are SOOOO mixed its ridiculous. For every 20 people that say its awesome there's 20 people who say it died within a week. It makes me nervous. The options for the SSD would probably be:

Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5 MLC Solid State Hard Drive 3.5"Kit - $217.00

OCZ 80G Vertex II Series SSD - $168.00

Corsair Force Series 115GB SSD2.5 MLC SSD - $239.00

2) Would I need a CPU cooler if I'm not going to overclock right now or should I just get a better case like you mentioned?

3) I can get Windows 7 Professional for free, so I'm going to have to go with that.

 

[addison]

Well,

For future upgrades you may want more room, video editing is quite powerful and that case you posted doesn't have so much fans so that case will be enough with all the fan's so no stick with the stock fan or the fan you first posted. People who said it "died" are probably idiots who don't know how to install a SSD in a PC, like they didn't fully connect it, But to be safe go with the Corsair. There should be no problem's, if there is buy from tiger direct and not "umart" (the video card is fine) Tiger direct has a plan to return items to get a new one or get a refund.

 

[striker410]

If you are getting a 560 that's $230, get a 560 ti. The ti's are significantly stronger. Here's a benchmark to prove it.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/ecs-geforce-gtx-560-review/19
As you can see, the 560 ti is quite a bit stronger.
Here's an example of a 560 ti that's $230: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500197 And, it's got a $30 rebate so it's actually cheaper!

 

[SirSavage]

Alright well I kind of have to order from umart because I'm in Australia, so tigerdirect isn't really an option. Anyways, the 560 for $230 should be Ti, look at it and make sure I'm not crazy.

http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=82&bid=2&sid=71424


As for the SSD, the Corsair and Vertex are pretty close on the price/size.

http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=159&bid=2&sid=59287
http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=159&bid=2&sid=75614


As for the case, I'd like to keep the cost under $130 if possible. Here's a couple possible options?

http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=139&bid=2&sid=20387
http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=139&bid=2&sid=74349

or anything from this list: http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=139

 

[striker410]

ah my bad on the 560. In the card name nowhere does it say 560ti, just 560. I would make doubly sure though. That seems aweful cheap for an OC'd 560ti.

For SSD, DO NOT get the E series vertex 2. Those have been proven to have major reliability issues.

For a case, check out the CM 690 II or HAF 922. I like them both.

 

[addison]

The second case is the way to go. And Striker you came in a bit late (read my post) with the proof.