[Solved] ~$800 Photo/Video Editing&Light Gaming PC. Reviewing build.

Check out my build on this thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] d#t2346897

Subtract $100 if since you don't need win7.

-A bigger cpu cooler would be good too instead of using the crummy intel cooler.

Thanks for the feedback.

In response to Outlander_04:

I looked over the z68 and the quick sync does seem better suited for my usage. What motherboard would you recommend? I've been looking through them and this is what I've narrowed it down to:

ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $180
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard. $190
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard. $170

I noticed that there was already a comparison test done here about these three motherboards. Is it worth it to look at the cheaper z68 boards? I looked at a few of gigabyte's lower priced motherboards and find it difficult to determine if they'll do in place of any of these. Though I guess I could look at the msi boards as well.


RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM. $80
or CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8. $85
Should work, right? I could probably add more ram in the future if 8 gb is the min.?


As for the case, noise isn't a big priority. I'm more concerned with air circulation and space/layout. Any cases you can recommend off hand?


PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply. $65 and $10 off rebate. So $55
I guess I just wasn't sure how much to get, and didn't want to make the mistake of it being underpowered.

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"-A bigger cpu cooler would be good too instead of using the crummy intel cooler. " Isn't that what the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 is for?

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"I think at the moment Nvidia cards offer better GPGPU acceleration for CS5 suite /not actualy sure if Radeons offer any at the moment/." Yeah I think someone told me that some programs work can sometimes work better with one kind of graphics card over the other Nvidia or Radeon. I did some googling and it seems you're right.

I could go with the GeForce GTX 460. But I'm not sure what to buy, I'm leaning towards the EVGA ones.

As for a Hitachi HDD, honestly all the 1TB 7200RPM harddrives seem really similar. Some people have been suggesting the Samsung Spinpoint F3 as well. Not sure how to pick between them since all of them seem to have their fair share of DOA and failures. I'll read up on it a bit more I guess.

Don't worry, I have a 64-bit version of Windows 7 to utilize the extra ram, covered on that front. And yeah, I should probably make replacing my monitor a higher priority. Thanks pepe2907.

I know I am right, I am writing from the proof of my rightfullness
Bot ATI and Nvidia accelerate video transcoders, but only Nvidia, I think, is supported in PS.
460 is OK, if it's good to be EVGA I honestly don't know and don't care too much eighter as it's just not so important.

Spinpoint also good, just usually little more expensive, Seagate had a very bad period with a lot of defective drives some time ago, they may recovered, but I wouldn't try.

You need a Win7 64 not to utilize your RAM /a XP 64 is also good for this/ but cause you can't install Premiere CS5 and AE CS5 on anithing else /not counting Vista here/ /even if you succeed in bypassing the instalation permissions and install it /I did it/ the software will not work correctly - windows will not open, UI is a mess/.

Not with any hidden agenda actually. Their UI's are just overcrowded, and as everithing prior to Vista uses the old resource system /meaning the way the OS dispatches /graphic/ resources like UI elements - windows, buttons, scrollers etc to the softwarre, running on it/, wich was running at the edge of being inadequate for some classes of software /and with some running by just partially bypassing it/ for quite a long time.

I think this mobo should be a good choice.

I feel like it's one of those cases where it doesn't hurt to have both the z68 quick sync ability and the nvidia cuda. Though the Radeon 6770 is about $72 cheaper. I guess I could potentially save money there and maybe on the case and put it towards buying a better monitor, but the monitor will have its own budget outside of this current build regardless. Need to think some more on this I guess.


All right. Based on some of the feedback from this thread and more browsing, here is the revised build:

Processer: Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155. $180

Motherboard: GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard. $160-$40(Microcenter bundle deal)-$15 rebate. $105

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM. $80

Graphics: EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card. $190-$20 rebate=$170

Harddrive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive. $55-$5 promo code. $50

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM $25

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler. $50

Power Supply: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $65

Case: Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case. $140 -$20 rebate. $120

Total (Before rebates): $900
Total (After rebates): $845

So essentially went with better suited mobo; z68. 8gb RAM 1600 MHz with lower timings. More powerful nvidia gpu for better compatibility with CS5(also has a limited lifetime warranty). Faster optical drive than the other one I choose at same price. 550W psu which should power this build fine? And then I opted to go for the quiet case Outlander_04 referred. It all comes out at roughly the same price as the previous build, but I think with better parts in the end.

So is this one good to go? Hopefully everything should fit and everything is compatible.

QuickSink would possibly help if... it was not switched off if a discrete graphics card is present in the system. And you definitely don't want to try using Premiere CS5 or AE CS5 /and PS eighter/ without a discrete graphics card, and if I am not wrong they may even refuse to install on such system. What renders your QuickSinc completely out of the picture. So - did you realy try this, ever, or you are just talking???
And how T.F./excuse me/ QuickSync is accelerating Actions /note - ACTIONS... exactly... meaning... SCRIPTS/???
And btw Lightroom with QuickSync /video transcoding accelerator/, really?

Sorry, but your post appear to me as being a result of a complete misunderstanding about what is what or it is intentionally seriously biased.

...And just theoretically - even if QC wasn't switched of, it can theoretically help only with the video transcoding tasks, as much as I know, while CUDA /and the ATI solution in that line, although with some lagging/, being still slower in the specific tasks of h264 and vmw encoding /as much as I know QC will not help in XVID for example/, will continue to add more and more usability in its portfolio...

You don't think meaning that's your opinion, based on your vast experience with Photoshop and the rest of the package, or meaning you really ... well - don't think?
There is no any actual difference between the performance of 2500 and 2600 on these tasks, not any noticeable anyway IMHO. But anithing running on CUDA is getting like times faster. And what exactly means - "only retoushing" for Pfotoshop - first of all - it's not a plugin, and second - Photoshop is mostly for this - retoushing, and third - it's not actually only this.
But your first statement: "Quick Sync > Cuda IMO" don't mean "I don't really think Quick Sync or Cuda is necessary", it means something different - it means you put CuickSinc directly against CUDA, and then "I was referring to Quick Sync just for videos" when actually you can't use it at all - is just ignorance - the one on which you insist.
And again , NO you can't just completely skip on a graphics card, because you just CAN'T use this software package without it, so, the QuickSink is dead and trading a decent graphics card for a 2600 is just a very bad idea.

Please pepe, type with correct spelling. HT actually helps, just because you don't notice it, doesn't mean others don't either. Also, I use Photoshop DAILY, I've seen what needs CUDA and Nvidia has posted what actually is used in Photoshop that utilizes CUDA. That is ONE PLUGIN! That plugin isn't even necessary because there are tools like spot-heal, cloning, and patch tool.

Also AE doesn't utilize it at all. It doesn't really take advantage of the Mercury engine like Premiere does so it doesn't need CUDA. Only Premiere really needs CUDA and even then, not that important.

Alright so let me change my statement, You don't need Quick Sync and you don't NEED CUDA. It is good to have it but not necessary, and even then Quick Sync is free with the CPU (SB) while CUDA you'd have to buy.

Again Pepe you have no evidence to show. Why don't you need a dedicated card. How does my laptop using integrated Intel mobile APU run Photoshop and Lightroom. Show me where it says you need it. You're an ignorant fool who needs to get his/her facts straight.

"Again Pepe you have no evidence to show. Why don't you need a dedicated card. How does my laptop using integrated Intel mobile APU run Photoshop and Lightroom. Show me where it says you need it. You're an ignorant fool who needs to get his/her facts straight."

Because you ... it's clearly stated on several locations on Adobe site, as well as on a countles number of other sites - you not only need a discrete graphics card, but it's good if it have a decent OGL support /which is checked by the instalator of the package btw./ else some nice features there will be unreachable for you. And how exactly is HD-whatever with OGL acceleration?
And at the moment you put a discrete graphics card in your system - it kills the QuickSink, who is only video accelerator and nothing more, and actualy ONLY VFW and H264 video accelerator - and it can't do anithing.
But, you know - even if it wasn't switched off it wouldn't help with anithing eighter, because it accelerates ONLY VFW and H264 video, it don't support layers which makes it usable only in amateur encoding, don't actually accelerate by any means any effects... etc. etc. etc. And when you edit video in a professional application you spent most of your time IN the application, where you are building a STACK OF OPERATIONS with only eventually a preview, but you don't actualy apply them on your footage /it's called NLE - google it if you know how to use Google/ until your work is finished and you press the "render" button, so an exclusively video accelerator is nothing to do there - it helps with nothing.
And the retoushing is the main function of Photoshop
And the evidence... is everywhere - yust try to use Google instead of criticizing my spelling - precise spelling doesn't help you think better.
And just few notes at the end:
Adobe CS5 /Stating Creative SUITE/ doesn't consist only of Photoshop and it's current version is 5.5, not 5.0, where even more CUDA acceleration is aded.
QS being an exclusively video transcoding accelerator with a very narow scope of features can't help with anithing in Photoshop, where you don't work with video at all - you can't. So even if CUDA accelerates - making them times faster, just few operations there, it's way better than nothing.
Because of it's extremely narrow scope of features QuickSinc has nothing to do with the professional video edithing eighter.

"But for why would you need the acceleration for Photo editing anyways?"

Because every professional level work you do in photoshop means you do it on files with sizes of hundreds of megabytes to gygabytes, tens of layers and masks and blends and FX-es /effects which the accelerator should perform in realtime for you/ on millions of pixels. And you do need good accelaration for this. And you need an OGL hardware acceleration for several operations in AE and Premiere, without it they are completely switched off for you.
English is not my native language, not even close - so what?
dumb ass - did I spell it right?
And you are pathetic dear - you are arguing heavily on things, you obviously don't know, and when your ass gets kicked you are crying for a moderator to save you.