Photo editing build ~$1,000

[cez81]

I want to move my photo editing from my laptop to a dedicated PC. I already have a retail copy of Win 7 Pro, 24" IPS display, and other peripherals.

I am undecided if the extra cost of an i7 2600(k) will show me a real world advantage over the i5 2500(k). Most of my photo editing work is done in Adobe Lightroom 3 and some of the images get kicked over into Photoshop CS5. At this time I do not do any video editing.

I would like to run an SSD for the OS, programs, and as the scratch disk for Lightroom and CS5. I had planned on getting a 64GB but think that the 96 may be better suited for that use. Should the SSD be partitioned, 1 for the OS and 1 or 2 more for the programs and scratch disk?

This is my current Newegg cart: advise on components certainly appreciated. Esp to ensure compatibility with each other. It has been about 10 years since I last built a machine.

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138317

CPU - currently selected i72600k. Will consider i5 and apply savings to larger SSD or a better motherboard perhaps.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Memory - 16GB ddr3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231312

Graphics - nothing fancy here. My programs are more CPU and memory intensive than GPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161315

SSD - 64gb currently selected
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

HDD - 2 - 750GB Caviar Blacks in Raid 1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

$30 DVD burner with lightscribe.
$30 USB 3.0 card reader


Advise from the experts on compatibility of all components selected and possibly suggestions/alternatives that are either better for about the same cost or areas where I can save without really losing any performance.

Current shopping cart total $1,030 less shipping (add about $!5 for shipping)


Thanks!

 

[cez81]

For about the same overall price, I can drop to the i5 2500k and step up to a 128GB Crucial M4 which has faster write speeds and, of course, double the space.
I think this might be a better use of the money.
Thoughts?

 

[cez81]

Bump!

I am settled on all my hardware I think, except the motherboard.

In addition to the one selected above, newegg has a combo deal including the i5 an the MSI P67A-GD65. $170 - $25 for the combo - $20 MIR = $125 for the board bringing it to the same price as the Biostar.

Also the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 is a choice at $25 more total.

I like that these have USB 3.0 Headers and more SATA connections for future additional drives.

Between the ASRock and MSI, any thoughts?