AMD Opterton 6168 CPU 1.9GHZ 12 core, Photoshop CS5 Design Premium ...

[iantojones]

Hello; probably an unusual situation:
Received a school-provided full legal copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5 Design Premium.
Found online a *very* reasonable offer for a *12*-core AMD processor (intended for a server)

...know how to build an old-fashioned box - y'know, research motherboard, find case that fits, put processor on MB, put fan on Proc, attach cards/ram/HDDs/etc, set master/slave dip's on HDDs, make sure case LEDs are connected, attach all to power supply, make sure there are at least two more fans than you think you need, and half again as much HDD as you think you need, and TWICE to FOUR times as much RAM as you think you need, and that the RAM plays nicely with other toys...
(probably missing something, but that's the birds-eye...), then POST and if you've done it right, the Magic Smoke does NOT escape, and the unit cheerfully beeps and welcomes you with a DOS Prompt?

Yeah.

My babygirl just had her second week of design school. She got a scholarship (we're *dead* broke), and has a perfectly functional computer - which has been fine 'til now, as it won't support the Adobe CS5 she needs to install.

I have the req's for what the program requires; what I'm looking at is - would the processor I listed above, be *worth* it in terms of building a system around it for a single-user to torture with a high-end Adobe product?
(Along with ridiculous overuse of iTunes, Netflix, XFinity, HuluPlus and the like, of course...) ?

Or would I be better off just maxing her RAM, buying her another external HDD, and possibly looking at newegg for SALE vid cards around the holidays?

(It's that the CPU is "found/luck" - it's about 8x heavier a hitter than I'd've even LOOKED at, if browsing. I tend to have to click off if the first digit of a 3dig # is greater than a 1, much less greater than a 7...)

Person providing chip can provide CPU, RAM, and motherboard; I'd need to provide case, powersupply, and a G34 compatible heatsink ...

Unless someone else had suggestions for appropriate motherboard and RAM options?

Either way, I need 1) advice, and 2) suggestions on the case, powersupply, G34-comp heatsink.

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance...

 

[DelroyMonjo]

The faster the CPU and the Most RAM you can put in the system will allow Photoshop CS5 abilities.
A 1.9-GHz CPU will not offer fast speeds.
Maybe if you suggested a budget for upgrading the system, we could come up with a good solution.

 

[tajisi]

Short reply: Would not be worth it.

Long reply: Eight gigs of memory, a basic motherboard, case, the usual trimmings (Hard drive, DVD drive, PSU), and a normal desktop CPU probably cost what that person is asking for the CPU alone.

The six core Phenom II 1035T is around $130 on Newegg. If the twelve core server chip you're being offered is any cheaper than that, be suspicious. Usually those cost more than a normal computer by themselves.

 

[iantojones]

Best answer selected by iantojones.

 

[iantojones]

Thank you both for your swift responses (which I was only notified of today; I apologize for my lag).

Basic budget would be <$500, but could stretch a bit as we already have a legal copy of Office and of course the CS5 for it.

Can add about $100/mo to that total, if we're frugal.

Realize that's out of league for most of the people here (we're not well-off), but we're working on it - and having to hit the balance between "need it to run NOW" and "if we wait another month or two, we'd have ~20/30% more to work with", etc.

At this point, it might be "after Holidays" before we move forward, so we may've saved more up by then (travelling cross-country is an unknown cost; don't know how much "extra" we'll be able to save).

I *do* sincerely appreciate your time in responding to me.
Clearly the processor in question isn't what we need; now it's just go-forward for what *will* be best... Seems like NewEgg is eating TigerDirect's lunch for component parts; the only other thing I've been clearly guided towards is preferring AMD for the graphics and stability factors?

Anyhow, thank you for your help. Sorry for the ramble and for not knowing more about what I need. Really am a newbie, for these purposes (mostly before I've just cobbled together from hand-me-down bits).

Hope everyone has/is having a pleasant holiday season.
Take care.