Sub $1000 Photoshop System

[MasonS]

Approximate Purchase Date: Less than 2 weeks

Budget Range: $1000 or less

System Usage from Most to Least Important:

1. Photoshop
2. Lightroom
3. Elements
4. Web surfing, etc
(e.g.: Folding@Home, gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter store is only 20 minutes away

Country: United States (Phila area)

Parts Preferences: Mini-tower

Overclocking: Yes, mild. Must be stable, bleeding edge NOT ok.

SLI or Crossfire: ??? Probably not

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments: Will be used for a photography business and home use, so must be able to process lots of images in Photoshop smoothly and quickly
 
Case
Diablotek FLY ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - CPA-A95BK
Seems decent, not expensive
$39.99
Motherboard
Asus P8Z77-V ProP8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard
Extra cheap with 3570K at Microcenter
$169.99
CPU
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Couldn’t justify 3770K at this price
$189.99
CPU Cooler
ZEROtherm Core92 CPU Cooler
Seemed sufficient. Also small and relatively cheap.
$19.44
RAM
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-8GAB
Seemed good for the price. Also low profile.
$90.00
SSD Cache Drive
OCZ Synapse Cache SYN-25SAT3-64G 2.5" 64GB SATA 6.0Gb/s (32GB cache capacity) SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
I want to accelerate all of her file activity
$89.99
Video Card
Gigabyte GV-R777OC-1GD AMD Radeon HD 7770 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card
Seemed decent
$109.99
Power Supply
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply - 80-PLUS Certified
Seemed good for the price
$41.27
Fan
120 x 120mm Long Life Bearing Case Fan
Never hurts. Case comes with one 120mm but will hold two.
$3.99
Fan gaskets
120mm Rubber Fan Silencer - Black
Why not
$7.98
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound
Why not
$8.99
Hard Drive
??????????????
Caviar Green 2TB? Read about reliability issues. Barracuda 2TB?

Total so far $771.62 +~$40 tax

Would greatly appreciate guidance on HDD and RAM decision, as well as any other thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[austinwillie_95]

That cpu cooler won't work, it doesn't support 1155, go with a hyper 212 . And that ram you can get for $45 on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231550 . Also you could lower you psu down to a 430w http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034 unless you plan on plan on crossfire in the future, and if you do I wouldn't recommend a 7770. And for HDD go with the Barracuda 2TB.

 

[MasonS]

Thanks for the reply!

The cooler does 1156, which I THOUGHT (could be wrong) means it will fit 1155 as well. The hyper 212 is good and cheap, but huge, so I was trying to avoid it. I like that the PSU is active and has a lot of headroom and very good reviews, plus its cheap. I am considering the Seagate Barracuda 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s ST3000DM001 (more than i want to spend) and also the Hitachi Deskstar 3.5" 2TB 7200RPM 0S02861 too.

 

[MasonS]

Do folks think that getting 8gb sticks, which are slower and more expensive, but leave slots free, would be a better idea?

Also, does HDD speed matter very much when paired with the OCZ Synapse?

Since she never does heavy gaming, could I go down with the Video card? If so, to what?

Do the WD Green drives have spotty reliability?

thanks

 

[Why_Me]

Here's a few items to look at. +1 for 2x8GB of RAM. It leaves an upgrade path. Also try to get her a decent solid case. This one down below is quality and it has the front 3.0 USB ports.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0379532 $69.99
Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Computer Case

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html <----- another look at that case

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0387555 $119.99
ASRock 77 Pro4 LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77%20Pro4 <----- another look at that board along with the latest bios update

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231558 $114.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAO

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348766 $57.99 - $49.99 after rebate savings
Antec High Current Gamer Series 520W ATX Power Supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0385589 $109.99
Gigabyte GV-R775OC-1GI AMD Radeon HD 7750 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card

 

[Lowlyworm]

Just to let you know. if you are using over 16g of ram then you need Windows professional as Home premium limits to 16g.

 

[MasonS]

Thanks to all who replied

So I made a bunch of changes for the final config:

Case
LIANLI| PC-9F
Seems decent, not expensive
$71.99 after discounts from newegg
---> Much nicer than the other case. Looks better, much better build quality and layout.

CPU Cooler
ZEROtherm Core92 CPU Cooler
Seemed sufficient. Also small and relatively cheap.
$19.44
---> Actually turned out to be awesome after upgrading the fan! I took out the cheesy clear blue led fan and put in the most excellent 92mm San Ace fan. 9GA0912P4J03. Blade looks just like the "Gentle Typhoon" which is no longer made in 92mm. Super powerful even on low speed, incredibly powerful on high. Low power consumption and considering its force, actually not that loud even at 5000rpm.

SSD Cache Drive
OCZ Synapse Cache SYN-25SAT3-64G 2.5" 64GB SATA 6.0Gb/s (32GB cache capacity) SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
I want to accelerate all of her file activity
$89.99
---> What a piece of poo. Exchanged for Sandisk 120GB Extreme for $119. Better in every way.

Video Card
Gigabyte GV-R777OC-1GD AMD Radeon HD 7770 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card
Seemed decent
$109.99
--> A horrible piece of poo. Goes to sleep, never wakes up. Awful. Opted for a cheap Diamond 5670 for $55. More than enough for this build.

Fan
120 x 120mm Long Life Bearing Case Fan
Never hurts. Case comes with one 120mm but will hold two.
$3.99
---> Bought 2 Quiet Typhoon 120mm instead. Much better.

Fan gaskets
120mm Rubber Fan Silencer - Black
Why not
$7.98
---> Total waste of money - used rubber grommets instead


Hard Drive
Caviar Black 1TB
Fast and nice

Running 102/42x overclock at 4284mhz and 1.14v, totally stable. At full load it never crosses 70C. Ram seems happy running 1903.

Ran Prime95 and IntelBurn for long periods. All looks great.

Loaded WIn7 Ultimate and used profile relocator to move profile to HDD. So programs and OS on SSD, all the rest on HDD.

This thing is quiet, powerful and cool. Awesome!

thanks!