~$1600 build primarily for Photoshop/Lightroom but still want to game

grumblecat

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Jul 17, 2012
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So I've debated building my own computer forever but fear has always stopped me now after a week of pouring over thousands of forum posts and reading so many web posts trying to catch up and know where I am going.

I am an advanced hobbyist photographer and have been as of late doing all my editing on a laptop and it is killing me so it is time to get a new desktop. I will primarily be using it for photoshop/lightroom but I will also like to do some gaming on it though that is secondary. Most of the gaming I will be doing will likely be racing sims but I do know I will get sucked into more once I have a good computer.

All that out of the way I've worked through putting together a first draft based on what I think I have learned so far.

A few decisions I've made. I'm not looking to overclock more worried about stability. I am not planning to run SLI/Crossfire.

Since I have been working on a laptop for the past 18 months or so I am basically needing to start from scratch. I have nothing that I can reuse but I do have a number of external drives that I will need to connect via USB that I am using for storage (not an optimum situation but that will be my next major project to tackle)

Here is the parts list as I currently have it but I still need feedback and help understanding if I am hurting myself with some decisions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($97.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($310.55 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Keyboard: Microsoft WTA-00001 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1555.99
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

So it was my understanding that if I am not going to overclock the I7 that I don't really need the Z77 board and can go with an H77 board is that correct if so does this work. Next I am not sure about the case, since this will be the 1st computer I've built I want something that isn't going to be too hard to work with but is also decent value and will do a decent job of cooling and not be too loud.

So I am looking for any feedback on things that I should consider changing or where I am causing myself issues. I appreciate any help.

Gary
 
Solution

skaggy

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correct.... correct... no idea on case and maybe get a gtx card instead of radeon if you can hold off a month or so they should be releasing lower end 600 series which would be near your budget an worthy
 

brandon402

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I am also going to build a computer based on the i7-3770. I'll give you my opinions on the parts that I like. Looking at your list, if it were me, I would get a Crucial 128 gb SSD instead of 256gb (that's quite a bit, unless you want to put several games on it). So that saves $100, but I'd spend a little more in other areas. I would get the faster 1600 memory instead of 1333. I like how the reviews look for the Western Digital black caviar hard drives so i'll probably get a 1TB one of those. For cases I like Corsair and Fractal Design. Here is a Fractal case you might like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352008

And here's the keyboard I want to get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126192
 
Youv got the build pretty much dead on. Only small (except the PSU) things I would change.

You will be better of 1600Mhz RAM, and not a 2x8GB kit, 4x4GB kits are cheaper. Only reason to get a kit like that is if you want the possibility of 32GB later, which you will never need for Photoshop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231315

This hard drive has double the cache size (32 to 64MB) at no increase in price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

That SSD doesn't have to be so large. A 128GB will easily hold your programs (the whole Adobe Suite is 13GB I think) and games with some optimization (moving your user folders to the HDD). Good choice on the SSD as well.

You can get a better GPU quite easily on this budget, but a HD7850 will play modern games at acceptable to good frame rates (high settings).

Case choice is largely a personal decision as you have to like the look of it. But I know when it comes to mid-towers not much beats the Coolermaster HAF-XM. It has better cooling than the Antec, looks better (IMO), and has a better front I/O panel. If its anything like the HAF-X (which I own), its a great case, especially for its price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119257&Tpk=HAF-XM

The PSU is not the place to skimp, you need a better one. That PSU is only 80+ certified, from a mid-range brand.
On a single GPU system, a 600W unit will give you plenty of room to upgrade (though not to crossfire/SLI comfortably).
This is a very good PSU, 80+ Gold (much more efficient), is actually a bit overkill for your needs and fully modular. Seasonic make some of the best Power Supply's in the industry.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088



 

grumblecat

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Thank you both, The RAM was a mutual problem with myself and PCPartpicker since sometimes it shows 4 sometimes it 2 I meant 4 I was aiming for 16gb, the speed was my mistake from reading to many game machine reviews where they all say speed doesn't matter.

The HD is a good catch I am still bad at seeing the little things, this is my first build. I agree on the SSD I have debated dropping that down a dozen times. Is there a better SSD at 128 than the matching Crucial at that level?

I get the feeling I will have to increase my price for the case I have seen if I go up to 100-150 I can get a lot more things that I like I was trying to save somewhere but I know it isn't making me happy so more shopping there.

On PSU I think I had that one originally in place then kept reading 100's of other peoples builds saying that PSU is overkill blah blah blah, and second guessed myself.

Finally the GPU question. So what would be the next logical step up. And if I am thinking the possibility of doing video in the future (very small scale for fun only) might come up do I need to rethink ATI vs. Nvidia because of the CUDA thing?
 

grumblecat

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OK so after researching more and taking all the advice the build now looks like this.

All of the savings from downgrading the SSD and then some went back into the PSU and an increase in cost for the case. I changed out the RAM and HD I kept the same GPU, I will keep researching until I purchase but I think for me it might be the right cost/performance balance considering what I plan on doing with it. Worst case it can be the part I replace midway through the life cycle to try to extend the longevity of the computer I guess.

That said how does this look now? Just doing a final sanity check will probably start ordering parts early next week.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($97.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($85.50 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.95 @ B&H)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.18 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 660W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($310.55 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Keyboard: Microsoft WTA-00001 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1654.64
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

I still wish I could find the case of my dreams which would probably be a pure white version of the Corsair Obsidian 550 but that doesn't exist (at least not in a reasonable price range)

Thank you for your help so far and if there are any last items to consider please let me know.
 

blade of grass

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I`m also an avid hobbies photographer as well as a computer enthusiast.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($145.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.00 @ B&H)
Hard Drive: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($140.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PA238Q 23.0" Monitor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Keyboard: Microsoft WTA-00001 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1418.85
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

thats my recommendations, amazing PSU, better SSD and better HDD, You dont need an i7, or a 7850. And finally, you dont need 16GB of RAM.
The monitor I suggested is an IPs panel ASUS monitor, 23``, and is colour accurate, it is also factory calibrated to be accurate using profession tuning equipment.
 

grumblecat

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OK so if I am reading the benchmarks right the I7 3770 is about 12% faster than the I5 3550 and that was with CS4 I believe that Adobe have increased their multi-threading since then. I plan on an upgrade to CS6 soon as the hardware is paid off.

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/2680/16/intel-core-i7-3770k--i5-3570k--i5-3550-ivy-bridge-review-benchmarks-adobe-photoshop-cs4

The 7850 is mostly for gaming not for PS since only a few of the filters are optimized to use the GPU based on what I read on Adobe's site.

So did I miss something in my reading because one of the things I thought I was secure on was that the Photoshop environment was one of the few places that make choosing the I7 over the I5 valid.

As far as the memory I routinely have a browser open with 10-15 tabs, as well as often running both Lightroom and Photoshop together. The photoshop documents are usually 32bit files with 5-10 layers of 18 megapixel files so I just wanted the ram overhead for that.
 

blade of grass

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My laptop running 72 tabs doesnt use that much ram like 2 GB at most.
Also, you might get slight performance increase using the i7, but you wont notice it. Again, you wont really notice using a 7850 over another "optimised" GPU.
 

skaggy

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yes i7 is a renderer/photo thingy/ number cruncher..i5 is more gamer

get 16gb of ram, its cheap as and if you get heavily advanced you will be grateful for it

stick with gtx's over radeon if its primarily a work horse over gamer

oh and http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=72

as for people saying "you wont notice it" probably true, new computer will seem faster than old computer no matter what you pick.. but the fact remains it is superior for what you wish to do
 

grumblecat

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Thank you, I thought that was my understanding, I love the look of that case just need to find it now. So I researched the new gtx's and I hate to have to wait until august to order ugg. I had picked the 7850 mostly because at that price it was stronger than the next step down on the gtx line and the next step up is what like +$200

So I will see how parts ordering is looking and what I know going into next week to try to decide what to do about that. It is the one thing sort of messing with me right now.

Oh and yeah the ram was cheap I figured no sense in trying to save 10's and 20's at that level was more concerned about 50s and 100's
 

skaggy

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yeah same boat on graphics, bought my system last week an a laptop for the misses an ran out of cash so saving for a month or so for a 670 by which time the new ones will be out an i can compare bang for bux
 

blade of grass

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I get what your saying, but please don't go with the ASrock board, they have horrible customer service and have tons of problems/horror stories.
If your going to get an SSD, get the Kingston HyperX 3k that i recommended, its one of the best SDDs availble on the market, better than than the M4.
As well the monitor that I posted is superior.,
Finally, get the WD HDD because its better than any Seagate products, its better (performance wise) as well as better quality.
 

grumblecat

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The Kingston SSD looks good and I am really looking at the monitor still trying to make that decision for a couple reasons.

Looking at the HDD benchmarks on here as near as I can tell the Seagate outperforms the WD, it is 6 gbs and 64 mb cache vs 3gbs and 32 gbs I know that a lot of that is marketing but the performance stats do look better, it is cheaper and the only drive I've had fail on me knock on wood so far was the WD external I had. Took 7 days to recover 90% of my lost data. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/hdd-charts-2012/benchmarks,134.html

On the motherboard the gigabyte would be a $60 increase to go back to Z77 from H77 since I know I am not overclocking that seems to be some waste to me. So I looked at the gigabyte H77 board and it seems that I lose 2 6gb ATA ports and 1 3gb ATA port. So when you are talking about reliability stats are they really that bad I am trying to justify spending more for less especially when I can picture myself my adding at least 1 maybe 2 more drives in the future depending on what direction I decide to go with in terms of short term photo storage (RAW files add up quick)

Again thanks for all the advice and help, i am just trying to understand.
 


Speeds above 1600Mhz doesn't improve performance enough to justify its price. Below 1600Mhz there will be a performance decrease, which isnt worth the $5 or so difference.

If you want an outright faster drive, the OCZ Vertex 4 is very quick and recently got a firmware update which has only made it faster. But it is quite new on the market so it has unproven reliability (though so far it seems fine), which is why someone a bit conservative would go for the Crucial M4, which has excellent reliability. So I guess the choice is yours.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227791

550W would have worked, but you wouldn't have had much room to upgrade and add hard drives and such. Though the quality of the PSU can never be overkill, its the one bit in your PC with the potential to fry all the other components, so good quality is paramount.

The HD7850 is essentially the king of mid-range cards (in my opinion, no doubt theres some Nvidia fans out there who disagree), so the next step up would be the top end. The card from there to get is the GTX670, it will overclock past the performance of the card above it (GTX680), great performance per dollar and its low power draw and heat means its much more efficient than the Fermi range (GTX 5XX) before it. Its also Nvidia, so you get the advantages of CUDA as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

Iv got the Seagate drive in questions and so far no issues. I haven't bench-marked it or anything to test its performance but nothing abnormal is happening with it.

As for i7 vs i5. In editing applications is where the i7 will perform better than an i5. Photoshop maybe not so much since not a lot is being rendered at any time, but video editing is where the difference will be noticeable.

I think Thermaltake have some white cases. Though you seem to like the Corsair aesthetic, and these are anything but subtle. And I doubt whether there as good as the Corsairs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133196
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133192

NZXT has a white case thats sort of subdued and is apparently somewhat good from the accounts I'v heard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067
 
Solution

grumblecat

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Thank you everyone, I think I am pretty close now, couple more things to sort of think about in the end availability and cost might play into final decisions (as always)

@Blade of Grass and @Brandon, I think in the end both of you are right those 2 boards from what I read do perform slightly better than the Asrock, the one thing that the Asrock seems to have is a couple extra SATA slots and in the end knowing how I go through storage I think a touch of performance traded for expansion might be better for me only time will tell.

@Manofchalk thank you for the help, feels good to know that weeks of research got me close to the right path I feel better about building my first computer knowing that I wasn't completely moving the wrong direction.

So just need to lock down, monitor, ssd and case and probably everything if I let myself think about it too much.
 

figit090

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Awesome! I'm in the market for a very similarly priced photoshop rig after my dual-core pentium D just keeps pissing me off. Lightroom catalogs just clog it up...I can't stand editing this way.
I even was considering a white case! go figure...

Anyway, what screens are you considering? Did you look at this Dell with good sRGB coverage? I think it's 100%:
Dell UltraSharp IPS-panel U2410

Here's a page on tuning a computer to run CS5 well, I assume you can just build from that for CS6:
http://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2011/05/how-to-tune-photoshop-cs5-for-peak-performance.html


Basically I'm in the same boat, wondering on SSD's, i7/i5, what motherboard, and if I can use integrated graphics temporarily and upgrade later.

I'll reread this thread rather than starting my own, thanks for having nearly the same needs/wants/budget as me!

Here's a case you might like: Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White
 

grumblecat

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Funny that case is on my list, I keep going back and forth between like 3 of them. Right now I am looking at

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E97ZUU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

On the monitor I am actually thinking I will go with the ASUS that Blade of Grass suggested earlier, I would love to have the high end Dell but I am having a hard time stretching the budget that far.

I am still going back and forth on which motherboard, I was completely settled but the fact that I can get all the other parts on Amazon except the motherboard for basically the same price as NewEgg so was trying to find an Amazon option but still not working that out.

I am pretty set on i7 based on what I've read about photoshop using the multi threading abilities. thanks for the blog link I'll check that out. I hope to order everything early next week who knows how many times it will change between now and then.

I am actually replacing a Core 2 Duo laptop that basically screams when I start trying to add layers to a photshop file so I feel your pain.
 

figit090

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Glad there's someone else in my position dying for more power. I'll look more into the processing threads and decide what processor is best, I like the idea of the lower-voltage Ivy cpu's but I'm not sure if there's a 2600k equivalent. I'll have another look it's been a week or two.

I DID pull the trigger after my girlfriend found an awesome deal on a dual-monitor setup on woot though, two zr22w HP (LG panel) screens on a dual monitor stand for less than 300 bones:
http://tech.woot.com/offers/hp-dual-monitor-stand-bundle

sadly not 100% srgb but above 90, and I'm no super pro so i figured what the hell...i can enjoy dual screens more than one single superb screen. i'll save color perfection (not just awesome but print-perfect ezio) for when I have $2k to budget toward a monitor. right now I'll save all I can without being dissatisfied :) (trick is convincing my perfectionism that satisfaction doesn't mean best-of-the-best in computing)

Any news on your build? I have to start building now, since my monitors will be in the mail soon. :D
 

grumblecat

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Funny you responded today, I am actually sitting at home, I have already greeted the FedEx guy the OnTrac woman now just waiting for the big brown UPS truck and I can get to work. The UPS truck has my Case, Monitor and Keyboard so might get a headstart installing the CPU and memory but not sure yet.

I ended up going with the ASUS PA238, I read enough about it that it sounded good and I could get it on Amazon and the Dell was out of stock for months there. Kept me from having to order from a dozen places managed to get everything other than the Motherboard and Power Supply from them. Actually got a good deal on the Seasonic 650W Gold on NewEgg .

In the end this is what it looks like. The biggest thing that I know looks like a mistake is the Z77 Board with the Non K CPU but the Z77 board had free shipping and with the shipping the H77 cost the same so I figure maybe in 2 years when the 3770K's are 50 bucks I can consider playing with overclocking.

And on that note the UPS guy just delivered the last parts guess I know what the rest of my day is going to be about.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($117.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.65 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($237.49 @ CompUSA)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.18 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 660W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($169.74 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PA238Q 23.0" Monitor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Microsoft WTA-00001 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1600.50
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-25 16:17 EDT-0400)
 

figit090

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glad you got it figured out, was that motherboard not as desirable or were you just speaking of the cpu as one you could have done better on?

I have no idea where to start for mobo's and graphics cards, I have a lot of reading ahead of me. Hopefully I'll get some done tomorrow.

That monitor looks good though, glad to see you found one with good sRGB coverage, I sacrificed a little in that area to get two screens and have better productivity, hopefully it's not much different in the end as far as image quality. :)