New PC for professional use. Advise needed.

[fcr]

Hi there,

I use my PC as a tool for my work. Mainly Photoshop. I have to warn you I'm not anywhere near an experienced PC enthusiast. No gaming or overclocking. So, please bear with me.

Right now I have a Dell Precision 650 workstation, which I bought back in 2004.
It's a dual Xeon at 3.06 GHz with a 3D Labs Wildcat4 7110. It served me well all these years, but now it's time to replace it as it's struggling with images more than 1GB.
I'm considering either buying a new Dell PC, or build one myself. The Dell option would basically be a compromise. My budget is £1800-2000 tops. Buying a top-end Dell PC is way over my budget. So, for that money I'd have to go with a mid-range system.

As for the homebuilt system, this is what I had in mind. I could use some advise though.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ITgs

Re the case, Cooler Master Silencio 650 would be practical enough for my needs I guess. Low noise and filters all around to keep the dust from the carpet out of the pc.

My main concerns are the following.
Should I stick to Xeon (E3 range or up to E5-2640) or go with i7-3820? Does Ps cs6 need higher clock speed or more cores?
I reckon I can put together the hardware. I have no clue when it comes to the Bios set up though. Would this be a major problem or is it a straightforward procedure?

Well, that's for start. I think there are more to be discussed.
Thank you in advance.

 

[chulex67]

I would go with a 750w Power Supply instead even when yours is 80 plus gold, the extra power wont hurt anyone. You can run it with the 650 but you will be almost topping the max output.

I think i heard the Silenio 650 only had 1 2.5 mount.... are you getting brackets or adapters for your SSD's?

Its really a straighforward procedure go with the I7 forget the Xeon.

Quick edit: lmao i didnt saw the 2.5 Drive Bays because they are in a really Strange place.

 

[fcr]

Approximate Purchase Date: Soon

Budget Range: £1800-2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: PS

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Eveything

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon.co.uk, aria.co.uk, overclockers.co.uk, etc

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: No preferences

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024 maximum to 2048x1536

Additional Comments: I'd like a reliable and quiet PC that will last for several years

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My current PC is nearly "dead"

 

[fcr]

I would go with a 750w Power Supply instead even when yours is 80 plus gold, the extra power wont hurt anyone. You can run it with the 650 but you will be almost topping the max output.

I think i heard the Silenio 650 only had 1 2.5 mount.... are you getting brackets or adapters for your SSD's?

Its really a straighforward procedure go with the I7 forget the Xeon.

Quick edit: lmao i didnt saw the 2.5 Drive Bays because they are in a really Strange place.

Cheers chulex67!
It makes sense. Extra power won't hurt anyone!

 

[chulex67]

Yeah i just Confirmed it you have 2 2.5 adapters on the Silencio 650. and you have 3 ssd's. we are missing 1 adapter.

 

[s3anister]

Hi there,

I use my PC as a tool for my work. Mainly Photoshop. I have to warn you I'm not anywhere near an experienced PC enthusiast. No gaming or overclocking. So, please bear with me.

Right now I have a Dell Precision 650 workstation, which I bought back in 2004.
It's a dual Xeon at 3.06 GHz with a 3D Labs Wildcat4 7110. It served me well all these years, but now it's time to replace it as it's struggling with images more than 1GB.
I'm considering either buying a new Dell PC, or build one myself. The Dell option would basically be a compromise. My budget is £1800-2000 tops. Buying a top-end Dell PC is way over my budget. So, for that money I'd have to go with a mid-range system.

As for the homebuilt system, this is what I had in mind. I could use some advise though.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ITgs

Re the case, Cooler Master Silencio 650 would be practical enough for my needs I guess. Low noise and filters all around to keep the dust from the carpet out of the pc.

My main concerns are the following.
Should I stick to Xeon (E3 range or up to E5-2640) or go with i7-3820? Does Ps cs6 need higher clock speed or more cores?
I reckon I can put together the hardware. I have no clue when it comes to the Bios set up though. Would this be a major problem or is it a straightforward procedure?

Well, that's for start. I think there are more to be discussed.
Thank you in advance.

Ok, first off I see one huge glaring issue with your proposed build: You decided to go with the X79 chipset motherboard which is socket 2011 and consequently picked an exceptionally underwhelming processor for socket 2011. The reason I say that is this, the only reason to buy a socket 2011 motherboard/CPU is to take advantage of the possible six-core i7 processors and/or to use quad-SLI/quad-Crossfire for graphics. As you've only proposed buying one GPU you would be better served by getting an LGA1155 i7 Ivy Bridge processor and Z77 motherboard.

Now, if you plan on building a true workstation this isn't what I'd personally do. What I'd do is get an ASUS or Tyan dual socket LGA-2011 motherboard and run two Xeon E5 2630s or two Xeon E5 2640s (which are both six-core twelve-thread for total system count of 12 cores/24 threads) with a Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition card or perhaps a GTX Titan if you feel like going all-out and have the budget for it.

Also, I really have to recommend the Fractal Design Define XL R2 as the case to use. It is by far the quietest and best performing case I've ever used and it supports E-ATX and XL-ATX motherboards meaning you should be good to go for a dual socket system.

 

[fcr]

Hi s3anister,

Thanks for replying.
My first thought was to go with the x79 chipset, but pick a relatively cheap cpu and after a while replace it with a better one (ie i7 3960x)... well, as soon as its price has dropped.

According to Adobe:
Photoshop CS5 and CS6 require a multicore Intel processor (Mac OS) or a 2 GHz or faster processor (Windows) ... Therefore, Photoshop doesn’t run four times as fast on a computer with 16 processor cores as on a computer with four cores. For most users, the increase in performance that more than six cores provides doesn't justify the increased cost.

That tells me that a 12 core system is more like an overkill. Am I right?

 

[s3anister]

Hi s3anister,

Thanks for replying.
My first thought was to go with the x79 chipset, but pick a relatively cheap cpu and after a while replace it with a better one (ie i7 3960x)... well, as soon as its price has dropped.

According to Adobe:
Photoshop CS5 and CS6 require a multicore Intel processor (Mac OS) or a 2 GHz or faster processor (Windows) ... Therefore, Photoshop doesn’t run four times as fast on a computer with 16 processor cores as on a computer with four cores. For most users, the increase in performance that more than six cores provides doesn't justify the increased cost.

That tells me that a 12 core system is more like an overkill. Am I right?

For most people the 12 core system is going to be overkill and if you're only going to be doing Photoshop, yes. I more was saying what I'd go with myself as I also do A/V encoding and studio recording in addition to Photoshop so the extra cores are useful.

Just so you know, the price of the X79 processors are never going to come down, they will be that expensive until, during, and after their more expensive replacements come out. The best advice I could give you is that if you're only doing Photoshop you don't actually need anything more than a good LGA1155 system with a Core i7-3770K processor and a Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card.

 

[fcr]

I reckon this configuration, which is within my budget, will serve me for many years.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Jbj8

I picked the i7 3930k mainly because it combines 6 cores and a fast clock speed, which makes it as fast as the Xeon E5 2667, although it's three times cheaper.
Does it make sense?