TTQ B4U Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) Okay, I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new build that will primarily be for Photoshop and use in my photography practice. Occasional surfing MS Office/Adobe CS use but zero gaming, etc. With the recall and delay on mother boards for the new Sandy Bridge i7 2600 series, I'm still fine with selecting the previous Gen i7 950. Last years V8 is fine especially compared to where I'm at now. I'll primarily be driving my 30" monitor but may also use a second, haven't decided. Goal is power, room to grow, keeping costs close to $1k but with quality and a desire to buy locally vs online. It's not worth $50-$100 if I can buy local. Thoughts on this configuration appreciated. Case: ThermaltakeV4 Black Edition(4) Additional Silenx iXtrema Pro 120mm 1,200rpm fansCore i7-950 3.06GHzCoolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Socket 1156 HeatsinkGigabyte GA-X58-USB3 LGA 1366 X58 ATX 7.1 Surround Motherboard12GB Corsair DDR3-1600ATi Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 700W ATXWD 600GB VelociRaptor 10,000 RPM SATA 6.0Gb - Primary Drive for Win 7 Ulitmate & applicationsWD 1TB - Seondary Drive Data, May partition it for my needs.(2) LG Multi DVD 22x Writers - BluRay isn't necessary.Logisys 3.5" All in One Internal Card Reader - USB Thanks in advance! Edited February 5, 2011 by TTQ B4U Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 not a bad setup, personally I prefer Nvidia. As for th SSD if you have to extra funds go for it they are into there 3rd generations. I have a friend running 2 first gen SSDs and he loves them and has had zero issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 It's been a long time since I've built a PC, but generally speaking an external video card is only going to help your 3D performance, and since you're doing 0 gaming, it's going to be a waste of money. Can you get a version of that motherboard with on-board video? Or something similar? Seems like an easy way to save yourself $150. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 It's been a long time since I've built a PC, but generally speaking an external video card is only going to help your 3D performance, and since you're doing 0 gaming, it's going to be a waste of money. Can you get a version of that motherboard with on-board video? Or something similar? Seems like an easy way to save yourself $150. Negative. Many, many, many applications take advantage of graphics cards now, especially for video watching. Flash is one that comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 And editing pictures you want colors displayed correctly, I would spring for a really nice monitor (Professional Panel) to edit pics with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Negative. Many, many, many applications take advantage of graphics cards now, especially for video watching. Flash is one that comes to mind. I can watch 1080p videos on my 2 year old laptop. You're gonna have to sell me a bit more if you're going to convince me that a 1TB video card has any use beyond gaming. Not saying I'm right; I'm open to being convinced. But right now I'm skeptical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furloaf Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Knock the video card down as you'll only be using 2D acceleration, you still want a dedicated video though as integrated ones can rob from the CPU and RAM, which you will want to concentrate on the picture editing. Re-appropriate that money into SSD(s) for system and photographic editing use, while storing/backing up the finished pictures on the 1TB drive. If you're still leery of SSDs, replace that WD500GB drive with 150GB WD Raptors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I can watch 1080p videos on my 2 year old laptop. You're gonna have to sell me a bit more if you're going to convince me that a 1TB video card has any use beyond gaming. Not saying I'm right; I'm open to being convinced. But right now I'm skeptical. 2 years wasn't that long ago, and its 1GB, not 1 TB.... Here is a pretty solid test of the load it can take off of a CPU. Yeah, its an older Pentium Dual Core, but it helps show the results. Photoshop also supports GPU acceleration, and I have been told it helps a lot. I guess the point I am trying to make is why skimp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbird Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Don't see much to chime in on...it sounds like a pretty decent build for what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedfocus1647545489 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Sounds like a decent to me, though I have had great results out of Asus boards over the years. I agree that you could probably save a little on the video card, but I certainly wouldn't go throwing a junk card in it or relying on onboard video, especially if you are considering dual monitors and such. Also a nice, properly calibrated display will help immensely for photo work. Otherwise I think it's should handily do what you're asking of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justalilow1647545502 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I would also make the change to a SSD. We have used them for the last 2 yrs in an enterprise environment without any problems plus the difference in the speed in very noticeable. We order all laptops and some high end desktops with SSD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I would also make the change to a SSD. We have used them for the last 2 yrs in an enterprise environment without any problems plus the difference in the speed in very noticeable. We order all laptops and some high end desktops with SSD. only thing about SSD is when you switch back to a regular drive you will truely notice how much faster the SSD is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Adding a SSD is the biggest change in performance you will ever see on a computer from the past 10 years. You will swear your system jumped into the future and had sex with all kinds of hot women, and then traveled back in time to be owned by you. For apps I would highly recommend you use one, and it is probably worth getting another small one to use as a scratch disk for any hard core editing. They are straight crack. Where are you shopping at? Microcenter will match newegg prices if you'd prefer to get everything local. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 And editing pictures you want colors displayed correctly, I would spring for a really nice monitor (Professional Panel) to edit pics with. Done. I've been running a 30" Spider Calibrated Display and Photo printer combo for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohmr95b Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Where are you shopping at? Microcenter will match newegg prices if you'd prefer to get everything local. This I did not know. Looks like I will be shopping at Microcenter more often. Thanks, I prefer local also. OT, looks like a solid build to me, but I would certainly opt for a SSD. It truly is a huge performance increase. Your GPU looks good, not overkill, I personally would opt for more RAM and a wicked sharp display. That's right, I am bringing back the use of the word "wicked." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Done. I've been running a 30" Spider Calibrated Display and Photo printer combo for a while I love my Apple Cinema Display. It + CS5 = Fun I need to learn more tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I love my Apple Cinema Display. It + CS5 = Fun I need to learn more tricks. That's what I run. This I did not know. Looks like I will be shopping at Microcenter more often. Thanks, I prefer local also. OT, looks like a solid build to me, but I would certainly opt for a SSD. It truly is a huge performance increase. Your GPU looks good, not overkill, I personally would opt for more RAM and a wicked sharp display. That's right, I am bringing back the use of the word "wicked." I didn't go SSD. I opted for 10k RPM 650GB WD to try out the speed. I'm running it for my C Drive and will have my applications on a partition of that same drive. Another 1 TB WD inside for my current work. I use a 4 TB external Raid system for my data. I also opted for 12GB Memory as the 950 drives 3 channels at once. So with Photoshop being so memory intensive and less processor intensive than say gaming, the 950 with 12GB will probably be an extremely good set up for my needs. I'm very happy. I added really nice Coolermaster Heat Sink/Fan setup for the CPU in place of the typical stock unit. I also added 3 1200rpm fans to the case. Two venting upwards, one 120mm pulls air in the front and another 120mm vents out the back. Cool air comes from the bottom and one side. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I can't wait to put her all together in the morning and hopefully test her out on my new camera gear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 The slowest thing in your system for editing is going to be your card reader lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 The slowest thing in your system for editing is going to be your card reader lol. or the user Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-n-Columbus Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I edit 2GB+ TIFFs for large-scale printing with my rig. Lots of RAM and a spectacular disk system is far more impactful than the CPU (IMHO). You have the RAM, but the disks are lacking. I'd try two Intel X-25M's in a RAID1 for the boot and applications disk, and then a dedicated RAID controller with multiple SATA disks (ie. 4x 1TB's) in a RAID10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-n-Columbus Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Also, the graphics card doesn't need to be so beefy for 2D. I have an older Radeon HD4850 that is calibrated with my monitors and printers perfectly with true Adobe RGB98. I'd reinvest that money in the disks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 COGAGE True Spirit cooler. Less expensive and performs better. There isn't a better bang for the buck cooler out there. I have been very impressed with mine - even came with the bolt through kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I'd try two Intel X-25M's in a RAID1 for the boot and applications disk, and then a dedicated RAID controller with multiple SATA disks (ie. 4x 1TB's) in a RAID10. I have a dedicated RAID system just like that. I'm just moving it over to my new set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 COGAGE True Spirit cooler. Less expensive and performs better. There isn't a better bang for the buck cooler out there. I have been very impressed with mine - even came with the bolt through kit. Ooop....I just double check and fixed my thread. I ended up with the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Socket 1156 Heatsink, not the 5xx series. Better unit. I still like the one you chose, and may consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 On the core processors you really dont need much to keep them cool. The stock cooler is more than enough to suffice usually, unless its in a hot environment. And yes, the graphics card is needed! So many apps are supporting 3d acceleration, including many adobe ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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