[New Build] Photo Editing/Processing & Music Recording/Editing

[chino3]

Sorry I like tomshardware format so I copy/pasta'd it.

Hello, and thanks in advance for any help you can offer! I am looking to set up a rig that will last me a long while for photo editing (heavy use of lightroom3 and CS5), recording music (guitar setup) with multi track editing and VST use. Gaming would be the least of priorities, but would love to play DIII if it ever comes out t1cable:

I have NEVER actually put together a comp (physically) so I dont know if you would suggest doing an online builder, taking it to a local shop, or just trying my best lol.

Here we go:

Approximate Purchase Date: sooner the better, but I have a system to get me by in the mean time

Budget Range: I would like to stay under $1000 before/after rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photo processing and editing (lightroom 3 and CS5), recording and editing musical tracks and use of VST, surfing, games.

Parts Not Required: I have a "decent" setup but dont know if it would be worth it canibalize or just try to get a few hundred for it. I think the only thing of somewhat value would be the primary hard drive, raptor 150gb 10k rpm.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: no preference, who ever is cheaper is fine!

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: either i5 2500k or i7 2600k. I hear ASUS is rock solid, but open to any MOBO suggestions

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: probably not

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I have NEVER actually put together a comp (physically) so I dont know if you would suggest doing an online builder, taking it to a local shop, or just trying my best lol.



And here is what I have come up with so far. Its still a bit more than what I want to spend, but I cannot figure out how to cut corners. Is there anything I am missing? anything not compatible?



mobo :Open Box: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Processor :Intel Core i5-2500K BX80623I52500 Unlocked Processor

RAM :Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX

Boot Drive: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Storage Drive: HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock

PSU: Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM


Before rebates this will be $1094.76 (not really counting on rebates to every show up anyways...)
None of these things said "bare" so I am assuming it will have all cables and wires I will need, or no?

 

[hafa]

My suggestions:

1. CPU: Core i7 2600
2. Larger boot drive, so that you can install your programs on it as well. I recommend the Intel 510 120GB.
3. Larger storage drive. With video, audio and images, the 500GB will fill up way too fast. I'd go with a WD Black 2TB
4. Corsair TX750 instead of the Antec
5. Windows 7 64-bit Pro instead of Home premium

For vendors, I prefer mwave. Not sure if these will fit in your budget; it may be worth it to save up for at least a larger SSD and better PSU. The rest can be easily upgraded in the future.

 

[chino3]

thanks for the reply, but that INCREASES my existing plans by over $300...

 

[hafa]

thanks for the reply, but that INCREASES my existing plans by over $300...

True. Good things come to those that wait. A 64GB system drive @ 3GB/S is going to be a serious limitation and the Antec PSU is marginal at best, IMHO.

 

[chino3]

True. Good things come to those that wait. A 64GB system drive @ 3GB/S is going to be a serious limitation and the Antec PSU is marginal at best, IMHO.

wait for what? budget to increase? if that's what you mean, it's not happening. It's not a matter of CANT afford its a matter of not WANTING to pay more.

I am looking for an i5 2500k build for as close to $1k as possible.

 

[diaz]

Sup man,

mobo :Open Box: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - You can save a bit with this: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3

Processor :Intel Core i5-2500K BX80623I52500 Unlocked Processor - yep looks good. If you do alot of video converting and heavy desktop mutitasking, then get the 2600k. Otherwise the 2500 is just as good.

RAM :Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX - G.Skill and Corsair have decent alternatives, look at pricing for the GBRL G Skill sets, and also the Vengence CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 types. 16G seems overkill, but when you have a few sessions of CS5 running you will like the snappy behavior of a 16G system.

Boot Drive: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - If you can get a 128 SSD, you will thank yourself.. It kinda sucks to put the money on it, but it makes a good difference. That crucial is a great choice nonetheless. Windows 7 and Battlefield 3 with Internet Security, word processors and several programs weighs in a 26.6GiB install after I changed some settings in Win7.. So 64 is fine if that's what you can afford.

Storage Drive: HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card. Nice video card, alternative would be a GTX 560. Both great cards.

Case: Strongly suggest to stay away from rosewill, how much is that case? For a decent price you can get a 912, or something more sublte looking like the Corsair 400 or 500r are are fantastic cases.

PSU: I would choose a corsair 500-550watter, which would be plenty of power for this. CX500 will do. That specific model from antec "neo" is not a reliable pick, although it might seem. Antec makes alot of great gear, the neo is one of the lemons.

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM This is good.


Have you considered a decent CPU cooler? The cooler master Hyper 212 evo is like $35, and is great bang/buck.

I'll let other comment on this, hopefully you find something that fits your budget... Also, where do you want to order from? Newegg offers good combo deals and sometimes extras and free shipping on some parts.

 

[hafa]

If price is the single determining factor, I'd go with a single 1TB WD black and ditch the SSD for now. 64GB will only accommodate a pared-down Windows 7 install and CS5 will have to go on the mechanical. Might as well go for a decent-capacity mechanical drive and maximize your benefits for the cost.

 

[diaz]

If price is the single determining factor, I'd go with a single 1TB WD black and ditch the SSD for now. 64GB will only accommodate a pared-down Windows 7 install and CS5 will have to go on the mechanical. Might as well go for a decent-capacity mechanical drive and maximize your benefits for the cost.

How big is CS5? Windows takes like 11-13GiB if you turn off system restore and a few other things..

 

[I.M.O.G.]

How big is CS5? Windows takes like 11-13GiB if you turn off system restore and a few other things..

Off the top of my head - System restore, hibernation, and smaller min/max for pagefile.

 

[diaz]

True so CS5 should be fine on the SSD and a game if you ever want to use that gfx card

 

[chino3]

thanks for the detailed info Diaz!

few notes/responses:

CS5 should take 1 gig.

the case you asked about is $74 with coupon. Any reason(s) I should stay away from rosewell? Would I need a cpu cooler with that case considering it has 5 on board fans? (sorry stupid question).


the open box ASUS would only run me $10 more than the asrock. what do you think?

as for the PSU, is 550w enough? I keep hearing that I need 600+ and also depending on the rails etc?

so with windows taking up 10gb+ and CS5 taking up 1gb, lightroom taking up 1gb, then misc music editing/recording taking up 10gb, can I get by with a 60gb SSD, or would 90gb be a safer choice? There is a decent deal on the Corsair Force series 90gb.

thanks again!

 

[diaz]

thanks for the detailed info Diaz!

few notes/responses:

CS5 should take 1 gig.

the case you asked about is $74 with coupon. Any reason(s) I should stay away from rosewell? Would I need a cpu cooler with that case considering it has 5 on board fans? (sorry stupid question).


the open box ASUS would only run me $10 more than the asrock. what do you think?

as for the PSU, is 550w enough? I keep hearing that I need 600+ and also depending on the rails etc?

so with windows taking up 10gb+ and CS5 taking up 1gb, lightroom taking up 1gb, then misc music editing/recording taking up 10gb, can I get by with a 60gb SSD, or would 90gb be a safer choice? There is a decent deal on the Corsair Force series 90gb.

thanks again!

- Rosewill has potential, and I might be wrong about that particular case, but in the PSU section, rosewill is a very "big flash no performance" oriented product. From the many rosewill PSU's out there, only 1 has stood out as a good performer. I know a PSU and a case are two different animals, but it would make me uncomfortable to buy from a company who seems to put out pretty products that don't seem to live up to other brand expectations. Look at reviews of the case, if they seem good, then I don't see a problem with it.

- The asus board is fine, just depends on how comfortable you are with open box. That asrock board is solid as hell, I don't think you would gain any advantage with the Asus, but if its only a $10 difference then why not.

- A 400watt PSU would be enough for you. Your PC probably will never even hit 350watts under load. A decent 500watt corsair is way better than the 620W Neo series for the reason that the neo series doesn't perform at its rated power very well. Look in my sig, there is a link of "True Tested PSU", any modular or non modular ~500watt PSU from that list is a very solid choice. With a non modular PSU you end up with tons of cabling, with a modular you generally pay more but get a cleaner install because you get to choose which cables you use, and not use the cables you dont need.

- Right now, the 60gb SSD will be more than enough as long as you don't have any large programs you intend on installing in the near future. Also I expect the SSD's to gradually go down in price with time, so if anything you would probably buy another SSD 2 years down the road with more space for the same price. However, the difference between 60 and 90GiB is quite large in terms of what programs you can install on there. Its your call, I would strech money for the 90GiB, but then again I just splurged on a 256GiB SSD so that tells you I'm a bit obsessed.

Keep us updated man!

 

[chino3]

possibly stupid question. do I need to get a GPU right now? can I get by with just the onboard, and say upgrade to the i7 2600k for the hyper threading? and down the road upgrade the video card if I feel I am missing out?

and should I canibalize my old system to save some money for now? again its a 150gb raptor at 10000 rpm, and a 1tb (forgot I upgraded) WD 7200 rpm HDD. is it possible to even get $400 out of an old system like that?

will I have any regrets going with the OEM version of windows? should I double down and get the full retail?

 

[diaz]

Don't be worried about asking questions, that's what were here for

- GPU: Don't need it unless you want to game. You can definitely get the GPU later.

- You could use the raptor and 1TB drive for now, and upgrade to an SSD later // or just get the SSD now, keep the 1TB instead of buying the 500G Hitachi, and sell the rest of your PC in parts.

- Your system won't sell for much, you are better off selling parts, there is a classifieds forum here, I've had some good dealings as of yet.

- OEM is fine, as long as you keep the motherboard you activated it with. Great addition to a new build, and if you were ever to install it on another system, the phone number with a code would come up during activation, and once you activate it on the phone it will be fine. I have only bought OEM throughout, and even through many upgrades I have been fine.

 

[Neuromancer]

CS5 takes 10 GB

Photoshop alone is over 4GB.


If you go Z68, you can use the onboard graphics (either 2500K or 2600K both have HD3000 graphics controller) You can also clock it up to 1400 mhz quite easily. which will give you a little better performance than stock. Still not enough for gaming mind you but enough for most things.

Another benefit of the Z68 is SSD caching. I would rather get a 120+GB SSD for OS but if smaller is your only option with Z68 you use it as a cache drive to get SSD performance and HDD size/cost.

You can also use the raptor as a scratch drive for photoshop and such. short stroking would improve the performance of the drive.

also since you are not going wit ha dscrete GPU you can seriously down the power you need from the PSU.

Im running a stock 2600K H67 setup off a 250W ITX psu.

 

[hafa]

CS5 should take 1 gig.

My current CS5/5.5 install = 10GB. Includes

• Illustrator
• Photoshop
• Dreamweaver
• Acrobat X Pro

Installation size depends on previous versions and products installed. If you install After Effects, plan on another GB. Also keep in mind the PS/After Effects scratch disk (I allocate 10GB for PS) and if you're using After Effects, the scratch disk should be even larger.

Total recommended free space for Adobe applications: 25GB; You'll want some latitude for installation of upgrades and retention of previous versions.

So, Windows = 13GB + 25 for Adobe = 38, given the minimum ~15% free space for garbage collection (~10GB), this leaves a scant 12BG left over. That means that few additional programs can be installed, no system restore and limited VM (which could cause issues with PS when editing very large files and/or serious multitasking).

I still maintain that given cost is the primary consideration and that the OP is trying to bring costs down, the above comments regarding limitations of a smaller SSD for this application, and the fact that a 500GB data drive will fill up far too quickly, a 1TB mechanical drive or even a Seagate 750GB hybrid drive is the best choice.

**Edit: Neuromancer beats me to the punch again...***

 

[diaz]

CS5 takes 10 GB

Photoshop alone is over 4GB.


If you go Z68, you can use the onboard graphics (either 2500K or 2600K both have HD3000 graphics controller) You can also clock it up to 1400 mhz quite easily. which will give you a little better performance than stock. Still not enough for gaming mind you but enough for most things.

Another benefit of the Z68 is SSD caching. I would rather get a 120+GB SSD for OS but if smaller is your only option with Z68 you use it as a cache drive to get SSD performance and HDD size/cost.

You can also use the raptor as a scratch drive for photoshop and such. short stroking would improve the performance of the drive.

also since you are not going wit ha dscrete GPU you can seriously down the power you need from the PSU.

Im running a stock 2600K H67 setup off a 250W ITX psu.

And there you have it.. With the savings on GPU alone you can upgrade the size of the SSD, I didn't know photoshop got so big!

 

[I.M.O.G.]

It's worth noting that CS5 can benefit considerably if used with a NVIDIA graphics card though as well. It supports CUDA, which means some of its tasks can be offloaded to the GPU. It's one of those GPU compute things.

I don't have much to add, but you may want to look at what that helps exactly with CS5 - if you have long rendering or processing times, I would expect this is where the advantage of a NVIDIA GPU would possibly be worthwhile to you.

I don't know enough to say more, but wanted to bring this up so it could weigh into the decision on the build as well. If I were doing a build like this myself, I would look to research and understand if this is worthwhile - or get answers from people who know. Is anyone in this thread using CUDA support with CS5?

 

[chino3]

excellent info all the way around guys, thanks a ton!

I think this might work out just fine, but am still looking to tie up a few loose ends, like experience from CS5 and LR3 users.

Also recording folks. I am using an external interface, so would I benefit at all from an upgraded sound card or just use what I have?

 

[diaz]

I remember someone saying something about latency..

Are you using a sound card right now? You could transfer it to the new build.