I have an old computer (Pentium 4 Win XP) that finally died. I'm looking to build new and it has been a while since I've done this. My primary use will be for PS CS5 and LR3, keeping up with the upgrades as they come out. I don't do much high end gaming anymore.

I've done a little research and come up with the following selections:


Processor: Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz LGA1155 Sandy Bridge $300
Mobo: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe SATA 6MB/s USB3.0 multiple PCIex16 slots $180
PSU: OCZ ZX 1250W 80+Gold, Sandy Bridge, SLI support $240
Case: Thermaltake Element 5 NVidia Black Edition VL200L1W2Z $200
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3 1600MHz PC12800 (x4=16GB) $120 total
Video: ASUS ENGTX570 1280MB NVidia $350
Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Black SATA II 1TB (x2) 7200RPM $180 total
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SATA II $180
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate $150
__________
$1900

I already have keyboard, mouse, monitor (Samsung bbw225 22") and a 2TB external drive.

I also have (2) 500GB WD 7200RPM drives that I will take out of my NAS case as I don't use it. I plan to use one for the OS and Apps, and the other for utilities like AVG as well as to store program downloads. The two 1TB drives will go into a RAID 1 for data storage. The SSD drive will be for scratch space for Photoshop.

Mobo, case and PSU choices will allow upgrading to Quad SLI later.

I haven't ordered anything yet, would you change anything?

Thanks

 

seems like a bit of overkill for just photoshop especially if all you're doing is editing photos.

 

I say u should get ocz vertex 3 ssd cause Sata 3 is faster also for video card I say XFX 6970 but that's me

 

 

Newegg email always have special sales going on

 

I looked at the OCZ Vertex 3 but i was trying to keep the price under $2k. Looks like I also left out an optical drive, but they are pretty cheap.

I may get into video editing too so I wanted to have the capability. I am also looking for this rig to last me at least 5 years so that's part of why I leaned towards the high end. And even though I don't have the time for gaming now, the gamer in me says to have a system capable of gaming.

 

There are a few things when messing with Photoshop that you want some speed. Better to have it now, so it'll last for awhile. If you compose many images at a time (HDR, panos, stitching, multiple layers) with files as big a 20mb a piece or more.

Even some of Adobes add on filters, I'm stuck using smaller file sizes because of my video card.

 

Well

But a top of the line i7?

Anyways I'm with him too in that the gamer in me says to get the best when it comes time to upgrade my computer.

 

Yeah but you made it sound like he uses picasa to edit images.

 

OK, so I've ordered all the parts, only difference from above was an upgrade to the nVidia GTX580 as the GTX570 was out of stock and WIN 7 Home instead of Pro.

What is the best way to configure the disk drives? I'll have two WD 7200rpm 500GB drives, 2 WD 7200rpm 1TB drives and the 120GB SSD.

I was thinking of using one 500GB for the OS and Apps, the other 500GB for things like the iTunes library and other download files, putting the two 1TB drives in a Raid 1 for data (photos, etc.) and using the SSD for page files and scratch work for Photoshop. I also have an external 2TB drive for backups.

Would anyone do anything differently?

 

id put the OS and apps on the SSD, that way you get like a 10 second boot up time and apps load fast!

but thats just me.

 

But I was thinking that PS might be more disk intensive during operations as opposed to loading. I am not as concerned with load times as I usually leave the comp on and PS running most of the time.

 

+1

it's 120gb, I'd even throw the PS scratch on there, you've got plenty of room and I don't think you'll see a lot of contention.

This box is going to scream compared to your old one. Again this is just PS, you might be overthinking it a little, but either way nice setup.

 

So all the parts are in. Hopefully Irene will play nice and let me have power all weekend so I can put it together.

After more research, and discussion here, I am going to configure the HDD's this way:

120GB SSD for OS, PS and scratch
Two 500GB HDD's in RAID 0 for utilities (anti-virus, anti-malware, etc.), scratch if necessary and to load games on
Two 1TB drives in RAID 1 for data storage
External 2TB drive for backups

 

Looks like a great setup to me. Sounds like overkill for photoshop though

 

It is overkill today, but I'm thinking 5 years out from now.

 

He'll the next version could make people upgrade. My last desktop lasted five years.

 

My computer has been a pure photo machine for the last decade.
I rarely play games.

I have upgraded my CPU and hard disk a few times - barely touched anything else,
although I've had to sometimes upgrade the MB/memory to use the faster CPUs.

The basic things you do are all pure CPU - generating previews, converting images/video.
The MP wars has made this worse, especially for us RAW folk.
Even with an I7, which I have now, pano generation is no joke, and you should also keep in mind HD video converting,
since (all?) cameras can shoot HD video now.

Video card is mostly useless, since you need zero 3D graphics capability. You just need enough memory to show your images.
(although I believe some programs will use your GPU).

For a serious photo editing machine, you left out a pretty important piece, IMHO: A monitor with good color accuracy.I
I got a NEC 2490 Wuxi and I can barely stand looking at pictures on my other monitor.

- Frank

 

my 2 cents, there's no such thing as 'overkill' for Photoshop. you may not need the firepower right this minute, but with technology moving as fast as it does there's no telling what you'll 'need' in even a few years. nice work, I want a new computer now lol

 

Yea, I left the monitor upgrade out due to lack of funding. I've got a 22" Samsung BBW225 (something like that). It will have to do for a while. I'd love to get a 27" or 30" monitor and a Wacom Cintiq tablet, but those will have to wait.

 

nice build i just had to get a new motherboard today think i just killed it

 

Samsung monitors FTW im usining a BX2235 21.5"

 

not entirely useless if he is messing around with HD video.