New Build for Photographer

[MrTeeny]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for
-Primarily for extensive Photoshop usage (200+ RAW images per week converted to large TIFF files for final editing), HD video editing, InDesign, Illustrator, Internet.

2. What YOUR budget is
-$1200-$1300

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from
-United States

4. IF YOU have a brand preference
-No preference

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are
-Samsung 19" Monitor (upgrading later this year, hopefully)

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
-yes, I have read and researched this at great length. This will be my 6th or 7th system build.I will include a list of parts I feel are appropriate

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
-Default speeds. Stability is a must. I may eventually overclock as the system ages but not in the beginning. Also, I don't want to spend time flashing to a new BIOS every week in an effort to have a stable system.

CPU - Intel Quad Q660 Kentsfield $255
MOBO - Abit IP35 Pro $135
RAM - G Skill 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2 800 $80
HD - Hitachi Deskstar E7K500 500GB 7200RPM $150
OS - Windows XP Pro $135
MEDIA - Samsung 20x DVD Burner w/LightScribe $30
CASE - Antec Sonata w/500W PSU $150
GPU - No idea. I would like to keep this around or below $200

If I spend around $200 on the graphis card then that takes me to around $1165 or so if you factor shipping costs into the equation. How much more could I get on the performance end if I were to spend an extra $135, and where would you advise that I spend it. Thanks.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

For your stated purpose you don't need to spend $200 on the GPU

This one would even be overkill, but would allow you to play the occasional game
EVGA 8600GT $80 AR

that would give you $120+135 = $255 left to hit the $1300

I would spend an extra $100 and get this CPU
X3350 $358
It will outperform the Q6600 by a nice margin, run cooler and use quite a bit less energy.
But you better grab it quick as it's brand new and they will fly out of stock as fast as they appear

I would spend the rest on a a second HDD, photoshop really works best if your scratch files are on a serperate drive.

 

[Slugbait]

Probably the only thing that matters for video cards would be the memory. Take 256 over 128. Watch out for 512 cards, many use slower memory than their 256 versions. Plenty of choices around $200. A 9600GT would likely fit your needs.

If that Samsung is LCD, yeah, you definitely want to upgrade. You want a lot more resolution than that monitor can provide.

I paid $135 shipped for a Samsung 750G drive a couple of weeks ago from Chief Value. According to some utility I have installed (can't recall...), it's faster than my OS drive (80G Raptor). I would suggest you put the additional $135 you have there, then move your scratch pad to it. Scratching on your OS drive will slow you down.

 

[MrTeeny]

Thanks for the quick replies. I've never built a system with multiple hard drives. I know that you can set up scratch disks in Photoshop but have never been completely clear on the benefit.

Would I install photoshop on the same HD as the OS or on the second HD? I am assuming the 1st HD and use the 2nd HD as the scratch disk. Also, what would be best RAID configuration for the HDs?

BTW, I checked on the X3350 and it was already out of stock. I'll check out the CPUs and Overclocking board to see if anyone has any insight as to where I might be able to pick one up.

 

[LikeLinus]

save money on the GPU and spend the money where it's - the monitor. I'd pick up atleast a 20" LCD. There's NO reason to spend a bunch of money on a 3D graphics card for a 2D application!!!!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The X3350 is the Xeon(server) version of the Q9450, they are essentially the same chip.
So if you find either one, jump on it. They are being release as we speak and the availability will be hit or miss for a while and they will sell for a $50+ early adopters premium for a while, in few months you should be able to buy one for $300

But if you can't score one the Q6600 will do just fine and is probably still the best choice performance per $ It's the low heat and energy savings that get me excited about the Q9450.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: MrTeeny
Would I install photoshop on the same HD as the OS or on the second HD? I am assuming the 1st HD and use the 2nd HD as the scratch disk. Also, what would be best RAID configuration for the HDs?

Install PS to the OS drive, and yes, the second drive is the scratch. There is no RAID...you want two physical drives, not a single virtual drive.

 

[Slugbait]

Also, be sure that the first thing you do is to create a permanent pagefile on the second drive before writing anything else to it. That will give you another bit of a speed boost.

 

[jkresh]

you might want to look at wd's new 640gig drive (2 320gig platters) it is supposed to be really fast and its less expensive then the 500 you had listed. Depending on the format you are working in with the hd video you may want to go with 3 disks, 1 for main os and storage and 2 other drives in raid 0 for your video work (though if everything you are working with is compressed this might be overkill).

 

[MrTeeny]

GuitarDaddy, would the Abit IP35 Pro mobo accept the X3350 or Q9450 chips without a BIOS update? Thanks.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

With P35 it seems to be hit and miss and depends on when your board was manufactured.
Some places will flash the bios to the latest for you before they send it for a nominal fee.

Or you could always buy a $42 celeron
Text

And use it to flash the bios then sell it on ebay.

And the x3350's seem to be showing up in stock
Text

 

[Goldfish4209]

As far as I'm aware, would a quad core chip be useless for photoshop? I don't photoshop benefits from more cores, so I'd go with something dual core that runs faster.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Goldfish4209
As far as I'm aware, would a quad core chip be useless for photoshop?

No. As I understand it, working with PSD files will utilize all four cores...tho' working with TIFF won't. I believe a lot of filters will use all four cores. Anandtech has a few benchmarks with Photoshop such as this one which shows significant perf differences...for example, an Extreme Quad running at 2.93G beats an Extreme Duo running at the same speed in the Retouch Artists speed test, and some stitching operation. Similar differences between a Q6600 and E6600. A lot depends on what you want to do.

And if you're running other apps besides Photoshop, quad helps there, too.