Photo editing computer build

[DeepFrz97]

I figured I would update the first post and answer all of the questions in the board recommendations.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing. Photo editing, light gaming (Civilization and the sort), and basic office document work.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread. $4500 maximum, including monitors.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA (Newegg)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc. Motherboard ASUS, HDD WD, Video Card ATI, Processor Intel.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are. N/A

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads. I have searched the net for recommendations for photo editing and the only advice I found was to use a 6 Core processor, but that was prior to the Sandybridge processor being released.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. Default.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with. Max display resolution.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? Mid to late February.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

I am going to be building a computer for my wife and I to use for photo editing primarily. I would like your input on the hardware. The main software we currently use is Adobe CS5, Adobe Lightroom 3, and Adobe Photoshop Elements.
I used to build all of my computers, but I have only been using laptops for the past several years, so I am a bit behind the times when it comes to hardware knowledge. All of the reviews I have seen recommend a 6 core processor for Photoshop and Lightroom.

1 -COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
4 -OKGEAR 24" SATA 6 Gbps Cable,
1 -ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 -SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
1 -CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W
1 -Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.33GHz LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor
1 -nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
4 -CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M1A1600C7
4 -Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA
1 -WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet
1 -Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 -Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 -Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 -LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 -LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe 1 -Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
1 -Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler
Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

 

[Davidh373]

oh... ouch, so much advice to give... give me a minute...

1 -ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

1 -ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

first of all, lets talk about the choice of the 980X. The 980X and the 1366 is pretty old news. You can get a shiny new Sandy Bridge CPU/ P67 mobo for around $350 that outperform it.

i5 2500K - $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9115072&cm_re=i5_2500K-_-19-115-072-_-Product

Gigabyte UD3 P67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128460&Tpk=gigabyte%20ud3 1155

Benchmark comparison
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/142?vs=288

1 -SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5

Now lets talk about this. I notice you don't mention anything about gaming or GPU usage what so ever. You could get a GTX 460 1GB for half the cost and it would have gaming capabilities and plenty of GPU computing power if you do ever use those capabilities.

If you are not gaming, you won't even use the dedicated GPU at all. The Intel 1155 H67 (as opposed to the P67) will allow for graphics processing on the CPU, and even that would run some games/ GPU computing apps.

As far as Photoshop/ Lightroom/ Paint/ Flash/ ect. They don't do anything with the GPU. You could actually get an old HD 3850 and not notice a single difference. They do have "GPU acceleration", but that can be done on literally any modern GPU.

If you want to run 2 Identical monitors on two identical inputs, you can get away with a GTS 450 or a 5770

GTS 450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125342&cm_re=gts_450-_-14-125-342-_-Product

HD 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-873-_-Product

4 -CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M1A1600C7

Ok, so this RAM is 1.65V, which over time will damage the memory controller on any modern Intel processor over time (won't notice right away).

Ripjaw 1333 16GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1312&cm_re=ripjaw_1333-_-20-231-312-_-Product

4 -Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA

The Samsung 1TB actually has nearly identical performance and will save you ~$20 per drive on amazon. The Caviar Black may have the 6GB/S controller, but no platter drive even maxes out the 1.5GB/S controller.So they just try to sell you a useless feature.

1TB Samsung
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinp...S5S0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294794270&sr=8-1

1 -WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet

This is great. I have one of these myself and I love it.

1 -Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 -Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 -Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 -LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 -LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe 1 -Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
1 -Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler
Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

The rest here looks great.

 

[Davidh373]

4 -Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA

I'm just gonna ask, you aren't thinking of a 4 drive raid array for running Photoshop are you?

1 -CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W

You won't need a 1000W PSU for this one. A 520W Seasonic will fit the efficiency curve nicely

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-094-_-Product

I also notice there is no SSD in your build

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...TMATCH&Description=ocz+vertex+2+120gb&x=0&y=0

 

[DeepFrz97]

I said it had been a while since I built a computer. Thanks for your input. I have changed a few things around. I have always liked WD and ASUS hardware, so here is what I am thinking. I am not really looking at a gaming machine, but I may play the occasional Civilization game or something along those lines.
In this setup the SSD drive would be the primary drive with the WD's for storage of the photos. RAW takes up a ton of storage space.
I was thinking of going with a bit larger power supply to future proof the computer a bit. I normally try not to upgrade until it is really necessary and then I prefer to use as much of my old equipment as possible.
Any thought on the updated setup?


1 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
1 - ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 - SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB
1 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
1 - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 - SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
1 - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
5 - OKGEAR 24" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
1 - nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
4 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 - WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet - Medium/Black
1 - Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 - Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 - Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 - LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe
1 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
1 - Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

 

[Davidh373]

In this setup the SSD drive would be the primary drive with the WD's for storage of the photos.

yes. The OS, and primary software would go on the SSD.

1 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

Have you checked how that extra $100 will benefit you? They look pretty identical, but it does boost a retouch by about 1 second. It's up to you I suppose.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

4 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I would like to recommend the samsung, or at very least save the $10 on the 3GB/S controller version. This would just be throwing $40 out the window. There is literally no difference, and SATA 2 and 3 are the same socket, so a 3GB/S drive will still plug into a 6GB/S socket. You can probably save money on the cables as well. Remember the board also comes with 2 Cables.

1 - SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified

This is fine, but you won't use the extra 6 pin connectors for SLI on the 5770. You'll also be on the south side of the efficiency curve (Gold or not you'll only be using like 250W).

Thinking you'll SLI/ CFX later is kind of an economical joke since by the time you'll not be happy with the 5770 in games there will be a card nearly twice as good for near the same price. When the HD 6870 is down to $150 in a year (better than 5770 CFX) you'll want to buy that instead of tracking down a second, $100 5770. It just plain wont be worth the extra power draw/ initial platform price.

 

[mfenn]

I said it had been a while since I built a computer. Thanks for your input. I have changed a few things around. I have always liked WD and ASUS hardware, so here is what I am thinking. I am not really looking at a gaming machine, but I may play the occasional Civilization game or something along those lines.
In this setup the SSD drive would be the primary drive with the WD's for storage of the photos. RAW takes up a ton of storage space.
I was thinking of going with a bit larger power supply to future proof the computer a bit. I normally try not to upgrade until it is really necessary and then I prefer to use as much of my old equipment as possible.
Any thought on the updated setup?


1 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
1 - ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 - SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB
1 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
1 - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 - SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
1 - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
5 - OKGEAR 24" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
1 - nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
4 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 - WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet - Medium/Black
1 - Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 - Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 - Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 - LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe
1 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
1 - Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

You're pretty insistent on spending a ton aren't you?

This is fine, but many parts are overkill. I'll give you a hint, future-proofing is impossible, but you sure can spent a lot of money trying!

• Look at the benchmarks, I don't think the 2600K is worth 33% more than the 2500K
• The P8P67 Pro is definitely unnecessary outside of a Crossfire/SLI rig
• I would gen an Nvidia card so that you can take advantage of CUDA. A GTX 460 or GTS 450 is fine
• 16GB of RAM is probably not needed. Get 8GB now and upgrade to 16GB if it becomes necessary
• SSD looks fine
• The X-650 is definitely overkill. Grab a quality ~400W PSU like a Seasonic S12II. Unless your wife suddenly wants to play Metro 2033 on a 30", you will never need more
• Make sure you RAID 5 or RAID 10 those HDDs

 

[Davidh373]

You're pretty insistent on spending a ton aren't you?

This is fine, but many parts are overkill. I'll give you a hint, future-proofing is impossible, but you sure can spent a lot of money trying!
Look at the benchmarks, I don't think the 2600K is worth 33% more than the 2500K
The P8P67 Pro is definitely necessary outside of a Crossfire/SLI rig
I would gen an Nvidia card so that you can take advantage of CUDA. A GTX 460 or GTS 450 is fine
16GB of RAM is probably not needed. Get 8GB now and upgrade to 16GB if it becomes necessary
SSD looks fine
The X-650 is definitely overkill. Grab a quality ~400W PSU like a Seasonic S12II. Unless your wife suddenly wants to play Metro 2033 on a 30", you will never need more
Make sure you RAID 5 or RAID 10 those HDDs

I agree with everything here. I mean, your budget supports 16GB and it was only $200 compared to $110 for 8GB so I figured "why not" .

 

[DeepFrz97]

If everyone seems happy with the Samsung drives I might as well try them. They will be for storage only, so the speed isn't as critical. I also might as well lower the wattage a bit. Here is the latest iteration.

1 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
1 - ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 - SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB
1 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
1 - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 - Seasonic SS-560KM Active PFC F3, 560W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91, 80Plus Gold Certified, Modular Power Supply
1 - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
5 - OKGEAR 24" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
1 - nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
4 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 - WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet - Medium/Black
1 - Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 - Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 - Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 - LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe
1 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
1 - Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

 

[mfenn]

If everyone seems happy with the Samsung drives I might as well try them. They will be for storage only, so the speed isn't as critical. I also might as well lower the wattage a bit. Here is the latest iteration.

1 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
1 - ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 - SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB
1 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
1 - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 - Seasonic SS-560KM Active PFC F3, 560W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91, 80Plus Gold Certified, Modular Power Supply
1 - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
5 - OKGEAR 24" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
1 - nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
4 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 - WACOM Intuos 4 PTK640 8.8" x 5.5" Active Area USB Professional Pen Tablet - Medium/Black
1 - Logitech K250 920-002825 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard
2 - Dell UltraSharp U2410 (464-7346) Black 24" 6ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
1 - Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX
1 - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
1 - LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA iHBS212 LightScribe
1 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
1 - Logitech Z323 30 Watts (RMS) 2.1 Speaker System

Care to address my points from post #6? You've made some marginal improvements, but the big gotchas are still out there.

 

[Davidh373]

You could get 2 2TB 5400 RPM drives for a "storage only" sitch if you aren't putting it in raid. It will likely be cheaper and will save you money for what is basically the same (actually, more) storage space.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-245-_-Product

I'm using the 1.5TB version of this drive in my 24/7 uptime home server and it's been running strong for ~8 months straight now at least . It is plenty fast for a storage drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

you are paying roughly 30% more than you should for a ~500W PSU. The difference between silver and gold efficiency will save you roughly $10 in the next 5 years... Invest that same $10 in the stock market, or even in a bank and you'll get a lot more return. Hell, buy yourself dinner .

 

[DeepFrz97]

Care to address my points from post #6? You've made some marginal improvements, but the big gotchas are still out there.

I have not seen any benchmarks that were geared to photo processing. Most benchmarks did not show the 6 core being drastically faster than the fastest quad core processor, but lightroom and cs5 ran much faster on a six core.
I have the P8P67 Pro motherboard as you say is definately necessary.
As far as the RAM goes, I am going with 16GB, as 8GB has not been fast enough on my other machines at work. When you spend the entire day processing photos then every second adds up and costs money. The processor fits into this category as well.
I will look into the NVIDIA card to see if I want to go that route.

 

[Davidh373]

I have not seen any benchmarks that were geared to photo processing. Most benchmarks did not show the 6 core being drastically faster than the fastest quad core processor, but lightroom and cs5 ran much faster on a six core.

Show me these benchmarks. We had a very long thread just yesterday with a guy who said the exact opposite, that anything over a two threads weren't utilized by lightroom, and that Photoshop was more advanced in that regard. I couldn't find a lightroom PC benchmark to save my life. Show me, I'm hungry for knowledge !

When you spend the entire day processing photos then every second adds up and costs money.

Agreed.

 

[rivan]

I have not seen any benchmarks that were geared to photo processing. Most benchmarks did not show the 6 core being drastically faster than the fastest quad core processor, but lightroom and cs5 ran much faster on a six core.

I'll say this: beware benchmarks. While I'm only working in CS4 (and in OSX, not Windows) and things may have drastically improved, I can tell you from personal experience that benchmarks may not tell you the whole story. Not everything in CS4 - and I'd be willing to bet - in CS5 is multithreaded. Without getting into pointless detail - I'd look into whether your most common operations will benefit from extra cores.

I know image scaling in CS4/OSX is only single-threaded, which makes my other 7 cores pretty bored often during the day.

As far as the RAM goes, I am going with 16GB, as 8GB has not been fast enough on my other machines at work. When you spend the entire day processing photos then every second adds up and costs money.

16GB won't hurt you, but it might not solve your complaints either. Do you actually have so much open that it's hitting scratch disk?

As a final note, and this will depend on your work and preferences, but I'm of the opinion my palette monitor doesn't need to be any kind of performer. Right now I'm typing on my palette monitor, a $100, 1280x1024 ViewSonic. It's fine.

My editing display, however, is the new 27" Apple LED Cinema display, and I seriously, seriously, cannot recommend it more. Color accuracy out of the box was amazing, and calibrated it's simply stunning. 2560x1440 also means I've got a lot more image on the screen at a time.

Now, I can't say what sort of hassle it might be to find an adapter to drive it (might not be a big deal) but I'd absolutely recommend the higher resolution/larger screen over the 1920x monitors you chose.

 

[rudder]

Show me these benchmarks. We had a very long thread just yesterday with a guy who said the exact opposite, that anything over a two threads weren't utilized by lightroom, and that Photoshop was more advanced in that regard. I couldn't find a lightroom PC benchmark to save my life. Show me, I'm hungry for knowledge !

Photoshop makes use of filters.. many from 3rd parties. Some are multithreaded some are not. Unless you are batch processing 1000's of photos... you won't tell the difference between 4 cores and 6 cores really.

 

[rudder]

And OP... scale back the video card and get some more RAM. 4GB is not enough for photoshop if you plan to work on hi-res multi layered pictures.

EDIT: NM... I see your updated specs.

 

[Davidh373]

Photoshop makes use of filters.. many from 3rd parties. Some are multithreaded some are not. Unless you are batch processing 1000's of photos... you won't tell the difference between 4 cores and 6 cores really.

That's what I thought.

 

[DeepFrz97]

That is the reason I decided to go with the Sandy Bridge processor instead of the 6 Core processor. Not to start arguments, but rather to take some advice. I don't see why you would argue with someone who took your advice.

 

[DeepFrz97]

I love the Apple Cinema monitor, but I am not sure if it would work well with the PC. I may have to look into whether it is feasible or not.

I'll say this: beware benchmarks. While I'm only working in CS4 (and in OSX, not Windows) and things may have drastically improved, I can tell you from personal experience that benchmarks may not tell you the whole story. Not everything in CS4 - and I'd be willing to bet - in CS5 is multithreaded. Without getting into pointless detail - I'd look into whether your most common operations will benefit from extra cores.

I know image scaling in CS4/OSX is only single-threaded, which makes my other 7 cores pretty bored often during the day.



16GB won't hurt you, but it might not solve your complaints either. Do you actually have so much open that it's hitting scratch disk?

As a final note, and this will depend on your work and preferences, but I'm of the opinion my palette monitor doesn't need to be any kind of performer. Right now I'm typing on my palette monitor, a $100, 1280x1024 ViewSonic. It's fine.

My editing display, however, is the new 27" Apple LED Cinema display, and I seriously, seriously, cannot recommend it more. Color accuracy out of the box was amazing, and calibrated it's simply stunning. 2560x1440 also means I've got a lot more image on the screen at a time.

Now, I can't say what sort of hassle it might be to find an adapter to drive it (might not be a big deal) but I'd absolutely recommend the higher resolution/larger screen over the 1920x monitors you chose.

 

[Davidh373]

That is the reason I decided to go with the Sandy Bridge processor instead of the 6 Core processor. Not to start arguments, but rather to take some advice. I don't see why you would argue with someone who took your advice.

I thought you were wanting to change. You said 6 core was better, so I thought you might be changing your mind. I would still love a link to the numbers you saw, just to help others if you can dig up a link .

 

[DeepFrz97]

I will see if I can find it again. I saw it about two months ago, when I started my new PC research. The 6 Core was in my original equipment in the first post. That was what I had come up with through my prior research.
The Apple Cinema display was one of the reasons I was originally leaning toward a Mac, but I am a PC guy at heart. I was able to fight the urge.....this time.

 

[Davidh373]

The Apple Cinema display was one of the reasons I was originally leaning toward a Mac, but I am a PC guy at heart. I was able to fight the urge.....this time.

Well, you can get a Cinema monitor to run through an adapter, but from what I've heard the USB ports won't work. PC is definitely better performance per dollar though.

 

[DeepFrz97]

After looking into it I may wait on the Cinema monitor. It would be nice to do my editing on it, but I think I will wait to see if any other cards come out that use the mini DVI connector, if it ever happens. Of course Apple says that is the new standard. I just don't see using a $300 adapter for a $1100 monitor right now.

 

[rivan]

After looking into it I may wait on the Cinema monitor. It would be nice to do my editing on it, but I think I will wait to see if any other cards come out that use the mini DVI connector, if it ever happens. Of course Apple says that is the new standard. I just don't see using a $300 adapter for a $1100 monitor right now.

It's a $1000 monitor, and what appears to be a $8 cable. Using a relatively basic palette monitor, you'd end up with the same budget as your 2x U2410s.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0348888

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024604&p_id=5998&seq=1&format=2

That said, as much as I love the Apple display itself - my suggestion of a 2560x display is just as valid for other brands (as long as the color's good on those displays).

That said, without knowing what it is you're doing, specifically, it might not be that great a suggestion for your workflow (like if you're actually using your secondary monitor for things other than palettes).

 

[IanWorthington]

I will see if I can find it again. I saw it about two months ago, when I started my new PC research. The 6 Core was in my original equipment in the first post. That was what I had come up with through my prior research.
The Apple Cinema display was one of the reasons I was originally leaning toward a Mac, but I am a PC guy at heart. I was able to fight the urge.....this time.

I'd like to see this too. I suspect I might be the "other guy" referred to above. If so, there may be some more information for you in my thread at http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2130779

fwiw I'm currently going with an i5-2500k/8GB RAM/F90 SSD solution. W7 HP supports up to 16GB if/when I need it, and an upgrade to pro would enable me to use up to 32gb if I ever required it (stitching panos?). I've got a gpu in there to support video editing which you may not need.

 

[Davidh373]

I suspect I might be the "other guy" referred to above

yes, you are!