Photo editing new build (some light video) with i7 3770K

[philmar]

This build is for photo editing with Lightroom and Photoshop CS3. I probably will start to use the video capabilities of my Canon 5D3. This is what I have so far.

CPU - Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core
SSD - Samsung 840 Pro Series 240 GB
HD disks - 2 x WD Green (WD30EZRX) 3TB
Case - Antec P280

The power supply, CPU cooler will sort themselves out later. What I really need help with is the mobo, memory and video card.

MOBO: I have decided to go with a 1155 socket and Z77 chipset. I have never overclocked because my hobby is photography not voltages, latency, multipliers ect. I never liked going in to the BIOS and trying to figure out what to do. And then fine tuning voltages, multipliers and monitoring temperatures aaargh!! But I think I'd like to OC this new build because if one can get better performance for free, why not? And more importantly I read now that some ASUS mobos like Sabertooth Z77 and ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE have automatic OC features on them. If you don’t want to perform those complicated OC you can easily select the performance mode on the BIOS setting for painless overclock. It will result in 4.2GHz frequency with full system stability using the Core i7-3770K. This appeals to me. A LOT. I would pay more for a mobo that allows EASY overclocks. These aren't boards for the casual builder, but satisfy the most driven overclockers and tweakers.
Similarly, I don't want to pay for features I won't use/don't need: WiFi, wireless features, customizable fan controls, multi-GPU support, ECC memory, surround sound, remote-control access via a smartphone or tablet.
So I can easily afford either of the Sabertooth Z77 and ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE but why overspend? Can anyone suggest another Z77 mobo that has easy OC features but less features like wireless connectivity and dual GPU support that I don't need?

Memory: I want 16 GB of DDR 3 RAM. I am clueless about memory. In light of the fact I'd like a mobo with easy OC features that will permit me to OC an i7 3770K at 4.2 GHz is there any type of memory that will work better? I'd pay no more than $150 for it. Will 4 sticks of 4GB work better than 2 sticks of 8gb?

Video Card: I own a Canon 5D3 that shoots video. I definitely will get in to video some time soon. But I don't know what video card I should get. I most definitely do NOT play video games. So I can skimp here I think. But I DO need 2 monitor support.
I thank you in advance for any help.

 

[snoylekim]

My 2 cents .. You really should shoot for stability versus overclocking for photo and video work .. Photo work isn't that CPU intensive over long periods , unless you batch process lots of the RAW files from your 5D3 .. Video rendering is a different story .. this does require all cores going petal to the metal for sometimes hours .. number of cores versus the speed is the big advantage here .. You can go with the i7-3770 non OCed , or go with a Xeon X3-1245V2 . I'd add a non-stock cooler for managing the video rendering periods . Also, SSD for the OS and focus on fast , reliable drives for the raw files, scratch area, etc .. I'd also shoot for 16 G memory ..Adobe products like memory .
For a separate Video card , it will only come into play if your software will leverage additional capabilities of CUDA (NVIDIA) or OpenCl for processing; Video playback and Photo display is easily handled by the Intel HD 4000 that's onboard the I7-3770 or an E3-1245 ; the 1245 variation is certified by Adobe, whatever that means .. For the work you're interested in, invest in good IPS Monitor that can be calibrated well .

 

[Sleepingforest]

A GTX 650 will easily do all the GPU-accelerated tasks you need in Photoshop. It will support dual monitors.

My advice? Get the cheapest Z77 mobo you can with 4 RAM slots. Pretty much EVERY SINGLE motherboard has easy OC features: you find the multiplier, and then change it feom 35 to 42. Done!

For RAM: get 32GB now, because Photoshop CS5 and CS6 will take all the RAM you've got. The brand doesn't matter, but look for lifetime warranties.

 

[philmar]

My 2 cents .. You really should shoot for stability versus overclocking for photo and video work .. Photo work isn't that CPU intensive over long periods , unless you batch process lots of the RAW files from your 5D3 .. Video rendering is a different story .. this does require all cores going petal to the metal for sometimes hours .. number of cores versus the speed is the big advantage here .. You can go with the i7-3770 non OCed , or go with a Xeon X3-1245V2 . I'd add a non-stock cooler for managing the video rendering periods . Also, SSD for the OS and focus on fast , reliable drives for the raw files, scratch area, etc .. I'd also shoot for 16 G memory ..Adobe products like memory .
For a separate Video card , it will only come into play if your software will leverage additional capabilities of CUDA (NVIDIA) or OpenCl for processing; Video playback and Photo display is easily handled by the Intel HD 4000 that's onboard the I7-3770 or an E3-1245 ; the 1245 variation is certified by Adobe, whatever that means .. For the work you're interested in, invest in good IPS Monitor that can be calibrated well .

Great advice, thanks.
Damn I had no idea the CPU had GPU built in to it.
Haven't decided if I'll add another SSD for a scratch drive.
I'll be using my current 2 IPS monitors.

 

[philmar]

A GTX 650 will easily do all the GPU-accelerated tasks you need in Photoshop. It will support dual monitors.

My advice? Get the cheapest Z77 mobo you can with 4 RAM slots. Pretty much EVERY SINGLE motherboard has easy OC features: you find the multiplier, and then change it feom 35 to 42. Done!

For RAM: get 32GB now, because Photoshop CS5 and CS6 will take all the RAM you've got. The brand doesn't matter, but look for lifetime warranties.

Thanks. For some reason my brain can't wrap itself around OC'ing: multipliers, latency, voltage blah blah blah. I guess I was tempted by the possibility of easy OCs using ASUS boards.

GTX 650? Thanks, I will research this!

 

[snoylekim]

Concur with GTX 650 ..gives multi-monitor support, 1 G of video memory and extra video processing power that the CPU/Integrated Graphics won't need to do , and has the CUDA cores /GL for Adobe .. You'll have a very capable photo/video rig ..

 

[philmar]

snoylekim, I agree with all the great advice of your previous post. reading up more I see that the 3770K has turbo boost which effectively gives it more power when need (under certain circumstances). In light of that it probably would only be an incremental performance improvement if I OC, at the expense of the whole system being ramped up as well. I guess OC is off the table for me. The unlocked version is only $10 more expensive so i'll buy that regardless. I can always OC this system when I upgrade to a new one later on and use this one for something else.

Also, SSD for the OS and focus on fast , reliable drives for the raw files, scratch area, etc .. I'd also shoot for 16 G memory ..Adobe products like memory .

I wonder if I am better off with 2 x 128 GB SSDs rather than the 1 240 GB SSD. I could designate one of the SSDs for photoshop/lightroom scratch disk. Just not sure if it makes as much of a big deal.

I'm closing in on my components but really it was an appropriate mobo that I am most interested in....

 

[philmar]

Concur with GTX 650 ..gives multi-monitor support, 1 G of video memory and extra video processing power that the CPU/Integrated Graphics won't need to do , and has the CUDA cores /GL for Adobe .. You'll have a very capable photo/video rig ..

Great idea....I just read a review of GPUs and they mentioned this was a good value cost point. Any incremental performance increases become disproportionately more expensive.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I'm using a Xeon E3 1230 v2 on a Gigabyte H77M motherboard in a TJ08-E. I use Intels liquid thermal solution and i never have temps over 50C, in fact unless I'm running a benchmark it really doesnt get over 40C, which is nice because it keeps it quiet. The motherboard is about $100 and has 2 SATA 6Gbps and 4 SATA 3Gbps, I have a 64GB SSD for a boot drive, a 500GB HDD for programs, and 2 1TB mirrored for storing my pics. I alsohave a 3770k on a Max V GENE (for gaming), but I think you're right to stay away from overclocking, I don't think you'd notice a difference with what you're using it for anyways.

As far as the video goes, I don't even think you'll need a GTX 650......I mean you should be able to get away with like a GT630 for half the price and it'll work fine for multi screen. I don't really know how much Adobe programs use video cards though so I could be wrong. I just use Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I wonder if I am better off with 2 x 128 GB SSDs rather than the 1 240 GB SSD. I could designate one of the SSDs for photoshop/lightroom scratch disk. Just not sure if it makes as much of a big deal.

A single large SSD has better performance. I would just partition off a section to use as scratch.

As far as the video goes, I don't even think you'll need a GTX 650......I mean you should be able to get away with like a GT630 for half the price and it'll work fine for multi screen. I don't really know how much Adobe programs use video cards though so I could be wrong. I just use Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere

Photoshop CS6 has many functions that are GPU-accelerated via CUDA, and research points to at least 650 being necessary to max out that capability.

 

[cantholdanymore]

Are you looking for ATX or mATX boards? For ATX you can go with theASUS P8Z77-V LE and save about $100 from the models you linked. For mATX, I would only recommend the asus Maximus V, +$50. In my board I only OC with the asus software and it works great:thumbsup:.
The rig in my sig is what I use for photoshop (no video). A 256 GB ssd is ok for programs and scratch, no need to create a different partition for that.
16GB of ram is enough for my OM-D raw files (15Mb each) but yours will be bigger and depends of what you do; if I open 60 raw files, they take only 12Gb.
Does you monitors support 10bit color? If you're interested on that you'll need a Quadro or FirePro video card.
Photoshop uses open CL and not CUDA so a video card from ATI or nVIDIA will work fine. Adobe may use CUDA for video thou (video not my thing so I can't tell).http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html#Tested video cards for Photoshop CS6

 

[yhelothar]

My 2 cents .. You really should shoot for stability versus overclocking for photo and video work .. Photo work isn't that CPU intensive over long periods , unless you batch process lots of the RAW files from your 5D3 .. Video rendering is a different story .. this does require all cores going petal to the metal for sometimes hours .. number of cores versus the speed is the big advantage here .. You can go with the i7-3770 non OCed , or go with a Xeon X3-1245V2 . I'd add a non-stock cooler for managing the video rendering periods . Also, SSD for the OS and focus on fast , reliable drives for the raw files, scratch area, etc .. I'd also shoot for 16 G memory ..Adobe products like memory .
For a separate Video card , it will only come into play if your software will leverage additional capabilities of CUDA (NVIDIA) or OpenCl for processing; Video playback and Photo display is easily handled by the Intel HD 4000 that's onboard the I7-3770 or an E3-1245 ; the 1245 variation is certified by Adobe, whatever that means .. For the work you're interested in, invest in good IPS Monitor that can be calibrated well .

There's no reason why he can't get rock solid stability with a 4.2GHz overclock. He just needs to make sure his system passes prime95 for a couple of hours and he's good to go. ^_^

 

[tweakboy]

Grab a 560 Ti, PS will like it..

 

[electronicmaji2]

This will more than suffice.

 

[philmar]

I decided on the mobo.

I was about to buy the ASUS P8Z77-V. It lacked the multi-GPU features I wasn't interested in and I liked ASUS implementation of Turbo Boost and MultiCore Enhancement. It looked like that gives their boards a bit better performance at stock. But ASUS has a rebate that ended yesterday on the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro Thunderbird. Coupled with a sale price at an online vendor I was able to get one for cheaper than the P8Z77-V. So i get all the wireless connectivity for free. And I am futureproofed for TB if it ever becomes mainstream on Intel boards within the next 5 years (the estimated lifespan of this build).

As a noob first time builder I am mystified as to what RAM to buy. In view of the fact I am not OC’ing should I buy 1333 speed RAM? Will there be any performance enhancement at stock speeds if a get faster RAM? I will probably purchase TB external drives assuming they come down in price a few years from now. Will my RAM speed effect the speed of data transfer with Thunderbolt (I should futureproof now rather than have to upgrade RAM later).
Is there any think else I should pay attention to like latency or voltage or does this not matter on a build operating at stock speed?

 

[dma0991]

RAM speed will hardly be an improvement in transfer speed of Thunderbolt devices. Get the bare minimum that you need, DDR3-1333 works fine. Having a SSD(secondary storage) to copy from would probably be a bigger improvement in transfer speed.

 

[philmar]

I plan on a SSD for OS and apps and 2 HDDs for storage

 

[philmar]

There's no reason why he can't get rock solid stability with a 4.2GHz overclock. He just needs to make sure his system passes prime95 for a couple of hours and he's good to go. ^_^

Interesting. i like the idea of getting something for nothing but one rarely gets that. Is there a cost? Does OC'ing the system at 4.2GHz not run everything else at a higher speed? Does it not wear the system down over the long run? I generally build my systems to last 5 years - the same lifespan of my digital camera. When I get a new camera with larger megapixel files i need to upgrade the PC as well. Will OC'ing the system not cause wear and tear on all of the components?

 

[philmar]

The rig in my sig is what I use for photoshop (no video). A 256 GB ssd is ok for programs and scratch, no need to create a different partition for that.

Does you monitors support 10bit color? If you're interested on that you'll need a Quadro or FirePro video card.

I was thinking more along the lines of having 2 separate 128 GB SSDs and dedicating one to be a scratch disk. I assumed partitioning a SSD drive would be pointless.

I have no idea if my monitor support 10 bit color. I'm a photo enthusiast and don't need critical color management because I don't print or sell photos to clients.

 

[Alan G]

I just did a new build for photo processing two weeks ago. You need to consider where you are doing most of your work: Lightroom or Photoshop and what kind of work you are doing. Most Lightroom stuff is not processor intensive and unless you are doing lots of panoramas or HDR work, neither is Photoshop (most basic editing is pretty straight forward in terms of computer resource usage). Probably 95% of my work is in LR and for that reason I didn't get an i7 processor. In addition, my computer sits on my desk about 12 inches away from me so a quiet system was paramount. Here are my components:

Case - Fractal Designes Arc Midi R2 (it has 3 fans a fan controler and lots of room for wires and a CPU cooler)
CPU - i5 Ivy Bridge 3470
Motherboard - Ausus P8Z77-V LGA
CPU Cooler - Enermax ETS T40 (really easy to install and is quiet)
Video Card - MSI GeForce GTX 660 (I'm stcking with NVIDIA chips because of my bad experience with ATI)
SSD - Samsung 840 128GB (just after I did my build Amazon had the 256GB Samsung 840 for less than I paid for 128!)
HD - Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB (my case has room for 5 more drives if I ever need them)
Memory - 4x4GB Crucial DDR3 PC3-12800
PS - SeaSonic X650 Gold (get a modular power supply so you don't end up with wires you are not using in your build)
Optical Drive - ASUS DVD/CD RW (I don't watch Blue Ray movies on my computer so I don't need that feature)

Cost was $1400. The case has USB 3 ports on the front for an external USB 3 card reader which will give you faster transfer speeds on import. I probably should have purchased a bigger SSD drive but wanted to shave off some of the cost. Even with the OS and all software loaded, I still have about 60% of the SSD free. I'll probably get a 256GB SSD in the future and mirror the OS and programs for a potential future update if needed.

Preliminary tests with both LR and PS show that this system works exceptionally well and it's almost stone cold quiet at the medium case fan setting.

My final bit of advice is don't over think or try to do anything fancy, you really don't need it (unless you do lots of panos or HDRs as I noted).

 

[SolMiester]

OP....If you arent that comfortable with OCing, try an ASRock Z77 board...it has non-k clocking with one click in the BIOS, take your 3.5 to 4.3Ghz...I would also get as much RAM as possible too, because the ASRock board has RAM drive utility which you can use for a scratch drive...so 32, less 8 for system and you have 24GB scratch!....