# Photo Editing Pc build help/opinions



## trabaker (Jul 7, 2012)

Hi y'all,
I think I've narrowed down my new Pc to the following specs. I'm going  to be using it for photo editing, entertainment pc along with all the  day to day norms. I will not be gaming on it. I just want to build  something that is somewhat future proof (near future) and that will  exceed my needs. My budget was $2000 max and this build puts me close to  it. Let me know if you would change anything or have any other  suggestions please. Thanks for your help! 

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1EABYJ

If you don't know your way around cyberpowerpc,  click the link and then click summarize on the left column to see the  specs.


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 7, 2012)

You are overspending going through a company like Cyberpower or Ibuypower. Hop on New Egg or TigerDirect and build one from the ground up. You can build one with the specs you are seeking for about $1k. If you're not going to be gaming at all... your main concern is going to be Memory, Hard Drive write speed, and HDD space. 

Why are you getting an SLI/Crossfire X capable Motherboard if you aren't going to be gaming or running more than a single GPU (graphics card)? You have got this thing priced WAYYYY over what you need. What you're building is more along the lines of a foundation for a Computer Gaming Rig.

Here is what I recommend:

-Well Ventilated Mid Tower Case
-1155 P Series Motherboard with ONE PCI-e X16 slot
-Intel Core i5 2500k Sandy Bridge processor (This is all you will ever need. In fact, you wouldn't notice a single difference between this unit and the i7-3820. Even when overclocking, the 2500k OC's MUCH better than the i7-3820.)
-8GB 1333MHz DDR3 memory
-Two 2TB 7200+RPM (I would Recommend 10,000RPM for best performance) Sata HDD's
-600-650W PSU (Doesn't matter if it supports Crossfire or SLI, since you will be running one GPU)
-1GB GDDR5 Minimum GPU (Make sure it has a decent cooler, such as large heat sync or Twin Frozr would probably be best, and to get peak performance out of a decent GPU, you are going to need something that requires direct power from a 6pin connector on your power supply unit.)
-Optical Drive of your choice (LG makes very inexpensive and great quality optical drives)


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 8, 2012)

Ill Link you exactly what I would build if I were you:

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - Intel BOXDP67DEB3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb&#47;s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II&#47;OC GeForce GTX 560 &#40;Fermi&#41; 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - COOLMAX V-600 600W ATX12V version 2.2 Power Supply
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz &#40;3.7GHz Turbo Boost&#41; LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS 8GB &#40;2 x 4GB&#41; 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMP8GX3M2B1333C9
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb&#47;s 3.5&#34; Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (2 of these)
Newegg.com - LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD&#43;R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner,3D Play Back &#40;WH14NS40&#41; - Blu-Ray Burners


And of course, you will need the Windows version of your choice... This hardware build totals to $1,006.91 before shipping. That leaves you roughly another $1,000 to spend on what ever you want... buy some goodies for that camera of yours.


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## rexbobcat (Jul 8, 2012)

Shoot, for $2000 you can build a badass PC.

I have an Intel Core 2 Quad with a Nvidia GTS 250 1GB, and 4GB DDR2 memory and I can edit HD video like a dream. I think you'll be fine with pretty much any configuration above the i3 processors and integrated video cards. I know some might disagree, but I can not stress enough how VITAL a good video card is. Having an i7 is good and all, but if you have 256mb of integrated Intel video memory then you're pretty much screwed for any multimedia that you want to do.


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 8, 2012)

rexbobcat said:


> I know some might disagree, but I can not stress enough how VITAL a good video card is. Having an i7 is good and all, but if you have 256mb of integrated Intel video memory then you're pretty much screwed for any multimedia that you want to do.



This is why I recommended the 2500k Sandy Bridge... it has a built in GPU... so for what the GPU can't handle... the CPU will pick up.


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## unpopular (Jul 8, 2012)

I do not have any specific recommendations about brands and what not. If you are planning on doing only photography, you do not need a big memory card. You do need a lot of ram, and I would suggest maxing out whatever board you get. I think at least 4gb, RAM is one of those things you can't have enough of.

You want at least two hard drives, one of which you won't ever really touch. This will serve as your scratch disk in Photoshop. It is important that all your hard drives have a fast transfer rate, and your scratch disk must have a fast transfer rate. If you wanted to use the second drive, or only use one drive, be sure to partition the disk. This will help performance and reduce fragmentation.

Having enough RAM also reduces the impact on the hard drive, so when considering the platform, consider how much maximum RAM you can use.


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## cgipson1 (Jul 8, 2012)

I agree.. build your own. Better hardware and less money! If you have half a brain,  you can do it!


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## unpopular (Jul 8, 2012)

^^ if you have a quarter brain. Look at all the gamer morons who do it.

Anyone can build a PC. It's seriously not rocket science.


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## cgipson1 (Jul 8, 2012)

unpopular said:


> I do not have any specific recommendations about brands and what not. If you are planning on doing only photography, you do not need a big memory card. You do need a lot of ram, and I would suggest maxing out whatever board you get. I think at least 4gb, RAM is one of those things you can't have enough of.
> 
> You want at least two hard drives, one of which you won't ever really touch. This will serve as your scratch disk in Photoshop. It is important that all your hard drives have a fast transfer rate, and your scratch disk must have a fast transfer rate. If you wanted to use the second drive, or only use one drive, be sure to partition the disk. This will help performance and reduce fragmentation.
> 
> Having enough RAM also reduces the impact on the hard drive, so when considering the platform, consider how much maximum RAM you can use.



4gb ram? Maybe for Windows 32-bit XP. Windows 7 (and 64 bit is better)... 16gb at least....


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## nmoody (Jul 8, 2012)

unpopular said:


> ^^ if you have a quarter brain. Look at all the gamer morons who do it.
> 
> Anyone can build a PC. It's seriously not rocket science.




DSLR's are more complicated to use than it is to build a computer now adays. That being said just do your research, and post here so we can check what you are buying so it all works together.


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## cgipson1 (Jul 8, 2012)

AaronLLockhart said:


> Ill Link you exactly what I would build if I were you:
> 
> Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
> Newegg.com - Intel BOXDP67DEB3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
> ...




Cant go wrong with any Antec case.. they rock...

I also prefer the ASUS Motherboards.. usually better feature set.

MSI Video cards are good.. although any card with an Nvidia chipset will do. And I would go with at least a GTX580.. not a 560.

any good power supply minimum 600W

Personally I would go I7 four core, not I5.

Go with at least 16 gb, it will use it. Ram is cheap.. no need to skimp. Most apps will use it (again, 64 bit)!  Corsair is a good brand... reliable.

I prefer the WD Black (enterprise) drives to the Seagates (had too many Seagates crash), and the 2TB drives are cheap!

LG DVD/RW's are good drives....

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## IByte (Jul 8, 2012)

Must not be pull in ..computer tech...must  resist, will power waning must leave now!!


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## trabaker (Jul 8, 2012)

I appreciate all the help guys. I'll take everything into consideration. I think I'm going to go with an i7 3820, a mb with 8 ram slots for future upgrades, 16gb corsair vengeance ram, gtx 550 ti 1gb video card, an intel ssd for the os, 2tbx2 in raid for storage/backup with another 2tb external drive for portability, 750watt corsair psu, corsair carbide 400r case air cooled.  I think this should run everything I need without a problem.


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## unpopular (Jul 9, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> unpopular said:
> 
> 
> > I do not have any specific recommendations about brands and what not. If you are planning on doing only photography, you do not need a big memory card. You do need a lot of ram, and I would suggest maxing out whatever board you get. I think at least 4gb, RAM is one of those things you can't have enough of.
> ...



Yeah. I forgot how crappy and inefficient windows is. I'm running 2gb with only modest problems on OS X Lion, macbook pro. Though I will be upgrading to the maximum of 8gb.


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## rexbobcat (Jul 9, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> unpopular said:
> 
> 
> > I do not have any specific recommendations about brands and what not. If you are planning on doing only photography, you do not need a big memory card. You do need a lot of ram, and I would suggest maxing out whatever board you get. I think at least 4gb, RAM is one of those things you can't have enough of.
> ...



I have 4 GB on my Windows 7 64 bit....


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## bratkinson (Jul 10, 2012)

For screaming speed, I just built my computer using a 128GB SSD (Solid State Drive) for Windows and all programs, and a SATA-3 1TB drive for all photo storage.  The SSD plugs in and works just like a hard drive, but 40 times faster!  Everything seems like it's instantaneous!  I download my pix from camera to SSD and work on them there.  When all done, I move them to the HD, and delete them from the SSD, to make space for the next shoot.  

Of course, regular backups to an external drive or 2nd HD (what I did) are mandetory.  You never know when something decides it will quit working or scramble your data.


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## cgipson1 (Jul 10, 2012)

rexbobcat said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > unpopular said:
> ...



It will run fine on four.. but if you any apps you run will utilize pretty much whatever you have... if they are 64-bit.


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 10, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> It will run fine on four.. but if you any apps you run will utilize pretty much whatever you have... if they are 64-bit.



8GB in truth is all you will ever need to run anything in even a 64-bit windows environment. I try not to talk much about this kind of stuff, because most people don't understand what I'm saying. However, it seems that we have a few very tech savvy people aboard here, so I will fire away.

RAM Timings and the correct configuration with the motherboard have more to do with how efficiently it will operate than how much RAM you have will any day of the week. In other words, Two 4GB DIMM's (8GB) with very tight timings on a Dual Channel Motherboard, will run DOUBLE as smooth as Four 4GB DIMMs (16GB) of loosely timed RAM using all four slots ever will. 

Also, just so we are clear, the i5 2500k is a _quad core_ cpu, not a dual core. Not all i5 chips are dual core. I promise he wouldn't notice a single difference between the i7 3820 and the i5 2500k. As said before, the i5 would probably be better for this application because it has a graphics processing unit built into the chip. Not to mention, the 2500k overclocks much better than the 3820 if he eventually wants to go that route.

I already know the OP has chosen to go with the i7. However, I just wanted to make myself clear that, although the personal preference may be for the i7, the better choice is the i5, and they are both quad cores. The i5 is also substantially less in price. Butttttttt, to each their own


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## unpopular (Jul 10, 2012)

The best choice is Xeon, and with a $2000 budget, why not?


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## cgipson1 (Jul 10, 2012)

AaronLLockhart said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > It will run fine on four.. but if you any apps you run will utilize pretty much whatever you have... if they are 64-bit.
> ...



I won't argue with you about it!!


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## trabaker (Jul 10, 2012)

I want to hijack my own thread with another question. For those of you with similar ssd/hdd setups, how do you handle downloading/importing/editing files into lightroom for example? By that I mean, where do you store your raws when editing them to get the most benefit from your ssd? Is it enough to keep the catalog and previews on the ssd and download your raws directly to your hdd? I haven't had the luxury of this problem before and I want to get it straightened out before I transfer all my data. Thanks


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## EDL (Jul 10, 2012)

For most speed, use the SSD as the primary system drive and import/download your photos to the drive and edit from there.  Once done, then save the originals and processed off to your mass storage device.

I prefer external USB drives for my storage as they are only plugged in and used as needed.  Internal hard disks will power up every time the PC is booted and are susceptible to any potential nasties that occur with the PC.  

Also, I usually (once every 6 months or so) copy off the originals from the large HDD to DVD's for longer term storage.  All hard drives, mechanical and SSD wear out and fail at some point. 

I know there are arguments about how long a burned disk lasts, but I do have an original 1x CD that was burned back when burners first came available that has been handled roughly through the years, has tons of scratches, been left out on the desk, dusty and dirty, etc and my PC still reads it fine today.  I think a decently cared for disk will last much, much longer than a mechanical device...and they're cheap too.

One other reason an SSD is helpful as the primary system drive is the swap file.  Even if you have 16GB of memory, not all programs will make good use of it and you will still have a swap file and it will get used.  An SSD will speed up the whole system overall because of the much increased throughput.

To get the most out of an SSD, make sure your motherboard is SATA-3 (6GB/s) and you get a SATA-3 capable drive.  If you really want some speed then run two of them in RAID0, but for the ultimate, OCZ has a PCI based solution out (the Revo Drive).  Basically 2 or 4 SSD's (depending on capcity) on a PCI card with built-in RAID controller.  1.5GB/s read and 1/2GB/s write speeds, and even though it's a PCI card, it's bootable.  Prices start at around $600 for 240GB up to about $3,200 for 960GB capacity.


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## EDL (Jul 10, 2012)

Oh, and I didn't see a monitor listed in the parts (or I missed it)....I assume you are planning on a good quality IPS panel for photo editing?


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## trabaker (Jul 10, 2012)

EDL said:


> Oh, and I didn't see a monitor listed in the parts (or I missed it)....I assume you are planning on a good quality IPS panel for photo editing?



Soon enough, yes. I'll need to save up some first b/c I don't plan on skimping on the monitor.


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## jamesdak (Nov 19, 2012)

This is exactly what I am looking for.  A list like AaronLLockhart's list but current. 1/2 those items are out of stock now.  Anyone able to spec it out with current compatible items?  Thanks and sorry for reviving this old thread but the list is just what I am looking for.


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