Computer Builders Step inside Please - I would like some direction
- Thread starter Mike D90
- Start date
You should post this question on its own thread. this is about building a computer box, not editing software.
My advice would be to set aside the money you want to spend until you're ready to buy all the components together.
HDD bought today will be cheaper next month, and much cheaper by summer/end of year.
In terms of kit, an i5 quad core Ivy Bridge processor will do you for your photography needs - if you can claw money back from other places, then buy the best you can afford.
8GB memory minimum (DDR3 dual channel will be sufficient) but again, pumping that up to 16GB will help a little. Something to keep in mind - if you buy memory for say an 8GB system, buy 2x 4GB sticks to make full use of the dual channel performance. in the long run in terms of upgrade costs, yes it will cost you a little more but the performace increase short time is worth the cost (and we're talking a few pounds/dollars here)
If you can, a 120GB SSD for your OS and apps, and then either 2x 1TB drives for storage or 2TB, 3TB etc depending on your needs. Here's an important piece of advice though... if you can, buy the 2 drives from separate dealers/retailers. The chances are they will have different batches of the same drive. This is important, because if you buy drives from the same retailer, chances are they are from the same batch, and if one fails, likely the other will suffer the same fate!!
Graphics - most video cards these days are 1GB but as they're geared towards 3D graphics going for the greatest won't add that much bang for buck. To be honest, the onboard graphics on a mobo will be sufficient for your needs, but should you really feel the need for more power, look at NVidia Quadro grphics cards. The money you save by not having a dedicated graphics card you can pump into a better CPU
Of course coupled with a graphics card, you need to ensure it does DVI out as a minimum, HD/HDMI even better and that your monitor is up to the job as well.
Most mobo's now come with USB3 ports, onboard sound, ethernet etc, so no use spending money on that unless you absolutely need to - all the savings you make, pump back into your CPU purchase.
Remember, you're building this as a photo editing machine. If it was also a gaming machine, then we'd have to start again!
HDD bought today will be cheaper next month, and much cheaper by summer/end of year.
In terms of kit, an i5 quad core Ivy Bridge processor will do you for your photography needs - if you can claw money back from other places, then buy the best you can afford.
8GB memory minimum (DDR3 dual channel will be sufficient) but again, pumping that up to 16GB will help a little. Something to keep in mind - if you buy memory for say an 8GB system, buy 2x 4GB sticks to make full use of the dual channel performance. in the long run in terms of upgrade costs, yes it will cost you a little more but the performace increase short time is worth the cost (and we're talking a few pounds/dollars here)
If you can, a 120GB SSD for your OS and apps, and then either 2x 1TB drives for storage or 2TB, 3TB etc depending on your needs. Here's an important piece of advice though... if you can, buy the 2 drives from separate dealers/retailers. The chances are they will have different batches of the same drive. This is important, because if you buy drives from the same retailer, chances are they are from the same batch, and if one fails, likely the other will suffer the same fate!!
Graphics - most video cards these days are 1GB but as they're geared towards 3D graphics going for the greatest won't add that much bang for buck. To be honest, the onboard graphics on a mobo will be sufficient for your needs, but should you really feel the need for more power, look at NVidia Quadro grphics cards. The money you save by not having a dedicated graphics card you can pump into a better CPU
Of course coupled with a graphics card, you need to ensure it does DVI out as a minimum, HD/HDMI even better and that your monitor is up to the job as well.
Most mobo's now come with USB3 ports, onboard sound, ethernet etc, so no use spending money on that unless you absolutely need to - all the savings you make, pump back into your CPU purchase.
Remember, you're building this as a photo editing machine. If it was also a gaming machine, then we'd have to start again!
No need to apologize. I was not upset. However, this is called hijacking a thread and is not considered good forum ettiquette. Mostly, your question may likely get no answers, or not quality answers, due to it being buried in the middle of this thread of a totally different subject.
Some good advice here, but when I built my computer last year, I went with the top Intel i7 processor available (of course haswell came out like two weeks later) and a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H, 16GB (2x8) RAM, a 120GB SSD, a 2TB HD, no video card, no aftermarket cooling (I don't overclock, so not really needed), a SeaSonic S12II power supply, and a Corsair Carbide 300R case. I installed Windows 7 Pro and I really couldn't be happier with it (well if I had waited two weeks and gotten the upgraded processor and Motherboard I might be a little happier).
I only ended up spending about $800. I believe that by building it myself, I was able to put a lot more power into it than I could have gotten for the same price off the shelf. This is really the way to do this IMO. There are some great resources to help you do this yourself. Check out buildapc (for general knowledge and example builds), Build a PC: sales (for good deals on the parts you might need), and Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker (to help keep yourself organized so that you get the parts you need and know the best place to get each part for the best price).
For general hardware reviews and advice, check out Tom's hardware or my choice Anand Tech (even though it's already been mentioned above).
I only ended up spending about $800. I believe that by building it myself, I was able to put a lot more power into it than I could have gotten for the same price off the shelf. This is really the way to do this IMO. There are some great resources to help you do this yourself. Check out buildapc (for general knowledge and example builds), Build a PC: sales (for good deals on the parts you might need), and Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker (to help keep yourself organized so that you get the parts you need and know the best place to get each part for the best price).
For general hardware reviews and advice, check out Tom's hardware or my choice Anand Tech (even though it's already been mentioned above).
Oh my...I wouldn't be able to take it. I know it's popular these days, but I can't stand the LED lighting all over the computers. That's why I picked the Carbide 300R (with out the window). It's pretty much just a plain, boring, black case. Just like it should be IMO. I bet your computer runs great though with all that cooling, a dedicated video card, and an SSD. How overclocked could you get it?
I'm just running it "stock". I don't do games on computer, just video/still picture editing.
Why all the cooling without trying to push it for more performance? You could get a bunch more performance out of your CPU, bus, and video card and still not break a sweat with all of the fans and the liquid cooler.
I thought they last longer at stock settings. I like the liquid cooler since they work more efficiently and less bulky.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
Sometimes you just need to cool HDDs
I have a 12cm fan on the back and a 9cm one on the side both pumping air out of my system. It's needed because of the 9 HDDs I have which generate a lot of heat coupled with my CPU and graphics card.
Sometimes you just need to run at stock and let other components dictate where you need your heat extraction
Like I said in my suggestions, save money where you can and pump that into your CPU to buy the best you can afford.
I would also suggest, ask again when you have the money in hand ready to buy, as prices and products will be different then and we can then advise on specific components
I have a 12cm fan on the back and a 9cm one on the side both pumping air out of my system. It's needed because of the 9 HDDs I have which generate a lot of heat coupled with my CPU and graphics card.
Sometimes you just need to run at stock and let other components dictate where you need your heat extraction
Like I said in my suggestions, save money where you can and pump that into your CPU to buy the best you can afford.
I would also suggest, ask again when you have the money in hand ready to buy, as prices and products will be different then and we can then advise on specific components
I run Windows and Mac. Both work well and serve their purpose for me. If you decide Mac then your pricepoint is fairly set. If you go Windows I would start targeting components for your build and see where the deals can be had. I typically buy components from Newegg and RAM from Crucial. But you can find deals all over (TigerDirect, Amazon and through Google Shopping).
Like most people mentioned, if you have a general budget then we can start picking out parts for your build.
Like most people mentioned, if you have a general budget then we can start picking out parts for your build.
If you're going to spend $200+ on a processor (or any other amount for any other component), just put it into a separate bank account (there are some online ones you can open for free - maybe ally bank) instead. It will be like you've spent it from your daily funding, but it won't actually be gone. Then once you've "bought" every component of the computer, you'll have a bank account with maybe $1000 bucks in it (which will have also been accruing interest) and you can re-evaluate which components to buy based on the technology available at that time. You'll end up with a better system and you may even spend less in the long run.
Give it to your mum/dad/other responsible adult to look after until you need it!
No mum, no dad, no immediate family anywhere near me. It is not a matter of me wasting it, I just don't have it. If I put it away some other emergency will crop up and I will have to use it for that instance, whereas, if I go ahead and buy a piece here and there then the piece is bought. Whatever else needed the money just has to go without.
rocketman122
Senior Member
If youre on a budget like I was when I just bought new parts consider going AMD.
Benchmark Results: Adobe CS 6 - AMD FX-8350 Review: Does Piledriver Fix Bulldozer's Flaws?
benchmarks in adobe, its pretty good. and since Im wanting to learn video editing, the multicore chip can work very fast with premiere. single threads is meh. its ok though. I take it as it is. but the future is programs using multi cores. when I bought my Q600 all the nay sayers bitched about that. my Q6600 is running strong today. not the fastest duh, but still has life n it.
biggest problem for me is that I cannot support intel anymore. their selling strategies against AMD a few years back was what killed it for me. I also want to support AMD because if AMD goes down, get ready for an intel heavy *** raping on chips. this is my first AMD chip. for certain itll be faster than my current gear.
take all the information you have, see how much youre willing to spend then decide if you want intel or AMD. whatevers good for you and your pocket. me personally? I think I get better bang for the buck. thats me.I researched and this is whats good for me now. all the AMD nay sayers. pleas, lets not have an AMD vs intel thread. lets help Mike. I recommended what I bought and think is worthwhile in terms of bang for the buck. you can recommend what you want.
motherboard I got
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3+ - GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 4.0)
memory. corsair 2x4gb sticks. 1600 or you can even go 1333.
SSD I got samsung 120gb evo. it will be the biggest improvement speed wise. access time and lag is minimal compared to any HDD. just make sure to run trim every so often. personally, I prefer to work with 500gb HDD. if a 1tb HDD falls, thats a lot of data. like with memory cards. Id rather use smaller capacity so if one fails, the fall isnt so bad. any wedding I shoot, I first copy them to 2 HDD and burn them all on DVD media as archive. good and bad pictures. then I edit them and erase as I go. burn them and make 3 copies. 1 for me, 1 for the photog I worked for, and another for the BG. I have 3 copies in 3 locations. after a month, I erase it from my HDD. my HDD never hold tons and tons of pictures. dont forget to defrag once in a while.
gtx 660 GPU. will use my lapped TRUE 120 cooler for the new setup. using my old 1000w psu. and old antec 900 case.
at the moment im still with 775 Q6600 . OC to 3.6. evga 780i FTW MB. 4gb ram, xp as well. my new setup will run W7.hell no will I touch W8. havent found the time to connect my new gear for a month now. but im feeling the lag when using the D600 files.
you dont need a lot of money and the improvement (if only because you reinstalled the OS and started clean) will be like blast off to the moon. $600 will be more than enough for nice build that will help you with editing. if you noticed the home PC is declining and tablets and laptops are mainstream. you dont need expensive gear for picture editing. computer hardware are so powerful today that even a cheap setup will be sufficient. it might not be a blink of an eye, but for instance when using acdsee pro, from picture to picture there is a 1-3 second delay on my current build. with the gear I bought(using the pictures on the SSD) I dont think there will be ANY delay. and I only bought 4 cheap components. btw, I bought the FX8320 and will OC a little. get some good goop like arctic silver 5.
looking at price cost, you can get
-8320 $140
-motherboard. doesnt matter. get it with USB 3.0 ports, 1 pcie for GPU. $80-100. if you want I can find one but theres enough to choose from. IMO gigabyte or asus. dont trust anyone else.
-cooler $40
-memory- get 2x4gb sticks. $70
-see if you can use your current case, otherwise you can find one for even $60-70
-see if your psu is more than 500w and use that.
-gpu gtx 650 ti $115
-SSD stay away from OCZ. garbage in every way. the samsung evo 120gb I bought was $120
Last edited:
This is such a broad forum topic that it can't truly be answered. We can give you the top of the line components that would come together to make a super computer like my friends $10k+ computer but that's not even necessary for what you want to do with it. Honestly any computer with a decent processor at least 8gb of ram, midrange graphics card and IPS monitor will allow you to edit photos to your hearts content. You're not going to need gaming graphics cards, i7 processor and 16gb of ram and a cooling system if you're really just editing photos. My Macbook pro with i5 processor, 8gb of ram and 120gb SSD runs Photoshop, Lightroom and any other app that I throw at it just fine and trust me there is no lag when opening the apps or loading time. The best investment was the SSD because it makes for accessing files and apps a snap but tons of ram is only useful with games or multitasking. Photoshop and Lightroom are not going to use 16gb of ram. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
In short, you really don't need a monster computer to edit photos. A nicely built comp is always a plus but there is a such thing as overkill. You need to set some sort of budget and criteria or the possibilities are endless.
In short, you really don't need a monster computer to edit photos. A nicely built comp is always a plus but there is a such thing as overkill. You need to set some sort of budget and criteria or the possibilities are endless.
I thought the RAM was the necessary component for Photoshop and Lightroom? Doesn't these programs run mostly through the memory? Or do they use the hard drive for that and the processor is more important?