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Pc spec for photoshop work (1 Viewer)

Roy C

Roy C

Occasional bird snapper
I am looking at a new PC to replace my ageing XP machine. The main component of the system I am looking at are:-

Intel Core i7 3770K overclocked to 4.5GHz
16GB of Memory (2 x 8GB)
GeForce GTX 650
120GB Intel 330 SSD Drive
2 x 1000GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Disks in RAID 1
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Does this look reasonable for image editing (CS5). BTW I already have a Dell U2410 monitor which I will keep for the new system.
 
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That looks more than pokey enough for the task at hand. If it was for me though I would lose the overclocking, lose the second RAIDed drive and spent the money on a new Photoshop Creative Cloud subs option.
 
Mono said:
That looks more than pokey enough for the task at hand. If it was for me though I would lose the overclocking, lose the second RAIDed drive and spent the money on a new Photoshop Creative Cloud subs option.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, I already have a USB3 external hard drive which I currently use (at USB2) for backing up so I guess RAID is not required. For the system I am looking at I do not think that losing one of the drives is an option although I do not have to have them RAIDed.
No over-clocking is a option for the system - why should I lose it?
 
I'd vote for stability, ease of build and value for money. Consider the following changes.

Xeon E3-1230 V2, HD7750, 250GB SSD (Samsung 840 is good value and reliable) and low voltage memory. Less power used, less heat produced, less cooling required so no need for aftermarket coolers, messing for days/weeks trying to hit a stable 4.5GHZ, possibly quieter too.

Don't neglect PSU quality, Seasonic/XFX offer the best ranges. With a non-overclock, you could use a 450W, the overclocked i7 would need a 550W.

Your suggested PC falls into the £1200 bracket: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YmP6
My alt. Xeon build is £900-950: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Yn3U

Save the difference for glass, tripod legs or software :t:
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
I'd vote for stability, ease of build and value for money. Consider the following changes.

Xeon E3-1230 V2, HD7750, 250GB SSD (Samsung 840 is good value and reliable) and low voltage memory. Less power used, less heat produced, less cooling required so no need for aftermarket coolers, messing for days/weeks trying to hit a stable 4.5GHZ, possibly quieter too.

Don't neglect PSU quality, Seasonic/XFX offer the best ranges. With a non-overclock, you could use a 450W, the overclocked i7 would need a 550W.

Your suggested PC falls into the £1200 bracket: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YmP6
My alt. Xeon build is £900-950: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Yn3U

Save the difference for glass, tripod legs or software :t:
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I am not building myself Andrew, I am looking at a ready built system for £1099 from Chillblast. it is described as a photo and video editing system (I would sooner pay someone £100 or so to build it for me!). Chillblast will be doing the overclocking and guaranteeing the system. From your link for the components it looks fair value for money and Chillblast have a good reputation from what I have read.
 
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Andew and 'Mono' any chance of having a quick gander at the full specs for the system I am looking at HERE to see if there are any obvious weak spots. Please bare in mind that I am looking for a ready built system. Thanks in advance.
 
I hope they've improved since building this system Roy ;)

Parts that are named mostly look Ok but many are of lesser quality than those I specc'd. I'd prefer not to see their 'own brands' being used, specific make/models for the HDDs etc. and better quality PSU's though.

Building your own PC consists of watching YouTube for an hour and working on the kitchen table for ~3-4 hours, followed by an hour or so of installing Windows and tweaking it. It's not what it used to be ;). That way, you get to choose exactly which components are fitted.
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
I hope they've improved since building this system Roy ;)

Parts that are named mostly look Ok but many are of lesser quality than those I specc'd. I'd prefer not to see their 'own brands' being used, specific make/models for the HDDs etc. and better quality PSU's though.

Building your own PC consists of watching YouTube for an hour and working on the kitchen table for ~3-4 hours, followed by an hour or so of installing Windows and tweaking it. It's not what it used to be ;). That way, you get to choose exactly which components are fitted.
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Thank you for looking Andrew. Can you recommend a PC builder or off the shelf system please if Chillblast are no good.

Building myself is not an option, if people who do it for a living mess it up then there is not a cat in hell's chance that I will be trying it. Besides I have been retired for 8 years and at my age the powers of concentration start to diminish and stress levels raise if things go a little wrong - one problem and I am likely to throw the thing in the dustbin in frustration LOL. As I say I am fully prepared to pay a few hundred over the odds to get someone else build and guarantee it.

all I want is something to replace my trusty but ageing (10 year old) XP system - AMD Athlone 64 processor 3500+ 2.21 GHz with 2 GB of RAM. It is still fine for most things but running some things in Photoshop can be painfully slow and initial boot up time is frustrating.
 
The system from Chillblast seems very overspecced if your only power use is Photoshop. I have CS5 running more than happily on a 3.4 GHz I7-2600 with 8Gb RAM in a small quiet box with no need for huge cooling fans, all brought off the shelf from Dell. I can see the need for extra power if you are rendering lots of video but not for photo processing. Of course extra spec will increase the longevity of your machine but overclocking may well spoil that.

Sorry to be inconclusive.

Mono
 
Mono said:
The system from Chillblast seems very overspecced if your only power use is Photoshop. I have CS5 running more than happily on a 3.4 GHz I7-2600 with 8Gb RAM in a small quiet box with no need for huge cooling fans, all brought off the shelf from Dell. I can see the need for extra power if you are rendering lots of video but not for photo processing. Of course extra spec will increase the longevity of your machine but overclocking may well spoil that.

Sorry to be inconclusive.

Mono
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Thanks Mono, I was wondering if it was an overkill seeing they are talking about video. Can you recommend an off the shelf system from the likes of Chillblast, Dell or any other PC builder?
 
Roy, look at Pcspecialist for off the shelf and bespoke systems.

I am just changing my PC from a 10 year old XP machine. Spec is

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-3770 Processor (3.4 GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 8 MB Cache)
Operating System Windows 8
RAM 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3 1333 MHz (expandable up to 32 GB)
Graphics card Dedicated MSI nVidia GT630 2GB DDR3
Core speed: 810 MHz
Memory speed: 1820 MHz (2 x 910 MHz DDR3)
PCIe 3.0 x16
Hard drive 2 TB
SATA
Variable rpm
Western Digital Green WD20EARX
Optical disk drive Multi DVD-RW
Read speed: 16x DVD, 48x CDR, 24x RW
Write speed: 24x DVD -/+R, 8x DL-/+R, 8x +RW, 6x -RW, 12x -RAM
Memory card reader Yes
USB Front: 2 x USB 2.0 ports
Rear: 6 (4 x USB 2.0; 2 x USB 3.0) ports
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Realtek 8111E 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi Ralink 802.11 bgn USB Dongle 150Mbps
Bluetooth No
Audio interface Rear 3 x 3.5 mm jacks; Front 1 x 3.5 mm Mic, 1 x 3.5 mm headphones
Sound Integrated Realtek® ALC887
Keyboard & Mouse USB Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
USB Wireless Mouse with DPI control
Accessories included Desktop PC, wireless keyboard & mouse with batteries, USB Wi-Fi dongle, Welcome Pack, UK power cord

All for £584.

Here's the rub it is an Advent dt2142 from PC World, so people out there will knock it. But it is right for me for video and photo and at that price..

Robert

BTW already have 2 external HDDs and an external Blu-ray writer.
 
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Robert L Jarvis said:
Roy, look at Pcspecialist for off the shelf and bespoke systems.

I am just changing my PC from a 10 year old XP machine. Spec is

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-3770 Processor (3.4 GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 8 MB Cache)
Operating System Windows 8
RAM 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3 1333 MHz (expandable up to 32 GB)
Graphics card Dedicated MSI nVidia GT630 2GB DDR3
Core speed: 810 MHz
Memory speed: 1820 MHz (2 x 910 MHz DDR3)
PCIe 3.0 x16
Hard drive 2 TB
SATA
Variable rpm
Western Digital Green WD20EARX
Optical disk drive Multi DVD-RW
Read speed: 16x DVD, 48x CDR, 24x RW
Write speed: 24x DVD -/+R, 8x DL-/+R, 8x +RW, 6x -RW, 12x -RAM
Memory card reader Yes
USB Front: 2 x USB 2.0 ports
Rear: 6 (4 x USB 2.0; 2 x USB 3.0) ports
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Realtek 8111E 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi Ralink 802.11 bgn USB Dongle 150Mbps
Bluetooth No
Audio interface Rear 3 x 3.5 mm jacks; Front 1 x 3.5 mm Mic, 1 x 3.5 mm headphones
Sound Integrated Realtek® ALC887
Keyboard & Mouse USB Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
USB Wireless Mouse with DPI control
Accessories included Desktop PC, wireless keyboard & mouse with batteries, USB Wi-Fi dongle, Welcome Pack, UK power cord

All for £584.

Here's the rub it is an Advent dt2142 from PC World, so people out there will knock it. But it is right for me for video and photo.

Robert

BTW already have 2 external HDDs and an external Blu-ray writer.
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Thanks for that Robert. I would need to make a few changes as I need windows 7 to be able to run a lot of my software also I would probably go for a SSD drive for the operating system ect.. Looks good value for that money though.
 
I'm not really into hardware, but one comment: I think for people who like to keep their machines for a long time (in business pcs are written off over three years or so) it makes sense to buy something that is `overspec'ed' now. Software has a ware of becoming more memory-hungry (although at least I think the megapixel war is in its final bursts, so I think file sizes per image won't increase much now). I think of this as investing into a more `future-proof' system. Sure, it won't have all the latest technology three or four years down the road, but for people who like getting the most out of what they have it's a sensible choice in my opinion.

Andrea
 
kitefarrago said:
I'm not really into hardware, but one comment: I think for people who like to keep their machines for a long time (in business pcs are written off over three years or so) it makes sense to buy something that is `overspec'ed' now. Software has a ware of becoming more memory-hungry (although at least I think the megapixel war is in its final bursts, so I think file sizes per image won't increase much now). I think of this as investing into a more `future-proof' system. Sure, it won't have all the latest technology three or four years down the road, but for people who like getting the most out of what they have it's a sensible choice in my opinion.

Andrea
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Thanks for that Andrea, I know when I bought my XP machine it was a top spec machine at the time and it has given me 10 years of almost faultless service so I am inclined to agree with you.
 
Mono said:
Of course extra spec will increase the longevity of your machine but overclocking may well spoil that.

Mono
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Hi Mono, I do not know anything about overclocking, how come it is detrimental? If I went for something like the Chillblast machine would I be better by choosing the no overclocking option? Thanks again :t:
 
I think Roy that overclocking can put a strain on the hardware, the processor will I am sure run hotter. Not convinced that the small increase in speed is worth it, surely far better to look at going 64bit and putting in 32gb of ram.

I run two machines:-

One is the highest spec for video editing and photowork and personal items. It is never connected to the internet so is not bogged down with ISP stuff, internet connection software, firewalls, virus checkers, browsers.

The other is a lower spec and that is used for internet work so has all that software. That machine is used for searching, downloading and uploading.

All work is saved to my external HDDs and then switched to my internet machine for putting on the web.

That is how I operate, it is my choice but obviously will not be to many's liking.

BTW I think the majority of software will run on W8 if it runs on W7. Not sure which software you are thinking of.
 
As Robert has says, overclocking is simply running the chip faster than manufacturer's spec hence the need for additional cooling. It can work out fine or it can shorten the life of the chip it all depends on the stresses on the weakest link and where your particular chip is on the bell curve.

As regards purchasing: if it is a bog standard grey box tower you want then I tend to buy from a local shop where you can actually talk to the person who will be building it and if anything goes wrong you can take it in and plonk it on the counter! This may be my advice to others,(I run the IT at a school amongst other clients), personally I prefer a small form factor. In the past I have had Shuttle systems but currently have a Dell Alienware X51 it may look a bit silly with glowing alien heads on but it is small, very quiet and powerful.
 
Mono said:
As Robert has says, overclocking is simply running the chip faster than manufacturer's spec hence the need for additional cooling. It can work out fine or it can shorten the life of the chip it all depends on the stresses on the weakest link and where your particular chip is on the bell curve.

As regards purchasing: if it is a bog standard grey box tower you want then I tend to buy from a local shop where you can actually talk to the person who will be building it and if anything goes wrong you can take it in and plonk it on the counter! This may be my advice to others,(I run the IT at a school amongst other clients), personally I prefer a small form factor. In the past I have had Shuttle systems but currently have a Dell Alienware X51 it may look a bit silly with glowing alien heads on but it is small, very quiet and powerful.
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Just a quick question Mono, If I went for something like that Chillblast system but done away with the overclocking, would the rest of the components like the water cooling unit still be OK or should I be going for a non water cooled fan (they have a Xigmatek Prime Ultimate Performance Quiet CPU Cooler option for instance).
 
Thank you to everyone for the feedback/help on this one :t:
As an update after looking around at lots of different PC builders systems I have gone with the Chillblast Photo PC (less RAID and overclocking with a few more minor tweaks such as a USB3 card reader....).
 
as an update I have now got the new PC up and running. Went for i7 3770 3.5 GHz (no overclocking) - 16GB ram, 120 gb SSD, windows 7.
Everything is running great and handling photoshop fine. Biggest differences is :
Very quite (can not hear it is even turned on).
Loads windows and other progs in mega quick time thanks to the SSD. I am a happy bunny B :)
 
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