Graphics & Internet Build Help

[Zzyzx]

Hi All,

Time for a bit of an upgrade. Going to be purchasing Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4 and Windows 7 64bit. My current system is incompatible with the new SW I would like to purchase.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, Photoshop, very light video editing. No gaming on this build.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Under $800.00 would be great, but I have a little wiggle room

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Austin, TX

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, Motherboard, Power supply, system/application drive, backup drive, video card, dvd burner.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I would like to keep my Lian Li PC-70 if it's compatible.

6) Will you be overclocking?
It would be a nice option, but not totally necessary.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22" hp lcd

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Immediately

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Nothing specific.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes. Windows 7 Professional 64bit


I appreciate the help on this and look forward to any feedback!

Thanks,

 

[pantsburgh]

Depending on what you're doing in PS and LR it generally isn't too CPU intensive. My work computer is rocking a Core 2 quad w/ 6 GB ram and I multitask like a beast on it while running PS CS4. I think you could get a current gen i5 (hell, even an i3) and have tons of CPU to spare. This should be plenty for light video work as well.

CS6 does have some GPU accelerated stuff if you choose to use it. Again, this isn't too intensive, and you could easily get away with a bang for buck card.

Really the only thing I'd recommend not skimping on is ram. 6-8 GB should work.

If it's in the budget you could get a SSD (even a 64 GB would work) to install the OS and CS6 + scratch on. Getting the scratch on an SSD is fantastic if you can work it in. Then just get a cheap HDD for whatever else you want to install + data storage.

I'm sure other people around here are infinitely better than me at picking out specific parts, so I'll leave that to them.

 

[Dangman]

You're better off getting a new case. Even a $50 case will have better cooling and significantly better cable management.

So here's what I recommend:
$288 - Core i5 3450 CPU + MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard Combo
$90 - G.Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-16GAO 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$57 - PowerColor AX6570 GBK3-H Radeon HD 6570 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$120 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$90 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$64 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
----
Total: $777 shipped.

 

[Zzyzx]

The Lian Li does seem a little large for what I want to use it for.

Thank you for the feedback and help picking out parts! It's very much appreciated

 

[Dangman]

No prob. Please post a final build list if you change anything in my above list so that we can make sure you're good to go.

 

[Zzyzx]

Will do, thanks Danny Bui!