Photo editing build advice

J

jdi731

n00b
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
16
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4. Want to try Sony Vegas.
2) What's your budget? $600 total.
3) Which country do you live in? Greenville, SC.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Case, PS, Ram, CPU, Mobo, Vid Card, HDD.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor.
6) Will you be overclocking? No.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? 1600x900. He thinks it's 20".
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Next couple of weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? USB 3.0.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? No.

My friend is wanting to build a personal computer for photo editing. What he uses at work is decent but he said he wants something faster. As far as mobo features go, he doesn't really know what he needs/wants, neither do I, so I'll let y'all chime in here with opinions and advice.

This is what he sent me for his work pc specs:
intel(r) core (tm) i3-3320 cpu @ 3.30 ghz
4gb ram
64bit op sys
"intel (r) hd graphics" assuming thats the vid card

What can y'all come up with for him?
 
So the cost of OS is part of the $600 budget?
 
Danny, unfortunately the OS will be part of the budget.

Tiraides, he doesn't remember what version it was he had since his computer was too slow to run it. He figures he'll just get the newest one when he can.

He just bought a Contour+2 so he cut into his budget by $200 with that...
 
At that $400 price point, he won't be able to build anything better than his current work PC that'll justify the expenditure. He really needs a $600 budget at a minimum to get a PC worth buying and using over his current work PC.

Is he allowed to upgrade his work PC with his own funds?
 
His work PC stays at work and he can't take it with him so he doesn't want to do anything to it.

He was thinking maybe build something similar to his work PC that he could later add to when he has more money but I don't think that would be the best idea personally.
 
We can't recommend a $400 DIY system that would be a worthwhile improvement over his work PC. And with the requirement for an OS license, that becomes a $300 PC.

If your friend really wants a new, better system, then he need to save some more money.
 
Tiraides, wouldn't it be $500 total since he has to buy an OS or did the price of that go up like it was ammo since the last time I looked?
 
$600-200 = $400 - $100 (for the OS) and it is now a $300 system.
 
I guess that read wrong...

The Contour+2 he bought that was $200 was money he could have spent on the computer, he's left with $600. Sorry for the confusion on that.
 
We could work with a $500 system. For the OS, choose between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 8 (non-Pro).

As for the rest of the system:

$35 - Silverstone PS08 micro-ATX mid-tower case
$45 - Corsair CX430 430W PSU
$184 - Intel Core i5-3470 Socket 1155 quad-core processor
$68 - MSI B75MA-P45 Socket 1155 Intel B75 micro-ATX motherboard
$45 - Corsair Value Select 8GB DDR3 1333 CL9 1.5V DIMM
$74 - Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB SATA 6Gb/s HDD
$16 - Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE SATA DVD burner
=====
$467 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

A few notes:
- I chose the case more for its value than for looks. If you go with a different case, keep it under $60.
- I omitted the video card and SSD for the time being. Though an SSD is faster than an HDD, it's more expensive per gigabyte.
- The embedded GPU in the i5-3470 processor is more than enough for Photoshop and light video editing (using commercial software).
- There's a method to my madness regarding RAM. I went with one 8GB stick now so you can have room for future upgrades (the board can support up to 32GB of RAM). 8GB is more than enough to start off.
- The Corsair CX430 PSU can easily handle a mid-range video card like the GTX 660 Ti. Whether or not you need a card that powerful depends on whether or not Vegas Pro can handle GPU rendering (where the work is offloaded onto the GPU versus the CPU).
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Depending on how serious his video and photoediting is you may wish to look at the SSD or at least another HDD for a scratch drive. If he is using RAW files you'll want a bigger HDD as well.
 
Thanks tiraides! And you're sure that him not having a video card right away will still allow him to do all his photo editing with Photoshop and Lightroom?

I agree with both of y'all on the SSD but with his budget it's not possible right now.
 
jdi731 said:
Thanks tiraides! And you're sure that him not having a video card right away will still allow him to do all his photo editing with Photoshop and Lightroom?
Click to expand...

Yes it should. May not be as fast as with a dedicated GPU but the onboard GPU will suffice.
 
Climber said:
Explain why. Your one sentence posts don't really add much.
Click to expand...

Because most programs can take advantaged of the built in AMD GPU on it's APU lineup and it's a crap ton faster than Intel's. However, if you intend to go with a discrete graphics card, then it doesn't really matter.
 
Skillz said:
Because most programs can take advantaged of the built in AMD GPU on it's APU lineup and it's a crap ton faster than Intel's. However, if you intend to go with a discrete graphics card, then it doesn't really matter.
Click to expand...

I Know but check his posts. Just a lot of 1 liners scattered throughout the forums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top