RECOMMANDATION DIY PC FOR PHOTO EDITING

[beevian]

First sorry to the MODs if i post at the wrong place please shift the post if there is a need. Thanks a lot

I have read through the relevant thread on ips monitor and cpu requirement for photoshop and light room but most of them a not up to date and i have already lost touch of the Pc world so i asking advice here from the seniors. Thanks a lot in advance

Abit about what i do so that you all can better understand what i need, i currently have a full time job and doing part time event photography, i'm waiting for my current full time job contract to end before joining my friend's event company as a photographer/event manager. i need a pc to allow me to edit about 300-500 pictures for every job.

My old quad core pc just died on me a few days ago and i decided to totally discard the old one and get a new diy pc tomorrow (will be heading down to sim lim, recommendation of with shop to go is good too). The budget given to me is around 2K including a dell u2312hm or u2412hm (willing to top up with my own money if the budget blows, as this will become my personal pc)

Looking for advise what CPU, amount of RAM, Graphics card, SSD hard drive. I will most likely going to over clock the cpu and upgrade the cooling system.

Any shop in sim lim sell Spyder pro? i looking to get 1 for myself instead of always loaning from my friend.

Thanks a lot in advance

 

[Rashkae]

Many such similar threads in the "Digital Darkroom" category. Try a SEARCH.

2k is good, get the Dell from the Dell online store, then you get a good price.

As for the rest, you have a very good budget. There is NO NEED for a gaming video card with a lot of RAM. Photoshop does not use this. So a simple 100 SGD card will do, or is you get a CPU with built-in GPU that's good enough too. Just get a system with a lot of harddrive space (I use 2 3TB drives in a RAID1 array for redundancy for my photos and other data) and maybe a 128GB SSD for the main boot/application drive.

Get 16GB of RAM, and you're all set. You can EASILY get a good rig for under 1k. Look at the buyers guide stickies in Hardwarezone.

Of course, if it will be your personal PC and you will use it for gaming, add in another 600-650 for an nVidia 670 GTX.

 

[beevian]

Thanks alot i did search and spend the whole morning and afternoon reading through all the post.

I get what u mean photoshop will write history on a scratch disk but i'm looking to maximise the full 2k budget given to me since its given to me

Looking to optimise the image processing speed too as i do not want to spend long period of time waiting for the computer to load.

I seldom play games and looking for a balance system as from what i understand from reading all those post is, its better to have a balance system then having a bottle neck somewhere.

I'm using 5dmkiii and shoot in raw format.

Thanks alot

 

[tecnica]

a good DIY system is all about striking a balance between all components.

your best friend here:
Hardware Clinic - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

 

[Rashkae]

Thanks alot i did search and spend the whole morning and afternoon reading through all the post.

I get what u mean photoshop will write history on a scratch disk but i'm looking to maximise the full 2k budget given to me since its given to me

Looking to optimise the image processing speed too as i do not want to spend long period of time waiting for the computer to load.

I seldom play games and looking for a balance system as from what i understand from reading all those post is, its better to have a balance system then having a bottle neck somewhere.

I'm using 5dmkiii and shoot in raw format.

Thanks alot

If you follow my advice.... 2k is gone really fast.

 

[kei1309]

If you follow my advice.... 2k is gone really fast.

i did follow your advice. i blew almost 3K :bsmilie:

 

[beevian]

Actually i looking to blow 3k too:x

 

[kei1309]

Actually i looking to blow 3k too:x

this is what Rashkae recommended to me, but i did some tweaks:

Gigabyte GA Z68A-D3H-B3 motherboard
Core i5 2500
16GB RAM (G-Skill Ares)
Asus HD7870 (i think) 2GB Video Ram
Seasonic 520W PSU
2TB HDD
LG Blu-ray Combo Disc-drive

and i added in my own existing Razer Keyboard and Mouse, and bought a Dell U2711 monitor.

 

[Rashkae]

i did follow your advice. i blew almost 3K :bsmilie:

But you're happy lor...

 

[thoongeng]

hi my disclaimer first I haven't read HWZ forums for a long long time, too big and confusing for me can't follow liao heh... my recommendations are based on my own reading of magazines and online review sites

I agree that the more important components are the CPU and RAM, get 16GB of RAM and then the best CPU/motherboard combination your budget allows.

I would recommend that you budget a bit more for monitor since you're doing professional work, probably get the Dell U2410 or equivalent monitor cos it covers a wider gamut and give more accurate colours. Then budget for a Wacom tablet or equivalent, looks like most pros do their work on it

Probably re-use your keyboard and mouse. Can also salvage the DVD burner (likely need to burn copies for clients), and consider buying a HDD enclosure and use your old hard disk as backup drive.

Shops wise maybe those who are more current with HWZ forums can advice better. For me those SLS shops which I found were ok from years ago and still around are like Bell, Fuwell, Cybermind...

A very rough breakdown of costs:
16GB RAM 150
Basic graphics card 80
OCZ Vertex4 128GB SSD 240
2x 3TB HDD (in RAID 1) 240x2
Dell Ultrasharp U2410 680
Casing 150
750W power supply 200
Subtotal = 1980 Oops ;p

Still need CPU/motherboard, CPU cooler (eg CM Hyper 212 Evo 70), Wacom tablet

happy shopping!

 

[tecnica]

with that budget, go for AIO water cooling.

air cooling takes up a lot of chassis space and imo still not as efficient as water cooling.

with the all-in-one package and unlike the custom ones, the former is not difficult to set up if you can read and follow instructions.

 

[fmeeran]

with that budget, go for AIO water cooling.

air cooling takes up a lot of chassis space and imo still not as efficient as water cooling.

with the all-in-one package and unlike the custom ones, the former is not difficult to set up if you can read and follow instructions.

Air cooling towers more efficient than the water cooling units at same price point.

 

[mds80]

A good place for recommendations and some ideas would be Hardware Clinic at Hardwarezone. One thing to take note of is please avoid buying from Cybermind. Many people in HWZ have reported bad incidents there. A place I would personally recommend is PC Themes, good service and competitive price.

 

[Rashkae]

A good place for recommendations and some ideas would be Hardware Clinic at Hardwarezone. One thing to take note of is please avoid buying from Cybermind. Many people in HWZ have reported bad incidents there. A place I would personally recommend is PC Themes, good service and competitive price.

Yup, PC Themes is the new kid on the block, good prices.

 

[beevian]

Thanks alot for all the advice will pop down sls later and update this thread

 

[devastation]

Not that I want to find faults, but I don't think that 16GB of ram will be needed at all for photo-editing purposes. It'll be helpful during multiple intense workload but
for doing gaming/photo-editing wise 8GB of ram would suffice. Also, a decent graphics card would be better than having built-in for obvious reasons.

If you do not see a need to actually get the latest generation of processor (Ivy Bridge), get Sandy Bridge instead. Personally recommend 2600/k for future-proof purposes.

Just my 2 cents from experience.

A good place for recommendations and some ideas would be Hardware Clinic at Hardwarezone. One thing to take note of is please avoid buying from Cybermind. Many people in HWZ have reported bad incidents there. A place I would personally recommend is PC Themes, good service and competitive price.

I have personally heard from close friends that CyberMind has a better service now compared back then. Still, do it at your own risk

 

[Rashkae]

Not that I want to find faults, but I don't think that 16GB of ram will be needed at all for photo-editing purposes. It'll be helpful during multiple intense workload but
for doing gaming/photo-editing wise 8GB of ram would suffice.

Asrock and Asus boards can auto-create a RAMdisk of 8GB for the Photoshop scratch disk. Then PS really flies.

 

[kklee]

You will probably need to look into backup as well.

 

[devastation]

Asrock and Asus boards can auto-create a RAMdisk of 8GB for the Photoshop scratch disk. Then PS really flies.

Oh ok.. I didn't know about that.

 

[beevian]

Went down to sls pc themes great serive an price i blew my buget of 2k by abt 400.

List of wat i got:
Intel i7-3770k
Asrock z77 extreme 4
G skill16gd ram
Crucial m4 128gd ssd drive
W.D black 1tb hdd
Sony dvdrw
Msi 2gd twin frozr II
Seasonic m12ii 650w
Nzxt phantom 410 casing
Noctua nh d14 cpu cooler
Dell u2412m
Xigmatex accessor pro 3.5 usb 3.0 card reader

Plus free anti virus

I will b reusing my old hdd for more storage and os window 7 64bit.

Ups for pc themes great service and price!