PC specs help wanted

[Terryw]

Hi guys,

I am thinking of a new PC. What do you think of this system for running CS4, Lightroom and MSl office etc.
Any components you would change?
anything I should add? any advice gratefully received.

Intel E7400 CPU
ASUS P5KPL-1600 Motherboard
ASUS 512MB EAH3450 Video Card
DVD Burner
4GB Kingston Ram
320 GB Hard Drive
Windows Vista 64 Bit

Terry

[pgbphotographytas]

That should run all that well.

Paul

[oldfart]

Hi guys,

I am thinking of a new PC. What do you think of this system for running CS4, Lightroom and MSl office etc.
Any components you would change?
anything I should add? any advice gratefully received.

Intel E7400 CPU
ASUS P5KPL-1600 Motherboard
ASUS 512MB EAH3450 Video Card
DVD Burner
4GB Kingston Ram
320 GB Hard Drive
Windows Vista 64 Bit

Terry

Find the few extra dollars and buy a Q8200 Quad Core Processor.

You'll be pleased in the end you did.

[ShaneB]

I would build with two hard drives.

Apart from the extra storage space, it would allow you to run cache and paging files from a different drive to the one which houses your software - which will improve performance.

Also, the difference in price between a 320G drive and something bigger would be marginal, to say the least!

Have fun

[arthurking83]

I would build with two hard drives.

....

I'd actually say more!... like three :D

Hard drives are relatively cheap nowadays, and it's good practise to have more than one, as a priority, two would be nice, but three(or maybe more?) would be ideal.

Two HDD's give you the flexibility to use one as a dedicated cache disk, which should help for running your editing program faster. If it's large enough you could always use it for storing gigabytes of data/image/etc...

I have three hdd's on my current system(actually four, if you count the primary Windows drive as it's in a RAID config), but I use the main drive only for OS and programs, second drive for storing stuff images, videos, documents... etc, and the third drive is generally for dedicated cache file use, but as it's large enough it also has some room for storage too, although I only use that temporarily.

Further to all that, I also recently got an extra 1Tb external hdd for added archiving, and have a regular routine of backing up the storage drive to the external drive at 10PM every night.

As I see it for now, the only disaster I'm not really taking into account is fire.

hdd's are cheap, and the more the merrier.

[Kodi]

You have missed the most important and most overlooked item.
What power supply will you be using?
If it came with the case you bought it will make a good paperweight and that's about all.
A rather lengthy but very good article is available HERE (http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/ram-power-supply-support/192217-power-supply-information-selection.html).
The rest of the Hardware seems fine, your budget may not extend to a Quad core but it will be better if you could get one

[edenconnell]

Just make sure you get 2 x Drives one you use as a backup......

You never want to lose your pics if you can help it

[Kym]

Whirlpool have good pre-defined configs... (At price points)

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_boxes

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_systems

Eg... $1,250
CPU: Intel E8400 S775 $235
Motherboard: ASUS P5K/EPU $112
RAM: 2 x 2GB DDR2 800MHz Ram $66
HDD: 3.5" HDD SATA-300 640GB 16MB Samsung $95
GPU: 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 $509
Case: ASUS TA-98 $65
PSU: 525W Enermax Modu82+ $120
Optical Drive: ASUS 20x BLT-2014 Lightscribe SATA $35

[Darn]

The System CypherOz suggested is Decent and would easily handle what the OP needs it for only thing i would change is the brand of hard drive seagate are way better.

[Terryw]

Thanks guys, the system I described is already built but unused. I have a 1Tb external hard drive that I can hook up to it. Are you suggesting I get another internal drive if I can, just for the programmes and if so what size would you suggest?

[ShaneB]

Thanks guys, the system I described is already built but unused. I have a 1Tb external hard drive that I can hook up to it. Are you suggesting I get another internal drive if I can, just for the programmes and if so what size would you suggest?

750G was generally quoted as the best bang for buck - but that was weeks ago. I'm not sure why, but prices on HDDs seem to be plummeting.

One thing to think about: some drives have 3 year warranties and some 5. I'd expect the slightly more expensive units with 5 years on them to be more reliable.

All that said: fitting a hard drive is dead easy, and provided you have the space in your box and a power supply big enough to handle it, you can add an extra drive any time.

[Kym]

I'm not sure why, but prices on HDDs seem to be plummeting.

At a guess ... Global demand is down - PC sales are down (businesses deferring upgrades etc). - parts manufacturers want to cash out inventory.

[oldfart]

Interestingly the wholesale price for Hard Drives actually increased this week by a few dollars ex GST.

[Roof]

I'd actually say more!... like three :D

Hard drives are relatively cheap nowadays, and it's good practise to have more than one, as a priority, two would be nice, but three(or maybe more?) would be ideal.

Two HDD's give you the flexibility to use one as a dedicated cache disk, which should help for running your editing program faster. If it's large enough you could always use it for storing gigabytes of data/image/etc...

I have three hdd's on my current system(actually four, if you count the primary Windows drive as it's in a RAID config), but I use the main drive only for OS and programs, second drive for storing stuff images, videos, documents... etc, and the third drive is generally for dedicated cache file use, but as it's large enough it also has some room for storage too, although I only use that temporarily.

Further to all that, I also recently got an extra 1Tb external hdd for added archiving, and have a regular routine of backing up the storage drive to the external drive at 10PM every night.

As I see it for now, the only disaster I'm not really taking into account is fire.

hdd's are cheap, and the more the merrier.


I had 4 HDD and it slowed my system down....now i have 1 HDD and 2 gig of Mem and it seems to be running ok i must admit it's an oldie but good............

What i can sugest is stay away from Vista...........but that's me.........i would get the vista but step down to xp sp3...and you're all good....IMHO

Edit.. More mem on the video

[JM Tran]

I recommend windows XP with SP3 too, dont use Vista

all u need to worry about is your power supply, something around 600W and more should be efficient, if u are not chasing speed and a lot of gaming

I have a slightly less powerful system than the parts u listed, and run CS4 fine along with other apps opened simultanesously

oh and most importantly, what sort of monitor will u be using for photo editing?

[Terryw]

I have a Dell 2408 WFP ultraSharp.