Monitor and PC for Photoshop and basic HD Video Editing

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PhilF

Member
Hi,

Hi, I’ll be doing more Photoshop work in the future and also use a program for slide shows, which allows you to add music, pan/zoom and other effects; the output will be to DVD and the web. The PC will not be used for gaming. I will be browsing the internet and using some Microsoft Office.

Recently, I acquired a Canon HV20 (PAL) for HD video work and, in time (planned development) will be able to add clips to PTE. I intend to use the Sony Vegas Movie Studio (Platinum version) for editing but am new to this. I’ll need to add .m2t files to the timeline. Although this will be new territory, I don’t envisage using lots of video in any production; getting people talking for a brief time in picture-in-picture is a requirement. This is a hobby!

I need a new PC and a monitor that is going to work for image and video editing. Does anyone have any ideas? I’d really welcome your thoughts on monitors. I’ve been thinking about the Dell U2311, Viewsonic VP2365, Eizo EV2333 and NEC EA231 although PCS don’t sell them.

On the PC side, would an i760 fit the bill or do I need to go i870 / i950? Buying a more expensive monitor is playing havoc with my budget. Whatever, I need 8GB RAM, Firewire card, 2 hard drives and, hopefully, onboard audio. I’d prefer a DVD RW with Lightscribe. I’m not sure about PSU but would prefer a set up that is not noisy. I’m connected to broadband via a modem/router.

One last point: Why don’t PCS sell Kaspersky Internet Security when you do sell the Anti Virus program? Do you have any recommendations for this type of program?

Here’s a spec for you guys to look at and tell me if I’m wrong.

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55 LX: USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Free Item
FREE H.A.W.X.2 Game (RRP: £39.99) with a qualifying GTS450/ GTX460 GPU!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
2nd Hard Disk
1.5TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply & Case Cooling
CORSAIR 650W PSU (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£85)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£19)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,064.00 including VAT and delivery.

Thanks
Phil
 
Sleinous

Sleinous

Author Level
Great spec but consider the 64mb cached 1.5tb hdd.

Also consider the GTX 465, it is better suited to your needs with its 20-odd more CUDA cores (cuda used in photoshop).
 
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PhilF

Member
Hi Sleinous,

Thanks for your advice on the 64MB cached 1.5TB hard drive and I'll certainly think about the GTX 465 with more CUDA. I would have got back earlier but I've been away from a PC.

Given my requirements, can you see any major benefit with i870/i950 or will the i760 definitely be OK?

Did you have any thoughts on my comment: "I need a new PC and a monitor that is going to work for image and video editing. Does anyone have any ideas? I’d really welcome your thoughts on monitors. I’ve been thinking about the Dell U2311, Viewsonic VP2365, Eizo EV2333 and NEC EA231 although PCS don’t sell them." I have two potential concerns with some of the monitors in so far that: they don't all have 1:1 pixel mapping; and although they would be good for photoshop (viewing angles are better than TN panels), I'm not sure how they'd go with video editing. Of course, it's not a perfect world!

Best regards,
Phil
 
Sleinous

Sleinous

Author Level
Monitors arent my strong point unfortunately im afraid :( Gorman may be more clued up! The i5 760 will be ample for ur intended use, the GPU is the essential part in this spec.
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Prolific Poster
The Dell U2311 is a really good monitor using an IPS panel which produces fantastic picture quality, not sure about the other monitors though, the computer looks fine to me with Sleinous' suggestions.
 
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PhilF

Member
Hi Sleinous,

Thanks for confirming the i760.

I checked because I was looking at the proposed configuration put together by a Photoshop expert who was looking for a system to do Photoshop / advanced slide shows and he went for an i870 and the GTS250 graphics card. Then I looked at some of the video editing systems at PCS and they seemed to max out with the GTX450.

Best regards,
Phil
 
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PhilF

Member
Hi Phoenix,

Thanks for your comments on the Dell U2311; I'm close to buying this as I'm probably not going to put the funds into a more expensive monitor due to the need to get the PC soon.

Before I do so, I really need to check out these remarks by some expert reviewers:"However, oddly the hardware aspect ratio controls didn't feature a 1:1 or "aspect" mode which might have been useful to some. The screen features hardware level aspect ratio control available via the OSD menu. However there are only options for 'fill' or '4:3' which is a little strange. You would have hoped for an option to maintain the original source aspect ratio and perhaps a 1:1 pixel mapping mode as well."

The brain isn't working well today and I'm trying to figure out how this will work out. I can see how you would see 1920x1080 on an equivalent screen but what happens if I do a smaller-size slide show/presentation for viewing on the web. Perhaps it will stretch on the Dell or perhaps I should not be bothered as I can't be too concerned with the different size monitors of the viewers. I won't bother to go into the fact that viewers probably don't have calibrated monitors etc.

Best regards,
Phil
 
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PhilF

Member
Hi Phoenix,

Thanks for the links. I've looked at tftcentral and flatpanelshd, which are really excellent.

Best regards,
Phil
 
Bohemian Simian

Bohemian Simian

Active member
I'm looking at monitors too.

Any plans for PCS to get higher resolution monitors?

The default ranges offered in self-build seem to stop at 1080 - great for movies and games.
- But when working long hours using applications like Adobe Photoshop, a little more detail could go a long way.

16:10 1920x1200 or above would interest me, 24"+
Eventually would get a matching 2nd monitor, but will just use the 1 for now.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Not at the moment, but thanks for the feedback - we'll look into it.
 
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