Photo Editing CS5 PC

[oimee]

Hi - after struggling with my Pentium 4 PC I have finally saved up enough for an new system

I have chosen the spec below to use for Adobe CS5, and to be fast and quiet. What do you think? Anything I've missed?

I am going with the onboard graphics for now as I think they are probably going to be fine for Photoshop, and the saving means I can get the i7 rather than i5 processor.

I don't plan to buy another PC for a while yet - so am hoping that this is future proof.

thanks in advance for any help you can give me!


Case
STYLISH BLACK/SILVER TRIDENT CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 PCI
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 510 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 450MB/sR | 210MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
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
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
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 - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £934.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Pete]

I don't often comment on these types of posts as others know far more, but i would say that a 450 psu might not leave you much room in the future if you do decide to upgrade by puting a graphics card in.

 

[Meds]

The specification you have put together here looks good. The only think I would suggest to help improve performance would be to add a Graphics Card, as long as it fits within budget.

You could get an nVidia GT430 for around £40 more, with the CUDA Cores this graphics card has would help improve performance in CS5.

 

[JSG10]

I'd definitely look at getting a gfx card and definitely one of nVidia cards with CUDA cores as Meds suggested.
You could drop down to an i5-2500 and get yourself a half decent GPU with the savings. I think that would be more rounded and better suited to CS5

 

[oimee]

thanks for all your advice.

i have few questions...

1) am i going too far in getting the i7 2600 rather than the i5 2500?
2) if i got a graphics card eg \gt430, would the 450 PSU suffice?
3) how notable will the difference be with/without gfx card? I would never be playing games on this computer.

 

[Meds]

1) I wouldn't say you're going too far no. The hyperthreading technology which the i7-2600 has would also benefit you with your photo editing.
2) The 450W PSU would be sufficient for the GT430 graphics card.
3) Difficult to put a number on how much you'd notice it but it will improve things.

One option would be to get the PC without the graphics card, then purchase one (from us) at a later date if you want a performance boost? They are very easy to install and we would guide you through step by step. This way you get the best of both worlds

 

[oimee]

thanks Meds - you have put my mind at ease! i will stick to the spec above and order a gfx card from you in future should i feel the need/ have the budget.

 

[shades]

Totally agree with the advice re. graphics card. The main use of my pc is Photoshop CS5. Adobe and Nvidia work very closely together and it shows in the performance. You mention you want a machine which is quiet. I guess you might therefore think about upgrading to the Coolermaster Sileo case which I understand is very quiet.

 

[pez]

Just a small point, but you should get a 650w PSU if you can. As mentioned, the 450 won't run the upgraded GFX at a later date!

 

[oimee]

Just a small point, but you should get a 650w PSU if you can. As mentioned, the 450 won't run the upgraded GFX at a later date!

The 450w isn't enough for the GTS430?

 

[Meds]

Just to confirm, the 450W PSU will be ok for a GT430. Check the link below to nVidia's website, the minimum recommended PSU is 300W.

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/product-geforce-gt-430-uk.html

 

[oimee]

thanks for clearing that up Meds!

 

[pez]

Just thinking of semi-future proofing to be fair. I've never bought a PSU less than 600 for my machines in the last 2-3 years...

 

[Pete]

I'd be inclined to agree with PEZ, my last pc had a 450w PSU and when the graphics card went i struggled to find an alternative to the 8600GTS which were all but extinct, that would run on my system.

I've kept stum until now as I dablle with gaming so not the same but it might just add that bit of peace of mind if your budget will stretch to a 550 or 600w psu ?