advice please: budget (but nice) system for photography?

[robby3000]

Hi

I am looking for advice on configuring a system, main requirements are:

* good for photography and image processing. I mainly use Lightroom and Photoshop
* inexpensive, I need bang for bucks

I researched ready-built systems for this purpose and came to the conclusion that the most important factors are:

* SSD (for loading operating system and storing the Lightroom catalog and Photoshop scratch disk)

* In terms of getting optimum grunt power for image processing: it's good to overclock, a dedicated graphics card is not so important

* I also want a nice-looking case, the smaller the better

* A quiet PC is worth paying a bit extra for, but if I'm going to overclock I will have to have at least a CPU cooling fan, so a fan-less system is not possible.

* Intel i7 is not worth extra bucks over the i5

I ended up with the following spec:

- Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 4
- Mobo: Asus Z87-K Socket 1150
- CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K 3.40GHz Socket 1150
- CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS8900
- PSU: Corsair 430W modular 80 plus bronze
- RAM: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport
- SSD: 128GB Samsung 840 Pro (would be nice to also have a smaller 64GB SSD just for the OS)
- Liteon CD/DVD rewriter
- MS Windows 8.1 oem
- WIFI pci card

I already have a mouse, keyboard, display and an external USB HDD for storing image files.

Please, can anyone tell me if I am on the right track? Are there any compatibility issues with this spec? Is there anything else that I should consider for better performance or future upgrade potential? Have I forgotten anything? The cost for the above is about 600 UKP/bucks/euros - I guess that this system will give me great performance for not much money ...

Many thanks in advance 🙂

 

[Nuclear101]

I will recommend something like a CM Hyper 212 EVO or something from BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 for better performance and a Corsair RM or TX series PSU with at least 500 watts. Other than that, the build will work fine. For the case, I recommend something like the Fractal Design R4 (whichever color you want).

 

[robby3000]

Hi, thanks for the reply 🙂 I'm glad you answered because I need your help...

I went for the Nanoxia case in the end - beautiful design and finish, although the Fractal Design cases do look very nice too. However the case is too small for ATX boards, so I bought the Gigiabyte GA-H87N-wifi which is a mini ITX board.

This was a mistake because the HS fan I bought (Gelid Solutions Tranquillo Rev.2) overhangs the PCIEX16 slot so I can't upgrade with a graphics card later if I want to.

Worse still, the first time I fired up the machine it briefly flashed the Gigabyte splash screen, fans spinning, but then died. Since you are a motherboard expert I hope you could perhaps shed some light for me. (I have read threads on troubleshooting but it's inconclusive). The symptoms are:

The first time I fired it up was the only time the Gigiabyte screen came up, the screen switched to black screen with flashing cursors (all good so far) and then after about 40 seconds everything went dead.

Now when I switch on the pc the screen remains blank and the fans do not turn (in fact sometimes I can see the HS fan move a tiny bit - a slight flicker as I switch on, the only sign of anything happening). The mobo does not have a header for a speaker so I can't diagnose any beeps.

However, if I unplug the 4-pin CPU power plug and then switch on the machine all the fans spin for a couple of seconds, then stop, then start again, then stop etc.

So I then disconnected everything, removed the HS fan and applied some extra insulating tape the the backplate feet just in case there was a short occurring. I put the fan back and only connected the HDMI to the screen - there was no change: no signal to the screen and the fans only spin on then off when the 4-pin CPU power is disconnected.

I tried both ram chips in both sockets, together and individually - still no change. I also checked the board and cabling for possible issues, nothing apparent.

What do you reckon? Are there any other tests I can perform to find out where the problem lies? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

The other point that could be worth mentioning is that the PSU is fairly cheap - FSP Raider 450W Quiet PSU 80+ Bronze

The rest of the bits are:-
CPU - Intel i5 4670 3.4 GHz 84W
DRAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport 16Gb (2x8) 1600MHz
SSD - Samsung 840 EVO 120Gb SSD

Thanks!

 

[robby3000]

I guess it's better to get a micro ATX board rather than a mini ITX if the case fits
R

 

[Dineshsameera]

Most of the photographers use photoshop and its a very helpful tool. i am also a wedding photographer and always use photoshop to modify my photos..if you are getting any other problems you can discuss here.