Displayport - worth it or not?

[Meekyman]

Hi Folks,

I am planning a new PC for photo editing, not a gamer. I use Nikon Capture nx2, photoshop elements but not full photoshop. I am planning on buying a eizo monitor that incidental to the reasons I want it, is a 10 bit display. To utilise this 10 bit display, it needs displayport connectivity. So I could get a GPU with displayport (e.g Geforce 650Ti or Radeon H7770) and the appropriate motherboard to support it. However, none of the editing software I use supports 10 bit (only full photoshop CS6 does and that is costly and OTT). The monitor vendor said that without displayport, it would be a real 8 bit monitor.

The cost of GPU/motherboard supporting displayport is considerably more than that without.

So, the killer question is that at the moment I will not be utilising 10 bit display but in the future is there likely to be more support in editing software at the lower level that I use that does support it and is it really worth it?

Can you always upgrade the motherboard/gpu later?

Cheers

Graham

 

[geofelt]

It is easier to upgrade a graphics card than a motherboard.
Every current motherboard has the ability to attach a discrete graphics card.
You could use integrated graphics initially, and add a discrete graphics card later with displayport capability. If your monitor has greater than 1920 x 1200 capability, you will want to use a socket 1150 haswell motherboard.

 

[Neospiral]

Well the good news is that most modern graphics cards have DP out. If you're building a new rig now and getting that 10 bit capable monitor, you wouldn't have to spend an egregious amount of extra money to get those things. Almost every motherboard out there supports PCIe, which is the standard graphics card interface right now.

If you're planning on going with onboard graphics, as geofelt said, make sure you go Haswell since they run with Intel HD 4600, which is a pretty powerful GPU for a built-in. What you need to look for is a motherboard that has native DP output as part of its IO panel.

 

[geofelt]

Here is one example of a socket 1150 motherboard with integrated displayport out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131991

 

[Meekyman]

Thanks folks!

The set up I was looking at uses an Asus B85M-G motherboard and looking up the specs seems to support displayport:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/B85MG/

The spec for the PC at £799 including periperals, from which I will remove the monitor, is:

Cooler Master CM Force 500 Case
Intel Core i5 4570 "Haswell" Processor 3.2GHz
Asus B85M-G Motherboard
16GB PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast GeForce GTX 650Ti 1GB Graphics Card
120GB Samsung 840 series SSD
1000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk
Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drives
Chillblast 600watt CIT PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 8 64bit OR Windows 7 HP 64 bit
802.11N Wireless USB Adaptor

Looking at this I believe that the GPU included has display capability anyway, so I'd be happy from the word go!

If I upped the CPU to the Haswell i5 4670 at 3.4 GHz, would I see a nticable difference? Would I need better cooling or more power (e.g Corsair ultra low noise 600w or CX 750W brone certified) to allow for future expansion?

Silly question, but how do I get those displayports connected to the monitor - I guess the case has to have a specific port as well?

Cheers

Graham

 

[geofelt]

Looks good .

I doubt that you would notice any performance difference between 3.2 and 3.4.

The stock cooler will perform well. Under load, the small fan will spin up and become noisy.
I might suggest an inexpensive tower type cooler like a cm hyper212 that has a slow turning 120mm fan.

Chillbast is a brand that I am unfamiliar with. I would not worry too much for the graphics card since it will be a NVidia card with chillblast stickers or, perhaps an unnecessary added cooler.
But, on the psu, I would favor a top quality product like Seasonic.
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx