- Sep 9, 2013
- 5
- 0
- 10,510
Hi,
I've had many computers in the past and have added a card here and there, but this is my first from scratch build. My goal is to create a reasonably priced but upgradable unit for use with Photoshop and Lightroom. For the short term I don't need overclocking and you'll note that I did not specify a GPU. I wanted to keep it under $850 and as you can see I almost succeeded.
The components are already in hand and I will start my assembly this week if not today (honey do's stand in the way). Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.
Here's my build and my justification for each component.
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf/benchmarks/
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $219.99). This was a cost compromise but compared to my current 32bit Core 2 Quad Q6600 this thing ought to sing.
Motherboard: Asus Z77-A ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (Purchased For $114.99). This board had good reviews from the knowledgeable expert community (I discount whiners who bend pins and blame the board). And offered good bang for the buck. I am concerned about the paucity of USB 3.0 ports.
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (Purchased For $99.99). Again a cost measure. The best I could achieve for the board would be DDR3-1600 which is not much of an increase if you ask me.
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (Purchased For $99.99). This unit was highly rated and received a number of awards. I will only be putting OS components and caching space for Lightroom and Photoshop on this drive.
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $99.99). I'll probably RAID this with an identical model in the near future.
Case: Corsair C70 Arctic White (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $99.99). What can I say I thought it looked cool, I'm tire of black and just too much of a pacifist for military green.
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (Purchased For $80.98). The addition of a GPU will push this near the limit so this component my be upgraded. I like the modular build which gives me more options for cabling.
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $19.99). Gotta have it. Didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. A Blu-Ray is probably in the offing.
Other: VANTEC HDA-525P 3.5" to 5.25" Front Bay Converter Kit (Purchased For $7.99)
Other: Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB Port / Extra Silver Face Plate (Purchased For $14.99). This is an essential component for a photographers build.
OS -- Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (had a spare laying around).
Total: $858.89
Again, comments and constructive criticism are welcome.
Thanks,
Rick "RickTheBugMan" Hurst
I've had many computers in the past and have added a card here and there, but this is my first from scratch build. My goal is to create a reasonably priced but upgradable unit for use with Photoshop and Lightroom. For the short term I don't need overclocking and you'll note that I did not specify a GPU. I wanted to keep it under $850 and as you can see I almost succeeded.
The components are already in hand and I will start my assembly this week if not today (honey do's stand in the way). Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.
Here's my build and my justification for each component.
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1BNRf/benchmarks/
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $219.99). This was a cost compromise but compared to my current 32bit Core 2 Quad Q6600 this thing ought to sing.
Motherboard: Asus Z77-A ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (Purchased For $114.99). This board had good reviews from the knowledgeable expert community (I discount whiners who bend pins and blame the board). And offered good bang for the buck. I am concerned about the paucity of USB 3.0 ports.
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (Purchased For $99.99). Again a cost measure. The best I could achieve for the board would be DDR3-1600 which is not much of an increase if you ask me.
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (Purchased For $99.99). This unit was highly rated and received a number of awards. I will only be putting OS components and caching space for Lightroom and Photoshop on this drive.
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $99.99). I'll probably RAID this with an identical model in the near future.
Case: Corsair C70 Arctic White (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $99.99). What can I say I thought it looked cool, I'm tire of black and just too much of a pacifist for military green.
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (Purchased For $80.98). The addition of a GPU will push this near the limit so this component my be upgraded. I like the modular build which gives me more options for cabling.
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $19.99). Gotta have it. Didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. A Blu-Ray is probably in the offing.
Other: VANTEC HDA-525P 3.5" to 5.25" Front Bay Converter Kit (Purchased For $7.99)
Other: Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB Port / Extra Silver Face Plate (Purchased For $14.99). This is an essential component for a photographers build.
OS -- Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (had a spare laying around).
Total: $858.89
Again, comments and constructive criticism are welcome.
Thanks,
Rick "RickTheBugMan" Hurst
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