Help me with building basic photo editing system

[zainalu]

Hi folks!

I am on a very limited budget. I am planning to build a very basic photo editing system and have shortlisted the following components and in the process of choosing more. Please help me to select and shortlist the components keeping in mind the overall balance and reliability.

CPU:- Intel i3 4150 (Already selected)

Motherboard: - Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX
Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX
Asus H97 Plus -
Asus H97 Pro -
Asus H97M Plus Micro ATX -

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

HDD - WD Black - 500 GB and 1 TB (I think WD will be a good choice). By the way, is there any difference between WD Black and Black series?

PSU - My first choice was Seasonic 520W S12II-520. But then I came to know that it doesn't support Haswell processor. Then, I made my mind for Seasonic G series (either 450w or 550w). And now I have heard that there is a new edition of S12II-520 which supports Haswell but is categorized on the tomshardware PSU tier list and I wish to go for either tier 1 or tier two psu and that too from Seasonic. How many watts do I need?

Cabinet- I am decided about any case. Any good case with proper ventilation will do. Cooler Master, Antec, Corsair are readily available and in some places NZXT is availability but it is a rare breed here. I dont wish to spend too much on cabinet. Anything for budget around the following models.
Corsair 200R
Antec GX700
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Red LED
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC 02 Red LED
NZXT Beta Evo
Antec V1
Cooler Master CMP 250
Cooler Master Elite 311
Cooler Master N300
Cooler Master N400
Cooler Master Force 500
Cooler Master K series k281

Please suggest.

DVD Writer - After researching, I came to know that ASUS DRW-24B1ST. But this particular model is unavailable in India as of now and I think it has been discontinued. New models namely Asus
DRW-24D3ST and Asus DRW-24B3ST are available instead. Which one to buy?

UPS - A good one from APC for around 15-20 minutes backup.

I am not planning to buy a graphics card now but may add a basic one later.

Thanks a lot guys for reading and I hope all my questions will be answered.

 

[cdabc123]

why ar you going for that cpu it is a good gamer but pretty under powered for multi threaded applications.

 

[zainalu]

I would not be doing heavy editing, just occasional touch ups. By the way, what would you suggest then? I cant stretch my budget to i7.

 

[cdabc123]

a used xeon x5677 would kill and you might get it for cheaper.

 

[bambiboom]

Hi folks!

I am planning to build a very basic photo editing system and have shortlisted the following components and in the process of choosing more. Please help me to select and shortlist the components keeping in mind the overall balance and reliability.

CPU:- Intel i3 4150 (Already selected)

Motherboard: - Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX
Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX
Asus H97 Plus -
Asus H97 Pro -
Asus H97M Plus Micro ATX -

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

HDD - WD Black - 500 GB and 1 TB (I think WD will be a good choice). By the way, is there any difference between WD Black and Black series?

PSU - My first choice was Seasonic 520W S12II-520. But then I came to know that it doesn't support Haswell processor. Then, I made my mind for Seasonic G series (either 450w or 550w). And now I have heard that there is a new edition of S12II-520 which supports Haswell but is categorized on the tomshardware PSU tier list and I wish to go for either tier 1 or tier two psu and that too from Seasonic. How many watts do I need?

Case - I am decided about any case. Any good case with proper ventilation will do. Cooler Master, Antec, Corsair are readily available and in some places NZXT is availability but it is a rare breed here. I dont wish to spend too much on cabinet. Please suggest.

DVD Writer - After researching, I came to know that ASUS DRW-24B1ST. But this particular model is unavailable in India as of now and I think it has been discontinued. New models namely Asus
DRW-24D3ST and Asus DRW-24B3ST are available instead. Which one to buy?

UPS - A good one from APC for around 15-20 minutes backup.

I am not planning to buy a graphics card now but may add a basic one later.

Thanks a lot guys for reading and I hope all my questions will be answered.

zainalu,

Yes, the proposed system should be quite good.

Integrated Graphics: The Intel 4400 integrated graphics is excellent in 2D. In Passmark Performance Test, the top 2D score is 951 on an ASUS H97I-Plus motherboard. To put that into perspective, the 2D performance of a GTX 780 - an expensive high end GPU- with the same CPU and on an ASUS H97 Pro was 858. The 3D ranges from 529 to 606- surprisingly good. My brother's architectural firm did 3D models and renderings using ArchiCad 14 using a Quadro FX 550 (Dell Precision 390) powering two Dell 19" monitors and on Passmark it scored on 338 in 2D and only 75 in 3D.

Motherboard: As for the motherboard, of the 552 systems on Passmark using the i3-4150, the top six CPU scores are:

5608 > Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5
5335 > MSI H81M-P33
5275 > MSI B85-G43
5262 > Gigabyte B85M-D3H
5246 > ASRock Z97 Pro 4
5245 > ASUS H81M-K

In your list of motherboards, the best CPU performance is using the ASUS H97-Plus (5336). The Gigabyte H97-D3H scored 5112.

HDD: The WD Black is their performance series and they have a 5-year warranty. I have a 1TB WD Black and over two years it's been very fast and reliable. If the budget is restrictive, you can have very good results with a WD Blue and I think for the price of a WD Black 500GB, you could have a 1TB Blue.

PSU: Yes, Seasonic would be my choice as well. You would have no problems with the 450W, as the i3-4150 is only 54W. It's possible you'll have a GPU in the future and if a 500W is not quite a lot more expensive, I would say that's a safe choice. I have a workstation with a 130W 6-core CPU and is rated to support two 150W GPU's and it has a 600W power supply.

Case: Cases are a personal preference and you might try and see the my in person. I like them too big, very boring looking, and very quiet. As you suggest, the air flow is important, and if the case is a bit larger, it's easier to assemble. How about:

NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black “Aluminum Brush / Plastic” ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075&ignorebbr=1

Corsair Carbide Series 100R Silent Edition CC-9011077-WW Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX (not included) Power Supply (note the word "Silent")
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%20600006302%208000&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=Corsair&hisInDesc=Corsair%2C%20Corsair&page=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

Antec NSK4100 Black SGCC steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129197&ignorebbr=1

Yes, dull-looking and not the least expensive, but roomy, non-distracting, and quiet as they do not have fans mounted on the front panel just on the inside- which can be noisy.

DVD-Writer: I have never had a DVD drive fail, and for me it's the speed specification, features, and how prominent the label is on the front- I don't like to have any bold lettering. ASUS should be very good and in your list, I'd guess that the DRW-24D3ST having a "D" is newer than the DRW-24B3S with a "B".

Yes, a UPS is very useful. I use isolation transformer power conditioners to regulate the current, filter RF, and surge protection, but they of course do not protect against power outages. I was given two UPS, but unfortunately my two systems are 600W and 875W and the UPS are not sufficient. So, I I turn off the computers when there is thunder and read a book!

cdabc12 mentioned a used Xeon from the X5600 series and that is a good idea. If you can find a Dell Precision T3500 with a W5690 that's 6-cores @ 3.47 /3.73GHz, the system can use 24GB of DDR3-1333 ECC, and built like a server- very reliable. They're not inexpensive in the US:

Dell Precision T3500 Xeon W3690 3.46GHz 12GB RAM Quadro 4000 No HDD > Sold for $395 (=26236 rupees)

> and besides the fast 6-core CPU- which cost $1,650 new- there is 12Gb of RAM, a Quadro 4000 (2GB), a very good workstation GPU ( and $750 new). Add a WD Blue 1TB or WD Black and that system would be ready to go. that would saves days of researching, ordering, assembly, and etc. You can also buy one with a lower specification CPU and change it later.



Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15