Kindly advise on build for CS 5 + Vegas 9

[alexpdx]

Greetings from a noob builder, hope you guys can look into my first one primarily aimed at Photoshop CS5 and Vegas 9. Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: would like to order by Monday, May 10
BUDGET RANGE: US$ 1,100 (need only: case, CPU + cooler, MB, PSU, RAM, GPU)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop CS5, Sony Vegas 9, FSX flight sim (no other gaming)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, OS, HDDs, keyboard, mouse, spk

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, microcenter
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: whatever works

PARTS PREFERENCES: Major, solid brands

OVERCLOCKING: probably, but nothing extreme (fwiw I've never OC'd before!)
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: not planned but would like the ability if needed

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 on a Dell 24"


Currently pre-selected components:

CASE: Coolermaster HAF 932 ATX full tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Newegg $139.99
* I prefer full ATX simply due to space. Prefer tool-free, will initially be mounting 4 HDD + 2 DVD

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Cert. Active PFC Comp. I7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
Newegg $109.99
* 750W overkill for below?
* Is this unit ok to be mounted on bottom of selected case and will I have problems with cable lengths in full ATX?
* I take it the PSU would have to be mounted upside down? Any potential problems? (aside from being clumsy with screws)

CPU: I7-930 2.8GHz LGA 1366
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303
Microcenter $199.99
* Is microcenter reputable? First time I heard of them was through here and am surprised to see the
I7-930 priced $100 (!) less than newegg. Usually if prices are too good to be true, they are.

COOLING: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Newegg $29.99

MB: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614
Newegg $299.99
* Any problems I may encounter with above case?
* Will I need any extra cables if I plan on 4 HDD + 2 DVD (all SATA)

MEMORY: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit
Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224
Newegg: $229.99
* 6GB to begin with, may upgrade to 12GB somewhere down the road

GPU: PNY GeForce 9800 GT EE 1024MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0320617
microcenter $99.99
* Main uses: photoshop CS5, vegas 9 (HD from Canon 5DmkII), and Microsoft FSX (the only game I play on the PC)
* From what I gather Photoshop is more CPU+RAM dependent, not GPU. However, Adobe seems to prefer Nvidia and
the above features CUDA. B+H seems to be using this card in their "turnkey" CS4 builds.
* I can't find any good info on GPU requirements for Vegas 9 from Sony
* Don't know how well the card would perform for a game like FSX.


Total cost: ~$1,100

Totally lost on finding suitable GPU and open to suggestions (on everything). I've done quite a bit of research and the only thing currently spinning at 7200 is my head. Hope to reduce costs perhaps by downsizing PSU or different RAM or MB provided any loss in performance is negligible.

I will be running Win7 Pro 64 (have seperate budget for OS + software upgrades) and would like to put something together which will serve me well for the next few years and with room to grow and keep up in terms of features, ie SATA III, USB 3.0, possible SLI or Xfire, CPU upgrade, etc.

To compare... my current PC:
Dell XPS, Core2 Quad 2.4Ghz running WinXP Home 32bit SP3, 4GB RAM, GeForce 8300 GS.


Thanks a bunch !!

 

[builderbobftw]

^ Well that is the advantage of the X58 mobos...you get full x16 bandwidth at 2 slots...So take for instance you populate 1 graphics card and some other card at the 2nd slot, both would get full x16 bandwidth...
and if you populate 3 cards, then the bandwidth allocation would be - x16x8x8 and the gigabyte board even splits the primary slot's bandwidth i.e., on paper, if 4 cards are populated then the slots would run @ x8x8x8x8 bandwidth...

Yep.

My X48 does the same.

Kinda scary how a X48 with DDR2 and a Last gen Core 2 Quad and a 4870 Trfire rapes my freinds's i7-930/ 5870...

 

[alexpdx]

What's up with Newegg these days. Ordered Sunday afternoon with rush processing and UPS 3day Select. Card was charged Monday. It's now Wednesday and the bloody thing still hasn't shipped.

 

[Alvin Smith]

What's up with Newegg these days. Ordered Sunday afternoon with rush processing and UPS 3day Select. Card was charged Monday. It's now Wednesday and the bloody thing still hasn't shipped.

Why would you be asking us ???

Newegg has a very detailed and comprehensive automated order and shipping and RMA tracking engine ...

... You should be able (through your acct) to see exactly where your order is "hung" ...

... They also issue emails, all along the way. ...

... The only thing they don't provide is the exact GPS location of your order ... right now.

 

[alexpdx]

Why would you be asking us ???

I was just curious about people's shipping experiences with them lately, not my order specifically.

I've ordered from them a few dozen times in the past and have never seen such delays. There were no delays in charging my card and especially with their "rush processing" option two full business days (so far) is rather poor.

 

[Shadow703793]

Don't know about you, but I ordered some GSkill Ripjaws for a build and I got them in 4 days (used Free Shipping option, IIRC it was DHL aka USPS)
Do note: Newegg dose not precess orders on the week end at all.

 

[builderbobftw]

I've heard of people Ordering 1 afternoon, and gettign it the next morning.

 

[alexpdx]

Yeah, I know they don't process on weekends - that's all good. Yet ordering on a Sunday still puts me a little ahead of the queue, as opposed to a thousand other people ordering before me on Monday morning, no? Anyway, over 2 business days just doesn't cut it, not with "rush processing". I would expect no later than 2 business days for any respectable retailer as a standard. "Rush processing" to me is more like same day shipping - provided the order is placed sufficiently early that day.

Not that I'm impatient, I just have to plan around this thing a bit due to work and all.

End of rant

 

[Tangel]

Just one passing thought about the GPU that I didn't see mentioned in regards to CS5 -
Premiere Pro CS5 has a new feature - the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine – built specifically using the NVIDIA CUDA parallel processing architecture.

I've seen this at work and was literally open-jawed impressed at the difference between CS4 and CS5 dealing with the same high res footage.

 

[builderbobftw]

I think theres some way to enable ATI cards to it also.

 

[builderbobftw]

Also, Alvin, It would be realy cool if a camerea was mounted on the thing you boguht, so you could see it and its surroundings as it journeys to you.

 

[Alvin Smith]

Also, Alvin, It would be realy cool if a camerea was mounted on the thing you boguht, so you could see it and its surroundings as it journeys to you.

Yeah ... and something like Skype or Cisco Telepresence, so you can yell ,

... " Hey!, Man!?, take it easy with that box!!! I paid $300 for that GPU !! "

... Or sumpin' like that.

= Alvin =

 

[alexpdx]

Also, Alvin, It would be realy cool if a camerea was mounted on the thing you boguht, so you could see it and its surroundings as it journeys to you.

I'd be kinda surprised if nobody's actually done that before. Just a box with a dinky camera to record the journey. I'd also include an accelerometer to record the Gs the package is subjected to as it's being thrown around.

 

[alexpdx]

Thought I'd provide a little update after all the great help on here.

Everything arrived intact late afternoon Monday, unboxing was like Christmas albeit a little overwhelming to be honest. This from a noob-builder perspective. Yet I'm happy to report no issues and she's alive and well

Now running Win7 pro 64 with pretty much everything installed - CS5, Vegas 7, Office 97, etc. It's funny running Windows 7 in its default "pretty-mode" with all the bells and whistles, a heavy background and a couple of added widgets - yet it still knocks the pants off my old xp system running naked and after a fresh install. Haven't touched OC yet either. I like.

I was delighted to see even my Canon's video files natively show up as thumbnails in explorer. The HD clips play right off the bat too without installing Quicktime, all smooth as butter. Looking forward to editing in Vegas later this week and comparing performance there.

Happy camper here, thanks again to everyone for their help.

 

[gkay09]

^ Very nice to hear that you have got the PC built and it is up and running...
Good Luck

 

[Alvin Smith]

Oh, please *DO* stay in touch !

We really NEED your performance reports (with CS5, especially).

I know it may be a good while before you get into the Adobe stuff and get into the swing of all that but, still, ... whenever that happens ... even 4-6 months ... a fairly detailed report would be useful.

... Take notes on anything you DO NOT like, as well ... just as important .. moreso!

= VERY GLAD ! =

 

[Alvin Smith]

Just one passing thought about the GPU that I didn't see mentioned in regards to CS5 -
Premiere Pro CS5 has a new feature - the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine – built specifically using the NVIDIA CUDA parallel processing architecture.

I've seen this at work and was literally open-jawed impressed at the difference between CS4 and CS5 dealing with the same high res footage.

Kind of brushed over this ... the first time you posted ... a VERY important factoid ... VERY ...


****** EVERYBODY PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE ***********



= Al =

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Yup. Mercury works well for the little time I have spend with Premiere so far.I thought I posted about it in this tread, but apparently not.....
LOL, I posted it here tho: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285290-31-1000-1500-lightroom-photoshop-photographer-build

 

[Alvin Smith]

^ Yup. Mercury works well for the little time I have spend with Premiere so far.I thought I posted about it in this tread, but apparently not.....
LOL, I posted it here tho: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285290-31-1000-1500-lightroom-photoshop-photographer-build

Yeah ... sorry I missed out on THAT little love fest ... Soulda been a flame war, IMO.

... NO mention of OpenGL3.x support

*SELECT* 9800s (9800GT-EE OGL3.1)

*SELECT* 240GS (OGL3.2) and PNY 250 (OGL 3.1)

*ALL* GT220s (3.2 ... even passive cooling options)

And ... FERMI, of course. (I want 2x440s)

= Al =

 

[Shadow703793]

^ lol, it slipped my mind.