Light gaming enthusiat digital photography workhorse

[etchouta]

Hi,

I am currenlty planning a new built and woud like some feedback/suggestions from the community. I like ot upgrade componenets every once in a while, so future compatibility is important.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next month or so

Budget Range: $1,500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photoshop CS5, video editing, mediaplayer/server, gaming (starcraft/diablo)

Parts Not Required:monitor (Dell U2711), mouse, keyboard, speakers, os, and I have another thread on GPU (not included in budget):
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/328837-33-quadro-firepro-light-gaming

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, ncix.com, tigerdirect

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences:Have my eye on the Asus P8Z68 Deluxe Gen 3 (not set in stone), would like a modular PSU and to stick to ATX (but might need to go full tower). SSD for system/programs drive.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 2560x1440 to 5120x1440

Additional Comments:I would like a quiet PC and something that stays cool since the case might be partly enclosed (desk design). I have sevral internal and external drives totalling >20TB, so no need for other data disks.

Thanks for your help

 

[morgoth780]

^+1(to striker14's post)

and the gtx 590 is just about the worst price/performance

 

[etchouta]

The Quadro (and FirePro) line is the only line that can output @10 bit per channel (30 bit) as opposed to 8 bit per channel (24 bit) colour depth, which is what I am after for image processing/photography (has to be used in combination with compatible monitors). If there was a GTX card that could output to 30 bit, I would never consider the Quadros and go straight for that...

 

[kajabla]

Do you think you'll be able to tell? lol
If you say so.
I don't know why I haven't thought of this, but why not just get a mobo with three stupid PCIe slots? You can put your 570s in the first two (yes, morgoth, the 590 is bad, as said above) and your little quadro in the last.

 

[morgoth780]

Do you think you'll be able to tell? lol
If you say so.
I don't know why I haven't thought of this, but why not just get a mobo with three stupid PCIe slots? You can put your 570s in the first two (yes, morgoth, the 590 is bad, as said above) and your little quadro in the last.

but would you want to put a quadro in an x4 slot? cause then OP would have to get a mobo that can do three slots @x8/x8/x8, which does get to be a bit more expensive

 

[kajabla]

Because the quadro wouldn't need more bandwidth than x4 to do light color processing. If it's only there to output 10-bit in non-GPU-dependent programs, x4 doesn't really matter.
On the x8x8x8 note, is there anything less expensive than the $270 Z68 FTW out there?

 

[etchouta]

Do you think you'll be able to tell? lol
If you say so.
I don't know why I haven't thought of this, but why not just get a mobo with three stupid PCIe slots? You can put your 570s in the first two (yes, morgoth, the 590 is bad, as said above) and your little quadro in the last.

Given the right monitors, yes, it is somewhat easy to tell the difference between 24 bit and 30 bit (especially when you get into the dark greys/blacks).

I guess boards with more slots could be an option and I guess the price difference would make up for the diference between a 590 and 2x570 (unless I am way out on that)? Would something like the Asus P8Z68 deluxe work (I like the BT on that board)?

 

[kajabla]

Well, the price difference, is the Z68 FTW is the only answer, would be $120 on the mobo, and you'd save $70 on the 570s vs 590, so $50.

 

[striker410]

Well, from doing a little reading, it looks like almost all cards from ATI 4800 on and Nvidia 200 series on have 30 bit processing, it's just disabled.
Example: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/hd-4850/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-4850-specifications.aspx
"Full 30-bit display processing"

And Anandtech says the Dell U2711's color accuracy is a bit off, anyway: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/7

 

[striker410]

Btw, GTX 590 and 570's have about equal performance:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/6 vs http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-review/18

or http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/11 vs http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-review/14 Seems pretty much the same.

 

[etchouta]

Well, from doing a little reading, it looks like almost all cards from ATI 4800 on and Nvidia 200 series on have 30 bit processing, it's just disabled.
Example: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/hd-4850/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-4850-specifications.aspx
"Full 30-bit display processing"

And Anandtech says the Dell U2711's color accuracy is a bit off, anyway: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/7

Yeah, the U2711 is what I can afford now, but will be moving to LaCie or Eizo down the line. The U2711 is not a true 30-bit anyway, since it is doing it through LUT.

Is it possible to enable the 30-bit of these cards? From what I read it seemed like the Quadro/FirePro were my only options...

 

[striker410]

Looks like you can softmod a 4870 into a V8700 pretty easily.. No guarantee's it'd work though.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3059501
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-207050.html