Photo editing build: suggestions and questions

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
P

Photodude60

Commendable
Jul 17, 2016
5
0
1,510
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FP2D2R

Friends,
First time poster here. I am a semi-pro photographer who uses both LR and Photoshop for editing. I plan to get into some vid editing as well. My 6 year old Dell box has given up the ghost. I reviewed a variety of builds and came up with a configuration, Sorry about the link. I do not know how one gets the build inventory in that list view.
Would appreciate any feedback on component choice.
One thing that I am not sure about is the hard drive configuration. My plan is to have the 250gb SSD for the OS, Photoshop and Lightroom, only. Then use the 3T internal for image storage. And then design some sort of external RAID system for redundancy. Any suggestions in that regard would be appreciated as well. I have been using single external (MyBook and Seagate) but have diminishing confidence in them with multiple MyBook failures.
Much obliged.
PD60
 
Solution
P
Overall the build looks really nice. I honestly wouldn't buy an overclockable processor as it's not worth the extra heat, power, and money. Wait until the GTX 1060 launches in a few days, I'd recommend getting that instead of a 960. If it's out of the price range, try an RX 480. This is my recommended build for you.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/njcKBP

As a fellow video editor, I have an Other World Computing External Array, but those are in excess of $500.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Overall the build looks really nice. I honestly wouldn't buy an overclockable processor as it's not worth the extra heat, power, and money. Wait until the GTX 1060 launches in a few days, I'd recommend getting that instead of a 960. If it's out of the price range, try an RX 480. This is my recommended build for you.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/njcKBP

As a fellow video editor, I have an Other World Computing External Array, but those are in excess of $500.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
In pcpartpicker.com you simply hit the bb button and cut and paste from there:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($345.88 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($150.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($124.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($92.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($239.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM 64-bit ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($18.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1447.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-17 19:08 EDT-0400

I have a few reservations about the build especially if you are heading into video editing. These things always start small and then suddenly you are looking at a promise made to do one day editing. We should all be so lucky. Water is nice but all air ever needs is a replacement fan. In your case I'd like to see a lot of headroom for expansion, RAM, GPU and CPU. Depending on what you are going to be using or on which direction you find yourself heading I think that is a good idea. I second the suggestion to wait a few days and get the GTX 1060. So, for almost the same money here is a heavier duty option that you can upgrade all the way to a Xeon many core.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($222.90 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung SM951 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($184.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($271.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1492.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-17 19:29 EDT-0400

The Fractal case comes with three fans, that's two in the front and one to the rear for that 90% cooling flow with no extra cost. The hybrid drive stands in until you can replace the storage with another solid state giving you a slight edge on moving files in and out. 6 cores should stand you in good stead for batch editing of photos and video operations. You might as well have a substantial increase that allows you to feel a major difference and still leaves the door open for adding in half a dozen drives and powering them as well as your graphics card without stressing the PSU which means you can get more mileage out of it.
The Samsung M.2 drive is going to wow you and it can be used for a working file area at the speed it moves at.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Why the GTX 970? It's the same price as an RX 480, and the 480 brings more frame buffer and OpenCL to the table for rendering. Also, unless you're going into 4k video editing, the 5820k makes no sense whatsoever. If the OP plans to use Vegas, OpenCL has a MASSIVE presence in speed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Gents, many thanks for your kind input. Frapport, I will spend some time studying your build recommendation, and thanks for posting mine. I read about processors and the suggestion that a quad was a better option than a 6 core for photo editing - that the faster four was more suitable than more. Is it the vid part that makes you recommend it?
May I ask what you would recommend for external, redundant storage. Losing my work to the vagaries of electrons is what makes me lose sleep.
Obliged.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
As for his build, I believe he recommended the 5820k for video. As someone who's edited both on a 6700k and a 5820k, I can wholeheartedly tell you that unless you go into EXTREME video editing, the 5820k won't return a difference worth its price, at least in my experience. Although you may want to upgrade to it depending on whatever you might want for the future. I swapped over to the 6700k for my new system and I love it for video and photo editing in Vegas Pro and PS. As for external storage, something along the lines of this enclosure will do https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YFHEAC/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B007B61GVI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=7B4NPXXBXSVGCWNHFXD3 as long as you set it to a safe RAID.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom