Photoshop build - 700$

[hayneken]

Hello, I'm looking for a good PC build up to 700$. It's gonna be used mainly to edit photos (size- 25MB+ each) in Photoshop with multiple plugins. I can get Radoen R9 390 Nitro from a friend for 235$ but I'm not sure if this expensive card is a good idea for this budget.
There is an example build that I came with:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Ph8jvV
I've read that Photoshop works better with multiple cores CPU thats why I chose AMD 8 cores CPU.

 

[Herc08]

Here's the thing about AMD FX series, it's core-to performance ratio isn't that great. Before Ryzen, they branded themselves on "more cores" and people went for it. The i7 has 4 cores, but it also offers hyperthreading as well, for logical cores. The performance on the cores outweighs that than AMD, which is why it is a bit expensive. If Photoshop is your main concern, you may want to consider an i5. You also want to consider 16GB of RAM. The more layers you add, the more that has to stay inside of RAM. If video editing is going to be used as well, an i7 is better. IS that R9 part of your $700 budget?

 

[Herc08]

So I know this is WAAAY over priced, but it is a beast of a machine. Also, not sure if you already have a case or not. You should subtract 235 from both total prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.46 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card (Purchased For $235.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $939.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:05 EST-0500

Here is a cheaper version, with teh 6600K. It will still allow you to edit photos and such, but video editing may be a bit slower, but still better than the AMD you picked,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.46 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card (Purchased For $235.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $840.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:03 EST-0500

 

[hayneken]

Here's the thing about AMD FX series, it's core-to performance ratio isn't that great. Before Ryzen, they branded themselves on "more cores" and people went for it. The i7 has 4 cores, but it also offers hyperthreading as well, for logical cores. The performance on the cores outweighs that than AMD, which is why it is a bit expensive. If Photoshop is your main concern, you may want to consider an i5. You also want to consider 16GB of RAM. The more layers you add, the more that has to stay inside of RAM. If video editing is going to be used as well, an i7 is better. IS that R9 part of your $700 budget?

So I know this is WAAAY over priced, but it is a beast of a machine. Also, not sure if you already have a case or not. You should subtract 235 from both total prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.46 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card (Purchased For $235.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $939.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:05 EST-0500

Here is a cheaper version, with teh 6600K. It will still allow you to edit photos and such, but video editing may be a bit slower, but still better than the AMD you picked,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.46 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card (Purchased For $235.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $840.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:03 EST-0500

Unfortunatelly, r9 390 IS part of a budget and build that I've made already exceeded 700$ which is all that I can spend. If i5 is the only way to go Ill probably have to change gpu to something cheaper.

 

[Herc08]

I'm not saying that the i5 is NEEDED, just something I would recommend. It's more efficient than the AMD you seelcted. Some may say "Wait for Zen to arrive," but we don't know price, performance, or anything that will really help us. You can use the AMD, but you may run into some issues. If that build is important to you, I can make some minor adjustments. Also, do you have a case?

 

[Herc08]

Here is a modified version. I lowered the CPU, but still should be powerful enough for Photoshop. I lowered the motherboard, but your upgrade path is only to an i7-6700, which isn't bad, just cannot overclock. If $13 is too much, removing the SSD and getting it at a later time will work as well. In fact, that's what I did. That 1TB drive is not bad. You still have a powerful CPU, 16GB of ram, and a nice power supply that can run that r9 GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.46 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card (Purchased For $235.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $713.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:18 EST-0500

 

[ScrewySqrl]

here is a $700 build using a Xeon E3 1230 v5. Its the same as the i7-6700.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS80F CPU Cooler ($9.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X150M-PLUS WS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($61.69 @ Amazon)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: AMD Radeon R3 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series: DT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $690.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-28 10:45 EST-0500