Photoshop PC build

[lube]

I am looking to build a PC that will be primarily used for photo editing. Mostly just photoshop and lightroom as well as recreational use. No gaming. My budget is $500, although I have some components I think i can re-use. Willing to overclock but not necessary.

Radeon HD-4850 (is this even reuseable?)
Ultra 550W PSU
SanDisk 128gb SSD
Various HDDs

 

[Marcopolo123]

i5-4430 and b85/h87 motherboard should be plenty.

your gpu can be reused
your psu should be fine...

so only get a new cpu and motherboard

 

[lube]

What about ram?

 

[Marcopolo123]

What about ram?

2x4 gb 1600mhz cl9

 

[ronintexas]

What are the resolutions of the pictures you are using - and version of Photoshop? 8GB RAM is good enough for simple photo editing (<10MP), 16GB with CS4 or higher will give you the ability to edit large files.

If you are not doing 3D Rendering on large files (I rarely use this) often, and you don't do a lot of advanced filtering (the more complex the filter, the longer it will take to render), you can actually use the onboard graphics with a core i-5/i-7.

Last - do you have a case to house the computer?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/obmY - $505.17 - and a good build.

I would test the performance of the onboard graphics vs. your GPU - they may be close.

 

[lube]

I use 18MP raw files which are about 24MB a piece. I don't do any 3D rendering. I use CS5 and 6 (some of my plugins dont work on CS6)

I have a case, but I would like to get a new one that has easy access to components.

 

[Marcopolo123]

i5-4430 or xeon 1230 v3 if you dont overclock.

 

[ronintexas]

I would go with the combo I listed above, it has case factored in. Try it with the onboard graphics and GPU to see which works better. Using the onboard graphics doesn't bottleneck my rig unless I am doing some big fancy filters or 3D renderings. Rarely do I see more than 25% CPU utilization.

 

[Marcopolo123]

why not haswell

 

[ronintexas]

You could spend the extra for it - I was just trying to get it in the price range. There may be a sale or two out there I don't know about....

 

[lube]

What is the advantage of the haswell chip vs ivy bridge. I plan to overclock.