Photoshop PC

[Sturgie]

I am looking tobuild a decent PC for a friend of mine. She use photoshop a LOT, maniulating huge graphics files and printing to professional colour and B&W line printers. I am thinking lots of RAM, big, fast HDD and a decent graphics card. She wants to run a wide screen display. I am leaning towards AMD X2 because I have had great results wth my sli x2 rig. That is not cast in stone however. Money is not an issue as long as its not crazy.

I am after suggestions for a good mobo and chip for this application and what video I should look at.

Thanks.

 

[crazypyro]

CPU wise is choice dependent, she may want a C2D since most photoshop rendering is CPU heavy, not GPU.

4gb of RAM is best, 2gb at minimum
lots of HDD storage, newegg has 250gb SATA for $70.. 4 of them for 1TB of storage only $280+shipping
graphics wise a 7600GT will do justice at only around or under $150, while a 7900 series start around not too much more for loads more performance

my the setup in my sig i can do a 1gb image in just around a minute, but to be fair there not texture heavy images

 

[tool_462]

I would say something to the likes of:

2 ~ 4 gigs of DDR2 667 memory, can be generic if not overclocking.

Gigabyte DS3 mobo

E6600 cpu

If just using photshop a 7300GT will do just fine, or a x800gt/o or anything similar.

If she plans on using Vista, then go for the 4 gigs, or just get 4 gigs and "upgrade" to Vista later.

 

[qwertycopter]

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 - $125

Video: eVGA 7600GT 256MB - $110

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 - $181

RAM: G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 533Mhz SDRAM - $175

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB Sata 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache - $95

Okay, now a few notes. That graphics card is actually overkill, but at a good price point for performance. Vista has a hefty graphics requirement (onboard won't do), so there is some expansion room so you don't have to upgrade the graphics with Vista.

This build has plenty of room for future expansions/upgrades if necessary.

I suggested the 533Mhz RAM because it's a bit cheaper than 667Mhz. You won't notice the difference, so save some money. And although you still won't notice the difference, 667 RAM can sometimes perform worse on a Core 2 Duo setup because it is out of sync with the FSB. This board supports 800Mhz RAM.. but you don't need it and it's over-priced . The board will scale to 533Mhz.

Have you decided on a monitor?

 

[PhilFrisbie]

And consider dual monitors. I use Photoshop on dual monitors and it is great to be able to use all of one monitor to view the image and have your tools on the other monitor.

 

[crazypyro]

yes the monitor, How big of a widescreen is she thinking of running?

believe it or not the screen size and requirements may limit your video card choices. there no way i would use anything less than a 7600 on my Dell 24" widescreen.

 

[Sturgie]

Well, I had thought around a 19" wide screen. But I like th dual screen option also. So maybe it might be a good idea to have dual wide screens? Would the extra real-estate be worthwhile or is it overkill?

I am liking the suggestions so far. I will be buying it all from newegg. DO thay have a build service? I am happy to istall the os but I would like the PC pre-built.

 

[skyguy]

I mostly agree.

But go with the 6600 CPU, not the 6300. If he's not overclocking, then the 6600 will help alot.

As for storage, it depends on your specific needs. 2 Seagate 320 gig 7200.10 w/16 meg cache drives will work wonders and will be ALOT cheaper than 1 750 gig drive. So consider going that route. It's easy to add hard drives later.

Vid card: doens't matter how big the display is. Any decent vid card will support higher resolutions. But it's not 3D gaming, so a 7600GT will be PLENTY. The usage isn't the same as games, so neither is the need for a high end card. I run AutoCAD, Photoshop, and 3D games across 2 monitors, and used to have a 7600GT. It was FINE, more than enough.
A 7600GT wouldn't be adviseable for a large screen and GAMES, but it's fine for Photoshop, video editing, etc. Don't mix up the 2 uses, they're completely different requirements. A big screen = high end vid card for games.

 

[crazypyro]

Well, I had thought around a 19" wide screen. But I like th dual screen option also. So maybe it might be a good idea to have dual wide screens? Would the extra real-estate be worthwhile or is it overkill?

I am liking the suggestions so far. I will be buying it all from newegg. DO thay have a build service? I am happy to istall the os but I would like the PC pre-built.

then 19"-21" is about the screen size you will want, and i would assume you want to get a Dual DVI video card, and get DVI input on the monitors, especially for the sake of color reproduction.

Also there are some exspensive but color reproduction oriented monitors designed for things like photoshop too... so its really gonna come down to budget as well

 

[qwertycopter]

But go with the 6600 CPU, not the 6300. If he's not overclocking, then the 6600 will help alot.

While the E6600 will give a bit better performance, that shouldn't belittle the power of the E6300. It is an amazing chip and will perform like a champion in this rig. The fact of the matter is the performance gain of the E6600 comes with a $130 premium. THG reports that it can shave 10-15 seconds off of some rather intensive photoshop operations (like simultaneously rendering effects on multiple 10+ MB images). The E6600 is great, but not quite at the desirable price point. E6300, hands down, best bang for the buck. E6400 and E6600 better recommended for extreme systems and/or heavy overclocking (or if you have endless piles of cash or no aversion to the evil debt monkey :twisted: )

 

[skyguy]

I agree, I have a 6300 OC'd by 62% and it will beat a stock 6600 no problem. But your point is well taken, the cost premium is the determining factor. The 6300 is a FAST chip to begin with, it absolutely smokes a similarly-priced AMD chip. So if he can blow the extra $$$, go with the 6600. But if not, the 6300 is a VERY respectable CPU, even if it's not overclocked.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Well, I had thought around a 19" wide screen. But I like th dual screen option also. So maybe it might be a good idea to have dual wide screens? Would the extra real-estate be worthwhile or is it overkill?

I am running dual standard 19" monitors, and that gives me a 1280x2048 desktop which works great for Photoshop, website creation, and some video editing. I am not sure the price difference would justify getting two wide screens. That is your call....