Small photo-editing beast

[twp]

I am a hobbyist photographer. I built a huge gaming machine for my first build, which was fun and has performed well. But as my photography has gotten a bit more complex and I'm looking to do more with Lightroom and potentially Photoshop, I'm considering building a new machine.

Here is my first build: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/376670-31-first-build-gaming-1500-budget

I'm planning on keeping the monitors for this build (I only ended up buying two) and could salvage some of the parts as well, but probably prefer to keep it intact and give it to my wife (at least in working condition -- could backfill with cheaper parts or steal non-essentials or whatever).

I was thinking that I would like to do a small build this time since I did a huge form factor last time. So, any thoughts to help me get started on the smallest possible photo editing beast would be terrific. Budget is still in the same 1500-2000 range probably but happy to spend less if there's not much benefit in spending more.

A case like this is what I had in mind, but let me know if it doesnt make sense: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6635/thermaltake-core-v1-mini-itx-sff-chassis-review/index.html
or http://pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-sg05bb450

Edit: Could also just upgrade my current rig if that makes much more sense. (Although where's the fun in that?)

 

[kanewolf]

Those look like nice monitors. If you don't already have it, budget for calibration hardware in your purchase.

RAM, I would get at least 16GB and dedicate some (4GB) of it to a RAM disk. That would be your scratch disk for temporary files.

How much USABLE disk space do you want? Do you need to double that so that you have backups? I would try to avoid RAID unless your space needs are greater than available single disks.

Do the effects you use a lot have GPU acceleration? If so then you probably need an NVIDIA graphics card.

Lightroom would probably benefit from the higher bandwidth and larger cache in the X99/ i7-59xx motherboard/CPU combo. You might not be able to use 6 cores, but the 15MB cache would benefit the cores you can use.

 

[twp]

I have a large NAS so space isn't a huge issue. Does that CPU work in a small form factor?

 

[bsod1]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 4 79.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($155.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($149.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($348.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1481.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-03 19:45 EST-0500

how does this look?

 

[twp]

Looks like you went with the 4790 because I wanted the super-small case. If I was willing to take a slightly larger case, would it make more sense to go with the initial poster's suggestion of the 59xx?

Would something like this be better/more balanced?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($569.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 4 79.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock X99M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($595.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($149.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($348.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2233.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-03 20:15 EST-0500

 

[bsod1]

you don't need so much power if all you want to do is photo editing. You're going way overkill.

 

[twp]

Meaning 4 cores is sufficient and no need to max out on cores/RAM/MB? I was reading that LGA2011 MBs would help significantly with photo rendering. Is that not true?

 

[bsod1]

2D/3D rendering is different from photo-editing. If you're going to use Photoshop/Lightroom. a 4790k is the best you should get without going overboard. but of course, if you want to mess around with more cpu intensive programs and do rendering, a LGA2011 is beneficial.

 

[twp]

Sounds like the real answer is maybe I should just add 8GB of RAM and overclock my current machine.

 

[bsod1]

I just checked your previous build and yes, that is the real answer. Get better cooling.

 

[bsod1]

This is your build right now:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Plextor M5P Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 600T Mesh (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($153.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.46 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Total: $1711.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-03 20:41 EST-0500

this is what you could change it to:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright SILVER ARROW IB-E 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($81.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Plextor M5P Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card
Case: Silverstone FT02B-W-USB3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($275.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.46 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($284.52 @ Amazon)
Total: $1998.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-03 20:54 EST-0500

 

[twp]

I understand the new cooler if it's better than what I have, and I assume the one you suggest is, if I'm going to overclock for better photo editing performance. But can you explain why you suggest all new RAM instead of just getting another set of the ones I already have? Is it just because it's relatively cheap and might as well go with the faster ones?

And why a new case? I feel like my case is fine. Is that just because I said I wanted to go smaller?

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it (and your advice will save me 2k or so ).

 

[bsod1]

in all honesty you don't need to change anything. Why do you feel like you need to change something? Is your PC not giving you something you desire? Is something lacking?

Except, the RAM upgrade (which is a duplicate of what you already have and not what I suggested.)

 

[twp]

light room takes a little bit to load RAW image files, to apply edits, to import/export, etc. Since I built my current setup two years ago with gaming in mind, I figured a new build optimized for light room would work better for what I'm using it for now.

At least that was my thinking. Also my current case is huge so I thought it would be nice and fun to do a small case build.

 

[twp]

Well, I should have more RAM in my mailbox and I'll try to crank up the OC on the CPU and hopefully LR performance will improve. If not, I'll be back for help with a more fun re-build.

Thanks for your help.