Advice for new Computer Build

[100_Percent_Juice]

I am going to build a new computer for my wife's picture/video editing and I wanted a little advice. She mainly deals with RAW(25mb avg.) image files and HD(320mb per min. avg.) video. There will never be any 3D editing or video games. I made a list of parts and I am mainly posting this to see if anyone recommends additional parts(ie coolers/heatsink) or different components such as a better monitor for similar cash or different size power supply etc. Please only post if you know what you are talking about.

Thanks

1 LG Black 8X Blu-ray Burner SATA Model WH08LS20
Item #: N82E16827136176
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$179.99 1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128423
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$209.99 1 Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
Item #: N82E16819115202
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
$288.99 1 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139006
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$20.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$139.99
$119.99 1 LG W2353V-PF Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824005125
Return Policy: Monitor Replacement Only Return Policy -$10.00 Instant
$229.95
$219.95 1 HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814161287
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy -$5.00 Instant
$84.99
$79.99 1 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL9D-4GBRH
Item #: N82E16820231281
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$139.99 1 Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy -$40.00 Instant
$99.99
1 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders
Item #: N82E16832116758
Return Policy: Software Return Policy
$139.99

[100_Percent_Juice]

The prices came out a little crooked but, that's just how it copied over from my email.

[cody]

Cross post this at Hardforum.com or ask me to do it for you since I'm already a member there.

If you can afford it, consider getting the "boxed" (retail) version of the OS. Then you can keep it forever and move it from PC to PC. OEM licenses are stuck to the 1st machine they're married to...legally anyway.

[Dean]

I'd go cheaper on every part.

Skip Blu-Ray burner. DVDRW for $20 or so.

Might be tempted to go faster dual core, vs slower quad.

Too much PS. I have 10 HDs running off a 600

Cheaper Video card, RAM and case for sure.

Pro is overkill on OS unless you need a specific feature like Domain support.

[100_Percent_Juice]

Could you be a pal and post it for me. How much is the boxed version?

[cody]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

Could you be a pal and post it for me. How much is the boxed version?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116716

[Dean]

Another thought would be a 17" laptop if she needs to present her work to clients in person. Big display for home.

[100_Percent_Juice]

I need Pro for the XP support. The bluray burner is for quick backup of a massive amount of files and of course making bluray movies. I have done a lot of reading on the i7 processor and its been said to be the best bang for the buck and can be *easily* overclocked to 4.0ghz if needed. I think it also has an automatic overclocking function built in. This is the dual core I am currently running. It can manage raw files without being so slow that it becomes annoying but it can't play the HD video smoothly at all.

What size power supply would you recommend?

I didn't list any hard drives because I am a little confused about that part. For storage I would like (2) 1TB HDDs to be setup in RAID 1? So that she doesn't lose all her images if the HDD fails. I didn't know if the OS should be on a faster small HD or what. I was looking at SSD's and I think at this point in time they are just too expensive for what they offer.

[100_Percent_Juice]

Originally Posted by cody

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116716

Thanks

When you get a chance can you post my setup on Hardforum.com?

[cody]

XP support?

RAID 1 is fine, but for your budget, you'll be using onboard "software RAID" which takes a touch of resources from the computer, but that's fine. The downside of RAID is that, if the RAID controller (motherboard in your case) dies, I don't think you can get to your files until you get another identicle one. Dean will correct me if I'm wrong.

Please fill this out for Hardforum:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc 
***
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 
***
3) Where do you live? 
***
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific. 
***
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. 
***
6) Will you be overclocking? 
***
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 
***
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? 
***
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. 
***
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit? 
***

By answering these questions you help us help you build a PC that's of better quality, better performing, cheaper or all of the above.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1349433

[Dean]

I almost prefer periodic backup to 1 or more eSATA externals that you can even take off-site over RAID. RAID is not backup. It writes garbage or deletes files on both drives in real time which can screw you big time. eSata is also way faster than burning blu-rays. Most optical media is not considered to be "backup" quality, especially RW.

RAID 1 does not require the same HW to recover, but there are no guarantees the HALs will match from one MB to the next enough to boot. I don't think they fixed that in 7.

Have you looked at equivalent HP/Dell systems just for price comparison and warranty.

And I would not overclock any machine being used for business. Asking for trouble. If that is why you are buying a specific processor or MB, don't. Pay for the speed you need and just enough MB to support it.

Even without the Display, you are way over $1000 for a desktop. That is quite pricey.

I play 720P Blu-ray H264/divx/whatever on a 3Ghz. P4 XP laptop with a 1Gb RAM 5400RPM drive and 128Meg Radeon 9700 which is way more work than playing the raw file off a Blu-ray disc. Something else is wrong with your system if you can't on any 1.6+ghz dual core.

I am not an expert, but photoshop and video editing are mostly linear applications. They will have little benefit from > 2 cores and no benefit from high end video cards other than possibly video RAM. 2D performance is all you have described a need for. Maybe fast memory for paging large images.

I just feel like you should be able to buy an appropriate system off the shelf with a warranty for $700 or less. It just feels like you are trying to build more of a gaming system than a video/still editing system.

[cody]

Dean, you can take a HDD from a RAID 1 array and connect it to any computer and pull files from it? Is that true with hardware RAID and software RAID?

[Dean]

Originally Posted by cody

Dean, you can take a HDD from a RAID 1 array and connect it to any computer and pull files from it? Is that true with hardware RAID and software RAID?

Yes, it should be.

[100_Percent_Juice]

I'm pretty hell bent on getting a bluray burner but I guess I don't have to start with that now since I don't know what my need and use will be. A dvd burner would be fine and I wouldn't be burning RW media anyways. Anything that we burn is for permanent storage.

Cody, the software for my work gets very few updates and until about 5 min ago it wasn't compatible with win7 so I was looking at the XP mode on the professional edition. However I just installed my software on my moms laptop and it works so I guess i only need home premium.

Dean, I would be perfectly happy backing everything up on an external drive and just scrap the entire RAID idea. That would in fact work better since my wife would like to be able to take the data with here when she shoots out of town.

Despite the items that I have chosen, my goal is not a gaming computer. I am currently foggy on what to look for in a video card when dealing with video rendering and editing large images. Maybe I should get a cheap card and load up on the memory instead. Maybe I can get away with a fast dual core vs. a quad. I really appreciate the advice and this is the exact reason I posted.

I feel that you guys have given me a lot to think about and once I hear back from Cody's forum I will better know what to do. Either way the budget is around $1500 so I would like to get the best bang for that buck. Obviously if I can do it for 1k, I am not going to spend the extra $500 just because its in the budget.

The absolute #1 most important part of this computer is the monitor. All images go to print so the monitor needs to be as accurate as possible while in the budget.


Cody here is the info the forum wants. I think its pretty much all the details I have but, if they need anything else let me know.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
1.This computer will be used for HD Video and RAW image editing, web browsing, and playing audio/video media all at the same time. An example would be editing RAW images in photoshop while streaming a TV show and cruising internet forums. The editing programs being used are mainly Adobe Creative Suite 4 products. ie Photoshop, lightroom, premiere, flash. Also Corel Draw and Vegas Pro.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
2. Budget is up to $1500.

3) Where do you live?
3. Reno NV

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
4. Everything. Case, power supply, processor, memory, hard drive, video card, OS, motherboard, Monitor, DVD burner

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
5. The only part I will be reusing is a small card reader that fits into a 2.5 slot on my current computer and a 1TB 7200rpm HD that can be factored into the calculation for a power supply but not into the budget. So this would be a second internal drive.

6) Will you be overclocking?
6.No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
7. I would like a 23"+ monitor. The monitor is the most important part of the build since all images edited go to print and the color needs to be reproduced as accurately as possible for the budget.

When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
8. I plan to build this PC within the month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
9. I don't know what features I need. What I want to do is transfer large amounts of files quickly both internally and to an external drive. Also quickly capture media from devices to the computer mainly from my wife's Canon 5d Mark II. I want to be able to run a video editing program or picture editing program with very large file sizes while listening to music, browsing the web, or watching a video. And I want it to run as smooth as possible for my budget.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
10. I would like to buy windows 7 64-bit (include that in the $1500 budget).

[cody]

I didn't realize that compatibility mode was only available in Pro. That's pretty lame.

Here's the new thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread....post1035287677

[100_Percent_Juice]

wife build. Does that come standard with a fleshlight?

[cody]

Figured that would grab some attention.

[cody]

Got a nibble:

Originally Posted by HardwareGuru

Check this out

CASE/PSU - Antec Three Hundred + Antec NEO ECO 520W both for $109.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.335364

CPU/MOBO - Intel Core i7 920 + ASUS P6T both for $498.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.339001

RAM - Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) for $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145258

VIDEO - Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB for $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102876

HDD (primary) - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB for $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152181

HDD (secondary) - SamsingSpinpoint F3 1TB for $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

OPTICAL - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner for $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116754

Subtotal: $1,093.90
Shipping: $18.52
Total: $1,112.42

MONITOR - NEC MultiSync EA231WMI-BK 23 inch for $295.58
Shipping - $19.45
Total: $315.03

Grand Total: Computer + Monitor = $1,427.45 w/shipping