Need help building new a desktop PC

[35mm]

First things first: my knowledge on this stuff is very limited, especially nowadays. If you want to help, please be patient and explain everything very well.

What I'm looking for is this:

- Photography. Quick post-processing of big RAW files on Photoshop Lightroom 4, with a big catalog;
- I like multitasking. I normally have lots of software running at the same time (eg: treating photos while listening to music while having the browser with 10 tabs open, etc. You get the picture.);
- I also enjoy watching HD videos, be it on YouTube on 1080p or a HD movie. And I hate when it doesn't run smoothly.
- I won't play games on this PC.
- I want to run Windows 7.

So, I basically want to know which processor, board and how many GB of RAM I should consider?

Also, do I really need a dedicated graphics card? I heard some new processors already have graphic cards which should be fine since I won't play games.

Another thing: I'm considering getting a SSD for running the system, especially if it makes Lightroom snappier.
But, since I want to have all my photos always available (that's 300GB+ of files), I'll have to have the files on a separate HD (non-SSD).
In this case, will the SSD do anything for me? Will it be that quicker, or since Lightroom will have to go for the other HD it won't make much difference?

And no, I don't want to spend that much cash... I was looking for 400€, so I'm not sure the SSD will fit in.

That will be all for now. Thank you in advance.

 

[HE1RO]

Well if you are going to be doing alot of rendering i would suggest an i7 (from what ive been told its only usefulness over an i5 is rendering and anything thats CPU intensives and can utilize hyper threading) and 8GB+ of RAM. If you are not going to playing games you shouldn't need one, there are GPUs not designed for gaming but for modeling... but they are really expensive lol

There are Ivy and Sandy bridge processors are both 1155 socket and will work with any 1155 mobo (Ivy is the newer gen processor). Ive only built one PC but it was for gaming, hopefully someone more knowledgeable comments and can be more help.

 

[35mm]

I won't be doing any "rendering" or "modeling". Just post-processing photos.

Either that, or I'm not understanding what you're saying.

 

[HE1RO]

Oh, i see, i just now noticed your budget, which should be around 500 american dollars. i7 would be better for your needs, but there is a 100 dollar difference between it and the i5. i7 is 300~ dollars, i5 is 200~.

Are you going to be carrying anything over from an older PC like a power supply or PC case?

 

[sesselpupser]

I won't be doing any "rendering" or "modeling". Just post-processing photos.

Either that, or I'm not understanding what you're saying.

Rendering includes most of what you do in Photoshop, the speed of most progress bars is decided by the processor. I also seem to remember reading that PS was being redesigned to utilise the GPU for certain tasks but I have no idea how much difference it makes, it'll definitely be usable without a discrete graphics card though. I'm sure an i5 will be acceptable too, but you would notice the difference with an i7. RAM is cheap so 8GB is a decent amount, not sure about motherboards (I too have only ever built one gaming PC) and... I thought I had something else to add but I've forgotten it.

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

I would go with an FX 8120, AM3+ motherboard, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, and pick up a 7750 GPU.

350-400W PSU should be plenty (make sure it is continuous power output).

Pick up a HDD and allow some time for SSD prices to drop before you upgrade.

 

[35mm]

Are you going to be carrying anything over from an older PC like a power supply or PC case?

I'm thinking of taking my current PC to the store where the new one will be assembled and ask them to keep everything they can from the old. Case, power supply, DVD-R drive, a couple of old hard-drives (just for storing old stuff) and, if possible, 4GB of DDR3 RAM (I'm not sure of it will be compatible, but that's no biggie).

I also seem to remember reading that PS was being redesigned to utilise the GPU for certain tasks but I have no idea how much difference it makes, it'll definitely be usable without a discrete graphics card though. I'm sure an i5 will be acceptable too, but you would notice the difference with an i7.

Are you saying that I could, indeed, live without a dedicated GPU if I opt for an i5 or i7?

I would go with an FX 8120, AM3+ motherboard, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, and pick up a 7750 GPU.

350-400W PSU should be plenty (make sure it is continuous power output).

Pick up a HDD and allow some time for SSD prices to drop before you upgrade.

That's my first problem right there: Intel or AMD?
Can I ask why you chose AMD over Intel? Price?

 

[DQuaN]

Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz - Score: 10,373
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz - Score: 7,723
AMD FX-8120 Eight-Core - Score: 7,054

Intel is better. AMD is cheaper.

Source: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

I'm thinking of taking my current PC to the store where the new one will be assembled and ask them to keep everything they can from the old. Case, power supply, DVD-R drive, a couple of old hard-drives (just for storing old stuff) and, if possible, 4GB of DDR3 RAM (I'm not sure of it will be compatible, but that's no biggie).

Are you saying that I could, indeed, live without a dedicated GPU if I opt for an i5 or i7?

That's my first problem right there: Intel or AMD?
Can I ask why you chose AMD over Intel? Price?

Price and you're not gaming. The 8120 will handle any multi-tasking you throw at it. There's no point in going Intel if you're only looking at photo editing and typical use; it's too pricey for your build budget. Pick up a dedicated graphics card which will help out on graphics load; doesn't have to be a nice one. Any model that runs $50-100 will help you out with HD video and editing.

If you have a Microcenter near you they usually throw in a free motherboard or give you $50 off one in store.

Don't skimp on the PSU. If the one you have is coming from a pre-assembled PC manufacturer (Dell, HP, etc.) it is typically a low quality PSU and I don't advise transferring it to your new build.

 

[35mm]

Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz - Score: 10,373
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz - Score: 7,723
AMD FX-8120 Eight-Core - Score: 7,054

Intel is better. AMD is cheaper.

Source: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I had my mind wrapped around an Intel before, so I'll probably keep it that way. Thank you.

Do you have any idea if I get a i5-3570K (or even a i5-3550), I can get away without a dedicated GPU, especially since I won't be playing games?

There's no point in going Intel if you're only looking at photo editing and typical use; it's too pricey for your build budget. Pick up a dedicated graphics card which will help out on graphics load; doesn't have to be a nice one. Any model that runs $50-100 will help you out with HD video and editing.

I've been looking at some prices, and you're telling me to spend 165€ on the CPU plus 100€ on the graphics card. If I can get away without a graphics card, an i5 3570K will cost me 260€*.

Even if I try to get a cheaper graphics card, the difference won't justify it.

*These prices are probably very different from yours, but they're the market prices where I'm from.

Don't skimp on the PSU. If the one you have is coming from a pre-assembled PC manufacturer (Dell, HP, etc.) it is typically a low quality PSU and I don't advise transferring it to your new build.

I'll have this in mind. Thank you.

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

Both the Intel and AMD chips have integrated graphics.

I am suggesting purchasing a discrete GPU for accelerated processing in your editing. If you don't care about that then don't worry about a GPU.

 

[35mm]

Both the Intel and AMD chips have integrated graphics.

I did not know that... Damn.

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

Yup.

So, if you don't want a GPU spend $100 or so on a 120 GB sata 3 SSD for your OS, editing software, page files/virtual ram, and the photos you're editing and you will see a much snappier response time. SSD's are a-maz-ing.

I know you have ALOT more media data than that but you can simply move them to the SSD before you begin editing. Unless we are talking like a single 80 GB photo lol.

Anyways, good shopping!

 

[nick09]

He does not even have budget room for a SSD. Are you mad? That's only a $500 budget, tops! He would be better getting a 2TB WD Black Desktop HDD, i5-3550, 8GB of ram, a decent computer tower, and a cheap LGA 1155 motherboard. That a good configuration right there and even then he would not have the budget room for Windows 7! Forget about the GPU's and SSD's, he does not need them. Hard Drives are fast enough.

 

[35mm]

Ok, let's forget SSD's and GPU's for a moment.

I'll focus on the Intel i5-3550 (3.3GHz) vs the AMD FX-8120 (3.1 GHz). Let's say that the difference between these two is 50€.
Do you think the price difference is justifiable? Also, is there another good alternative from AMD? The FX-8150 would be worth it?

Another point, the RAM: I've decided on 8Gb, but what speed would be more suitable?


I appreciate you patience.

 

[sesselpupser]

Yeah, you don't NEED a graphics card, but you would probably benefit from one so maybe you could keep your options open.

An SSD will only really help the responsiveness of the OS and the speed at which stuff opens from the SSD itself, after it's opened it's all written to the RAM so the speed of the drives no longer matters. Even if you could be bothered to copy files you're working on to the SSD you wouldn't really see that much improvement unless you're constantly opening and closing files or you do large automated batches frequently, an SSD won't help rendering speeds and stuff like that unless your RAM is maxed (because then your PC will start using storage space as RAM, which is bad because it's slow, thus slowing your entire computer to a crawl), and even then it's much cheaper and easier to buy another 8GB of RAM than an SSD. Also bear in mind that if you don't have three backups in three locations then you may as well have no backups at all, and that's not a trivial cost. I could stand to lose everything on my PC because it's just games, but if I lost my photos on my Mac I'd be truly gutted, which is why I have an external drive in the loft and one at my Nan's house in addition to almost everything being on Flickr and on my Laptop as well.

Sincere apologies if this is all complete nonsense, I'm currently somewhat out of my mind on co codamol right now.

Edit: sorry, I'd been typing that for ages. DDR3 1600MHz is fine, you can get slower but it's not cheaper enough to be worth it in my opinion but if you have to squeeze it into a strict budget then I guess you have to. As I said before my experience is limited to a money-no-object gaming PC.

 

[35mm]

Don't apologise. That was a very helpful post and you make some good points. Thank you.

By the way, my budget isn't strict per se. It has more to do with what I want to spend on a computer for this kind of use.


And I think I've made my mind: no SSD's or GPU's at least for now.
(How will I know afterwards if I'm missing a GPU or not? What should I find slow?)

 

[nick09]

If the build is money tight with the i5-3550 then don't be scared switching over to the FX-8120. You won't be losing too much performance in any case. If you will be using the FX-8120 make sure the motherboard has integrated graphics since the CPU does not come with a built-in GPU whereas the i5-3550 does.

 

[djinline]

And I think I've made my mind: no SSD's or GPU's at least for now.
(How will I know afterwards if I'm missing a GPU or not? What should I find slow?)

I guess you won't be experiencing any serious performance issues with an IGP if you've got a modern, powerful CPU and 8GB of RAM. Just a guess though, feel free to correct me if I'm talking nonsense here.

But I know you can adjust the amount of memory used by the IGP, it uses shared system memory so it's good to have a lot of RAM to be on the safe side while working. And yeah, FX-8120 should do just fine, if you wish to go cheaper.

 

[35mm]

Both the Intel and AMD chips have integrated graphics.

If you will be using the FX-8120 make sure the motherboard has integrated graphics since the CPU does not come with a built-in GPU whereas the i5-3550 does.

Ok, now I'm confused...

I guess you won't be experiencing any serious performance issues with an IGP if you've got a modern, powerful CPU and 8GB of RAM. Just a guess though, feel free to correct me if I'm talking nonsense here.

I hope you're right here.

 

[nick09]

The AMD FX chips don't come with integrated GPU's. You would have to look for a motherboard that comes with integrated graphics or buy a cheap GPU if the motherboard does not come with one.

 

[35mm]

The AMD FX chips don't come with integrated GPU's. You would have to look for a motherboard that comes with integrated graphics or buy a cheap GPU if the motherboard does not come with one.

I understand what you're saying; it's just that II-zOoLoGy-II said back there that both had integrated GPU's.

That helps my choice. Intel it is.

 

[djinline]

The AMD FX chips don't come with integrated GPU's. You would have to look for a motherboard that comes with integrated graphics or buy a cheap GPU if the motherboard does not come with one.

Oh man, I should've done some research before writing lies. Sorry about that.

But yeah, my previous post also applies to motherboard IGPs, I doubt there will be any noticeable system slowdowns when used with a powerful CPU and 8GB of RAM.

If you're thinking about getting a discrete GPU, I suggest to look for something cheap with a passive cooler, it should provide sufficient cooling since you are not planning to play any games and if you want a silent system.

 

[35mm]

Right now, I'm thinking:

- Intel i5-3550;
- DDR3 1600 MHz 8GB;
- no GPU;
- HDD 2TB 7200RPM;
- any motherboard (should I care too much about it? I just want something that should work with future updates...);
- any PSU that's adequate;
- I already have a case, DVD-R drive, monitor, etc.


I have two more questions:

- If I mix older RAM with newer, faster one - in case they're compatible - will performance be limited by the lower one, or will it average itself?

- Having no dedicated GPU and working only with the i5-3550's integrated GPU, will I be able to connect the PC to my monitor via HDMI? How?

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Motherboards depend on their features. Quality is ok as long as you stay with bigger companies.

 

[sesselpupser]

Right now, I'm thinking:

- Intel i5-3550;
- DDR3 1600 MHz 8GB;
- no GPU;
- HDD 2TB 7200RPM;
- any motherboard (should I care too much about it? I just want something that should work with future updates...);
- any PSU that's adequate;
- I already have a case, DVD-R drive, monitor, etc.


I have two more questions:

- If I mix older RAM with newer, faster one - in case they're compatible - will performance be limited by the lower one, or will it average itself?

- Having no dedicated GPU and working only with the i5-3550's integrated GPU, will I be able to connect the PC to my monitor via HDMI? How?

Sounds good, but if you think you might want an SSD in future you could look and see if you can get a motherboard that supports SATA 6Gb (otherwise known as SATA III I believe?) just so you know you'll be able to get the full speed out of whatever SSD you may purchase.

If you mix RAM of different speeds it'll always run at the speed of the slower RAM, it can't go any faster than the slowest one. The motherboard should say whether it supports single, dual, triple or quad-channel RAM, this means to get the best speed you either need matched pairs, trios or quads (single doesn't really matter, you probably won't find a single channel board anyway), but my memory on this subject is rapidly running out so you might want to read up on that. I think the gist of it is if you have dual channel RAM and four RAM slots, if you match the pairs correctly (which is easy as the RAM slots are marked as pairs) even if one pair is slower the other pair will run at the correct speed... I think.

The motherboard should have built in VGA, DVI and probably HDMI, your IGP outputs through those.

Oh and get an Asus or Gigabyte motherboard if you can, they tend to be the best choices.

 

[nick09]

The ram will always clock down if ram with slower speed is in the motherboard. An HDMI connection would have to come with the motherboard. So that is something you should look for. Good brands to look at are Asus, MSI, AsRock, and Biostar.

 

[35mm]

That's some great information in these last posts. Thank you so much. 👍👍

That's it for now; I may come later with more questions.

 

[35mm]

I went to a store before coming home and have this setup on the line:


- Intel i5-3450 (Yes, I downgraded here from the 3550. I'm not sure 30€ for 0.20GHz more is worth it...);

- Transcend 8GB DDR3 1333;

- Asus Chip Intel H61 SK1155 2XDDR3 mATX-P8H61-M LX3 PLUS (I wanted the H77, which had USB3.0 and 4 slots, but the difference was 50€!);

- WD 1TB 64MB Cache, 6Gb/s (2TB was 30€ more... I'm still considering this).

404.55€


Any opinions? Good, bad or meh?

It's more expensive than I thought, to be honest.

 

[nick09]

Upgrade to the 2TB since you are working with images and they take a ton of space. I would also get the H77 motherboard since they were designed for your processor(Such that a older motherboard might need a BIOS update to support the cpu you chosen). You will be able to benefit greatly from usb 3.0 if you use a usb 3.0 external(fast file transfers).