£800-£1200 Photo editing spec please?

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2011 at 17:54

OK... I could do this myself. However I like other peoples views and opinions.

Looking for the said rig for a friend. His spec list.

No monitor required, obviously!
8Gb RAM minimum
Fastest CPU I can afford (i7?)
Fastest graphics card I can afford.
2 hard disks of (1TB minimum each
Digital TV tuner
Surround sound
DVD Writer

He wont need a good card for editing works. It's mostly CPU bound. However, perhaps one of these cards can help with certain other features?

I'm also thinking 16GB RAM. It's his profession. So a quality system is a must and 16GB ram wont go to waste.

EDIT* Told him to wait on hard drive prices falling and use old ones in the mean time. So forget about them.

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2011 at 18:06

OK... couldn't resist.

Not sure on Mobo... never researched it. Just looked good at first glance. Everything else I'm sure is fine.

shadow_boxer · 10 Dec 2011 at 18:18

Graphics card?

MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 is cheaper and gets very good reviews.

For cheaper speakers consider the Logitech X-530 5.1 set. Some places did have them on offer recently.

Rest looks fine. Case I guess is personal preference.

What's the total budget, now HDDs are excluded? Will he/she be using it for gaming at all?

fowler002 · 10 Dec 2011 at 18:28

Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £265.99
(£221.66) £265.99
(£221.66)
OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
(£166.66) £199.99
(£166.66)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £151.99
(£126.66) £151.99
(£126.66)
XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £122.99
(£102.49) £122.99
(£102.49)
Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £43.98
(£36.65) £43.98
(£36.65)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
(£14.15) £16.98
(£14.15)
Sub Total : £959.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £194.73
Total : £1,168.38

not sure on the sound card

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2011 at 20:29

shadow_boxer said:
Graphics card?

MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 is cheaper and gets very good reviews.

For cheaper speakers consider the Logitech X-530 5.1 set. Some places did have them on offer recently.

Rest looks fine. Case I guess is personal preference.

What's the total budget, now HDDs are excluded? Will he/she be using it for gaming at all?

No need for a graphics as I mentioned. Just use the onboard graphics. No gaming at all.

Total budget is still £1200 tops! Have been told he needs the HDD's regardless of price. Sooo... they need to be included unfortunately. Will just add a 2TB storage drive I think.

I'm quite happy with the more expensive speakers. X530 aren't all that great from personal experience and are very very old now.

shadow_boxer · 10 Dec 2011 at 20:41

Ah righto, when you said "Fastest graphics card I can afford" I thought your were refering to a dedicated card.

Have a search for a "HITACHI Deskstar Internal 3.5" SATA Hard Drive - 3TB" which is competively priced elsewhere.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £263.99
(£219.99) £263.99
(£219.99)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £151.99
(£126.66) £151.99
(£126.66)
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £145.99
(£121.66) £145.99
(£121.66)
MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 75W RMS (980-000432) Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 75W RMS (980-000432) £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)
Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
(£14.15) £16.98
(£14.15)
Sub Total : £867.40
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £20.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £177.50
Total : £1,065.00

If not likely to do serious overclocking then swap in the Gelid Tranquillo.

HaggisUK · 10 Dec 2011 at 20:50

650D is overkill and isn't going to benefit the build any unless going for a WC loop, a few quid could be saved/spent elsewhere from that.

fowler002 · 10 Dec 2011 at 20:52

Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £265.99
(£221.66) £265.99
(£221.66)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £151.99
(£126.66) £151.99
(£126.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)
Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £43.98
(£36.65) £43.98
(£36.65)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
(£14.15) £16.98
(£14.15)
Sub Total : £863.23
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £175.40
Total : £1,052.38

speakers and tv tuner I'll leave to you, I'd personally would go samsung not hitachi for the hard disk.

Buchanan0204 · 10 Dec 2011 at 21:22

fowler002 said:
Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £265.99
(£221.66) £265.99
(£221.66)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £151.99
(£126.66) £151.99
(£126.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)
Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £43.98
(£36.65) £43.98
(£36.65)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
(£14.15) £16.98
(£14.15)
Sub Total : £863.23
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £175.40
Total : £1,052.38

speakers and tv tuner I'll leave to you, I'd personally would go samsung not hitachi for the hard disk.

Looking good. Who mentioned HitachI? I wouldn't use one of those for free!

Nice case btw!

Buchanan0204 · 11 Dec 2011 at 01:00

What CPU cooler are people recommending these days?

Budget and performance would be nice to see.

fowler002 · 11 Dec 2011 at 01:34

well the best is silver arrow @£55, if not planning on over 4.6ghz then the gelid tranquilo @£26

Lunawolfy · 11 Dec 2011 at 12:57

fowler002 said:
well the best is silver arrow @£55

For a cleaner/quieter system if you were gonna spend SA money you could buy an H60, or OCUK's exact same model unbranded one?

Surveyor · 11 Dec 2011 at 13:01

Lunawolfy said:
For a cleaner/quieter system if you were gonna spend SA money you could buy an H60, or OCUK's exact same model unbranded one?

The Silver Arrow would be quieter and, I believe, offer better cooling.

I don't think you can buy the OcUK coolers now.

RJC · 11 Dec 2011 at 13:04

Surveyor said:
The Silver Arrow would be quieter and, I believe, offer better cooling.

I don't think you can buy the OcUK coolers now.

I think your correct, the OcUK coolers are kept for their own builds, as some of these mention the OcUk coolers.

Buchanan0204 · 12 Dec 2011 at 05:12

The Silver arrow is a bit on the large side I think. The Gelid will do fine.

Why is it recommended so much? Does it offer better performance over others of a similar price? Or is due to easy installation or looks etc?

HaggisUK · 12 Dec 2011 at 07:13

Buchanan0204 said:
The Silver arrow is a bit on the large side I think. The Gelid will do fine.

Why is it recommended so much? Does it offer better performance over others of a similar price? Or is due to easy installation or looks etc?

Because it's almost the best there is and is decently priced. The only coolers better than it are the H100 and Phanteks, both of which cost a lot more but the difference isn't very much in performance.

James J · 12 Dec 2011 at 07:26

Photo editing using what software exactly? If its photoshop, having a good Nvidia graphics card is a massive bonus as the software uses CUDA cores properly. A 560ti 448 card for example would be vastly faster in photoshop than a HD3000 onboard chip ever would.

Also, why do you say "no monitor required, obviously!"? Guessing that means hes already got a good IPS screen then so the colour of his photos is actually what the camera took and not the washed out garbage which a cheap 8bit monitor TN or VA panel displays...

Buchanan0204 · 12 Dec 2011 at 16:14

James J said:
Photo editing using what software exactly? If its photoshop, having a good Nvidia graphics card is a massive bonus as the software uses CUDA cores properly. A 560ti 448 card for example would be vastly faster in photoshop than a HD3000 onboard chip ever would.

Also, why do you say "no monitor required, obviously!"? Guessing that means hes already got a good IPS screen then so the colour of his photos is actually what the camera took and not the washed out garbage which a cheap 8bit monitor TN or VA panel displays...

Hi there,

The reason it says obviously is because that was what I copied and pasted from his email. I never wrote that out. I know him and he knows that I'm aware he has lots of monitors.

I'm not sure if their IPS. However, I told him this yesterday that it was a must and I'm waiting on a reply.

It's Coral draw and some others. He doesn't like Photoshop for some reason.

beejjacobs · 12 Dec 2011 at 22:27

Buchanan0204 said:
OK... couldn't resist.

Not sure on Mobo... never researched it. Just looked good at first glance. Everything else I'm sure is fine.

I know people have since specced RAM which would be fine, but (correct me if I'm wrong) no one has pointed out that this RAM would interfere with that cooler. You want some low profile RAM

Buchanan0204 · 13 Dec 2011 at 00:59

Seems your right beejjacobs. Thanks for mentioning that. Clearance on the memory never even occured to me.

I'll probably stick a closed loop cooler in it to avoid this.