Advice

[Loft83]

Evening all,

I am looking to start a new project build. Is the motherboard the best thing to start with? The new pc will be used for photoshop and image editing. Any recommendations.

 

[Danny75]

Is the motherboard the best thing to start with?

Hello Loft,

The short answer is no, with the exception being a project for which you need a very specific motherboard with vital features for your project that most others do not have.

For your needs, I think you can save motherboard choice for later on, and just make sure you get one with features you'd like, like an M.2 slot (if you're planning on using an M.2 SSD), enough Sata ports for your storage plans, and so on. And simply buy the best motherboard you can with the remaining budget, after focusing on the best processor you can obtain, 16GB minimum RAM, a regular SSD for OS/programs, and a speedy M.2 SSD for your photo editing work (nice if possible but not essential). Can even go with the one M.2 SSD alone. It's just a bonus if you can separate the operating system activity from it, to get the maximum out of it for your work. Or just the one regular SSD alone. Plus a larger capacity mechanical drive (or more than one for back-up) if needed.

Graphics cards can now be used in conjunction with processors to carry out editing tasks. But I'd focus on the previously mentioned components first, to get a nice foundation in. Any graphics card you can afford would be a bonus. Or just something you can add later on (unless processor has no integrated graphics and you need one rightaway).

Hope that makes sense. Someone might be able to advise further if you give an idea of budget.

 

[theMilitant]

Start with CPU and GPU. Motherboard should be chosen on the basis of its socket and the features you want, as well as budget of course. No point splashing out loads on a motherboard which has features you'll never use.