Basic photo editing rig

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Joined
2 Jul 2012
Posts
257
Hey guys,

A family member has asked me to build a PC for him.

It will be used for basic photo editing in Photoshop and general usage (internet/music etc...) and I have no idea where to start.

He is looking to spend circa £500 and already has OS/ Mouse/ Keyboard/ Monitor.

For reference he currently has a Packard Bell with 2gb RAM & a Q8200 @2.33Ghz - Never opened the case so no idea about the mobo etc...

All help appreciated.

Cheers

SM
 
What OS does he currently have? Most likely 32 bit and tied to the mobo!
Can you also check if the hdd/odd are sata and the size off the hdd. If these can be reused, can spend the money on other improvements to the system.
Will he be doing any gaming at all?
 
Right,

There is 4gb of RAM, not 2.

64bit OS but as idleman said this may be tied to the mobo - how do I check?

HDD & ODD are both SATA and there is a card reader that can be re-used also.

I checked the monitor and it only has a VGA connector - How much of an issue will this cause?

Is a graphics card a must or would the integrated graphics of the 3450 be capable or would it be better to jump up to the 3570k with the HD4000 integrated graphics and do away with the GPU?

PC is for my grandfather so no gaming at all.
 
Is there a windows product key sticker on the back of the tower or side? Usually gets slapped there, if it is it should be able to be used with any configuration - atleast that's how it worked when i moved from a very old PB machine to a custom rig with Windows XP - no idea if any of that has changed however.
 
Sorry for the delay - Yes I believe there is a Windows sticker on the existing machine but from my reading I'm not sure if its tied into the hardware!?

Does anyone else have any info on whether the monitor would be ok running through VGA or should it be upgraded?

Any info on whether a GPU is required as my post above?

Ta#

SM
 
"photo editing" covers a multitude of sins, but if he is wanting any sort of colour accuracy he almost certainly will need a montor upgrade. He also doesn't need £150 of graphics card. You might get a more ecnomonical build with an AMD Trinity processor - maybe the A8. After all overclocking and major games playing isn't on his 'to do' list, and for general use last year's Llano is more than adequate.

BTW had to use my Eizo on the VGA when I was getting my Raspberry Pi booted, and was shocked at how bad it looks compared to using the DVI connection.
 
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