Help!! My first build.... for Pro Graphics / Video

[PhilipPalmer85]

Hi;

I am looking to begin my first system build in the next couple of months and would like some advice...

Primary Use:
My freelance creative business:
professional graphics, web design, HD video editing and playback, sound editing, etc
so will feature heavy use of the Adobe CS5 (Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Audition (Soundbooth))

Secondary Use:
Personal computer: HD Movies / Blu Ray / Web / Communications etc

Please bear in mind my primary use when answering the questions I have.


My budget
(This is not set in stone if you feel my needs outweigh this budget please tell me why):
£600-1000 for the CPU & Motherboard
£400-600 for GPU

1) a) Which socket LGA 1155 / 1366 / 2011? (I am not considering AMD)
I understand very little about the differences other than dual / tri / quad memory respectively... so could you explain which is better for my primary use, why it affects performance for my primary use and the rough price points for each.

1) b) which processor for the prefered socket?
1) c) which motherboard for the prefered socket?

2) a) Graphics card, What level gpu should i look at for my primary use?
2) b) Is a GTX 590 a good choice? (overkill? not enough?) what would you recomend? it is very expensive are there any better value alternatives? my initial choice of nvidia over ati is the 3d support

3) a) which cooling solution do i require? air / water? etc

Thanks in advance guys, waiting in anticpation.

 

[PhilipPalmer85]

what monitor size/resolutions are you working on ?

socket 1155 is the way to go at the moment, with amd set to release their new processors in the near future, go with the 2600K due to your video editing requirements.

graphics card wise maybe go with a 570gtx (depending on the previous question of monitor size/resolution).

sound wise i'd go for a specialist card, hopefully someone can recommend a decent quality one.

i'd look at a decent size ssd drive maybe the 128gb or 256gb crucial m4 for programs, and dual 1tb drives to enable backups for your data.

cooling wise maybe worth looking at water to keep the noise levels down or the thermalright silver arrow air cooler.

do you already have an o/s , if your on 64 bit windows 7 then look at getting 16gb of memory.

Im currently on one 1920x1080, but i am hoping to end up with a multi monitor setup 3x 1920x1080, which i realise would require sli graphics cards, so that needs to be a consideration with the graphics cards which is why I initially thought of the gtx 590 as that can do sli on its own being a dual card..??? i think

with regard to sound... i was considering the Gigabyte G1 Sniper 2 motherboard which has a Creative X-Fi sound card built in????

cooling i was thinking corsair h100 for the cpu cooler?
would air cooling be sufficient for the gpu/ram etc

yeah ive got win7 64bit...

If you're not gaming then the 560 Ti would be enough for your use. CUDA will also help you in the Adobe software.

Air cooling will be good enough as well. Will you be overclocking?

What's your overall budget for the PC? £1500 is a bit much for a 2600K with a decent motherboard and cooler, and you really only need to spend around £300> for a graphics card.

I dont think i will initially overclock, but it may happen in the future...

yes overall budget is around £1500

 

[PhilipPalmer85]

Initial draft....

The initial system I was thinking of building:

CPU: Intel i7 2600k
MoBo: Gigabyte G1 Sniper 2 (Z68)
Cooler: Corsair H100 Cooler
RAM: 8GB Corsair 1600MHz DDR3 Vengeance(Upgraded to 16GB over time)
GPU: GTX 590 for 3x monitors
PSU: Corsair Pro 750W
CASE: Corsair Obsidian 800D

Would you change anything?

 

[PhilipPalmer85]

since the 2011 socket will not be used for quite a while, and virtually nothing is known about the AM3+ bulldozer socket, socket 1155 is the only logical choice.

for that socket, since you clearly have the budget and will be utilising it with the majority of your programs i wouldrecommend the i7 2600k

for the motherboard i would not suggest the G1 sniper. the motherboard is incredibly expensive because it had an expensive network card and sound card built in. the sound card might be useful if it was a good one, but the network card is a massive waste of time (the only major advantage of the killer 2100 network card was when gaming and downloading at the same time, which i guess you wont be doing).
i would go for the asrock Z68 extreme 4 gen3 as this will allow seamless upgrades to the soon to be released ivybridge processors and for the next generation graphics cards

for graphics cards i really wouldnt go for a 590. the 590, as you know, is two 580s on a single card. good in theory, but in order to get it to work it has been turned down so much that ts closer to two 570's in SLI than two 580s. its also incredibly loud. (the asus mars II has sorted this problem, but i dont suppose you have a spare £1200 for a graphics card).
two 570's in SLI will be more than enough for your needs here

here is an almost complete recommendation from me. i havent included a soundcard, speakers or monitors in this because i know very little about whats good or bad with them. also, this recommendation is going to change around a bit when the this week only deals change in the morning


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £241.99
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £233.99 (£467.98)
1 x Silverstone Fortress 2 FT02B-W Windowed Gaming Case - Black £219.98
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
2 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £144.98 (£289.96)
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £96.98
1 x LG BH10LS30 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Drive & 10 Pack BluRay Discs £76.57
1 x OcUK H²Flo Extreme Liquid CPU Cooler with Two Gelid Silent 120mm Quiet Fan (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £58.00
2 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £43.99 (£87.98)
Total : £1,719.66 (includes shipping : £16.85).

case is amazing for air cooling, and has sound insulation foam in the walls. its quite happy to take the watercooler i recommended, but nothing bigger than that water wise

Wow thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful!

Can I ask why the Asrock Extreme4 Gen3 over the Asrock Extreme7 Gen3?? Any particular reason, as they are both well under the orginal board I was considering.

 

[PhilipPalmer85]

Ok Ive come to the conclusion that Im going with...

Intel i7 2600k
Asrock Extreme7 Gen3
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
Corsair HX 750W


And im a little hesitant on graphics card(s)...
So I am going to use the internal graphics of the Z68 chipset or my old old graphics card until I make a decision on which card to go for.

Im undecided on CPU cooling...

Venomous X with 2 Akasa Apache Black 140mm
OR
Corsair H100

I think the VX will give me better performance from what Ive read, but I assume it will be louder than the H100....

any suggestions??