New Build for Photography

matthewprince

matthewprince

matthewprince

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Joined
28 Dec 2007
Posts
261
Hi,

I am about to buy a new setup from overclockers. Its main use will be photography and then just general use. I know i am going to need a good spec to deal with the raw files my camera puts out (15mb each)

Am i right in thinking i will need a lot of ram, and a really fasy processor?

Is there any benefit over amd than intel for photography? , if intel is the i7 a lot better for photography or would a quad core be just as good?

I have heard that there is a better panle than tn panel for lcds for photography. Is that right? , if so what is the cheapest non tn panel on ocuk 22" or bigger?

My overall budget is about £1000 for the lot.

Matt
 
Get a Q6600 because Adobe Creative Suite uses more than two cores, get quite a lot of RAM (maybe 8GB), and a big, fast HDD, like the 1TB Samsung F1.
 
Hi,

Budget is £1000 and i will be using Photoshop CS3 so plenty of image manipulation. I will need at least 1tb of hd and probably 500gb for normal windows use.

Would i7 setup give me twice as fast performance with its triple channel memory or would it be negligable?

Matt
 
just worked out this and i can get it for just over £1000

AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core
Gigabyte Motherboard
8GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066mhx Ram
500gb Samsung HD
1tb Samsung F1 HD
22" LG Montitor
ATi Radeon HD4450 graphics card
2x Samsung DVDrw
All with decent case, power supply, speakers, keyboard and mouse and genuine Windows Vista 64bit Ultimate

Matt
 
You're not going to see double the performance with i7 for your uses....in fact, I don't think it doubles performance in any use. The triple channel RAM is a bit a gimmick at the moment and doesn't really make much of a difference.

Personally I'd go for Intel as opposed to AMD as it will be a bit faster for the same price. You might want to see if you can stretch to a 24'' screen as well...22s are nice, but 24s are even better :)
 
matthewprince said:
Whats the crack with tn panels? , dont know a lot about it but been told that tn are crap quality and ??is better for photography??

Matt
Click to expand...

TN panels are used in cheaper LCDs, and are generally poorer quality than PVA panels, which are used in the more expensive screens. I'm no expert on screens, but I am a graphic designer, and work regularly using a TN screen with no problems.

I think we need some photography buffs in here really to fill you in a bit more.
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail £229.99
(£264.49) £229.99
(£264.49)
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £79.99
(£91.99) £79.99
(£91.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £66.99
(£77.04) £66.99
(£77.04)
PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 4670 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 4670 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £51.99
(£59.79) £51.99
(£59.79)
Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK) Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK) £41.99
(£48.29) £41.99
(£48.29)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ) £38.99
(£44.84) £38.99
(£44.84)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) £31.49
(£36.21) £62.98
(£72.42)
Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.54) £16.99
(£19.54)
Sub Total : £589.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DHL @ Home Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.99
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £88.49
Total : £678.40

needs case and monitor(s)

optional
quieter CPU cooling
more HDDs
 
you say your budget is 'about 1k' .. not sure how about this means... but i had a go

spec-1.jpg
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tn panels have poor viewing angles....usually faster response times though which are good for games.
but if photography is your hobby then you really need to avoid tn.
 
Do you intend to use the system for gaming?, the reason I ask is because Photoshop couldn't really give a monkeys what VGA card is being used and you could be as well off with a lower spec passively cooled card, ditto ram, Photoshop has almost no noticeable improvements with lower latency stuff, it's all about qty. Get the quickest 4 core you can afford and give it a good 8gb of mid price ram, go for a reliable brand name board with lots of connectivity and you are basically there. Spend the money saved on a gaming card on silent cooling solutions to make your photo editing a touch more civilised and 32mb cache hard drives (helps no end with pre fetching large photo files).
 
Last edited:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail £229.99
(£264.49) £229.99
(£264.49)
Asus VH226H 22" Widescreen True HD LCD Monitor - Black Asus VH226H 22" Widescreen True HD LCD Monitor - Black £144.99
(£166.74) £144.99
(£166.74)
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £84.99
(£97.74) £84.99
(£97.74)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £66.99
(£77.04) £133.98
(£154.08)
NZXT Hush Classic Series Silent Midi-Tower Case - Black (No PSU) NZXT Hush Classic Series Silent Midi-Tower Case - Black (No PSU) £59.99
(£68.99) £59.99
(£68.99)
Gigabyte ODIN GT 550W ATX2.2 Dual-SLi Compliant Modular PSU (GE-S550A-D1) Gigabyte ODIN GT 550W ATX2.2 Dual-SLi Compliant Modular PSU (GE-S550A-D1) £49.99
(£57.49) £49.99
(£57.49)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £27.99
(£32.19) £55.98
(£64.38)
Akasa All-In-One 21 Function Panel (Black) - Retail Akasa All-In-One 21 Function Panel (Black) - Retail £25.99
(£29.89) £25.99
(£29.89)
Asus ATI Radeon EAH3450/HTP/256M Vcool Silent 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Asus ATI Radeon EAH3450/HTP/256M Vcool Silent 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £20.99
(£24.14) £20.99
(£24.14)
Asus DRW-20B1ST 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Rewriter (Black/Silver) - Retail Asus DRW-20B1ST 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Rewriter (Black/Silver) - Retail £19.99
(£22.99) £19.99
(£22.99)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £15.99
(£18.39) £15.99
(£18.39)

That lot majors on silence, a fast 4 core, masses of RAM and system cache, two TB of storage and a drive bay card reader / USB / Firewire.

Total inc postage is £969, desperate to spend a grand? then spend a bit more on the graphics card (just in case you do decide to blast some aliens).
 
Last edited:
Guzzidom said:
Do you intend to use the system for gaming?, the reason I ask is because Photoshop couldn't really give a monkeys what VGA card is being used and you could be as well off with a lower spec passively cooled card, ditto ram, Photoshop has almost no noticeable improvements with lower latency stuff, it's all about qty. Get the quickest 4 core you can afford and give it a good 8gb of mid price ram, go for a reliable brand name board with lots of connectivity and you are basically there. Spend the money saved on a gaming card on silent cooling solutions to make your photo editing a touch more civilised and 32mb cache hard drives (helps no end with pre fetching large photo files).
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks. Thats realy helpful. I will play no games whatsoever so will buy a cheaper card. What do you mean about that above (in bold/red)??
 
He's meaning go for an aftermarket CPU cooler, a heatsink (and no fan) cooled graphics card, a quiet PSU so that your PC is whisper quiet and you don't feel like you're sitting beside an air conditioner.
 
aaagh right. Yeah that seems like a good idea. I was going to go the i7 route but would have to have cheaper everything else to afford it. Do you know of a good 22/24" pva on ocuk?

Matt
 
You could drop the spec a touch to a Q6600 and 4gb of ram (wouldn't feel much of a pinch unless you regularly have multiple layers of 35mb .tif's open) and go for a pair of decent 19" monitors, one for the photo being edited and the other one for your menu's and toolbars, doesn't really fit in with many home setups but it's how the pro's work, you wouldn't need 64 bit Vista with that rig either because there wouldn't be so much memory to recognise.
Bear in mind that I use an E8400 and 2gb of ram and rarely find it wanting with 15mb .nef's so what's being specced above is a pretty high end solution and unless you are a very intensive user with a huge workflow (you, of course, may well be) a lot of it will sit idling in the background, that said, it's nice to know the wallop is there if you need it.
 
Corsair VX450 for PSU.
With passively cooled graphic card practical peak draw is around 150W.
(20-30W more with old Q6600)



matthewprince said:
Do you know of a good 22/24" pva on ocuk?
Click to expand...
Only 22" non-TNs are Eizo S2231W and 1920x1200 resolution Lenovo L220x but OCUK doesn't have them.
In 24" there are more non-TNs, Dell 2408WFP, Lacies, NEC LCD24WMGX3 and IPS paneled Hazro (unadjustable overbright backlight) and HP LP2475W.
Smaller sizes are all full of TNs nowadays.
 
Guzzidom said:
You could drop the spec a touch to a Q6600 and 4gb of ram (wouldn't feel much of a pinch unless you regularly have multiple layers of 35mb .tif's open) and go for a pair of decent 19" monitors, one for the photo being edited and the other one for your menu's and toolbars, doesn't really fit in with many home setups but it's how the pro's work, you wouldn't need 64 bit Vista with that rig either because there wouldn't be so much memory to recognise.
Bear in mind that I use an E8400 and 2gb of ram and rarely find it wanting with 15mb .nef's so what's being specced above is a pretty high end solution and unless you are a very intensive user with a huge workflow (you, of course, may well be) a lot of it will sit idling in the background, that said, it's nice to know the wallop is there if you need it.
Click to expand...

This sounds very very interesting. Is 19" the preferred siz or would 20/22/24" be better still?

How would you get photoshop to put tools on 1 monitor and pic on the other? and would i have to drag them over every time i load photoshop?

Would 3 monitors be even better? (seen a few on here)

Matt
 
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