[damianc]

I'd be tempted to invest in a SSD ahead of a more expensive GPU as the former seems to speed up the workflow more noticeably. Agree with the z97 mobo, it's a good foundation for a system. I disagree with those that have suggested 8Gb RAM, I think 16Gb is a minimum, it's not that hard to run out of memory editing a few images. That's where the SSD can help as well if the swapfile is on it rather than disk, R/W speeds are soooo much faster.

I've been a (solely) Linux user for nearly 20 years so I'm happy with it, but I use Rawtherapee/GIMP for processing. If PS/Lightroom are essential then this might be a showstopper. I don't know whether anyone here has managed to get either running under WINE ?

[Merts]

Can't talk about US prices (since I'm a Brit), but on the intel side, you'll need a 'z97' rather than a 'h97' that may cost £10 more. On the amd side, the cost difference is about £5 (just get an A88). As for ram costs, the difference between 1333mhz vs 2133mhz ram is £6 per 8gb.

So for essentially £16 (or £11 on amd), you get a 60% improvement in you integrated gpu performance. If it's an intel z97/z87 (preferably z97) or amd A88 motherboard, all should be good.

Well, kind of. You will need to set the ram speed manually in the motherboard bios (on intel anyway).

Buying a cheap gpu card isn't worth it these days. You'd be better off buying a decent £150 ish graphics card a couple of years down the line.

Interesting. BTW, as a disclaimer, a decade or two ago I was a bit of a computer nerd, but these days I'm more of a user, and my knowledge has dwindled regarding newer stuff.

The board I'm getting in my new system is a Z97, but I didn't even discuss faster RAM with the guys who are putting it together for me. The Graphics card is a Gigabyte GTX750 TI 2GB which I understand is 'okay' for gaming, and pretty good for rendering, video editing etc. It was only about $AU160 which is around £85.

One thing the computer guy did say was that having a SSD is a very good idea and improves overall performance markedly.

[MadMathMind]

That's where the SSD can help as well if the swapfile is on it rather than disk, R/W speeds are soooo much faster.

In practice, only for small random read and writes, which is why SSDs are so much faster for system disks. It's true that sustained transfer read rates are much higher for SSDs, but how often do you load multi-GB files from disk? Write rates for sustained transfers aren't as big a difference. That means if you dump a lot to your swap file, there's not much performance increase. When you read back, it may be higher, but it's unlikely you'd load a few GB from pagefile back into RAM all at once.

Obviously, SSDs are pretty awesome (have a couple), but a modest sized one to hold your OS is all that's needed. If you keep a separate files drive and keep it free from fragmentation (i.e., don't let the OS install stuff on it and store only large files), you shouldn't notice much difference from what you'd have with a high-capacity SSD unless you're loading up HD video files at 50GB each.

[osv]

Fast RAM isn't going to make a huge difference for still images. The amount matters a lot more. Fast RAM is needed in applications where bursts of bandwidth are needed--games are the big one. Keep in mind that enterprise-class workstations use ECC RAM, usually at speeds significantly slower than the fastest RAM available. The ECC itself slows it down a lot as well. In the end, there's no real performance loss because even the bandwidth that the slower ECC RAM provides is overkill.

i've been overclocking computers for many years, and everything that i've seen agrees with that... fast ram is big $$$ and any speed improvements that you see will be very small, and they will depend on a number of factors.

"...we would actually say that Photoshop CC shows little, if any, performance difference with ECC or Registered ECC memory despite what the total benchmark results indicate."
Debunking a Myth: DDR3 RAM vs. ECC Memory Performance - TechSpot

if ecc vs. standard ram doesn't make a difference, fast ram won't either... when it comes to photo editing, you'd be much better off spending your money elsewhere.

spending more money on multiple cpu cores vs. spending more money on a faster gpu is the other big question... both amd and nvidia take advantage of opengl these days.

photoshop vs. lightroom vs. premiere pro vs. whatever can all take advantage of multiple cpu cores, but they don't all benefit to the same degree... here it is from 2012, but things have changed:
https://forums.adobe.com/message/4289204

you have to look at your workflow; edit jpeg vs. edit raw, lightroom or no lightroom, lightroom vs. dxo for raw processing, etc.

[cats_five]

Get a good-quality quiet case which is easy to work in, and get a good PSU. You also need a decent IPS screen. My own PC which I build uses an AMD A85X-based gigabyte Mobo plus plenty of memory. My HDDs are mirrored. I can make panoramas using CS4 (which takes advantage of the GPU) reasonably quickly from several large images. I use the built-in GPU, not a separate card.


Skimping on the PSU can lead to stability problems if you load it much, buying a cheap case can make the build hard to do, and a noisy case becomes a PITA. A cheap screen leads to all sorts of colour problems. I also brought a quality keyboard as I use my PC for work as well with a lot of typing.


Your budget is tight - very tight if you need to buy a screen. Unless you are going the Linux route you might need to buy windows as well, so AMD is a more budget-conscious choice. Better to have slightly lower spec PC and quality parts IMHO.

[emalvick]

Unless you are going the Linux route you might need to buy windows as well, so AMD is a more budget-conscious choice. Better to have slightly lower spec PC and quality parts IMHO.

This is good advice... When you have a tight budget, you aren't going to splurge for the highest spec'd parts, and you're better off getting high quality parts that might be a bit lower spec'd than something that isn't. High Speed RAM sounds nice and may benefit your system, but unless you are a gamer, I'm not sure you'd really notice unless you had two PCs right next to each other. Cheap parts end up wearing out the fastest or have the least robust warranties. It's a delicate balance.

[Merts]

Skimping on the PSU can lead to stability problems if you load it much, buying a cheap case can make the build hard to do, and a noisy case becomes a PITA.

Good advice. The experience of sitting in front of a computer with quality PSU, case and associated fans is far more pleasant than sitting in front of one that sounds like a jumbo jet warming up on the tarmac. The difference in price isn't very much either in the overall scheme of things.

[Johnboyas]

If anyone still follows this thread I would like your input on the following two builds. I possibly have up to about twice the budget as I originally thought (depending on the wife hehe). I plan on using this for quite awhile and possibly tweaking/upgrading if needed in the future. What do you guys think about these builds (they're pretty much identical save for the processor), which one is the best for the money, pros/cons, or what changes might you make while staying at or below the price already figured? TIA

Intel Core i7-4790, Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti, Corsair Air 540 - My Custom Build - BIGGEORGIADAWG's Saved Part List - PCPartPicker

Intel Core i5-4690K, Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti, Corsair Air 540 - Build2 - BIGGEORGIADAWG's Saved Part List - PCPartPicker

[TER-OR]

I'm just building one myself. I'd suggest making sure the mobo has a front USB 3.0 header, since not all cases have cables long enough to reach rear headers.
I'm going to see how the on-chip integrated graphics work, I can always add one of the low-power GPU cards if necessary.

THe K chips are unlocked - if you never plan to overclock your CPU you don't need the K version. If you do plan to overclock, get a decent motherboard and a good heat sink, or you'll be very unstable.

[Johnboyas]

Thanks for the feedback, I checked and the mobo does have 6 total USB 3.0 headers with 2 being in the front and 4 in the rear and I also changed the i5 to the non-K version as I do not plan to overclock. Do you think the i7 is worth the extra +/-$100?

[mattb123]

I've been building my own PCs for 20 years or so. Lots of good info here.
I'll just add a couple of things to what everyone else has said.

SSDs are great, get one if you can afford it, upgrade to one later if it's not in the initial budget. The performance boost is huge, probably bigger than upgrading any other single component for our purposes. I have a 500 GB SSD for OS and applications and a 4 TB drive for the big data (thousands of RAW files). Chances are you could get away with a 256 GB SSD as well.

I'm using a video card intended for a HTPC (Home Theater PC) because I didn't want the additional fans and heat from a gaming card. It just has passive cooling aided by the case fan. I'm sure I gave up some performance for this but things seem generally pretty snappy so I'm not too concerned. It was a step up from the onboard video and I could always upgrade later if it bothers me.

16 GB of RAM is a good, I wouldn't go lower except as a temporary budget accommodation.

I think a color calibration system is more important than spending a lot on a monitor. Nice monitors are nice but cheap to mid range monitors are (for the most part) almost as nice and cost a lot less. An inexpensive monitor with color calibration will work well, and helps keep the costs under control. I have a Dell 22" monitor that was well-reviewed and inexpensive with a Huey USB calibrator and I have no complaints. Not having calibration with a nice monitor could still give you color trouble when your images are printed or viewed on other devices.

BACKUP! Factor in an external drive that can hold a second copy of everything on your PC. Ideally keep it off site in case there is a theft, flood, fire, or other catastrophic event. This is much more important than most people acknowledge. Hard drives die and it's more a matter of when than if.

[TER-OR]

I'm using a Samsung 500GB EVO drive - costs just $230 which is nuts. The storage drives will migrate from my existing rig.

I don't know if an i7 is worth the extra bucks. If you do a whole lot of processing and video, probably yes. The hyperthreading might be useful then. I decided not to go i7, but certainly it can't hurt if you want to spend the extra bucks.

I'm doing a Gigabyte mobo again, they've been great in my game rigs recently. Their UD series seems really built to last.

[cats_five]

Only the second link works.


Personally for now I would jack the SDD, get a second HDD and mirror the disk contents. These are your valuable photos, after all. Can't comment on the mobo, I have used Gigabyte for some time. However I do agree with the choice of an mATX mobo.


The savings would also partly pay for a Spyder or similar to get more accurate colours on your screen.


Have you tried the keyboard / mouse combo? What is sold as ergonomic and what suits you are often two rather different things.

[Johnboyas]

Only the second link works.


Personally for now I would jack the SDD, get a second HDD and mirror the disk contents. These are your valuable photos, after all. Can't comment on the mobo, I have used Gigabyte for some time. However I do agree with the choice of an mATX mobo.


The savings would also partly pay for a Spyder or similar to get more accurate colours on your screen.


Have you tried the keyboard / mouse combo? What is sold as ergonomic and what suits you are often two rather different things.

I use, and really like, a Logitech keyboard/mouse combo at work now and this was the closest I could find to that particular model. I deleted the second link as I think I've decided to go ahead and stick with the i5.