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11-12-2018, 05:06 PM - 2 Likes   #31
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The one issue with the video card is to make sure you think about what monitor(s) you want to drive and make sure that the card can support it.

For example, I'd think that for editing 4k video, it would be really sweet to have two 4k or 5k monitors for viewing the clips are full resolution. But I suspect that requires more than the average card to handle.

11-12-2018, 05:39 PM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
The one issue with the video card is to make sure you think about what monitor(s) you want to drive and make sure that the card can support it.

For example, I'd think that for editing 4k video, it would be really sweet to have two 4k or 5k monitors for viewing the clips are full resolution. But I suspect that requires more than the average card to handle.
Just a note on that... The Quadro P2000 I mentioned, whilst only a lower-to-mid-range choice, will - according to Nvidia's claims - support up to 4 x 5k @ 60Hz monitors. How that works in terms of video on more than one screen simultaneously, I honestly don't know....
11-12-2018, 05:43 PM - 1 Like   #33
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Whenever one has to choose laptop or components for desktop first step would be to choose the processor. This site is good for comparison:
PassMark Software - CPU Benchmark Charts
And it make a sense to pay an attention to single thread CPU performance. Not all applications (in particular Lightroom) are good at utilizing multi-threading. In that respect sometimes CPU with less cores/hyper-threads but good Single Thread Performance may provide better price-to-value number.
11-12-2018, 07:22 PM   #34
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QuoteOriginally posted by btnapa Quote
Hi Dave,

I built a "dream" machine about 4 or so years ago. It cost me just short of $3K. My cousin who had built his own machine helped me do it. I went all out with the specs thinking that I would need it to edit 4K and it was and is an overkill for Photoshop work, even today. I used it for about a year or so and enjoyed the speed and the time saving it offered me. No4K no video either. Mostly Photoshop work. I traveled for projects so I was missing the portability. I ended up going back to a Macbook Pro (i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) and never used the desktop again. It has been sitting there collecting dust for the past two years or so. I do miss the speed of the desktop but the Mac's speed has been sufficient for 1080P video editing and all my Photoshop work. Mind you that I do some panoramics from 8-10 images that get to be in the 2-3GB range in size so I do put a lot of strain on the Mac but the machine has delivered with flying colors. I was looking at a couple of newly released (or announced) Dell laptops that are out there in specs (6-core i7, 128GB-RAM, 8TB SSD, 8GB GC, etc) and priced in $8-10K range. I would buy one if my budget allowed it but I cannot justify the high cost.

Cheers,
Boris
I only work in my home office, and use: a special ergonomic keyboard, Wacom tablet, and two 27-inch NEC monitors. So, I intend to keep using these wonderful periferals and would have no interest in changing from a desktop to a laptop.

You make a good point about not "overbuilding" a new computer. Tempting to do, but I'll have to watch out for that.

11-12-2018, 10:14 PM   #35
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Do you like to to have an Intel or AMD CPU?
11-13-2018, 12:02 AM - 2 Likes   #36
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This what I will do... not overbuild but for years to come.

11-13-2018, 12:21 AM - 1 Like   #37
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You should also make a careful choice of which case you choose to put the components in - a good, well designed case will give you plentiful options for cable management, plentiful Hard drive support*, filtered fan intakes

The Corsair Obsidian series and Lian Li cases are well worth a look.


*Tool less hard drive trays are very common and depending upon design allow for hot swapping.

11-13-2018, 07:53 AM - 1 Like   #38
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https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/TV2sWD

This is very close to my current personal computer that I use to edit photos and videos alike.

Here's my actual build, but it has slightly older parts and all the peripherals added...
It was a lot of fun building, just let me know if you have any questions!
I also do a lot of gaming with this rig too.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/b/GKcYcf

Last edited by FozzFoster; 11-13-2018 at 08:17 AM.
11-13-2018, 10:28 AM - 1 Like   #39
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Wow, I can't believe all of the great advice I've received!

A lot to review and digest.

I'll be sure to report back to everyone on what I end up getting and how it performs.

I've never done a build before, but I have added RAM and hard drives and such. I found a local teenager who's already successfully built 7 gaming computers. I'll buy the components, and he'll do the actual build, I'm going to watch/assist him with the build. That way maybe I'll learn enough to be able to do a bit of maintenance and upgrading on it in the future as needed.

This is FUN.
11-13-2018, 11:52 AM - 1 Like   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by Fenwoodian Quote
I only work in my home office, and use: a special ergonomic keyboard, Wacom tablet, and two 27-inch NEC monitors. So, I intend to keep using these wonderful periferals and would have no interest in changing from a desktop to a laptop.

You make a good point about not "overbuilding" a new computer. Tempting to do, but I'll have to watch out for that.
I used a 24" Dell LCD and a 32" BenQ LED for my set up. I also used a wireless keyboard and mouse and a no name tablet which works just as good as a Wacom (which I did own at some point).

The only good thing about an "overbuilt" machine is that it is still pretty cutting edge and it performs on a top level, even today. I did look at some pre-built machines but the high spec ones were pretty pricy and for some reason I wanted to build my own. I guess it was a "can I do it" situation!
11-13-2018, 12:28 PM - 1 Like   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by btnapa Quote
The only good thing about an "overbuilt" machine is that it is still pretty cutting edge and it performs on a top level, even today.
My current HP ENVY 17 consumer laptop has an i7-4700MQ four core CPU, GT740M GPU, 16GB RAM (upgraded from the original 12GB) and a 2TB HDD (upgraded from 1TB). When I bought it 5 - 6 years ago, it was way over-specified for what I needed at the time. Since then, it has been a fast and reliable daily workhorse, handling everything I've thrown at it without missing a beat. And, whilst the specification is humble by today's standards, it runs all the latest photo processing and other software I use quickly. If it wasn't for the plastic chassis build quality letting it down around the screen hinges, I'd have been perfectly satisfied with it for another couple of years or so.
11-13-2018, 01:07 PM - 1 Like   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by RAART Quote
This what I will do... not overbuild but for years to come.
To explain a bit better why I chose to propose build like this is:

The storage drives, 1tb each totaling to 4tb but used in Raid as 2tb for backup and safety of the pictures or video work.

The video card supports 10bit colour space that photoshop uses per channel and also can run 2x 4K or 5K displays and even 1x 8K display at 60Hz. Also supports PS openCL.

32gb of RAM is enough and uses only 2 slots on motherboard and can be expanded with another set of 2x 16gb to total of 64gb if necessary.

PSU is powerful enough to handle power requirements of video card and all other peripherals and very stable.

Case is dual chamber design with magnetic dust covers and HDD cage support 2x 3.5 drives and 2x 2.5 or 4x 2.5 drives or even 6x 2.5 drives with additional adapters.
Supports 240mm radiator for liquid cooling with 2 fans on front.
Cables are hidden due to dual chamber design and airflow is not restricted due to same, speak cooler case inner flow.
Water cooling for CPU is fairly quiet and very efficient.

Motherboard and CPU can be changed to Intel based but this also may need another RAM modules. I choose AMD CPU while currently the Intel is twice expensive for similar performance. I also think that Adobe will start soon to use multiple cores on cpu’s while it is stupid not too.

The rest is changeable as per taste... Again not overbuild but safe for quite some years to come. Hope this clarifies some questions.
11-13-2018, 01:42 PM - 1 Like   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
You do, however, get built-in Bitlocker drive encryption. If cost isn't a primary concern and you ever store sensitive personal data on your drives, that feature alone makes Win 10 Pro worthwhile, no?
I know about Bitlocker, and I considered that in my reply.
There are free ways to do it, so it's good for people that need everything encrypted, like companies. But if you think you really need it, it is an easy and secure alternative.

---------- Post added 11-13-18 at 09:10 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by RAART Quote
This what I will do... not overbuild but for years to come.
Actually, the PSU is way overbuilt, that configuration won't get close to 50% power usage, the RAM is much faster than the CPU can use effectively, and the cooler is overkill. That is, unless you're planning on extreme overclocking, then they do make sense.
If this is for video editing, you'd be much better off having a PSU at 650/750W, dropping the RAM to 3000/3200, using the stock cooler, and using the savings to get PCIe secondary drives, instead of SATA.
That will make a real difference when editing video (if that's what you're doing), the measly gains from the RAM and the cooler not really.
11-13-2018, 02:21 PM - 1 Like   #44
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AMD Threadripper is very impressive on code built for multiple threads. On single threaded apps, an I9 or Zeon can still beat it but just barely. I will be doing a home build next year so will be interesting to see what is available then.
11-13-2018, 02:23 PM - 1 Like   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by dafbp Quote
I know about Bitlocker, and I considered that in my reply.
There are free ways to do it, so it's good for people that need everything encrypted, like companies. But if you think you really need it, it is an easy and secure alternative.

---------- Post added 11-13-18 at 09:10 PM ----------



Actually, the PSU is way overbuilt, that configuration won't get close to 50% power usage, the RAM is much faster than the CPU can use effectively, and the cooler is overkill. That is, unless you're planning on extreme overclocking, then they do make sense.
If this is for video editing, you'd be much better off having a PSU at 650/750W, dropping the RAM to 3000/3200, using the stock cooler, and using the savings to get PCIe secondary drives, instead of SATA.
That will make a real difference when editing video (if that's what you're doing), the measly gains from the RAM and the cooler not really.
Th video card alone draws 230w... CPU is I think around 105w. That.s already around 350w and do you really get 100% output from power supply.
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