Need some guidance on a new computer for lightroom 3 and PS5

To each his own, we clearly have different expectations for the performance of our computers, note that I also require my computer to play the latest games well, like Battlefield 3 for instance, the "high-end" system you mentioned would not even be close to acceptable by my standards.

Even not considering games, the Phenom architecture was never an absolute-performance competitor during the Core 2 era, many sites have demonstrated this, like this one: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15 , note how the AMD chip is competitive with the lower-end Intel chips in Photoshop, not the higher-end ones.

Brent Allen Thale said:

To each his own, we clearly have different expectations for the performance of our computers, note that I also require my computer to play the latest games well, like Battlefield 3 for instance, the "high-end" system you mentioned would not even be close to acceptable by my standards.

Even not considering games, the Phenom architecture was never an absolute-performance competitor during the Core 2 era, many sites have demonstrated this, like this one: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15 , note how the AMD chip is competitive with the lower-end Intel chips in Photoshop, not the higher-end ones.

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That's the link I was looking at. To me, the i7 is not $100 more worth in performance, over the i5, for what I need. The i5 seems the sweet spot.

Richard said:

Drayken5 said:

I just purchased the OS. OEM windows 7 pro from newegg. I got it for $114, used a coupon code. I don't mind going over budget a little, I knew I would. I don't want to go SSD quite yet. This will be a huge jump from my old computer, I can wait almost a yr to get the SSD, and then see another little jump in performance, lol. Cost will go down by then. I know it costs more, but I want to stick with Intel i5 quad core 2500k. It just doesn't seem the AMD can keep up, and this will allow me to upgrade the CPU if I get a good mobo. I plan to just stick with 8g RAM for now. I can add 8 more, even if it is in like 6 months.

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The SSD is the largest performance jump you will see, when we are talking processors, speed diffs are small jumps, the I/0 is the bottle neck. I mentioned that the AMD was 160, and for multicore it is better than the intell, but if your gaming, then the Intell is the better way to go.

But you make a good case to get an Intel but the AMD was 50 dollars less and you sounded like you are on a budget. I have an intel myself.

I would say more than the processor, get a single SSD or raid a few 40 dollar (I have seen them on sale for 25 an newegg keep watch)sata 6 drives together. The speed difference you percieve will be profound, much greater than the processor jump from your old system. Again, I/O or hard drives have always been the bottle neck, booting, opening photoshop, opening photos will have a huge difference. If you double your proceesor speed, can you really notice double the processor speed? Takes photoshop 2 seconds instead of 4 to do a heavy process? Every time you boot, open photoshop or load a an image into photoshop, you will notice a 4 to 5 times difference very easily IMHO.

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Ok, which Raid setup should I be looking at? I got to read up on it. Also, would raid still be faster when opening and editing pics, if those pics and lightroom catalog are on an external drive? I keep ALL my photos and catalog on an external. I love the convenience of moving from my laptop to desktop, to elsewhere if needed. Yes, it has been slow performing, but I am hoping USB 3.0 fixes that. What are your thoughts? If raid would still be a huge gain, would two smaller 500g drives work? Since I keep my pics elsewhere, I don't need HUGE amounts of room.

Richard said:

Another thing, again, upgrading a cpu using the old mother board is not good. Almost always better to get a new chip and motherboard together because the tech on the board advances just as fast or fast than the chip. IMHO

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I understand, but later, an unlocked i7 will be dirt cheap when those new CPUs come out. I think I could go from an i5, to an overclocked i7 and consider that an upgrade for a while longer for my needs. Again, NO gaming.

Richard said:

Good luck on your system, sounds like no matter how you go, it is going to be a good system, just don't skimp on the hard drive(s) though.

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Lastly, I am on a budget, but not a set one. Just a realistic one. You know how it is, if I set it for about $600, it will end up about $800 when done. If I already say $800, then it will turn into $1,000, lol.

I am looking at cases at the moment. I haven't built a computer since my upgrade from a 333 computer, lol, so please forgive the stupid questions. Ok, if it has USB ports in the front, and I buy a mobo that has USB 3.0 on the mobo, not just the rear ports, then I will be able to make those front ports on the case, 3.0, yes? What's a decent price range for a case with good features, but no real need for bells and whistles. About $50-$90?

Drayken5 said:

Brent Allen Thale said:

To each his own, we clearly have different expectations for the performance of our computers, note that I also require my computer to play the latest games well, like Battlefield 3 for instance, the "high-end" system you mentioned would not even be close to acceptable by my standards.

Even not considering games, the Phenom architecture was never an absolute-performance competitor during the Core 2 era, many sites have demonstrated this, like this one: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15 , note how the AMD chip is competitive with the lower-end Intel chips in Photoshop, not the higher-end ones.

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That's the link I was looking at. To me, the i7 is not $100 more worth in performance, over the i5, for what I need. The i5 seems the sweet spot.

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Exactly the i-7 good as it is..is less bang per buck than the i-5 cost to performance ratio.

You tend to find this higher up the CPU food chain you pay more and get more but not to the same degree as low to mid range.

Saying that he's perfectly reasonable to suggest looking at a Phenom II the 6 core is a bit heavy power wise for me but it's a good performer for applications that can use all the cores (Lightroom being one of them)

But right now AMD to me make the most sense down at the budget quad core level where they're outstanding value bang per buck (again for multi threaded apps)

If the i-5 is in your price range then you won't be disappointed it's a very fast CPU and will chew through heavy duty work with ease.

Tom_N said:

Brent Allen Thale said:

Plus your spec does not include an OS, Windows 7 would bring the price significantly above $600.

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Does Microsoft still offer a much better price for an OEM copy of Windows, purchased at the same time as the motherboard, than they would on a standalone copy?

Otherwise, yes, you could spend half (or more) of the total hardware budget on a single copy of one of the fancier versions of Windows 7.

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I have seen it on sale at newegg and fry's occasionally for 79.00. I picked up a copy for $79 when it was on sale (OEM)
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I'm there to enjoy the scenery, I just happen to bring my camera along

http://www.pbase.com/ddietiker/latest

The current set of cases available make you run a cable from the USB 3.0 on the back to the USB 3.0 port on the front. I'm sure that will change, but I haven't found one that does yet. My board has a USB 3.0 connection for a front port, it's all dressed up but no where to go.....
--
I'm there to enjoy the scenery, I just happen to bring my camera along

http://www.pbase.com/ddietiker/latest

douglas d said:

The current set of cases available make you run a cable from the USB 3.0 on the back to the USB 3.0 port on the front. I'm sure that will change, but I haven't found one that does yet. My board has a USB 3.0 connection for a front port, it's all dressed up but no where to go.....
--

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I know Asrock were bundling some boards with USB 3 and a front panel with a connection to the motherboard USB 3 header.

I was even trying to source them out as I have USB 3 headers on my board there isn't a lot of support out there right now. I picked up a card reader Akasa with a USB 3 port but again it was to plug into the back ports not a header. That was a junk card reader anyway slow as dog for card speeds.

Barry Fitzgerald said:

Drayken5 said:

Brent Allen Thale wrote:

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Saying that he's perfectly reasonable to suggest looking at a Phenom II the 6 core is a bit heavy power wise for me but it's a good performer for applications that can use all the cores (Lightroom being one of them)

But right now AMD to me make the most sense down at the budget quad core level where they're outstanding value bang per buck (again for multi threaded apps)

If the i-5 is in your price range then you won't be disappointed it's a very fast CPU and will chew through heavy duty work with ease.

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The Amd motherboards are generally cheaper too which adds into the budget, but I agree, if the I5 is in the budget with mother board then sure get it. I would trying to get an SSD in the picture or raid. If you not, the article that did the test used a SSD to get those number.

If the difference in that batchfile test was 5 seconds, performing a simple filter, we are talking maybe a .5 to 1 second difference probably not to noticable. Is it worth the price diff, that is up to the OP.

Drayken5 said:

Ok, which Raid setup should I be looking at?

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Raid 0

Drayken5 said:

I got to read up on it. Also, would raid still be faster when opening and editing pics, if those pics and lightroom catalog are on an external drive?

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If you keep your images on an external drive, then it won't help you loading pics. As I said, it is booting files, and moving files around but the bottleneck is going to be your external drive which will be slow.

Drayken5 said:

I keep ALL my photos and catalog on an external. I love the convenience of moving from my laptop to desktop, to elsewhere if needed. Yes, it has been slow performing, but I am hoping USB 3.0 fixes that.

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No, not really, because again a spindle drive on usb3 is still slow but faster than USB2 you will get at least the 100mbyte tranfer rate the disk can pump out. If you had a raid cabinet for you external drive, you would see a speed difference in transferring files, but you would still need an internal raid.

My mother board came with an external Sata connector and power supply (takes a card slot on the back of case. That is real speed. But I do things a little differently than you and only transfer files once to the home computer or laptop. Laptop would then push files to home computer, External drives for me are for backup only.

Drayken5 said:

What are your thoughts? If raid would still be a huge gain, would two smaller 500g drives work? Since I keep my pics elsewhere, I don't need HUGE amounts of room.

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It will help at boot up, loading PS or LR. But not with storing to external disk

Drayken5 said:

Drayken5 said:

Another thing, again, upgrading a cpu using the old mother board is not good. Almost always better to get a new chip and motherboard together because the tech on the board advances just as fast or fast than the chip. IMHO

Click to expand...

I understand, but later, an unlocked i7 will be dirt cheap when those new CPUs come out. I think I could go from an i5, to an overclocked i7 and consider that an upgrade for a while longer for my needs. Again, NO gaming.

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But as you noted, it is not much better than the i5. You can overclock the I5, but remember, the chip runs hotter, lowers life, and can sometimes have stability problems.

Drayken5 said:

Lastly, I am on a budget, but not a set one. Just a realistic one. You know how it is, if I set it for about $600, it will end up about $800 when done. If I already say $800, then it will turn into $1,000, lol.

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If you have 1000, then you should be getting an ssd and spindle disk raid, and saving your files internally, use your external as backup and transferring to your laptop IMHO

Drayken5 said:

I am looking at cases at the moment. I haven't built a computer since my upgrade from a 333 computer, lol, so please forgive the stupid questions. Ok, if it has USB ports in the front, and I buy a mobo that has USB 3.0 on the mobo, not just the rear ports, then I will be able to make those front ports on the case, 3.0, yes? What's a decent price range for a case with good features, but no real need for bells and whistles. About $50-$90?

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You need to be more specific. Are you talking just a case or a case and powersupply that will handle 2 or 3 raided disk drives?

Some others answered the header question on the mother board for USB3, use the back.

Brent Allen Thale said:

To each his own, we clearly have different expectations for the performance of our computers, note that I also require my computer to play the latest games well, like Battlefield 3 for instance, the "high-end" system you mentioned would not even be close to acceptable by my standards.

Even not considering games, the Phenom architecture was never an absolute-performance competitor during the Core 2 era, many sites have demonstrated this, like this one: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15 , note how the AMD chip is competitive with the lower-end Intel chips in Photoshop, not the higher-end ones.

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Motherboard and chip price is higher. I agree, if he has the budget, go for it, but I was trying to include SSD or raid, but he uses external HD we find out so it is hard to make suggestions without knowing work flow.

Richard said:

The Amd motherboards are generally cheaper too which adds into the budget, but I agree, if the I5 is in the budget with mother board then sure get it. I would trying to get an SSD in the picture or raid. If you not, the article that did the test used a SSD to get those number.

If the difference in that batchfile test was 5 seconds, performing a simple filter, we are talking maybe a .5 to 1 second difference probably not to noticable. Is it worth the price diff, that is up to the OP.

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Agree so often folks get too caught up in benchmarks when real world use is far less of an issue.