Building a pc for photo editing

Jeff Alperin · Jul 12, 2004

Now that I'm working with larger size NEF files, my P3 700mhz computer needs help. I'm considering building a box primarily for editing with PhotoShop and Nikon Capture. Any suggestions re motherboard, processor, graphics board? I'm trying to do this on the cheap, not build the ultimate. Thanks. --Jeff

Mark K · Jul 12, 2004

Jeff Alperin said:
Now that I'm working with larger size NEF files, my P3 700mhz
computer needs help. I'm considering building a box primarily for
editing with PhotoShop and Nikon Capture. Any suggestions re
motherboard, processor, graphics board? I'm trying to do this on
the cheap, not build the ultimate. Thanks. --Jeff

Last year, I built one for my film scanner
Pentium 4 2.4C
Asus p800 delux monther board
ATI 9600 Pro video card 128Mb on board memory with dual video output
Coolermaster tower case
1Gb DDR memory
3 x120 Gb Maxtor harddisks
Extra board for USB 2 and 1294 connectors
NEC DVD writer
One 18.1 LCD and one 19" CRT monitors
Wireless keyboards and mouse
Wacom drawing tablets

I am pretty sure you can plug in 2Gb RAM, 3 160Gb harddisks and a much faster DVD writer this year.

The two monitor system helps me a lot because I can use the CRT for photo editing while the LCD can be used for websurfing.

--
Mark K
Dimage 7i, G400, F100
Dynax 7, 800si
F5, 90X, S1Pro
A1.................

R Laing · Jul 12, 2004

hard drive intensive. The Maxtor Raptor 10,000 rpm drives are very very fast. In many systems hard drives are the ignored element. Capture and PS both need FAST drives.

willthecrusher · Jul 12, 2004

If you're images are as valuable as I guess they are, think about building a RAID-system using two harddrives in parallel mode. If one fails to work, the data is stored on the other. But use the same harddrive-models.

If you're a speed-freak, set up both RAID-harddrives to share-mode where the data of each file is splitted into two parts, reducing writing- / reading-times to the half.

Best of all (but surely hardly affordable): Combining both modes in order to double speed and double reliability.

Jeff Alperin · Jul 12, 2004

Are there websites with reviews of motherboards/processors? Do I care whether it's Intel or AMD?

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

If I had to build an affordable system now, it would be:

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe (motherboard)
AMD Athlon-XP 2500+ (Processor)
2 - 512mb Corsair XMS DDR PC3200(RAM)

2- Western Digital JB (Special Edition- with 8mb cache) - pick the size you need, two 80s, two 120s, two 200s - whatever you need.
ATI Radeon 9600xt retail (Video card)

This is a strong sytem that will serve you well. Those hard drives are plenty fast without raid and 1GB of RAM is enough unless you plan on working with more than 10 LARGE images at a time. Raid the hardrives for fault tollerence if you want but DON'T raid them for performance. The reason you don't want to have half a file write to one drive and half go to the other is because is doubles the chances that you will loose all your data. If one drive goes down, data on both is lost. If you want a bit more processing power, get a AMD Athlon-XP 3200+.

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

http://www.tomshardware.com is a good review site. Read everything you want to know there.

kramp · Jul 12, 2004

Jeff Alperin said:
Now that I'm working with larger size NEF files, my P3 700mhz
computer needs help. I'm considering building a box primarily for
editing with PhotoShop and Nikon Capture. Any suggestions re
motherboard, processor, graphics board? I'm trying to do this on
the cheap, not build the ultimate. Thanks. --Jeff

Just get lots of ram I have one gig and you open a few nefs in capture and have ps running and its all used up two gigs would be a lot nicer.

Stay away from raid 0 since you double your chances of loosing data from a hardrive failure, raid 1 mirrors but is slower for writes and raid with parity 0+1 are the way to go for data you don't want to loose.
--
Kramp
Hummingbird gallery
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/138336/1
Bug Macros
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/147595/1
Critters
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/140779
Pets
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/138371ets .

hendyphoto · Jul 12, 2004

I would build a completely differrent tower, and use your old tower for storage, get rid of all the periphials and replace them with a few more HD's. STORAGE STORAGE STORAGE!! Then get a dvd burner to store even more!! I am all about storage, speed comes second but speed is important too. I agree with the RAID system, it works great, and just make sure you get at least 1 gig of ram or better. AND get HD's with at least 7200 RPM, alot of laptops have really slow HD's and it SUCKS! A 52x cd burner is nice too, fast and easy to store NEF's. JUST GET ONE OF EVERYTHING!!! LOL j/k One of my biggest suggestions... dual monitors, crt or lcd whatever you can afford. I can have Nikon Capture open on one monitor and Photoshop open on the other. It RULES! okay, good luck..

Jon

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

For no reason should raid 1 be slower than a single HD. If you have experienced this there is something wrong with your RAID driver.

kramp said:
Jeff Alperin said:

Now that I'm working with larger size NEF files, my P3 700mhz
computer needs help. I'm considering building a box primarily for
editing with PhotoShop and Nikon Capture. Any suggestions re
motherboard, processor, graphics board? I'm trying to do this on
the cheap, not build the ultimate. Thanks. --Jeff

Click to expand...

Just get lots of ram I have one gig and you open a few nefs in
capture and have ps running and its all used up two gigs would be a
lot nicer.

Stay away from raid 0 since you double your chances of loosing data
from a hardrive failure, raid 1 mirrors but is slower for writes
and raid with parity 0+1 are the way to go for data you don't want
to loose.
--
Kramp
Hummingbird gallery
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/138336/1
Bug Macros
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/147595/1
Critters
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/140779
Pets
http://martind.smugmug.com/gallery/138371ets .

Neophyte1200 · Jul 12, 2004

Other than the fact that I didn't buy two identical drives, that is the exact system I built about a year ago. I'm very happy with the way it handles PS-CS and I've also done a moderate amount of video editing and DVD burning with good results.

I certainly agree that would be a great alternative for the money. I also agree if your budget is bigger, you should get the Athlon XP 3200+ first, then if you STILL have more budget, consider buying the Raptor hard drives. Unfortunately, although they are faster (not by as much as some make it sound), they also provide less storage space (in gigabytes).

That's my $.02.

Regards,
Eric

Bamboozler said:
If I had to build an affordable system now, it would be:

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe (motherboard)
AMD Athlon-XP 2500+ (Processor)
2 - 512mb Corsair XMS DDR PC3200(RAM)
2- Western Digital JB (Special Edition- with 8mb cache) - pick the
size you need, two 80s, two 120s, two 200s - whatever you need.
ATI Radeon 9600xt retail (Video card)

This is a strong sytem that will serve you well. Those hard drives
are plenty fast without raid and 1GB of RAM is enough unless you
plan on working with more than 10 LARGE images at a time. Raid the
hardrives for fault tollerence if you want but DON'T raid them for
performance. The reason you don't want to have half a file write to
one drive and half go to the other is because is doubles the
chances that you will loose all your data. If one drive goes down,
data on both is lost. If you want a bit more processing power, get
a AMD Athlon-XP 3200+.

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

There you have it. The proof is in the pudding. Two votes for the same system. Just so you know I have a very similar system but I have an Athlon-XP 3000+ and a Radeon 9700pro. (The 9700 is much better for gaming than the 9600).

Neophyte1200 said:
I certainly agree that would be a great alternative for the money.
I also agree if your budget is bigger, you should get the Athlon XP
3200+ first, then if you STILL have more budget, consider buying
the Raptor hard drives. Unfortunately, although they are faster
(not by as much as some make it sound), they also provide less
storage space (in gigabytes).

That's my $.02.

Regards,
Eric

Bamboozler said:

If I had to build an affordable system now, it would be:

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe (motherboard)
AMD Athlon-XP 2500+ (Processor)
2 - 512mb Corsair XMS DDR PC3200(RAM)
2- Western Digital JB (Special Edition- with 8mb cache) - pick the
size you need, two 80s, two 120s, two 200s - whatever you need.
ATI Radeon 9600xt retail (Video card)

This is a strong sytem that will serve you well. Those hard drives
are plenty fast without raid and 1GB of RAM is enough unless you
plan on working with more than 10 LARGE images at a time. Raid the
hardrives for fault tollerence if you want but DON'T raid them for
performance. The reason you don't want to have half a file write to
one drive and half go to the other is because is doubles the
chances that you will loose all your data. If one drive goes down,
data on both is lost. If you want a bit more processing power, get
a AMD Athlon-XP 3200+.

Click to expand...

Joseph Bergevin · Jul 12, 2004

Jeff Alperin said:
Any suggestions re
motherboard, processor, graphics board? I'm trying to do this on
the cheap, not build the ultimate. Thanks. --Jeff

I actually do this for a living, so I'm finally qualified to comment on something in this forum.

I'd suggest buying from NewEgg.com. I'd also suggest buying a genuine Intel motherboard along with a Pentium 4. Something like a 2.4GHz would be quite reasonable.

Try to buy a motherbaord with as many integrated devices as possible, as this will lower your risk of random freezes/hardware conflicts (and lower your system cost). I've never had any spurious problems (random reboots, freezing, etc) with Intel motherboards. I've found that the motherboard is the most crucial piece in your system as far as stability. Above all, buy a lot of RAM. Shoot for 512MB or more. RAM's pretty cheap nowadays, so it won't break you. Video cards aren't overly important. Many Intel brand boards have integrated video that's well up to the task (875 chipsets are the sweet spot right now). Buy whatever hard drive is cheapest. They're all high capacity and reliable. Buy a CD-burner to transfer/back up all your pics. That's about it.

saen · Jul 12, 2004

I disagree with it, they have a lot of bad reviews...

Bamboozler said:
http://www.tomshardware.com is a good review site. Read everything you
want to know there.

RITphototech · Jul 12, 2004

How about the emac?? It's reasonably priced!! (700-800 w. ram upgrade) or hold out for the new G5 imac!! ohh baby! Don't forget the 30in either!
Photo Pro = Mac Enthusiast

--

an oldie, but a goodie... shot with a 6006 - 50mm @ f/22 & 2sec

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

Examples? And which site do you recommend?

saen said:
Bamboozler said:

http://www.tomshardware.com is a good review site. Read everything you
want to know there.

Click to expand...

saen · Jul 12, 2004

If you are on budget, buy an AMD system. For motherboard get one with ViaKT600 chipset (abit, asus, gigabyte, etc), processor should be 2500+ or a bit higher, 1 gig ram, I would suggest the hitachi hard drives, pioneer 107/A07 dvd writer, video card is a matrox something or an ati (9600 pro for example). By a reliable power supply (do not buy the cheapest one) like chieftec, antec, zalman, enermax, etc.

Bamboozler · Jul 12, 2004

Asus boards are the best and use both Nvidia and Via chipsets. If you are going for a Via chipset, get the newer KT800 (replaced the 600). The power supply brands he lists are the goods ones, just to clarify.

saen said:
If you are on budget, buy an AMD system. For motherboard get one
with ViaKT600 chipset (abit, asus, gigabyte, etc), processor should
be 2500+ or a bit higher, 1 gig ram, I would suggest the hitachi
hard drives, pioneer 107/A07 dvd writer, video card is a matrox
something or an ati (9600 pro for example). By a reliable power
supply (do not buy the cheapest one) like chieftec, antec, zalman,
enermax, etc.

saen · Jul 12, 2004

I read hungarian ones (hwsw.hu; prohardver.hu), so I doubt you can understand them. The tomshardware has a very bad reputation here. I stopped reading it about a year ago as my tests proved that they seems to have strange winners in a lot of comparisons. I am not saying all the reviews/test are bad, but I would not trust them anymore. The best thing is to read a lot of forums. Not only one because a few loud wannabies can "lead the mass".

Bamboozler said:
saen said:

Bamboozler said:

http://www.tomshardware.com is a good review site. Read everything you
want to know there.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

saen · Jul 12, 2004

I can still by KT600 chipset here in Hungary and they are cheap and reliable and they are still very good. Nvidia chipset is only for tuning maniacs, not worth the money.

Asus boards are not the same anymore, I was a huge Asus fan before, but I hear way too much problem with them lately.

Bamboozler said:
saen said:

If you are on budget, buy an AMD system. For motherboard get one
with ViaKT600 chipset (abit, asus, gigabyte, etc), processor should
be 2500+ or a bit higher, 1 gig ram, I would suggest the hitachi
hard drives, pioneer 107/A07 dvd writer, video card is a matrox
something or an ati (9600 pro for example). By a reliable power
supply (do not buy the cheapest one) like chieftec, antec, zalman,
enermax, etc.

Click to expand...

Building a pc for photo editing

Active member

Veteran Member

Senior Member

Member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Forum Enthusiast

Well-known member

Well-known member

Forum Enthusiast

Well-known member

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Similar threads

Keyboard shortcuts