New computer for LR and PS

mipevo6

mipevo6

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Martin
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Folks,

I find myself in need of a new PC for "work".

I will primarily be using it for Photoshop CC, Portrait Pro, Lightroom and some light web editing.

Struggling with do I build it myself or do I just go to Dell v/ HP and get a 3 year support package.

Things I assume I need.

Screen 23 / 24 screen, need a wide gammut high quality screen
16Gb Ram why not its cheap and working with large image files will make a difference
Video card - I assume I will need a decent one, but is a gaming video card or, or am I better going with a workstation type card. I doubt I will ever be doing 3d.
SSD boot drive for speed
SSD cache drive for working / editing space ?
Large 2/3 TB storage disk

So questions for you all

1) Build or buy ? and who from if I buy
2) Did I miss anything critical in the spec above?
3) what type of video card
4) screen reccomendations

Thanks very much for taking a look at this, interested in peoples thoughts

Martin
 
You haven't mentioned it but what are you thinking for CPU? The norm that gets banded about on here is an i5 if not video editing. The i5 4670K Haswell chip is a decent price.
Motherboard? Do you intend to leave CPU stock or overclock it?

The build or buy thing usually falls down to whether you enjoy sourcing components seperately then putting them all together. If so then a self build is the way to go. It usually comes in cheaper too.
There are also a wealth of companies that will build for you but also let you customise the install. Chillblast is who I use. I select components and they build and deliver. They offer good warranties too.

As for video card, if all you are doing is photo editing then a standalone GPU is probably not essential others may say it is. If you do need one I would look at the GTX 7xx series from Nvidia.

Screen reccomendation - Dell U2412 (i think I have that number right) - best bang for buck and rather than a 1920 x 1080 resolution you get a 1920 x 1200 resolution which gets a thumbs up from most users.
 
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normal spec applies:

i5 quad
at least 8gb ram
SSD for OS, LR cat and working files

dont need anything special for GPU, the onboard i5 should be fine providing it can run the required screen res. unless you want to start running twins. LR isnt GPU accelerated, PS is only accelerated for a few things.
 
One of the things often overlooked is that if your using windows on this Pc, then it must be the 64bit version to enable use of anymore than 3gb. its a shame that so many people out there have motherboards with 16bg proudly plugged in and they have absolutely no idea that most versions of windows cant see or use any of it.

With regards graphics, one of my machines is on an I7 4770 using the embedded HD4000 GPU and it works just fine.
Many products are optimised to use GPU nowadays hardware so often a more powerful, compatible GPU certainly is a little faster, but I think most users would be quite happy with a HD4000 assuming use of up to two monitors.
For 3 or more you will need an external GPU in my experience.
 
Another good website is http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk, it seems a lot cheaper than Chillblast.com. (I'm sure there are plenty of others like these two, I know that overclock, overclockers, dabs and ebuyers and scan also pre-build systems for customers)

At work I mainly buy Dell, but given the amount of equipment I buy I get a serious discount with them. For my home PC I've long since given up on the hassle of building a system myself but I found that PC Specialists let you pick for a larger array of components than most other company's.

As for Graphics card, don't go for a workstation graphics card, you'll pay over the top for something you'll never use. I would suggest a mid range gaming card.

I use an SSD for my OS and User folders with a 10K SATA drive for my current RAW files and a 2x 2TB Raid 1 7.2K drive setup for my backup and media storage.

Also +1 for Daves recommendation for the Dell 24" Ultra screen. I use the U2410 at work and home, they are great screens.

I would recommend going for a water cooling system if you have the option, adding that plus "quiet" fans has made my home PC run so quiet.

Good luck!
 
Another vote for PC Specialist. A highly professional outfit who do keenly priced computers assembled in a very competent manner, and who have excellent customer service.

I've got one of theirs (i5, 8GB, NVidia GTX660 2GB) and it's been a lovely machine from day 1.

Although I did wang another 16GB in recently :)
 
Folks,

Thanks very much for the fast, detailed and sensible replies.

I have built my own in the past, but for this machine I would like some support and backup as I am likely to be using it for my business.

I will certainly check out both PC specialist and Chillblast so thanks for the pointers folks.

Clive, I wouldn't touch a MAC with a barge pole... I know PC , I don't pay over the odds for the Apple logo for a machine I can't play with is I want to.

Thanks Stuart for the monitor recommendation, I have used Dell monitors in the past and found them to be excellent quality.

Stu, I have used 6d bit for the last 2 years and would never go back, but a good pointer for everybody.

Time to go investigating some more.

Thanks all
 
Folks,

I have had a play and come up with this specification. I did find some interesting pricing differences depending which system I used at the base system :)

View attachment 4566

Any comments on the spec ?

I am then looking at 2 Dell monitors

The

U2412m or the U2413 PremierColor.

Has anybody tried the PremierColor which has a wider colour Gamut than the 2412

Thanks in advance

Martin
 
Almost the same as mine Martin except i didnt get a monitor, and have i7 Processor(unclocked)..no matter what i throw at it, it just flies,im sure you will be happy ;)
hope you are well.
 
Martin I was so pro pc but a friend of mine has an Apple Mac and allowed me to have a go on it so got used to it. Did my research. Wandered in to PC World and got chatting to Apple rep. Explained I was thinking of pc but looking at Apple as well. He gave me a long demo of its capabilities. Really made me sit up and take note. Did more research and then took the plunge. Have not regretted it at all. All the software like Lightroom, Photoshop works on Apple Macs. The graphics looks so much better on Apples. Part of my research was to compare same videos/photos on pcs and Apple Macs. Everytime the Apple won!
 
King of Groove said:
The graphics looks so much better on Apples. Part of my research was to compare same videos/photos on pcs and Apple Macs. Everytime the Apple won!
Click to expand...
That'll be the screen - the monitors Martin are spec'ing are better than standard PC monitors and as good as the Apple display (infact better as they are not as glossy).

@mipevo6: good spec. machine - I've only ever had issues with ATI cards though, so my only change to that would be to swap it for a low spec Nvidia card. no input on the 12m vs 13 though - have you looked at tftcentral? http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2413.htm reviews the 2413 and http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2412m.htm reviews the 2412. The 2413 has some level of comparison with the 2412m....
 
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Better is subjective, the gloss on macs adds an artificial contrast to the display. Not ideal for editing. Plus there's a reason apple used to call the matte display option "anti glare" ;)

Spec looks fine otherwise. Unlike andy though I've never had issue with ati.
 
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STARRIDER said:
Almost the same as mine Martin except i didnt get a monitor, and have i7 Processor(unclocked)..no matter what i throw at it, it just flies,im sure you will be happy ;)
hope you are well.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, looks like I will be going ahead with this one.

King of Groove said:
Martin I was so pro pc but a friend of mine has an Apple Mac and allowed me to have a go on it so got used to it. Did my research. Wandered in to PC World and got chatting to Apple rep. Explained I was thinking of pc but looking at Apple as well. He gave me a long demo of its capabilities. Really made me sit up and take note. Did more research and then took the plunge. Have not regretted it at all. All the software like Lightroom, Photoshop works on Apple Macs. The graphics looks so much better on Apples. Part of my research was to compare same videos/photos on pcs and Apple Macs. Everytime the Apple won!
Click to expand...
neil_g said:
Better is subjective, the gloss on macs adds an artificial contrast to the display. Not ideal for editing. Plus there's a reason apple used to call the matte display option "anti glare" ;)

Spec looks fine otherwise. Unlike andy though I've never had issue with ati.
Click to expand...
arad85 said:
That'll be the screen - the monitors Martin are spec'ing are better than standard PC monitors and as good as the Apple display (infact better as they are not as glossy).

@mipevo6: good spec. machine - I've only ever had issues with ATI cards though, so my only change to that would be to swap it for a low spec Nvidia card. no input on the 12m vs 13 though - have you looked at tftcentral? http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2413.htm reviews the 2413 and http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2412m.htm reviews the 2412. The 2413 has some level of comparison with the 2412m....
Click to expand...

Clive, Neil,

I agree with Neil, Apple screens are rich and vibrant and make everything look lovely.. Shame they are not accurate and are over saturated etc.. For photo editing this is not a good thing.. Great for movies and games though.

I have had issues with nVidia cards and their bumps.... as well as driver issues with ATI, I will say ATI have got much better at the whole driver update process so a card from either manufacture will I am sure be fine.

I ordered the 2413, I want to try moving tio the Adobe space and its wider colour gammut.

Thanks all, looks like I will probably order this weekend/monday
 
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Can't agree with you Martin that the screens are not accurate and over saturated. Wouldn't go back to pc now!
 
At least an external display is an option if you really want a mac. Personally I'd avoid all apple displays for editing, especially the thunderbolt which has more reliability issues than Skoda back in the 80s.
 
Skoda didn't have any reliability issues in the '80s!
 
Machine ordered..

Chillblast got the deal in the end.

Excellent service so far, friendly and knowledgeable.

And willing to negotiate :)

10-11 day lead time though :(
 
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