Upgrade for Photoshop

jack_t

Hi,

I need to upgrade my home PC and need some advice. It will be used mostly for editing photos in Photoshop.
I need to upgrade:
-motherboard (microATX),
-PSU,
-CPU,
-memory,
-graphic card (GPU?) if whatever is on the motherboard is not good enough for photoshop,
-HDD (SSD depending on total price),
-screen

Thanks for help.

EDIT 19/08/2011:

Budget below 600 including screen. Thanks.

Tea_Bag

Budget?

jack_t

Tea_Bag wrote: »

Budget?

Budget 600

Serephucus

Could you post the specs of your current machine? It'd be helpful to know what your current parts are to see if anything can be ported over to the new build. Speccy will help you there, if you're not sure.

freestyla

Dunno about screen, what size you need? also if you are very pro in Photoshop or just want perfect color etc details, screen matters A LOT and ones built for that purpose cost A LOT.
So called normal very good quality screens are around 150eur for 21" so should fit into your budget.

CPU, I didn't go the best on market AMD because they are more expensive but I think you wouldn't notice that much difference + AMD new CPUs are coming out and if you feel slow you can upgrade next year.

For HDD.. here is 500gb very well performing disk thru SATA6gb connection but if you add another 50eur, you can get SSD but only 60gb size?

Sum:
423,20 €

Article No. HV13W56BDE entfernen
WD Caviar Black 500GB SATA 6Gb/s
ready for dispatch
47,37 €

Article No. HV20CO58DE entfernen
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
ready for dispatch
43,85 €

Article No. HV1141UVDE entfernen
ASUS M5A88-M, AM3+, mATX
ready for dispatch
79,55 €

Article No. HV20P396DE entfernen
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Box, Sockel AM3
ready for dispatch
104,53 €

Article No. HVR530L7DE entfernen
be quiet! Pure Power 530 Watt / BQT L7
ready for dispatch
56,69 €

Article No. HV1027UQDE entfernen
ASUS ENGTS450/DI/1GD5, 1GB DDR5, PCI-Express
ready for dispatch from 2011-08-23
91,21 €

jack_t

@freestyla: Thanks for help. I have an external NAS drive so storage is not a problem - if SSD is to make a big difference in computer's speed I can stretch my budget.
I want to re-use my existing mATX case but I was thinking that new CPU, graphic etc will generate more heat than existing ones so new, bigger case could help with better cooling. What do you think?
Is there a big difference between Intel CPUs (ie i5-2500) and the proposed AMD?
Or is the difference worth the extra cost?
I have scythe ninja-2 cpu cooler which I think has mounts for the AMD socket but not for new intel sockets. So by buying AMD I will save on new cooler.
Could you advise on the screen spec? Say 21 inch?

Thanks.

freestyla

Would make big difference if you'd use photoshop from the same SSD disk where you store the photos for editing.
Now I'm not sure how much noticeable difference would it make if you use PS from SSD and photos from another mechanical drive (or even NAS). PS needs good buffering for big (raw?) files, but again 8gb RAM should help here.

Are you gonna overclock?

if so, then go for core i5-2500k +Z68 chipset system which goes over 4Ghz with decent size cooler. This is also better in gaming but then you need better graphic card.. and as you mentioned ATX case for better cooling, and cost keeps rising..

if you not OCing and gaming on full hd resolution then heat shouldn't be an issue with mATX mobo and case.

X4 965 is very good in media production and fits your budget perfectly, socket AM3+ motherboard ready for AMD next gen CPU Bulldozer and you got
scythe already.
Rather stretch your budget for IPS panel screen once you playing with photos, 2560 resolution is pro alrite

jack_t

Thanks for help. I'll buy the AMD CPU as suggested. Instead of buying SSD drive I will buy a better screen.

Thanks.