Building a small desktop for photo processing

FrankGrimes

I use a work laptop for most day to day computing and a tablet for general browsing. I have another older laptop with 4GB RAM that I use for Adobe Lightroom processing of photos. The laptop is starting to slow down and memory usage spikes when using Lightroom to the extent that it's not bearable to use. I also need more storage space.

I'd like to build (or buy) a desktop to replace the laptop. Main usage will be for photo (and later video probably) processing, study (Office etc.) and general browsing etc. I want bucket loads of storage, e.g. 3TB. We're tight on space and the spot I'd like to put it in is crowded so ideally it'd be in a fairly small case, can't remember, is it mATX mobos that are the midsize option? I'd also like it to be quiet as it'll be used for study/asssignments a lot.

It's been a few years since I last built a PC so I'm out of the loop on what the latest suitable spec options are so would appreciate suggestions. I'm guessing it's best to go with 8GB RAM (what type) but not sure if integrated graphics would work well, or if going with a separate gfx what would fit in what case, assuming passive cooling would be best for noise reduction (?).

I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. and have connections with Microsoft so get low cost software (it will run Windows 8.1 64-bit). Not sure what's needed budget-wise but I'd like it to cost no more than 500euro including at least 3TB of HDD storage but am wondering if that might be overkill. Would it be worth using a small SSD for the operating system - someone mentioned that might reduce usage of the HDD and therefore reduce possibility of a failure - any truth in that or is it waffle?

BloodBath

You should fill out the questions from the sticky.

FrankGrimes

Sorry, I had actually scanned the sticky but missed the link to the standard fields to fill out for a request such as this. I've filled it out now, thanks.

1. What is your budget? I can go to 700euro but I wonder if that might be overkill for what I need it for.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? This will mainly be used for processing photos with Adobe Lightroom and general study (so just standard web browsing and Office). I'm a casual photographer but am getting more into it so want the ability to both process photos quickly without delay (current laptop is slow for Lightroom edits) and also have the option of editing videos I take with my SLR camera.

I'm happy to pay a bit extra to ensure I'm future-proofed and have quiet (given it will be used for a lot of study) and quality components. I've had a few HDDs fail over the years so really want to have both huge storage capacity (minimum 3TB) and peace of mind knowing the HDD is good quality (will backup also). If using a smallish SSD for the operating system would in any way prolong the life or reduce the risk to the HDD, I'd be happy to buy one.

The machine will be under a desk with fairly limited space so I don't want a huge case. Not sure on the sizes available, but I could probably fit in a traditional tower shape as long as it's not very thick, though a neat cube shape case would probably also work well.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? I have a copy of Windows and Office. Only other software I need to buy is Adobe Lightroom - will investigate transferring my existing license from current laptop and rebuy if that's not possible (separate to the above budget).

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] No.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] Monitor is a 22" HD monitor, pretty sure it's 1920x1080 with DVI and VGA inputs.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? I have a keyboard and mouse. I'd like to have integrated memory card reader (mainly just SD/SDHC). That said, I'd like to get a USB hub so I can have accessories plugged in on the desk with the PC sitting under the desk (in a hard to reach spot so maybe will end up using a separate USB card reader most of the time.

I'd like to get some small, AC powered speakers - don't need to be very powerful.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not dead against it but am very short on time so would prefer not to have to look into it and amn't sure it'd be needed for my usage scenarios.

8. How can you pay? Flexible, any of - Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? Within a week

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? I'm based in Dublin 12, work in Sandyford but I've built PCs before so hope to be able to do it myself.

Thanks!

FrankGrimes

Just bumping this to see if anyone might have thoughts. If there's any other info I can provide to help, let me know.

FrankGrimes

I've now put in a fair bit of homework on this and it'd be great to get some thoughts before I hit the order button as there's a few things I'm not certain of and I won't have a chance to reorder parts in time for Christmas if there's a mistake (it serves part of my OH's gift). I'll use the discount site before ordering.

Item|Price
ASRock H87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€74.54
2 x Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€239.98
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€16.31
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€149.00
be quiet! PURE POWER L8 500W|€58.23
Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA|€164.90
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€116.21
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.89
ASUS PCE-N10|€14.90
be quiet SilentWings2 120mm|€17.07
be quiet SilentWings2 140mm|€17.94
2 x LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€2.84
LG Flatron 24EN43TS-B|€142.47
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.85
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1063.12

And with a Corsair CC-9011028-WW Obsidian Series 350D Micro-ATX Performance Case at £89 GBP.

So I pretty much tore up the original script as this is a bigger case than planned and I've gone for much higher spec and budget than originally planned. Part of me is thinking that it's overkill as it won't be used for gaming, but another part of me is thinking I'd rather pay this amount and feel I have a beast of a machine that'll do Lightroom, video editing (to be honest only little bits here and there) and general use with lightning speed than pay 600-700 and feel it might only be just about adequate.

I also decided to go for dual monitor support for productivity - didn't want a GPU with fan due to noise concerns but reckon this is a good trade-off, how noisy should this setup be for normal use? I'm assuming monitor comes with DVI cable and that a VGA-DVI adaptor for my existing monitor (which has HDMI, VGA, DVI inputs, is 1080p) will be fine? I didn't put much thought into monitor selection, just chose one from the Topseller listing as it seemed a decent price, any others to consider instead?

I'm not sure about the different types of RAM available, is that a good option included and can I add 2 x 4GB sticks later if I feel I need extra oomph?

Is the CPU cooler a decent and reasonably quiet one?

I opted for the Corsair 350D as it sounds like it's an easy enough case to work with and has good cooling and is reasonably quiet. Do I need to add the extra case fans I have included or will it be fine? If there's a case that's just about as good and easy to build in but lower price, I'd be interested to see it (find it hard to figure out which ones will take these parts without issue).

Lastly, what little bits and pieces do I need to ensure I don't have that horrible scenario where you get stuck into it and then realise you're missing a small but important part. Are SATA cables included (or do I need right angle cables), do I need any additional bracket for the SSD, do Hardwaresand include UK or European power cables?

SterlingArcher

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I've now put in a fair bit of homework on this and it'd be great to get some thoughts before I hit the order button as there's a few things I'm not certain of and I won't have a chance to reorder parts in time for Christmas if there's a mistake (it serves part of my OH's gift). I'll use the discount site before ordering.

Item|Price
ASRock H87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€74.54
2 x Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€239.98
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€16.31
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€149.00
be quiet! PURE POWER L8 500W|€58.23
Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA|€164.90
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€116.21
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.89
ASUS PCE-N10|€14.90
be quiet SilentWings2 120mm|€17.07
be quiet SilentWings2 140mm|€17.94
2 x LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€2.84
LG Flatron 24EN43TS-B|€142.47
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.85
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1063.12

And with a Corsair CC-9011028-WW Obsidian Series 350D Micro-ATX Performance Case at £89 GBP.

So I pretty much tore up the original script as this is a bigger case than planned and I've gone for much higher spec and budget than originally planned. Part of me is thinking that it's overkill as it won't be used for gaming, but another part of me is thinking I'd rather pay this amount and feel I have a beast of a machine that'll do Lightroom, video editing (to be honest only little bits here and there) and general use with lightning speed than pay 600-700 and feel it might only be just about adequate.

I also decided to go for dual monitor support for productivity - didn't want a GPU with fan due to noise concerns but reckon this is a good trade-off, how noisy should this setup be for normal use? I'm assuming monitor comes with DVI cable and that a VGA-DVI adaptor for my existing monitor (which has HDMI, VGA, DVI inputs, is 1080p) will be fine? I didn't put much thought into monitor selection, just chose one from the Topseller listing as it seemed a decent price, any others to consider instead?

I'm not sure about the different types of RAM available, is that a good option included and can I add 2 x 4GB sticks later if I feel I need extra oomph?

Is the CPU cooler a decent and reasonably quiet one?

I opted for the Corsair 350D as it sounds like it's an easy enough case to work with and has good cooling and is reasonably quiet. Do I need to add the extra case fans I have included or will it be fine? If there's a case that's just about as good and easy to build in but lower price, I'd be interested to see it (find it hard to figure out which ones will take these parts without issue).

Lastly, what little bits and pieces do I need to ensure I don't have that horrible scenario where you get stuck into it and then realise you're missing a small but important part. Are SATA cables included (or do I need right angle cables), do I need any additional bracket for the SSD, do Hardwaresand include UK or European power cables?

Coolmaster hyper EVO is best and most purchased budget cooler at 28 euro. Quiet and good cooling.

Don't know the one you bought but if it only serves to work as good as the stock one is pointless.

Why 2 separate120 gig SSD? Would a 60 gig for os and 250 gig one not b cheaper? Just curious,

250 gig cost 144
And a 120 gig. 84.
370 gigs, , this is cheaper than what are paying for 2 128 gigs.

With savings get tge better cooler.

FrankGrimes

Thanks for that SterlingArcher. That was actually a pure mistake, must've clicked twice on the 128GB SSD, intention was only to have one. The 256GB SSD is 199EUR so I could go for that but on the other hand, intention is to only use the SSD for OS and program installations so 100GB should suffice, main data will be stored on the HDD. Does 128GB generally suffice?

I'll go for that CPU cooler you pointed out, thanks for that.

Does the rest of the build look ok?

SterlingArcher

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Thanks for that SterlingArcher. That was actually a pure mistake, must've clicked twice on the 128GB SSD, intention was only to have one. The 256GB SSD is 199EUR so I could go for that but on the other hand, intention is to only use the SSD for OS and program installations so 100GB should suffice, main data will be stored on the HDD. Does 128GB generally suffice?

I'll go for that CPU cooler you pointed out, thanks for that.

Does the rest of the build look ok?

Yeah 128 be grand for os and such. Did you use the discount site. To see if you could make any savings ahh think you did but here is anyway.

http://geizhals.de/

FrankGrimes

Cheers for that. I haven't used the discount site yet, plan was to do it this evening when I have everything confirmed as good to go - do you just search for the part number on the discount site, click through on the hardwaresand icon and then add to basket? I tried that just now for the RAM and GPU and it ended up with the same price - does it only result in a discount for some items?

Just noticed my current monitor is the 22" LG Flatron and it's IPS and I find it great so I've just updated the monitor to the 24" IPS version and removed the 2nd SSD, so here's the latest list (excluding the Corsair case):

Item|Price
ASRock H87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€74.54
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€119.99
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€16.31
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€149.00
be quiet! PURE POWER L8 500W|€58.23
Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA|€164.90
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€116.21
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.89
ASUS PCE-N10|€14.90
be quiet SilentWings2 120mm|€17.07
be quiet SilentWings2 140mm|€17.94
2 x LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€2.84
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.85
LG Flatron 24EA53VQ|€149.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€950.31

Hoping to get it all wrapped up and order tonight, so last two main questions are to double-check all the parts I've selected are compatible (think so) and to confirm if there's any cables or adaptors I need to get that aren't included.

SterlingArcher

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Cheers for that. I haven't used the discount site yet, plan was to do it this evening when I have everything confirmed as good to go - do you just search for the part number on the discount site, click through on the hardwaresand icon and then add to basket? I tried that just now for the RAM and GPU and it ended up with the same price - does it only result in a discount for some items?

Just noticed my current monitor is the 22" LG Flatron and it's IPS and I find it great so I've just updated the monitor to the 24" IPS version and removed the 2nd SSD, so here's the latest list (excluding the Corsair case):

Item|Price
ASRock H87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€74.54
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€119.99
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€16.31
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€149.00
be quiet! PURE POWER L8 500W|€58.23
Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA|€164.90
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€116.21
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.89
ASUS PCE-N10|€14.90
be quiet SilentWings2 120mm|€17.07
be quiet SilentWings2 140mm|€17.94
2 x LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€2.84
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.85
LG Flatron 24EA53VQ|€149.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€950.31

Hoping to get it all wrapped up and order tonight, so last two main questions are to double-check all the parts I've selected are compatible (think so) and to confirm if there's any cables or adaptors I need to get that aren't included.

PSU maybe the corsair 500 w modular( modular meaning the cables can be disconnected from the actual PSU unit) same price as one you picked that said, be quiet a good PSU have one myself.

FrankGrimes

SterlingArcher wrote: »

PSU maybe the corsair 500 w modular( modular meaning the cables can be disconnected from the actual PSU unit) same price as one you picked that said, be quiet a good PSU have one myself.

Thanks again SterlingArcher. I've found Corsair stuff good in the past so might go for that - is the advantage of modular tidiness related from unplugging the cables you don't need? Quietness is my priority so whichever one is quieter between the Corsair and the Be Quiet is the one I'll go for.

Any other final thoughts before I hit the order button, would be good to get someone in the know's 'that looks grand' or 'best to change this' before I go ahead and order. Thanks.

smcclaw

What RAM did you decide to go with? If you do much stitching, HDR, use a lot of layers or work with many RAW files simultaneously in Photoshop - and budget allows - you might want to consider 16gb.

FrankGrimes

Mental day yesterday so I didn't get to order. Browsing other threads here I saw mention of the 270X as a much better card than those in the price bracket just below it so I've updated my list to include this Gigabyte 270X which comes with Battlefield 4 (not a big a gamer but may give it a whirl) - here.

Fair point made about the RAM, I've pretty much thrown budget to the wind at this point so may as well get a spec that I know will cruise through whatever I through at it over the next few years. I'm not au fait with the different types of RAM so is this Ripjaws 4x4GB kit compatible and a good option?

I've also opted for the Corsair 500W Modular as recommended earlier.

Ordered the Corsair 350D case last night from Amazon, saved almost 20eur by going for the windowless version.

Will use the discount site to order later today for hardwaresand but not seeing much savings so far, is there anything else to it other than searching for the SKU and clicking on the hw link?

SterlingArcher

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Mental day yesterday so I didn't get to order. Browsing other threads here I saw mention of the 270X as a much better card than those in the price bracket just below it so I've updated my list to include this Gigabyte 270X which comes with Battlefield 4 (not a big a gamer but may give it a whirl) - here.

Fair point made about the RAM, I've pretty much thrown budget to the wind at this point so may as well get a spec that I know will cruise through whatever I through at it over the next few years. I'm not au fait with the different types of RAM so is this Ripjaws 4x4GB kit compatible and a good option?

I've also opted for the Corsair 500W Modular as recommended earlier.

Ordered the Corsair 350D case last night from Amazon, saved almost 20eur by going for the windowless version.

Will use the discount site to order later today for hardwaresand but not seeing much savings so far, is there anything else to it other than searching for the SKU and clicking on the hw link?

You're on the right track good case solid easy to work with.

270x is a good card can't go wrong.

to answer Your question your motherboard has four slots for ram so you can get the 4 x4 sticks.:)

joe_chicken

Just a quick question: why are you going with the Samsung Pro SSD and not the Evo?

You could get a 250GB Evo for around the same price as the Pro.

FrankGrimes

Hey, I chose the Pro SSD as Amazon reviews seemed to indicate it is noticeably faster than the Evo,is that the case?

joe_chicken

The pro is marginally better.

Although, from what I read about SSDs, the bigger the capacity the better the performance, so the Evo 250 may beat the Pro 128

Just did a quick google:
http://ssd-comparison.whoratesit.com/Compare/Samsung-840-Pro-256GB-vs-Samsung-840-Evo-250GB/1408vs1594

Luck100

The pro is mainly better for high queue depth, which is more typical for servers. For a gaming or personal pc it will be only very slightly faster than the evo.

BeerFear

You won't notice the difference anyway.

FrankGrimes

Have been flat out with work so didn't get to order until now. Good news that I didn't as it meant I saw the advice on here that the Pro SSD would probably have been wasted on me if my usage wouldn't take advantage of the added speed. So I've gone with the Evo 250GB for 50 quid less, thanks for that.

Unfortunately the delay meant the GPU I had chosen is now out of stock. The alternative 270X I have added into the list is listed as having dual link DVI but only has one DVI port - is it possible to have dual monitors running off this card and what do I need (do I run one via DVI, one via HDMI)?

Also said in the end I might aswell go for 4TB HDD and also upped the PSU to 600W as the 500W is out of stock and I just want to get this thing ordered. Will click order shortly but would be great to confirm if the graphics card can support dual monitor just as well as the one I had earlier selected.

Item|Price
16GB-Kit G.Skill RipJawsZ PC3-12800U CL8|€138.50
Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M, 600W|€62.99
HIS R9 270X IceQ Boost Clock 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DLDVI-I/HDMI/2xMini DP|€161.43
ASRock H87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€69.54
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€142.36
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€15.23
Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA|€160.92
WD Red RD1000S 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€153.92
LG Flatron 24EA53VQ|€144.63
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.23
LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€1.42
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.29
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1098.45

FrankGrimes

Finally got everything ordered, hopefully all arrives in time for Christmas.

Here's what I ordered:

Item|Price
16GB-Kit G.Skill RipJawsZ PC3-19200U CL10|€152.42
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.22
Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M, 600W|€62.99
LG Flatron 24EA53VQ|€144.63
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€15.23
3 x LogiLink USB 2.0 Card Reader Stick für MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SD-HC|€4.29
LogiLink USB 2.0 HUB 10-Port, incl. 3,5A Power, schwarz|€11.28
WD Red RD1000S 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€153.92
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€580.97

This Intel Core i5-4570 3,2 GHZ Tray, 6MB Cache.

Bought the following from Amazon as they were out of stock on HW:
This Corsair 350D case.

This Samsung Evo SSD 250GB.

THis ASRock H87M PRO4 mobo.

This Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 270X OC 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card with Boost.


For dual monitors, do I just connect both monitors via normal DVI cables (asking as there's a slight difference in the connections on the pics so want to ensure I have the right cables in advance)?

Only last questions I have is should I be expecting the PSU and monitor to have European or UK plugs (will get adaptors in advance if needed). And lastly, should all parts come with the relevant cables (e.g. SATA etc.) or do I need to buy separately. Thanks again.

FrankGrimes

Just wanted to post an update that after a slight UPS issue separating the shipment into 2 packages (HWV were very helpful when I called them), the last parts for this build arrived yesterday and I put it together last night.

Literally just got to install Office, Lightroom (can't tell speed yet till I transfer my full catalog and start editing) and run Windows Updates. But feck me, first impressions are it's fast, seriously fast. Boots up in seconds, though I notice in the BIOS that Fast Bootup is not enabled, is that something I should look at?

For other novice builders that may have been asking similar questions to me: HWV goods come with continental plugs - no worries as I had bought UK adaptors in advance and used duct tape to attach them solidly. The mobo came with 2 SATA 3 cables and the PSU came with all the relevant power cables, but other optical and hard drive/SSD did not come with cables, so it's a good thing I had spare old SATA cables lying around (just highlighting for others to avoid that pain in the ass when you start building and realise you're missing one small item like that and it delays you).

One area I'm not well up on is what are the best practice steps to do after completion of the build so I'm wondering if there are any good guides out there? I'm guessing next step is to install mobo and gfx drivers and configure those (guides are often good at cutting to the chase on what features out of the many available are the ones to hone in on) and also that I should create a Windows 8 Recovery USB key and setup a backup (any tips on best software for that)?

Looking forward to getting stuck into using this beast of a machine and I hope photo editing will now be much faster. Thanks to all those who kindly shared their advice on the components list selection, much appreciated. Happy Christmas folks!