Custom PC Recommendations

[Fred Salamon]

I am thinking about putting together a new custom PC.
Would appreciate advice on components and places to have it built.
Budget is $1000.00
Do not need a monitor
I have several hard drives that will go into the new machine until I can afford to upgrade to SSD drives.
Intel i7 Sandy Bridge for the processor and other than that I welcome any advice.
How much RAM? I want to run CS5 and LR3.
Thank you,
Fred

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I think that will also depend on the size of your files and the number of layers you like to work with.
I usually am working with very huge files (16 bit Tiffs from 4000 DPI 6x9 cm scans, So the files are 650+MB) and got issues when I was at 4 GiGs RAM on 32 Bit.
Upgrading to 64 Bit and getting 8 Gigs RAM helped greatly. I only have a Quad Core Machine, not newest generation and doing smart sharpen on huge files is a royal pain. But apart from that I'm quite happy now. Ram can only be replaced by even more RAM. But if you have smaller files that might be another story.

[degrub]

maximize memory ( 64 bit OS, i would start at 6 or 8GB), fastest CPU you can afford w/ 4 real cores, fast scratch drive (SATA III), OS drive, data drives. Video card does not have to be very expensive (see other thread). ASUS makes some good quality MBs

[new_haven]

Someone had a similar post on a hardware oriented site:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1600620
The moderators of the forum seem to have a good feel for what works and where to get the best deals, so I would post there.

You can also go to http://pugetsystems.com, they have rather expensive systems, but could serve as a starting point for picking components.

[bill t.]

I put together a new system a couple months ago and will mention these core components simply because they seem to play together 100% reliably...

$80, 2TB SATA6 drives, 4 of 'em...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145475

X58 Mother board...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

24GB RAM...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231357

And an I7 processor (the big socket version that suggports 24gb) and a dirtball video card WITHOUT an annoying whiney fan.  And a 900 watt power supply. All choices that would not make a gamer's heart beat fast, I was going for reliability.

There are probably a bazillion other combos that would work as well or better.  Reading the reviews on Newegg and other vendor sites can be pretty painful, but it's a good way to tell if you are buying compatible components, search the reviews of one item to find mentions of others you are interested in.

And it all cost me a whole lot less than an equivalent you-know-what, begins with an "M".

The Hitachi drives have seen solid so far, I figure if a drive survives a few weeks it'll stick around for a while.  Not the fastest drives, but I don't feel like I'm waiting, either.

I am absolutely loving the effects of 24GB of RAM.  I think money spent on RAM will have more impact on photo applications than fancy hard drives or SSD's.  I can work on 2GB PS files with Lightroom open while using memory-hog third party plugins, and even write lengthy posts on LuLa and it's like ho-hum no big deal.  Memory-hog plugins that used to drag my 8GB system to snail's pace are now quick a like a bunny.