Building a PC. for photoediting.

[Nickcanada]

Ok here is what I'm thinking....

Pentium 4 3.2GHZ processor $115
ASUS SKT .775 INTEL 945G M-ATX $100
Kingston 1G RAM (two of em') $82 (For both)
Seagate 500GB SATAII 16MB hard drive for storage $131
My current 120GB hard drive for Applications and OS Already have it
ANTEC NSK4400 Mid tower 380W power supply. $86
LG 18x multi DVD-RW $33

For a total of $547

Will the processor and memory be enough to run PS and process photos without too much lag? Anything you see that I should change or add? I will not be gaming so this is strictly for image editing/storing.


Will I need a video card or will the on board card be ok?

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not very hardware savvy.

[FLiPMaRC]

Why are you settling for P4 when there are Dual or Quad Cores? Preference?

[Nickcanada]

Why are you settling for P4 when there are Dual or Quad Cores? Preference?

Well I don't really know.... I've heard that XP does not take full advantage of dual core processors and I have no desire to switch to Vista, so would I need a dual core? Would I get that much more performace, and would I need the extra performance for my intended use?

I usually do have multiple programs running though, like Lightroom, CS2, DPP, Neatimage sometimes etc.

Really I just want to load images, and run filters in PS without waiting too long.

[wutske]

don't go for a Pentium4, it's an old architecture, it consumes a lot of power (and gets realy hot) and is expensive. You'll get more bang for the bucks if you get a Core cpu.
Even if XP doesn't take full advantage of 2 cores, 2 cores are still a lot faster when you're using 2 heavy programs at the same time (or if you use a program that is optimized to use 2 cores).

[RichNY]

I'd go with 2GB of memory. For $1150 you can get a 2GB 1.83Ghz core duo Mac Mini w/Superdrive. This would make a sweet little platform for running XP also if you ever wanted to go back to doing things the hard way just for nostalgia

[Nickcanada]

Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 64bit MPU 2.0G 2M

Any issues with this CPU? It's going for 173. not too much more then the P4

[Nickcanada]

I'd go with 2GB of memory. For $1150 you can get a 2GB 1.83Ghz core duo Mac Mini w/Superdrive. This would make a sweet little platform for running XP also if you ever wanted to go back to doing things the hard way just for nostalgia

LOL. I don't think I'm ready to go that way yet. Maybe for my next PC.

Oh, and I am going with 2GB of RAM.

And I PM'ed ya, check it out. Adam is going to take it first I think and then he'll send it to you and then you can send it to me... sound good?

[Xion]

OK Something I know about!

Go with an AMD 64 FX processor. Or an AMD 64 anything for that matter, go as high as you can on that scale, they outperform P4's all the way. At least in my opinion. And many other gamers/video editors (which goes without saying photos are a cinch if you can do both of those with utmost speed). You'll have to get a different mobo to use the AMD processor, but you can get them for dirt cheep (mine was 40 bucks and I'm never without power). Also you're gonna want a bigger PSU to run the VIDEO CARD YOU LEFT OUT.

You'll absolutely want a video card if you're going to be running graphics intensive programs like Photoshop or anything of that nature. ATI is my personal choice, but nVidia makes some stunning cards.

Check out this site here for comparisons of over 5000 different video cards, to help you pick one if you decide to spring for one.

Other than that your rig looks pretty good buddy!

Also, just for sharing, my rig is as follows:

Custom Built
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1GB RAM
2 Seagate Barracudas, 1 Maxtor external, 380gb total.
ATI Radeon X850 XT
Gateway FPD1975W
SB Audigy 2 / Steel Sound 5H USB Soundcard
Creative Labs SBS 2.1 / Steel Sound 5H v2 USB Headset
Logitech Mx Wireless Media Keyboard
Logitech G5
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

[RichNY]

LOL. I don't think I'm ready to go that way yet. Maybe for my next PC.

Oh, and I am going with 2GB of RAM.

And I PM'ed ya, check it out. Adam is going to take it first I think and then he'll send it to you and then you can send it to me... sound good?

How did he cut in line in front of me? Adam is younger than me- let him figure out how to ship to Canada

[Nickcanada]

How did he cut in line in front of me? Adam is younger than me- let him figure out how to ship to Canada

LOL. That's fine with me! I was just thinking geographically. I might even see if some others want to jump in too.... it could be a while before I get to see this thing.