New Mini-ITX build

Just wanted to bounce my thoughts around as I'm building a new editing machine to replace the inconvenient system of connecting a laptop to several cables and anchoring it to the desk, only to unplug them all to move away!

I'm putting a machine together into a Silverstone Sugo SG05 case. These have great small footprints, but the parts available now have almost as much grunt as larger ATX sized parts.

Naturally, I'm building a machine primarily to run DPP3, DPP4 (hopefully) and DXO10. I'm handing 1Ds3 raw files, and I'm hoping to build a machine without any noticeable lag.

So far, I've opted for the Intel H170 chipset to use the latest Skylake processors. I did flirt with the idea of building a Xeon machine but the IO and motherboard selection is dreadful which is a shame because I understand they're computationally better than the i5 at the same pricepoint. I'm not going to overclock and won't have space on the MB for a second GPU (not that it's useful in editing anyway) so I won't need the 'enthusiast' level Z170 chipset.

I'm probably going to pick up a basic i5, the 6400 most likely at 2.7GHz.

RAM limitation will be either 32GB or 64GB, so that'll be overkill.

Just need a cheap nvidia card with a displayport out so I'm not connecting to the monitor through an adapter.

I'll pick up a 128GB SSD as the main disk, external storage for the images.

I should think I'll get away with Silverstone's own 450W SFX PSU, but the 600W is supposedly quieter and only £20 extra. Again, overkill, but at least the base is covered.

I have been toying with the idea of building something similar. My reasoning has boiled down to the fact that I can build a Media Center type machine that will be able to edit photos as well as play back quickly edited slide shows for events... I think cost wise it might even come out cheaper
that the laptop that offers similar performance.

Regards,

110yd

I'm assuming you're talking USB3 for the external storage? I think that might be the bottleneck in your whole setup.

wunhang wrote in post #17779196
I'm assuming you're talking USB3 for the external storage? I think that might be the bottleneck in your whole setup.

USB 3.0 doesn't bottleneck a hard drive or even a moderately sized array of hard drives. Hard drives just aren't that fast.

The motherboard I am considering (Asus Z170 variant) supports USB 3.0, but I don't see a bottleneck regarding external storage. More of a concern to me at the moment is the transfer speed
of the camera which would be tethered, which only supports a USB 2.0 interface. I need to do
some homework to see if the camera tethered with a USB 2.0 interface is an issue speed wise.

Regards,

110yd

Sorry... I was stringing along two different thoughts. I was clarifying if the storage was USB3 or network-based (NAS). The other thought is that the read/write on the disk-based drive would likely be the bottleneck.

Why not build an x99 system? It might set you back an extra $100 but you'll get a lot more grunt..

CPU: i7 5820k
Mobo: Asrock X99E-ITX/AC

I just built a itx PC my self for my photo editing and gaming, except I'm using an i7 5960x

As for a power supply, if your case will fit it, Silverstone make a 500w SFX-L, it's a tad longer then a true sfx power supply but you get a 120mm fan and is quieter then both the 450w and 600w.

My 2c

110yd wrote in post #17779191
I have been toying with the idea of building something similar. My reasoning has boiled down to the fact that I can build a Media Center type machine that will be able to edit photos as well as play back quickly edited slide shows for events... I think cost wise it might even come out cheaper
that the laptop that offers similar performance.

Regards,

110yd

I'm planning on having mine as a desktop-based machine, but yes, there are some nice carry-bags for them, and frankly I guess people are less likely to try and steal it above a macbook from an event.

wunhang wrote in post #17779196
I'm assuming you're talking USB3 for the external storage? I think that might be the bottleneck in your whole setup.

I work locally on an SSD, then transfer back into the slow mechanical external storage. That's the benefit of working with DPP and DXO - the edits are made in the same folder as the original RAW. The desktop storage might evolve into network attached storage, but I won't be doing anything clever with NAS boxes - once bitten twice shy!

interlopr wrote in post #17779467
Why not build an x99 system? It might set you back an extra $100 but you'll get a lot more grunt..

CPU: i7 5820k
Mobo: Asrock X99E-ITX/AC

I just built a itx PC my self for my photo editing and gaming, except I'm using an i7 5960x

As for a power supply, if your case will fit it, Silverstone make a 500w SFX-L, it's a tad longer then a true sfx power supply but you get a 120mm fan and is quieter then both the 450w and 600w.

My 2c

You're a wealthier man than I am! I have just bought a house though...

The X99 is limited in choice to two Asrock mobos here in the UK - in the grand scheme of things, I prefer not to buy bleeding-edge technology - the cost-benefit relationship is never quite acceptable to me.

I'm quite content with the H170 choice - as mentioned, the Z170 is OTT for me and the X99 (which I hadn't considered) is even more OTT! I have bought a Quadro card since I last posted - I do hope this helps crunch the numbers effectively. It has displayport-out, so I don't have to worry about the connection standard limiting refresh rates and colour palettes.

The PSU is an interesting point - I absolutely want a modular PSU, and I'd settled on the 600W variant - I've no idea whether the SFX-L will fit, but yes the 120mm fan is attractive. I might have to investigate - I can see it's modular so that's one box ticked.

USB 3.0 has bandwidth, but I suspect slightly more latency than SATA disks. If you edit from an internal SSD I would probably go with 256GB. Samsung 850 pro is great, the slightly cheaper evo almost as good.