Buy or build? PC for Photoshop

Okay, so I bought a 50D a few months ago and the old laptop (HP AMD Turion 64 ML-32, 1800 MHz with 512mb) just isn't cutting it any more for image processing. I've been trying to use both DPP (which is sluggish, but works) and a Lightroom Trial (which is basically impossible). Now, I'm thinking about a new PC.

I've been considering building my own PC, but also realize that most computer jargon is way over my head. I have replaced sound cards, added memory, replaced hard drives, done a little networking, etc., but that's about it. I'm willing to learn and think I can figure it all out (with help), but right now, I'm just lost.

So I have a bunch of questions, but I'll post just a couple for now (please forgive me if this has been posted on previous threads...I am reading as much as I can). First, from a financial/performance standpoint, is it better to build your own?

Secondly, what basic components should I be looking for to build/buy a good performing system that will be used for Lightroom/Photoshop CS4, probable HD video editing (from potential new Canon camcorder), basic Office software and maybe a little gaming (nothing major for now).

I don't want to build a system that is going to be disappointingly sluggish (I am rather impatient when sitting in front of a screen ), but I'm also somewhat limited on funding at the time being.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll need at least 6-8mb of ram, maybe a couple of 1.5 tb hard drives, etc. But I'm lost on the rest. Any advice? I would like to spend about $1,000 - 1,500 including an LCD for photo editing. Is this possible?

P.S., would love to go to Mac...but just can't afford it right now.

You can build a decent i7 system for just over $1000 not including a monitor.. If you are doing HD video editing I would suggest getting 12GB of ram.. A Quadro video card would be great but that would probably put you over your budget.. Since you have some experience with working on motherboards, building a complete PC should be relatively easy.

glbtrekker wrote in post #7717500
Okay, so I bought a 50D a few months ago and the old laptop (HP AMD Turion 64 ML-32, 1800 MHz with 512mb) just isn't cutting it any more for image processing. I've been trying to use both DPP (which is sluggish, but works) and a Lightroom Trial (which is basically impossible). Now, I'm thinking about a new PC.

I've been considering building my own PC, but also realize that most computer jargon is way over my head. I have replaced sound cards, added memory, replaced hard drives, done a little networking, etc., but that's about it. I'm willing to learn and think I can figure it all out (with help), but right now, I'm just lost.

So I have a bunch of questions, but I'll post just a couple for now (please forgive me if this has been posted on previous threads...I am reading as much as I can). First, from a financial/performance standpoint, is it better to build your own?

Secondly, what basic components should I be looking for to build/buy a good performing system that will be used for Lightroom/Photoshop CS4, probable HD video editing (from potential new Canon camcorder), basic Office software and maybe a little gaming (nothing major for now).

I don't want to build a system that is going to be disappointingly sluggish (I am rather impatient when sitting in front of a screen ), but I'm also somewhat limited on funding at the time being.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll need at least 6-8mb of ram, maybe a couple of 1.5 tb hard drives, etc. But I'm lost on the rest. Any advice? I would like to spend about $1,000 - 1,500 including an LCD for photo editing. Is this possible?

P.S., would love to go to Mac...but just can't afford it right now.

That is A LOT of info you want. First, if you upgrade your laptop to 2GB (for only around $20-$30) you'll increase your speed by at least 20%.

Building your own computer really only gets you two things; 1. Complete control of parts/quality and 2. A better upgrade path for the future (or at least one you have more control of). First, everyone will have different brand preferences and experiences with different companies. None are really wrong. What it comes down to is salesmanship - someone here is going to 'sell' you on some build. What you should do is start reading up on current technologies and come up with your own idea. Otherwise, just buy the best computer you can afford from Dell or HP (Studio series is pretty good). Typically, what you do is find the top of the line equipment (CPU, Memory, etc...) and then move two levels back and buy that part. More bang for the buck that way and it works remarkably well.

As far as memory goes, there are currently not any programs that 'require' more than 6GB of RAM and going from 6GB to 12GB (i7 architecture) is a big price increase for little to no performance gains (Toms Hardware, Anandtech). Though, most will tell you if you can afford it always try to get a little more than extra when building a computer.

So, my advice would be to start reading/viewing here:

How to build your own computer (YouTube)Build your own computer (Step-by-step).

Newegg (Store - read product reviews)

Tom's Hardware (Reviews and Information)

MaxxuM wrote in post #7717863
That is A LOT of info you want. First, if you upgrade your laptop to 2GB (for only around $20-$30) you'll increase your speed by at least 20%.

Building your own computer really only gets you two things; 1. Complete control of parts/quality and 2. A better upgrade path for the future (or at least one you have more control of). First, everyone will have different brand preferences and experiences with different companies. None are really wrong. What it comes down to is salesmanship - someone here is going to 'sell' you on some build. What you should do is start reading up on current technologies and come up with your own idea. Otherwise, just buy the best computer you can afford from Dell or HP (Studio series is pretty good). Typically, what you do is find the top of the line equipment (CPU, Memory, etc...) and then move two levels back and buy that part. More bang for the buck that way and it works remarkably well.

As far as memory goes, there are currently not any programs that 'require' more than 6GB of RAM and going from 6GB to 12GB (i7 architecture) is a big price increase for little to no performance gains (Toms Hardware, Anandtech). Though, most will tell you if you can afford it always try to get a little more than extra when building a computer.

So, my advice would be to start reading/viewing here:

How to build your own computer (YouTube)Build your own computer (Step-by-step).

Newegg (Store - read product reviews)

Tom's Hardware (Reviews and Information)

Thanks for the information. On the laptop, I ordered 2gb of memory Sat., unfortunately it was closer to $100 due to being PC2700.

I am reading as much as I can and I appreciate the links. As to Dell, well I've had some bad experience with their PC's...it seems that they are designed to live for about 24 months and then they die (almost like clockwork...at least that's been my experience). HP, I've had better luck with. Anyway, with i7 being so new (and expensive) should I be leaning in that direction? Or looking more towards quad-core?

R33E8 wrote in post #7717725
You can build a decent i7 system for just over $1000 not including a monitor.. If you are doing HD video editing I would suggest getting 12GB of ram.. A Quadro video card would be great but that would probably put you over your budget.. Since you have some experience with working on motherboards, building a complete PC should be relatively easy.

Why would you recommend 12GB of ram if he is editing HD video?
Do you edit HD video?

glbtrekker wrote in post #7718006
Thanks for the information. On the laptop, I ordered 2gb of memory Sat., unfortunately it was closer to $100 due to being PC2700.

I am reading as much as I can and I appreciate the links. As to Dell, well I've had some bad experience with their PC's...it seems that they are designed to live for about 24 months and then they die (almost like clockwork...at least that's been my experience). HP, I've had better luck with. Anyway, with i7 being so new (and expensive) should I be leaning in that direction? Or looking more towards quad-core?

Ah, I bought some about 8 months ago and I got it for $50 so I assumed they had dropped since then - looks like they were probably clearing out their supplies back then

There are three reasons to get an i7 right now; 3D/Video work, gaming and forward compatibility. If you are worried at all about one or more of these things then get an i7.

If you're not a gamer, $1500 is quite enough:

i7 920: $270
6GB RAM: $90
motherboard: $200
case + power supply: $90
1TB harddrive: $110
Monitor: $200

That only gets you to $960, and that's more than plenty enough for Photoshop etc. If you're on budget you can do a LGA775 setup for even a lot less, and still plenty enough for Photoshop.

HOWEVER, I insist if building/troubleshooti​ng/servicing/learning the machine is not your cup of tea (lack of time, lack of interest, etc) then do NOT build one on your own. You're 100% on your own when problems happen, and you'll be spending a lot of time researching and fixing things when things don't work. Do NOT just look at it from the $$$ standpoint or you'll be very very sorry later on. In fact, you're not even going to save that much $$$.

R33E8 wrote in post #7717725
A Quadro video card would be great but that would probably put you over your budget.

There's no need for Quadro unless you're CAD/CAM-ing. Even a sub-$100 card is overkill if you're not gaming.

Zepher wrote in post #7718029
Why would you recommend 12GB of ram if he is editing HD video?
Do you edit HD video?

Yeah, I edited 1080i and used all of my 9gb up in Adobe Premier when doing quick renders.. You can set how much ram it can use and it will use as much as it can..

HyperYagami wrote in post #7718154
There's no need for Quadro unless you're CAD/CAM-ing. Even a sub-$100 card is overkill if you're not gaming.

Quadro, FireGL, and other workstation cards give better performance in real-time rendering when video editing..

Anyways if you aren't going to do much video editing at least get a card that allows GPU acceleration in Photoshop CS4...

R33E8 wrote in post #7718495
Quadro, FireGL, and other workstation cards give better performance in real-time rendering when video editing..

That's interesting, wiki says those are for DCC (digital content creation) too, how does that work? Video is just a bunch of frames and I just don't see how a video card can help in that case, and the scenes aren't in 3D so what's to render...?

HyperYagami wrote in post #7718778
That's interesting, wiki says those are for DCC (digital content creation) too, how does that work? Video is just a bunch of frames and I just don't see how a video card can help in that case, and the scenes aren't in 3D so what's to render...?

Just about any modern computer over 2GHz can play/edit HD video - what they are talking about are filters. DCC means actually 'creating' content not simply editing it. After Effects, Apple's Motion & Shake and Houdini 3D - to a lesser extent Premiere and Final Cut Pro - benefit from GPU acceleration. Pro video cards also have acceration ability with certain CODECs too.

glbtrekker wrote in post #7717500
Okay, so I bought a 50D a few months ago and the old laptop (HP AMD Turion 64 ML-32, 1800 MHz with 512mb) just isn't cutting it any more for image processing. I've been trying to use both DPP (which is sluggish, but works) and a Lightroom Trial (which is basically impossible). Now, I'm thinking about a new PC.

I've been considering building my own PC, but also realize that most computer jargon is way over my head. I have replaced sound cards, added memory, replaced hard drives, done a little networking, etc., but that's about it. I'm willing to learn and think I can figure it all out (with help), but right now, I'm just lost.

So I have a bunch of questions, but I'll post just a couple for now (please forgive me if this has been posted on previous threads...I am reading as much as I can). First, from a financial/performance standpoint, is it better to build your own?

Secondly, what basic components should I be looking for to build/buy a good performing system that will be used for Lightroom/Photoshop CS4, probable HD video editing (from potential new Canon camcorder), basic Office software and maybe a little gaming (nothing major for now).

I don't want to build a system that is going to be disappointingly sluggish (I am rather impatient when sitting in front of a screen ), but I'm also somewhat limited on funding at the time being.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll need at least 6-8mb of ram, maybe a couple of 1.5 tb hard drives, etc. But I'm lost on the rest. Any advice? I would like to spend about $1,000 - 1,500 including an LCD for photo editing. Is this possible?

P.S., would love to go to Mac...but just can't afford it right now.

Sounds like you will be more than able to build your own, which also means you can pick and choose exactly what you need and not have to compromise.

i7, with 6GB of Ram would be heads of power.
Factor in a couple of hard drives, one as a system drive, one for general storage, and a couple of seperate drives for photo storage only to provide back up and redundancy.

Don't forget to spend some money on a good quality case and power supply.
It really does make a difference to system live and stablity.

HyperYagami wrote in post #7718154
HOWEVER, I insist if building/troubleshooti​ng/servicing/learning the machine is not your cup of tea (lack of time, lack of interest, etc) then do NOT build one on your own. You're 100% on your own when problems happen, and you'll be spending a lot of time researching and fixing things when things don't work. Do NOT just look at it from the $$$ standpoint or you'll be very very sorry later on. In fact, you're not even going to save that much $$$.

Having built many PCs over the last ten years, I totally agree with HyperYagami. I know the concept of building your own custom PC is cool and romantic, but you already have a time consuming hobby or business... Do you really have the time to take on another one? I do believe the best alternative route is to find a well established local computer business to build a computer to meet your needs and stand behind it with a strong warranty and service policy. All my office computers (except the Macs) are custom built by a local firm.

Assuming you don't live in an extreme rural area, far from businesses or population centers, ask the employees in camera stores or the officers of local photography clubs who they recommend to build a high performance computer tailored to your needs.

I pretty much do all of my own troubleshooting and repair work whenever there seems to be a problem with my computers. I'm not stating that I know anywhere near as much as I should, but I'm willing to learn and have yet to have a problem that I couldn't figure out.

HyperYagami wrote in post #7718154
If you're not a gamer, $1500 is quite enough:

i7 920: $270
6GB RAM: $90
motherboard: $200
case + power supply: $90
1TB harddrive: $110
Monitor: $200

That only gets you to $960, and that's more than plenty enough for Photoshop etc. If you're on budget you can do a LGA775 setup for even a lot less, and still plenty enough for Photoshop.

HOWEVER, I insist if building/troubleshooti​ng/servicing/learning the machine is not your cup of tea (lack of time, lack of interest, etc) then do NOT build one on your own. You're 100% on your own when problems happen, and you'll be spending a lot of time researching and fixing things when things don't work. Do NOT just look at it from the $$$ standpoint or you'll be very very sorry later on. In fact, you're not even going to save that much $$$.

Thanks for the cost analysis.

ChasP505 wrote in post #7719637
Having built many PCs over the last ten years, I totally agree with HyperYagami. I know the concept of building your own custom PC is cool and romantic, but you already have a time consuming hobby or business... Do you really have the time to take on another one? I do believe the best alternative route is to find a well established local computer business to build a computer to meet your needs and stand behind it with a strong warranty and service policy. All my office computers (except the Macs) are custom built by a local firm.

Not trying to be smart here, but to those who recommend buying one instead of building for the sake of time. How much time does it really take to build one anyway? A couple of days? Maybe a week? I don't understand, what am I missing? I don't do extended warranties, so I usually do all my maintenance/repair work.

Others have mentioned that it's not much cheaper to build your own. I tried configuring one on the Dell website just for the fun of it and it would cost $500-1000 extra dollars, easy. Plus, I'll never buy another Dell and unfortunately, I do live in the boonies .

Moppie wrote in post #7719062
Sounds like you will be more than able to build your own, which also means you can pick and choose exactly what you need and not have to compromise.

i7, with 6GB of Ram would be heads of power.
Factor in a couple of hard drives, one as a system drive, one for general storage, and a couple of seperate drives for photo storage only to provide back up and redundancy.

Don't forget to spend some money on a good quality case and power supply.
It really does make a difference to system live and stablity.

Thanks. That brings up another question. How many hard drives should I consider installing? A couple in the case and then maybe a couple external for backups? Also, how should I back them up? Just a couple of external hard drives, Drobo, Server?

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far, I really do appreciate your opinions!

Also, if I'm going to be editing AVCHD video (home movies), then does that modify my needs? I would like to create home movies (Sony Vegas software) that allows me to combine video, photo, music, transitions, etc.

There seems to be a lot of debate about this one already, but what type of video card should I be looking for?

glbtrekker wrote in post #7719887
Not trying to be smart here, but to those who recommend buying one instead of building for the sake of time. How much time does it really take to build one anyway? A couple of days? Maybe a week? I don't understand, what am I missing?

Putting stuff together takes a day or 2, it's not that time consuming even if you're not familiar with building a machine.

Your (potential) nightmare starts when you turn it on for the first time. If everything works, optionally you'll spend another 2 days or so stress testing for stability. If something's wrong, you will be spending hours or days or weeks to figure out which part is the problem, and again you're on your own for that.

Once you passes that, you'll spend another week or so figuring out the settings and installing software and stuff which again, if something's not right, you'll go back to the previous troubleshooting step again.