New rig for Lightroom & Photoshop - Let me know what you think

Time for a new rig because I'm passing my current computer along to my wife.

This rig will mainly be used for LR3, PS CS5, & Proshow Producer. I'm not a gamer but I have a little dilemma about running two video cards as I'll explain later.

Since the motherboard is the heart of computer I don't want to cheap out on this part. It was difficult trying to find a motherboard with everything I wanted and he ASUS Crosshair IV Formula seems to fit my needs. It has a bunch of USB2.0 ports (which I need at least 6 on the back plate plus two for the front of the case) & USB3.0. The other reason I liked this board a lot is because it maintains the high bandwidth even if you load up the PCIe with extra USB controllers, SATA6G controllers and a x16 video card. The thing that MAJORLY sucks about the USB 3.0 is having to run the front usb cable out the back of the case and connect to the back USB 3.0 slot.

I wasn't sure about the processor so I kind of picked one that falls in the middle of the road. I chose the AMD Phenom II X4 3.4GHz ($159.99) in stead of the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz ($179.99). What do you think?

Like the motherboard, I believe it's best not to cheap out on the PSU and for this reason I chose the CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX. It's a personal preference and I absolutely love their modular design.

The reason I use two video cards is because I use three monitors. I have two Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW I use for editing photos and one HP 18"LCD. In the past I could not properly color calibrate the two Dells with on video card. To bad LR & PS do not support Crossfire.

Starting with CS4, Photoshop started using GPU acceleration which helps take a load off the CPU. I'm starting to use the 3D functions in Photoshop more (specifically Repossue) and I'm noticing when rendering it takes forever.


I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

Specs for the new rig:

• case - HAF-X (942)
  
• os - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM
  
• proc - AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition 3.5GHz Socket AM3
  
• HSF - Cooler Master V8
  
• mobo - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
  
• memory - CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) x2 = 16GB
  
• psu - CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX
  
• vid card1 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• vid card2 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• hhd1 (os & programs only) - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC
  
• hhd2 (scratch disk only for PS & LR) - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
  
• hhd3 (temporary storage) - WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s
  
• optical - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

sonny_c wrote in post #11577573
Time for a new rig because I'm passing my current computer along to my wife.

This rig will mainly be used for LR3, PS CS5, & Proshow Producer. I'm not a gamer but I have a little dilemma about running two video cards as I'll explain later.

Since the motherboard is the heart of computer I don't want to cheap out on this part. It was difficult trying to find a motherboard with everything I wanted and he ASUS Crosshair IV Formula seems to fit my needs. It has a bunch of USB2.0 ports (which I need at least 6 on the back plate plus two for the front of the case) & USB3.0. The other reason I liked this board a lot is because it maintains the high bandwidth even if you load up the PCIe with extra USB controllers, SATA6G controllers and a x16 video card. The thing that MAJORLY sucks about the USB 3.0 is having to run the front usb cable out the back of the case and connect to the back USB 3.0 slot.

I wasn't sure about the processor so I kind of picked one that falls in the middle of the road. I chose the AMD Phenom II X4 3.4GHz ($159.99) in stead of the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz ($179.99). What do you think?

Like the motherboard, I believe it's best not to cheap out on the PSU and for this reason I chose the CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX. It's a personal preference and I absolutely love their modular design.

The reason I use two video cards is because I use three monitors. I have two Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW I use for editing photos and one HP 18"LCD. In the past I could not properly color calibrate the two Dells with on video card. To bad LR & PS do not support Crossfire.

Starting with CS4, Photoshop started using GPU acceleration which helps take a load off the CPU. I'm starting to use the 3D functions in Photoshop more (specifically Repossue) and I'm noticing when rendering it takes forever.


I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

Specs for the new rig:

• case - HAF-X (942)
  
• os - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM
  
• proc - AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition 3.5GHz Socket AM3
  
• HSF - Cooler Master V8
  
• mobo - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
  
• memory - CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) x2 = 16GB
  
• psu - CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX
  
• vid card1 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• vid card2 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• hhd1 (os & programs only) - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC
  
• hhd2 (scratch disk only for PS & LR) - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
  
• hhd3 (temporary storage) - WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s
  
• optical - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Overall, I'd say that's a pretty awesome set up. For my work latptop, I use three monitors, but choose to use a "USB-->DVI" adapter instead of additional graphics cards in the docking station.

For most of my photo tools, I am doing it on my 13" MacBook with 4GB of RAM. I could, if I wanted, use my Win7 x64 desktop with an AMD Phenom II X4 cpu and 8GB of RAM, but I tend to be out and about quite a bit (I take my MacBook with me when on road-trips, so I can pull files in, process (Aperture/PS CS5, and LR3) and upload to the web.

Your setup makes me think that you're doing a lot of video processing too, though I'm probably nowhere near you in terms of post-processing skills

any reason why you choose WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM for scratch disk? do you consider using ssd instead which is faster? 32gb ssd is probably more than enough for a scratch disk. i don't think you need 250gb for scratch, but pls correct me if i'm wrong.

g0bl0k wrote in post #11578186
any reason why you choose WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM for scratch disk? do you consider using ssd instead which is faster? 32gb ssd is probably more than enough for a scratch disk. i don't think you need 250gb for scratch, but pls correct me if i'm wrong.

Currently I have an old Seagate 80GB SATA 1.5GB and it get about 75% full before I have to clear it out. Both Photoshop and Lightroom use this drive. Even a 32 SSD still cost twice as much as the WD 250GB drive. Although, I'm still not sure if I'll even need the scratch disk since I'm upgrade from 8GB or RAM to 16GB of RAM.

You are correct, the SSD would be much faster than SATA 6.0GB.

sonny_c wrote in post #11577573
Specs for the new rig:

• case - HAF-X (942)
  
• os - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM
  
• proc - AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition 3.5GHz Socket AM3
  
• HSF - Cooler Master V8
  
• mobo - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
  
• memory - CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) x2 = 16GB
  
• psu - CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX
  
• vid card1 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• vid card2 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB
  
• hhd1 (os & programs only) - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC
  
• hhd2 (scratch disk only for PS & LR) - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
  
• hhd3 (temporary storage) - WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s
  
• optical - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Overall that looks terrible (Overpriced Corsair PSU when you could have a Seasonic OEM for less, Corsair 1.65 volt DDR3, two medium/low-end vidoecards despite you quite explicitly mentioning not gaming (not that dual 5750s ever made sense), Caviar Black instead of a Samsung F3 for less, AMD CPU despite the apparent price-range of the build, AMD quad at that).

Where are you buying from?

After seeing the PS performance numbers on the new Intel Sandy Bridge cpus on anandtech.com and tomshardware.com if I were building a new computer for PS/LR and video I would go with the i5-2500K cpu which is about $200 and should be available soon. It performed on par with the $1000 i7 980 cpu in many of the benchmarks.

You whole disk setup looks odd. You don't need a 128GB SSD for OS and programs, 40GB will do it, 60GB will do it comfortably. Small disks are only slightly cheaper than big disks, make a small partition and use it for swap/scratch then put things like music and movies on the rest where performance doesn't matter. You also don't list any main disks. Not sure why you need 1TB temporary storage either.

Two video cards seems excessive. As long as your main monitor's calibrated that's the main thing, the secondary doesn't matter much. You'll probably never get dissimilar monitors matching properly.

Get the new i5 Sandy Bridge CPU, not the old AMD one.

Overall - start again.

Sp1207 wrote in post #11579857
Overall that looks terrible (Overpriced Corsair PSU when you could have a Seasonic OEM for less, Corsair 1.65 volt DDR3, two medium/low-end vidoecards despite you quite explicitly mentioning not gaming (not that dual 5750s ever made sense), Caviar Black instead of a Samsung F3 for less, AMD CPU despite the apparent price-range of the build, AMD quad at that).

Where are you buying from?

I was hoping for more constructive criticism instead of your disparaging remark. I've built a few computers over the years. Does this make me an expert? No. All I'm doing is sticking with brands that have served me well in the past.

I'm not looking to build the biggest and the baddest computer. All I'm asking for is a little help. I'm will buy all parts from Newegg.com.

tim wrote in post #11581169
You whole disk setup looks odd. You don't need a 128GB SSD for OS and programs, 40GB will do it, 60GB will do it comfortably. Small disks are only slightly cheaper than big disks, make a small partition and use it for swap/scratch then put things like music and movies on the rest where performance doesn't matter. You also don't list any main disks. Not sure why you need 1TB temporary storage either.

Two video cards seems excessive. As long as your main monitor's calibrated that's the main thing, the secondary doesn't matter much. You'll probably never get dissimilar monitors matching properly.

Get the new i5 Sandy Bridge CPU, not the old AMD one.

Overall - start again.

Thanks Tim I appreciate the feedback.

The reason I chose a 128GB ssd is because on my current drive I have 68.2GB of OS and programs. I wanted a little extra room and I thought the 128GB would suffice. What do you mean by main disk?

I meant data disks.

I bet if you cleaned out all the rollback points, service pack uninstalls, recycle bin, temp folders, etc, you'd get it down to 40GB. You can also put big installs (like office or games) onto a spinning disk.

Personally i'd rather have two SSDs than one big one. It makes backups easier that way too.

tim wrote in post #11581425
I bet if you cleaned out all the rollback points, service pack uninstalls, recycle bin, temp folders, etc, you'd get it down to 40GB. You can also put big installs (like office or games) onto a spinning disk.

Personally i'd rather have two SSDs than one big one. It makes backups easier that way too.

Currently I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

I've cleaned out the Recycel Bin and Temp folder
C:\Users\Sonny\AppData​\Local\Temp

Where do I find the rollback points and service packs? And how do I uninstall them?

On XP they're just directories under c:\windows. If you google for something like "windows 7 reducing disk usage" you'll probably find loads of tips.

sonny_c wrote in post #11581310
I was hoping for more constructive criticism instead of your disparaging remark. I've built a few computers over the years. Does this make me an expert? No. All I'm doing is sticking with brands that have served me well in the past.

I'm not looking to build the biggest and the baddest computer. All I'm asking for is a little help. I'm will buy all parts from Newegg.com.

I thought it was moderately constructive, I pointed out specifically which parts needed work, and even gave specific replacement components for a few of them.

How attached are you to the HAF X? I've built in both the X and 932 and had enough room in both, you should be especially fine as you won't need a real GPU/will be using an integrated. Unless you really like the case (which is fine) I would probably spend the 70$ on SSDs/Sandy Bridge.

A specific parts list:

CPU: 2500K/S or 2600K (216 or 320 respectively) If you're going with integrated video, get the S as you can't overclock anyway on an H67 mobo.

Optical drive: Samsung18$ litescribe DVD burner.

Ram: 8GB G.skillDDR3 75$ (*2 if you think you'll use it).

Hard drive: Caviar green 2TB 80$

If you need a fast hard drive for scratch/programs/the like a Samsung F3 or F4 would be ideal. You could probably short-stroke it for Photoshop scratch then use the rest for storage.

PSU: Antec 500 Green, or if you want a crazy high-end XFX black edition 750(nicer than the Corsair, less expensive). 70/100$ You could go cheaper for an Antec 380 (this system will pull ~300 watts load), but you seem to like PSUs.

HAF 932 140$

Win7 HP OEM 100$

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB230$

H67 mobo ~110$
P67 mobo+ATI 5450 ~200$

If getting a K processor to overclock, get the P67+5450. If you're not overclocking, get an S processor and an H67 mobo.

$18 for a DVD burner? That's crazy.

I didn't like the Caviar Green drives, their MTBF is lower than the black, they have a lesser head parking mechanism and warranty.

I know it's expensive, but it's new and has litescribe.

While true (though from what I've read the MTBF is actually better), if he wants a faster drive there's hardly any reason to get the Caviar black over a Samsung F3 (faster, cheaper, better drive-failure rates than WD as a whole).