Some help to spec my first PC for a specific task

[happyguy]

Hi all

I am a real new to PC spec’s and need some help please. Now I know its all going to depend on what I want it for and how much I want to spend so here is my request.

To spend no more than £800.
PC to be used for photo processing in RAW formats. Using Photoshop, lightroom. ACDSee etc. Maybe some basic video editing software in the future. Also I may put some music making software on it. Reason 4 etc.
I already have 2 external hard disk in caddies which I want to include inside 500GB and 250GB. These are for the back ups not for an operating system.

I am very impatiate when comming to working on PC and I don't the PC to be thinking about doing a correction to the colour balance on a large RAW photo file, as I will start to click and click again making things worse.

Any help, and I know there will be many option, but if someone can give a definitive answer that would be a great help. I have seen a few posts hear and would compare their specs with what someone else says

Thank you in advance.

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums happyguy

For photo processing work, I would recommend you configure a workstation computer. The configurator for this os located here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel3/

My specification below is a little over-bugdet, but I would recommend this for the type of work you wish to complete:

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache)
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55 WS SUPERCOMPUTER: 3 way SLI™, CUDA Support, DDR3, SATA 3.0GB/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
PNY QUADRO FX380 256MB GDDR3, CUDA ENABLED - 2 x DVI-I
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
2 x ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORTS
USB Options
8 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £875.00 including VAT and delivery.

This specification above is based around you installing your external HDD's in the PC as you mentioned, and using them for storage, because I've only added a 60GB OCZ solid state drive, which is ultra fast.

 

[happyguy]

Thank you for this info
How much difference will having the ssd as my hard disc for the op system make. Would I have all programs running on this like the photoshop program, or is it just window op system. How much room does window 7 take up as a matter of interest and will it be future proof for the next set of updates patches etc.

 

[Sleinous]

It will be future proof. You need around 16GB free for 32bit, and 20GB for 64bit (although in practice far less), yes you would have photoshop etc stored on there. But, what you dont want on there is your documents/music/pics/videos etc. All that would go on the other HDDs and then you would simply change the path so when you click on documents, it automagically sends you to your documents, on the other HDD

 

[happyguy]

Thank you for your help