Checking with you guys first...

[donegal]

After reading around for a couple of days and discovering that my requirement seems to be for a rapid cpu and plenty of ram, I have put together the following without being certain of anything. I really need your comments one way or the other.

Usage - for Lightroom, Premiere and Photoshop Elements, some music editing but not too intense. General internet usage, banking, videochat to the States, watching tv and movies, iPlayer etc. running a couple of websites, etc. No gaming planned but I might be seduced (I used to LOVE Doom).

Adding - two 500gb sata HDD which I already have in my existing computer; a Lightscribe dvd rw and an LG dvd rw (both sata). All the following are USB - Bluetooth dongle, scanner, printer, wireless keyboard and mouse, HD webcam, Hauppage TV dongle, and two external HDD (1Tb and 640gb) for backup. A Netgear GT834G will be plugged in to the Ethernet port. The computer is on 15 hours a day every day, hence the cooling stuff.

In truth, everything runs fine on my existing Q8200/4gb ram/Radeon HD 4850, EXCEPT Adobe Lightroom, Premiere and Photoshop Elements, and this is the main reason for my upgrade (plus my existing rig is nearly 4 years old). My existing rig is not expandable with respect to more ram (something I didn't realise when I bought it). The programs run but rendering is painful, and general photo editing and manipulation is sluggish and chuggy. I intend the Adobe stuff to go on the SSD with the OS.

Would you partition the SSD for the OS (say 40/200)? Or shouldn't I do that at all?

I am also hoping to have some future-proofing hence the tasty CPU and motherboard. The graphics card has a bundle of cudas on it which are handy for video, so I understand. Do I have things about right?

Case
InWIN MANA-136 BLACK GAMING CASE

(Was -Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 - DVI, HDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

NO Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
2 PORT USB 3.0 INTERNAL PCI-EX CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Warranty
<<Was - 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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £970.00 including VAT and delivery.

TIA mick

 

[vanthus]

Pretty good spec for what you want to do,.I would consider upgrading the case a tad.I wouldn't bother with partitioning. Also worth considering at least silver warranty.

 

[donegal]

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I have made the changes as you suggested (in bold above). The card reader wouldn't fit in the new case. It would have been handy but having a USB 3.0 port on the front was much more preferable because I do a lot of copying and carrying stuff around on memory sticks. I looked at the HAF cases that people seem to drool over but thought they were ugly! (And a bit of overkill for my requirements I reckon).

 

[vanthus]

Pity about the card reader,but you can pick up usb external card readers quite cheap.

 

[donegal]

My cameras use sdhc and the card readers I have for them were 1.99 each! I have used them for about two years. I plug them into the front usb to download pics and vids from my dslr and never had any problems (touch wood).

 

[donegal]

Update - after a bit more looking around the forum and seeing the suggestions made, I finally ordered today - here is the finished article (well, I think so!) Items in bold have changed with my reasoning given.

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE - I like the two 3.5 bays, one of which I am thinking might house a double usb 3.0 panel. I shan't buy one until I know I can fit it.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT) - I changed this to Samsung, then back to Kingston, then to Samsung, and decided to just leave well alone. The forum does seem to favour the Samsung memory for stability reasons.
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 - DVI, HDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) - the 240gb I originally had was very expensive. I have been using a 60gb as a boot drive for nearly a year now and have still only used 30gb. LR, and the two Elements programs will take another 30gb (without photos) so this should be big enough for a while. The money saved paid for -

2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) - my intention to put my two old sata II drives in the new computer felt like mixing dirty washing with clean! I have to re-install all my programs anyway so may as well do it on a sata 6gb drive. I will leave the slower one in my old puter and use the other for sundry stuff in the new, either internally or using a sata dock I have.

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM I decided for the small cost to have a new dvd writer. I will instal my Lightscribe as well and leave the old one in the old puter which might do someone a favour one day if I can't justify keeping it.

Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £985.32 including VAT and delivery.

It somehow feels a bit more rounded now. Most grateful for your comments Vanthus :yes:

mick

 

[donegal]

Quick update - further to the above, there has been a change or three; 2 large, the other small.

1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 - DVI, HDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Change to: 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready - double the ram and double the cudas.

Monitor - NONE

Changed to: IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159) - might as well I thought :yes:

The minor change - 1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)

Changed to: 1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)

I got an update email timed at 0325 this morning. The one that states - "We are currently processing your order (number 494###) and we aim to dispatch your order as soon as possible. etc." I suspect this email is to reassure me I haven't been forgotten and that my order hasn't fallen behind a workbench

But I did have some theories floating around in my head. I don't know if you guys are the same as me, but all week I kept returning to my order and looked it over. I changed things; I ordered more things; I spent more money basically. I then thought 'What a good marketing ploy to do nothing for a week. It gives buyers the chance to have second thoughts and buy some more". Because I did. I spent £200 more. I nearly changed the case AGAIN yesterday but stopped myself.

And then, at the end of a full working week (this is the 9th inclusive day don't forget) I get a reassuring email to make sure I don't cancel, even though its only half way through the estimated delivery time.

I told you in another post somewhere I was a cynic....