Photo editing rig?

[minty fresh]

Hi, i'm not really up with components at the moment although i've been doing loads of reading, the sheer amount of stuff available is mind boggling. I keep deciding on a mobo and then I read another review that appears to be better for example, I was recommended this place for good advice.

The only thing I have managed to decide on, is the cpu. I do allot of work with digital photography so I need something that is good in that field, from what i've read the core 2 duo processors are the best in this field and the Q6600 seems to be ideal for what I need it for.

But i've got a few questions

Isn't there an AMD platform about to be released (Phenom), do you think I should wait and what is the ETA?
Why is there such a huge price hike between the Q6600 and QX6700?
The 8800 series has been top dog for a while is there anything else coming out that I should be aware of?

Can someone recommend me a good set of parts apart from a case, to build a system? It will be used heavily for digital photography like I said on a wireless network, but I also like to dabble in games.

I've got about £1000 to spend not inc a monitor.

[staffsMike]

QX is possible an extreme branded cpu..tbh i never paid attention to it as its stupidly priced but it may have an unlocked muliplier making it very good for overclocking..

Anyway.

AMD are planning on bringing out consumer quad cores at some point but seeing's as all the big execs at AMD seem to quiting recently..it doesn't look too good. The Q6600 is perfect for what you need and if you feel up to the challege (its not very hard) of overclocking it will hit 3.4GHz on each core with little trouble.

Graphics wise. Nvidia are planning to release something new..soon lets say, but no one actually knows when.

There's also the new X38 motherboards coming out..offering next gen PCIe lanes and probably even better overclocking.

There's never really a good time to buy a PC but right now a Q6600 in a P35 based motherboard with an 8800GTS/X and DDR2 RAM offer amazing value for money and a decent lifespan.

My recommendation is this.

Q6600 G0 stepping (that's important) - £170
Abit IP-35 - £80 (pro version is £120), great boards, good support via hexus
2 - 4gb of pc6400 RAM (crucial ballistix is fantastic and avaliable from www.crucial.com for £52 per 2GB right now )
8800GTS for a 22" screen of Lower - £170 or 8800GTX for 24" and above £350ish
Corsair 520w HX Whisper PSU - £65
Antec P182 case - £80
500GB Western Digital AAKS version Hard Drive - £65
Samsung SATA Dvd Writer - £20
Scythe Ninja Rev B HSF. - £25

Vista 64bit (not factored into total) £100

I've built something very similar recently and it with vista 64bit it really flies.

With 4gb RAM , IP-35 and 8800GTS that comes to Around £800. So around £1000 ish with the GTX and IP-35pro

I'd get everything from www.scan.co.uk except the RAM

[icanhazburger]

If its purely for photo editing then 3d power is not essential, but the 8800 series is indeed top dog for now and if you do play games then it should be sufficient for quite awhile yet. What monitor you using?

The QX is multiplier unlocked, meaning it should be easier to overclock, its really not worth the extra money, you would be better off spending it on decent quality memory and storage.

[charleski]

the Q6600 seems to be ideal for what I need it for.

Yep, that's a good choice for Photoshop.

Isn't there an AMD platform about to be released (Phenom), do you think I should wait and what is the ETA?

Forget about AMD, they won't be competitive in the performance sector for another couple of years at least.

Why is there such a huge price hike between the Q6600 and QX6700?

Bragging rights. Get the cheaper CPU.

The 8800 series has been top dog for a while is there anything else coming out that I should be aware of?

For photo editing the graphics card is really the last thing you should worry about. You can safely assume that any currently-available card will fit your needs. Rather than spending money on a pricey card, set it towards a good-quality monitor, like the Pro ones from Eizo or LaCie. These monitors are significantly more expensive than consumer monitors of the same size, but display a wider range of colour. You should also budget for a calibration device to ensure that your monitor is showing you what you think it is, Dabs sells the Spyder2Express for £60, which is the least that you should be using.

Can someone recommend me a good set of parts apart from a case, to build a system? It will be used heavily for digital photography like I said on a wireless network, but I also like to dabble in games.

I've got about £1000 to spend not inc a monitor.

Really, any decent Q6600 system will be great for Photoshop, though if you're really ambitious, go for a system running a 64-bit OS so you can add lots of RAM. If that's out of your range, don't worry, as Photoshop won't be 64bit for a couple of years and is tweaked to run very well on 32-bit OSs.

If you really want to make a photo-editing system, concentrate your cash on the monitor, as you need to see your photos properly in order to edit them properly. Pro photography monitors can easily cost over £1000.

[icanhazburger]

If you were to get a new monitor for photo editing, I'd recommend Eizo, not cheap, but there really good.

[minty fresh]

At the moment i'm using a LaCie 320, it's very good for what I use it for, it's just the crappy 3000+ AMD system i'm using is starting to annoy me greatly to say the least!

Thats why I mentioned, that I don't need a monitor.

[minty fresh]

If I were to wait for the X38 motherboards, how long are we talking?

+ thanks very much for the info so far!!

[charleski]

Ok, then I'd go with staffsMike's suggestion, but buy an 8600GT card instead and spend the difference on more HD space.
Preliminary reports of X38 don't show massive differences that would impact photo-editing. I wouldn't be too fussed about it if you want a system now.

[minty fresh]

Isn't the 8600GT a bit crap for gaming? Or are the 8800 GTS/GTX overkill?

What advantages will vista have over xp for what i'm using it for, i've read that it can manage more ram... is this true? Since i'm hopeing to get 4gb of ram.

[staffsMike]

pre orders on ocuk last time i checked.

OK.. in stock lol
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...id=5&subid=946

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=662323

i'd probably stick with p35..much cheaper

[charleski]

Isn't the 8600GT a bit crap for gaming? Or are the 8800 GTS/GTX overkill?

Well, it depends how important gaming is for you . An 8600GT can play all current games pretty well, but not the latest stuff on maximum settings, an 8800GTX will future-proof you for another year or so. The difference is £200.

What advantages will vista have over xp for what i'm using it for, i've read that it can manage more ram... is this true?

If you want to go over 3(plus a bit)Gb of RAM then you need a 64-bit system. There's no point setting-up an XP 64-bit OS right now, as it was never very well supported. The 64-bit version of Vista should receive good support, though. XP 32-bit systems are still the most hassle-free though. As I said before, Photoshop itself won't be moving to 64-bit for a while, so all you'd gain from using a 64-bit system is more RAM for the system cache. Unless you're currently working on images that go beyond 2Gb when opened in Photoshop, I'd stick with 32-bit XP right now for minimum hassle.

[Clockwork_Killa]

If you are going to be doing a lot of photo editing, specially processing RAW imagee in photoshop, then you might want to consider a fast hard drive, like a Western digital raptor. If you are serious about your photography, then you should definitely consider getting a colour calibration device, such as the SPyder or better yet a Huey pantone claibrator for around £80.
Monitor wise, if your budget will stretch as far as a lacie or similar, then go forr one of those, but if your looking for something a little cheaper, Ive currently got a nec 90gx2 and Im quite happy with that.
Id also recommend saving a little cash for a grpahics tablet, it will make editing the photos a whole lot easier. Something like a wacom intuos A5 would do the job.

[Saracen]

...

Monitor wise, if your budget will stretch as far as a lacie or similar, then go forr one of those, but if your looking for something a little cheaper, Ive currently got a nec 90gx2 and Im quite happy with that.
Id also recommend saving a little cash for a grpahics tablet, it will make editing the photos a whole lot easier. Something like a wacom intuos A5 would do the job.

Erm .... minty fresh already has a LaCie monitor.

[minty fresh]

Thanks guys for your generous advice and help!

[minty fresh]

Oh I ment to ask, is the pro version of the Abit IP-35 worth it in your opinion?

Would I be better off buying this: http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_in...c967f3274f0e2f since it's a similar price to the pro and it's based on newer tech?

[staffsMike]

The pro version will be beneficial for big overclocks but the standard IP-35 is still a great board.

The pro has eSATA ports which the standard board doesn't. It also uses all solid capacitors where the standard just uses them in key area's..but that shouldn't really matter.

The X38 board is a whole new ball game. I havn't really read any reviews yet but it's certainly more future proof so if you can afford and/or want it then go for it. Let us know the results.

It has 1600FSB support.,45nm Support and PCIe 2.0 support which I believe are the main differences (p35 has support for 45nm though i'm sure)