Advice For Digital Photography & Gaming PC

[Rickst3r]

Hi everyone,

As the title suggests, I would appreciate any advice on PC specifications for a computer mainly used for digital photo editing and gaming; albeit it's main purpose will be for photo editing, using Lightroom 5 and eventually Photoshop Elements.

My current PC was bought from Beast Computers some 6 years ago and has done me well over the years with very few issues. However, my main problem is a lack of RAM (currently 2GB), as editing 20MB+ RAW files is proving very restrictive, especially when exporting as JEPEG or TIFF files! Sure, I could upgrade the RAM and change to a 64Bit OS, but given the PC's age, I think it's time to just have a full upgrade.

I'm thinking of a 3XS X79 Velocity with the following spec;

Case: Corsair Carbide Air 540 High Airflow Cube Case
Motherboard - Intel X79 Chipset: Asus P9X79 Pro Intel X79 Chipset
CPU - Intel 3rd Generation "Ivy Bridge Enthusiast": Intel Core i7 4930K 3.4GHz Hex Core + Hyperthreading 12MB Cache
CPU Coolers: Corsair H100i Hydro - High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Memory DDR3 - Quad Channel DDR3: 16GB Total (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 2133MHz , 2 selected
Overclocking - CPU: Optimal - Upto 4.4GHz - Within wider safety margins for balanced thermal & acoustic characteristics.
NVIDIA Graphics - Multi GPU SLI Options Available: 3GB EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC 980MHz GPU 2880 Cores 7000MHz GDDR5
Power Supply Unit: 850W Corsair RM Modular Silent 80PLUS Gold - Any Dual Graphics Cards
Braided Power Supply Cables - Requires RM Series PSU (See Above): Corsair Individually Sleeved Modular Cable Kit - White
Braided Power Supply Cables (24pin) - Requires RM Series PSU (See Above): Corsair Individually Sleeved Modular 24Pin Cable - White
Solid State Drives: 256GB Samsung 840 Pro Read 540MB s Write 520MB s
Storage Hard drives: 2TB Western Digital Green 64MB Cache
Optical Drive 1 - DVD Blu Ray: Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x Blu-ray Reader 16x DVD Reader & Writer
Lighting Effects: Sharkoon 4" White CCFL 2in1 Kit
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - OEM

My PC uses a Q6600 clocked @ 3.0GHz, so I think going to a 6 core above 4GHz will be a nice upgrade. I don't want it overclocked too much and have to sacrifice RAM speed.

I also considered specifying a 3XS Cyclone 7990, but it doesn't have the option of a 6 core CPU. Just wondering if the Cyclone is actually available with a 6 core Intel 4930K? My current PC has a liquid cooled CPU and I would be keen on having a similar system on my new rig, but I'm not interested in liquid cooling the GPU.

Would appreciate peoples input and also if it worth while going to 32GB of RAM, albeit going from 2 - 16GB will be a massive difference anyway!

I will be pairing the PC with a new Samsung S27B971D 27" Matte Widescreen Monitor with 2560x1440 Resolution, which I think the 780Ti will handle(?). Can cope with the 5ms refresh as it's mainly for photo editing.

Lastly, I have read a few posts on here with SCAN delivery dates being missed and people not receiving invoice numbers after ordering etc. Things seem to be picking up in every sector (which is good), and SCAN have taken on some new staff to keep up with demand. However, I trust that my PC would be built by a fully trained member of staff and not rushed out the door to meet a deadline date, as I'd rather wait a week or two extra .

Many thanks,

[Chris P]

Rickst3r

The spec you've selected there will lend itself very well to any photo/video task, as well as gaming.

You'll see a substantial improvement in performance when moving to a modern system, especially when using 16GB RAM.

The Cyclone system is a Z87 based system, we could always provide an X79 Hexcore spec for you if you'd prefer, it's just a change of board, chip and RAM essentially.

16GB RAM will offer a massive benefit for you in terms of a speed boost, 32GB would max out a Z87 system and 64GB would max out an X79 machine. The 780Ti you've selected shall handle the 2560x1440 res with ease.

With regards to our lead times, we're always so busy that a 10 day lead time is quoted as an estimate. Naturally, problematic systems can sometimes cause a backlog with our build schedule but please be assured we always work to the highest standards and will not rush a system. Each and every one is built with the same care and then undergo the same stress and QC testing.

Best Regards

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Personally I think it is way OTT for what you are suggesting,but thats my opinion from working with massive image files in the past. Each to their own.