Best kit for no gaming

[barryheadon]

Hi,

My machine is used for photoshop (Currently CS3 but will be CS4 early nxt year), illustrator, Xara, Xara 3d and remote support. I run two monitors. I would like to think that this kit might be able to last a few years without the need to upgrade.
My budget is £1000
I will be buying from the UK
My last build was 5 years ago and I must be honest I've always preferred to use intel but have no other preferences for brands.
I have an HauppageTV card and a couple of 7200 ata discs which I would like to use but won't bother if it's not possible.
I have read other threads but so much is about gaming that I get a bit lost.
I don't intend to overclock
I would like to buy within the next month.

TIA for any advice.

 

[barryheadon]

Just been to scan and this is what I think I'm going to get. Just hope I haven't forgotten anything. It's all going in a Thermaltake Xaser Alum case
1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
650w Be Quiet BN088 Straight Power
Intel Core i7 860
Asus P7P55D DELUXE
6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600)
896MB XFX GTX 260 Black

 

[barryheadon]

Nobody has an opinion then? Oh well, I just changed the 6gb for 8GB of the same memory.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I wouldn't bother with the P7P55D Deluxe. For Photoshop and similar applications, just get whatever motherboard has enough SATA, PCI-E, and PCI slots for your devices. Something like the Gigabyte P55-UD3R should be plenty. The i7 860 is a nice choice.

8GB of memory is definitely a good idea for what you're doing. Just make sure you have a 64-bit operating system. However, there's no need to get Dominator or any other "high performance" memory. Go for something cheaper, say around $85 (~54 pounds) per 4 GB.

The GTX 260 is a gaming card. Photoshop doesn't need a ton of graphics horsepower, but I wouldn't completely cheap out either. Something along the lines of a 9600 GT, 9600 GSO, HD 4670, etc. should be plenty. I'm not familiar with Xara 3D, so if that DOES need a good graphics card (for rendering, for example) then disregard this comment. In that case, you may want to look into a workstation graphics card, though.

The 650w power supply is overkill, unless you want a lot of headroom for future upgrades... and by that, I mean gaming system upgrades. I'm not familiar with Be Quiet, but I'd suggest something along the lines of a 400-500w PSU from a good name brand, like Corsair, Seasonic, Antec, or PC Power & Cooling. Some other brands like OCZ and Silverstone have both good and bad units; read professional reviews (like JonnyGuru.com) before buying.

Put the money you save into getting an Intel or Indilinx SSD.