Question First build for photo editing - advise appreciated!

[Norrat]

This is my first build and has been a pretty steep learning curve for me. Still trying to get my head around it really. Would really appreciate some experienced eyes on this just in case I’ve overlooked something.

I’m an artist and am predominantly using photoshop; large digital composite images, lots of layers and filters – heavy lifting. My old laptop, a dell XPS 15 just wasn’t up to the task, the cpu was constantly throttling. The machine was a nightmare from day one really. I think because of this trauma I might be over compensating with this build but I spend so much time at the computer I just don’t want to hit any walls.

I’m using a Eizo CG2730 (2560 x 1440) monitor and wanted to take advantage of the 10bit colour, hence the Quadro card.

I might do some light overclocking. Looking to build asap, in the next few weeks.
Build

Components Already Purchased,
CPU – i9-9900K
GPU – Nividia Quadro P2000
RAM – Corsair Vengence LPX 2 x 16GB
Storage – 2 x Samsung 970 Evo 500GB M.2

Will purchace in the coming days in Germany,
Storage – 2 x Seagate BarraCuda 4TB 3.5”
MOBO – Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master
CPU Cooling – Noctua NH-D15
Case – Phanteks Eclipse P600S
Case Cooling – 3 x Noctua NF-A14
PSU – Seasonic Prime Titanium 650W

I’m not totally sold on the Aorus Master MOBO, I’m also considering the Asus WS Pro, AS Rock Taichi and the Gigabyte Designare.

Does this look like it will be a good fit? Any advice or opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Muadib]

Looks good, but why the two 970 Evos?

 

[Norrat]

Looks good, but why the two 970 Evos?

I wanted to have a second drive for Photoshop scratch but having done a bit more research I think this may have been unnecessary now with NVMe

 

[Muadib]

I wanted to have a second drive for Photoshop scratch but having done a bit more research I think this may have been unnecessary now with NVMe

Just get a 1TB drive to start with. You can add another later if you find that you need it.

 

[Norrat]

Just get a 1TB drive to start with. You can add another later if you find that you need it.

Thanks, wil do!

 

[daveybrat]

I’m using a Eizo CG2730 (2560 x 1440) monitor and wanted to take advantage of the 10bit colour, hence the Quadro card.

You don't need to buy an overpriced and underpowered Quadro card anymore to get 10-bit color support. All Pascal (GTX 1000 series) and Turing (GTX and RTX series) gaming cards now support it with Nvidia's Studio Driver.

For the price of that Quadro you could get a significantly more powerful RTX 2060 Super.

 

[Arkaign]

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 (Intel Z390) Motherboard Review

ASRock's Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 is a motherboard that almost doesn't have any downside at all, it also comes in a reasonable price.

www.tweaktown.com

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I briefly had the z370 variant of that Mobo. I recommend the ASRock Phantom Gaming 9 wholeheartedly. My experience with Gigabyte Z370/390 was not the worst, but a bit underwhelming. 8086K, 9900KS, and 3733 and 4000 Ram kits really didn't clock very well with it even with lots of tweaking and testing. After moving to the ASRock PG9 otoh, it has

been ludicrously stable and friendly to spec. Clocked DDR4 4000 to CL15 on stock volts, clocked to 5Ghz no offset stock CPU volts, then 1.310v got me to 5.2, on the same basic HSF you have (mine is DH15U Carbon), load temps stay under 68C, usually sits around 35-38 in regular games and desktop browsing etc. Was able to get to 5.3, but only with AVX offset to 5.2 at 1.325v, can do 5.4 with temps getting closer to 80 at load and 1.355V and 5.3 AVX offset, but it seems like it's not worth it to push so hard. Maybe if I pay for a pro delidding service I'll consider pushing up. Really good bin.


But even the 8086k which stuck mostly at 5Ghz on voltage boost with the Gigabyte boards behaved better in testing with the ASrock, instead of +.25v voltage it is stable stock volts, and pushes to 5.3 above 1.375v (though only tested for a few minutes for comparison purposes, don't want to push it with high voltage or long OC usage, as I'm going to sell it onwards soon. Because it didn't do well at stock/near stock volt OCing on the GB mobos, I mostly ran it at 4.8 locked on stock volts and super low temps on the Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 and Z390 Aorus Master.

If you do want to stick with Gigabyte, I hear nice things about the Gigabyte Z390 Designaire. If you compare the reviews above, even the Phantom Gaming 7 proved to OC better and perform faster than the Aorus Master Z390. The Designaire is slightly newer and gives you Thunderbolt abilities if you care.

 

[Arkaign]

AnandTech Forums: Technology, Hardware, Software, and Deals

Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

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[Norrat]

You don't need to buy an overpriced and underpowered Quadro card anymore to get 10-bit color support. All Pascal (GTX 1000 series) and Turing (GTX and RTX series) gaming cards now support it with Nvidia's Studio Driver.

For the price of that Quadro you could get a significantly more powerful RTX 2060 Super.

Oh man, I hadn't read about this Geforce Studio update. It's difficult to find workstation info as it generally such a gamer oriented field. Thanks for the advise, looks like I'm going down another rabbit hole of reviews and reddit subthreads

 

[Norrat]

.

 

[Norrat]

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 (Intel Z390) Motherboard Review

ASRock's Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 is a motherboard that almost doesn't have any downside at all, it also comes in a reasonable price.

www.tweaktown.com

AnandTech Forums: Technology, Hardware, Software, and Deals

Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

www.anandtech.com

I briefly had the z370 variant of that Mobo. I recommend the ASRock Phantom Gaming 9 wholeheartedly. My experience with Gigabyte Z370/390 was not the worst, but a bit underwhelming. 8086K, 9900KS, and 3733 and 4000 Ram kits really didn't clock very well with it even with lots of tweaking and testing. After moving to the ASRock PG9 otoh, it has

been ludicrously stable and friendly to spec. Clocked DDR4 4000 to CL15 on stock volts, clocked to 5Ghz no offset stock CPU volts, then 1.310v got me to 5.2, on the same basic HSF you have (mine is DH15U Carbon), load temps stay under 68C, usually sits around 35-38 in regular games and desktop browsing etc. Was able to get to 5.3, but only with AVX offset to 5.2 at 1.325v, can do 5.4 with temps getting closer to 80 at load and 1.355V and 5.3 AVX offset, but it seems like it's not worth it to push so hard. Maybe if I pay for a pro delidding service I'll consider pushing up. Really good bin.


But even the 8086k which stuck mostly at 5Ghz on voltage boost with the Gigabyte boards behaved better in testing with the ASrock, instead of +.25v voltage it is stable stock volts, and pushes to 5.3 above 1.375v (though only tested for a few minutes for comparison purposes, don't want to push it with high voltage or long OC usage, as I'm going to sell it onwards soon. Because it didn't do well at stock/near stock volt OCing on the GB mobos, I mostly ran it at 4.8 locked on stock volts and super low temps on the Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 and Z390 Aorus Master.

If you do want to stick with Gigabyte, I hear nice things about the Gigabyte Z390 Designaire. If you compare the reviews above, even the Phantom Gaming 7 proved to OC better and perform faster than the Aorus Master Z390. The Designaire is slightly newer and gives you Thunderbolt abilities if you care.

The Designare is on my list although I am surprised to hear that the Master didn't overclock well for you. Buildzoid had it in his top 5 Z390's. I'll have a look into the other MOBO's you mentioned. Thanks for the run down!

 

[IronWing]

The Designare is on my list although I am surprised to hear that the Master didn't overclock well for you. Buildzoid had it in his top 5 Z390's. I'll have a look into the other MOBO's you mentioned. Thanks for the run down!

I have the Designare Z390 and I have had no issues with it. I haven't tried to overclock it as my goal is minimum noise as opposed to maximum performance. My system has an i7-9700K, 64GB RAM, and an RTX2070. I don't have Photoshop but Gimp and Affinity Photo run very, very fast. Pay attention to the tradeoffs between M2 and SATA drives with this motherboard to make sure it meets your ultimate build out needs.

 

[Norrat]

Thanks for the advise

 

[IronWing]

Also, you might want to check out Puget Systems' articles on system performance with Photoshop.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/all_articles.php?filter[]=Photoshop

 

[Norrat]

Also, you might want to check out Puget Systems' articles on system performance with Photoshop.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/all_articles.php?filter[]=Photoshop

Puget has been a great resource for me. They've got so much info on their site A++ If i lived in the states and had the cash I'd def consider getting one of their systems.