new rig...ready made or custom build?

[paul01]

Hi,
ready to get new rig for photo editing and perhaps a little video editing (shot with DSLR cameras).
Last time around i bought a custom built computer with simple instructions to make it for photo editing.
i'm so far out of the PC loop I just had to contact the same folks again with the same simple instructions and got a quote for a new machine...
Intel Core i7 4770K Unlocked Quad Core 3.5GHZ Processor LGA1150 Haswell 8MB Cache Retail [BX80646I74770K] $389.98

ASUS Z87-K ATX LGA1150 Z87 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI CrossFireX SATA3 USB3.0 DVI HDMI Motherboard [Z87-K] $139.99

Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Gaming Case ATX 3X5.25 4X3.5 Front USB Audio No PSU [CC-9011014-WW] [Reg. $89.99] $74.99

Kingston KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G 16GB Kit 2X8GB 1600MHz DDR3 240PIN DIMM CL10 1.5V [KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G] [Reg. $175.98] $159.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 1046MHZ 2GB GDDR5 256BIT 7010MHZ DUAL-LINK DVI-I HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card [02G-P4-2770-KR] [Reg. $439.99] $389.99

Samsung 840 Evo Series MZ-7TE250BW 250GB 2.5in SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version [MZ-7TE250BW] $198.99

Western Digital Red 3TB SATA3 64MB Cache 3.5IN Internal Hard Disk Drive HDD [WD30EFRX] [Reg. $159.98]$149.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64Bit SP1 DVD OEM [GFC-02050] [Reg. $107.98] $99.99

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M 750W ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120mm Fan 5 Year Warranty [CP-9020040-NA] [Reg. $149.98] $129.99

LG CH12NS3012X BD-ROM Reading & Max 16x DVD-R Writing Speed Blu-Ray Combo [CH12NS30] [Reg. $66.65] $57.99

PC Assembly And Testing with 1 Year Limited **** System Warranty PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased [PC-ASSEMBLY]"
comes in about 1990 CAD.
i'd add another 3TB HDD and max ram out to whatever the MB can handle (32Gigs?) maybe upgrade to Win 8.1 since the board is 8.1 ready (i think)?
i'm still using XP Pro so I don't have a clue about pos/negs of Win 7 or 8.

the next and quite a bit cheaper option is a Dell XPS 8700 Special Edition.
more ram but an all-a-rounder. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 650 Ti 1.0GB GDDR5
comes in about $1500 CAD.

One other thing if I spring for a 10 bit (1.07 billion color) monitor do I need to concern myself with the video card being up to the task?
Thanks for your time,
Paul

 

[RKS]

Are you able or comfortable assembling the computer yourself? There seems to be quite a premium for the parts. I'm not sure if you need a GTX 770 for photo editing and a 750W psu seems to be overkill.

 

[lehtv]

$2000 seems more than a bit excessive for an i7-4770k editing build. Even $1500 would buy you a PC with an Ivy Bridge hexacore. Something like this:

4930K $600
Gigabyte X79-UD3 $230 AR
2x8GB DDR3-2133 $130 (2x = $260)
GTX 650 Ti $140 AR
840 EVO 120GB $95
Seagate 2TB $80 x2 = $160 (x3 = $240)
DVD-RW $16
Seasonic G450 $80
Corsair 300R $65 AR AP
Windows $100

= $1486 (2x 8GB RAM, 2x 2TB storage)

However, I'm not so sure if the hexacore is even worth it to you. 4770K would probably be just fine, or even a Xeon E3-1230 V3 if you don't care about overclocking.

One other thing if I spring for a 10 bit (1.07 billion color) monitor do I need to concern myself with the video card being up to the task?

I have no idea, actually. Hope someone answers this

 

[Cerb]

One other thing if I spring for a 10 bit (1.07 billion color) monitor do I need to concern myself with the video card being up to the task?

If you want to see more than 8 bits-worth, yes. You will need a Quadro supporting 30-bit (10bpp), and the software you use must support 30-bit (such as a current version of Photoshop). A Quadro K600 might be a good option, if Quadros are supported by the monitor, and those Quadros supported by the programs.

Ditch the K CPUs and Z chipsets on 1150, because this is not going to be an overclocked machine. They add cost, but no value, unless going with LGA2011 (X chipset, K and X CPUs), in which case your choices are more limited. An H-series mobo and i7-4771 will get you to the same place just as quickly.

More than about a GTX 650, even at higher resolutions, is pushing the limits of what you can make use of. Even a GTX 650 Ti is probably going overkill. The CPU is still so much a bottleneck that a GPUs ability in photo and video editing practically hit a brick wall (not that you want to stick with the IGP, but returns after about a GTX 650 or HD 7790 will generally range from diminishing to zero).

The XPS 8700 SE does not appear to offer an SSD, at least not at a reasonable price, you'd still have to do your own RAM upgrade, and you could use a bit better GPU than it comes with. It's all kinds of meh.

i'm still using XP Pro so I don't have a clue about pos/negs of Win 7 or 8.

They each have pros and and cons. They flubbed up on the UI with 8, but it has some nice added features, too, and there are programs to work around the UI. With a Pro OS version, you can buy 8.1, and if that isn't working out, downgrade to 7 (activation will just be annoying to do). Get the 8.1 OS disc with the PC, if buying from a big vendor, just to make life easier, if you try that (7 is easy enough to come by).

 

[paul01]

If you want to see more than 8 bits-worth, yes. You will need a Quadro supporting 30-bit (10bpp), and the software you use must support 30-bit (such as a current version of Photoshop). A Quadro K600 might be a good option, if Quadros are supported by the monitor, and those Quadros supported by the programs.
-thought and read/googled about it last night...since i really have no idea if/why i need 10 bit i'll stick with a good 8 bit monitor/work flow

Ditch the K CPUs and Z chipsets on 1150, because this is not going to be an overclocked machine. They add cost, but no value, unless going with LGA2011 (X chipset, K and X CPUs), in which case your choices are more limited. An H-series mobo and i7-4771 will get you to the same place just as quickly.
-yes i've never dabbled with over-clocking.

More than about a GTX 650, even at higher resolutions, is pushing the limits of what you can make use of. Even a GTX 650 Ti is probably going overkill. The CPU is still so much a bottleneck that a GPUs ability in photo and video editing practically hit a brick wall (not that you want to stick with the IGP, but returns after about a GTX 650 or HD 7790 will generally range from diminishing to zero).

The XPS 8700 SE does not appear to offer an SSD, at least not at a reasonable price, you'd still have to do your own RAM upgrade, and you could use a bit better GPU than it comes with. It's all kinds of meh.
-the XPS does(can) come with 32 Gig Ram and a 3TB HDD + 256 SSD.

They each have pros and and cons. They flubbed up on the UI with 8, but it has some nice added features, too, and there are programs to work around the UI. With a Pro OS version, you can buy 8.1, and if that isn't working out, downgrade to 7 (activation will just be annoying to do). Get the 8.1 OS disc with the PC, if buying from a big vendor, just to make life easier, if you try that (7 is easy enough to come by).

-looks like the Dell XPS Special Edition (or any such ready built system) is likely more than enough for me.
Thanks Everyone.
Now to go back and look at(for) 8 bit monitors with nice color.
Paul

 

[Cerb]

-the XPS does(can) come with 32 Gig Ram and a 3TB HDD + 256 SSD.

When I searched for it, I found a largely non-customizable one with 16GB RAM and SRT for $1500. Dell's website is terrible, though. If it's got 32GB, and an SSD, that wouldn't be bad at all for it to be prebuilt.

 

[paul01]

When I searched for it, I found a largely non-customizable one with 16GB RAM and SRT for $1500. Dell's website is terrible, though. If it's got 32GB, and an SSD, that wouldn't be bad at all for it to be prebuilt.

i don't know whether linking is allowed here but yes there is one with
32GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 4 DIMMs
Hard Drive

3TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s + 256GB SSD
Video Card

AMD Radeon™ HD R9 270 2GB GDDR5
for 1599..
i think i might as well go ahead with it and add the U2414H to stick with sRGB work flow.
Paul

 

[Cerb]

Linking is allowed, but I'm not sure if there's a post count requirement or not (I have been here a little while ). The video card is very much overkill for your needs, but it's going to cost around $1200 to DIY it, and to have it custom built for you should cost around Dell's asking price. It's not a cheap PC, but if you're not going to do the assembly, installation, and testing, yourself, it is fair price, rather than their normal exorbitant costs when going custom. I also don't see anything quite comparable at Dell or Lenovo's outlet sites.

 

[lehtv]

You'd save about $150-200 by building it yourself instead of buying Dell, and you would get a better case, better PSU, better motherboard, longer warranty on components, and you wouldn't have to necessarily buy an R9 270 which is kinda overkill for photo editing, and doesn't support CUDA which some video editing tools use.

 

[Torn Mind]

I'm think linking is encouraged because the site gets a little money for each click.

 

[paul01]

is included in price so thats gotta be worth quite a bit too.
now one final concern is RAID...
i'll install another 3TB HDD.
my current rig is RAID 1 but it came that way.
does one set up RAID in BIOS or use some software?
i'll google it but ask just in case someone has a very easy solution

 

[Cerb]

does one set up RAID in BIOS or use some software?

Both for an OS volume, either for a data-only volume. It's not hard to do, though. You just need Intel's RST installed, for Windows to see and work with the RAID (Intel and AMD chipset RAID is what is often called, "FakeRAID," and is really a software-based RAID that tries to look like a hardware RAID controller, for Windows' sake).

If the XPS works like everyone else's (OEMs like to customize), you'll get a chance to hit CTRL-I during the initial boot process, if RAID is enabled. Once you are in the RAID configuration, whether it's Dell-branded or not, it will be just like anyone else's. The Windows side of things is the same software with Dell or a white box, so you can easily find guides, videos, or whatever happens to work for you.

Disclaimer, in case you're not aware (we harp on this a lot): RAID is not a backup. It protects against downtime from having to go to backups, instead of getting work done, due to drives dying. If you need a backup, it should be normally disconnected, to protect against software bugs, human errors, and malware. If your data doesn't change more than a GB or two per week, any number of cloud backup services can allow a set it and forget type backup, several allowing you to send them an HDD to seed it with, in case you're starting with TBs worth; while large amounts of data and changes may necessitate local backups.

 

[paul01]

geez wife suggested i check Costco and voile... a Dell XPS with 4TB + 256 SSD and 32 Gig Ram
1.5 GB NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 660 graphics
decisions decisions

 

[paul01]

Both for an OS volume, either for a data-only volume. It's not hard to do, though. You just need Intel's RST installed, for Windows to see and work with the RAID (Intel and AMD chipset RAID is what is often called, "FakeRAID," and is really a software-based RAID that tries to look like a hardware RAID controller, for Windows' sake).

If the XPS works like everyone else's (OEMs like to customize), you'll get a chance to hit CTRL-I during the initial boot process, if RAID is enabled. Once you are in the RAID configuration, whether it's Dell-branded or not, it will be just like anyone else's. The Windows side of things is the same software with Dell or a white box, so you can easily find guides, videos, or whatever happens to work for you.

Disclaimer, in case you're not aware (we harp on this a lot): RAID is not a backup. It protects against downtime from having to go to backups, instead of getting work done, due to drives dying. If you need a backup, it should be normally disconnected, to protect against software bugs, human errors, and malware. If your data doesn't change more than a GB or two per week, any number of cloud backup services can allow a set it and forget type backup, several allowing you to send them an HDD to seed it with, in case you're starting with TBs worth; while large amounts of data and changes may necessitate local backups.

i understand. thanks again.
i'll google some cloud solutions stuff now that i've got(going to get) a proper fast machine.