New System Build with Overclocking

[viky49]

Hi,

I'm basically a hobbyist photographer and till now have been using my 3 year old MSI S270 Notebook (Mobile Athlon 64 3000+, 2GB DDR 400, ATI X300 chipset, 120GB 5400rpm, 12.1" Wide Screen)for editing my photos...

I primarily shoot 12mp images in RAW and then edit/convert them into JPG/TIFF using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Off late, as my workload has increased, I'm finding that the poor MSI is really struggling and takes ages for the processing and conversions, so I've finally decided to get myself a new desktop.

This is what i basically have in mind:

For Processor, Its either the Q6600 Quad (2.40Ghz) Overclocked to 3.00Ghz (333x9.0)or the newer 45nm E7200 C2D (2.53Ghz) overclocked to 3.16Ghz (333x9.5). Which of these would be a wiser choice? Will four cores make a difference for my target applications? Also, I would like to be able to achieve these overclocks with stock coolers. Is this even possible?

Now, for Motherboards, many have suggested the MSI P6NGM-L (nvidia MCP73P), but I've also heard great things about the MSI P35 Neo - F (Intel P35 Express). Both can support 1333fsb and quad cores, so CPU choice should not make a difference here. Now, keeping in mind that I would be overclocking, which of these would you suggest? Also, the former has nVidia Geforce 6100 Graphics on board, so I wouldn't have to spend on a separate video card. However, In case I go for the P35, I have thought of the ATI Radeon 2400Pro 512MB as the video card. Is this good enough or should I get one with more grunt? Do video cards even make a difference in my kind of work which is solely based on still photo editing? I heard they are a must for video editing though. (P.S. I'll be using a 22" LCD 1680x1080, however, I won't be playing any games at all)

As for Ram, I'm thinking for either Corsair or Transcend DDR2 800 2GB x2 for a total of 4GB. I would be working on my Windows XP Professional 32bit, so will the OS support 4Gb even?

As for the Hard Drive, I'll probably get two of the WD 500GB Sata 32MB Cache version. Or will it be better to get a single 1TB drive?

I have budget around USD 600 for all this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Best regards,

Viky

P.S. Do i really need a high capacity PSU for the above config or will a 500W be enough?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Go with 4Gb of memory, the Quad, and a WD 640 - this drive is a fantastic piece of hardware ...I'd like to suggest an Asus P35 mobo

 

[DSF]

My understanding is that CS3 does not inherently use 4 cores, but that certain filters may. I don't use the program, but before you drop the extra money on a quad I'd make sure that it does if I were you.