Need some help putting together a parts list for a desktop machine needed for editing photos. Will have a macbook air for everything else. The air struggles with D800 and XT1 files frequently and I can't blame it as that is not the intended purpose for that machine. I'd love to stay in the apple ecosystem but the mac mini's have the same graphics card as the air so not much in the way of performance improvements there. Intended usage for this new computer will be Lightroom and Photoshop and any other random photo editing software. Don't care about video. Will never be doing anything with video in the foreseeable future. 

 

Can anyone suggest a parts build for <$1000 (preferably <$700)? Is newegg still the place to go for this? I stopped shopping with them after building a couple of systems when single core processors were king back in the day but I am familiar with how to put a system together. 

 

Already have a monitor and mouse. Will need everything else. Would a prebuilt Dell/something or the other be cheaper? Don't care for over clocking or gaming. Do care a lot about the rig being noisy so the quieter the better. 

 

Thanks. 

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by crappyjones123

^hackintosh time?

Never did that before but if I can stay in the apple software realm i would prefer it as it saves me from having to buy software licenses again.

Is newegg still the place to go for this? 

 

Would a prebuilt Dell/something or the other be cheaper? 

No.

 

Yes.

 

Look at this shit.  Just look at this shit.  Also, this shit.

That's a lot of shit, Dusty 

 

I say build it yourself.  For a moderately priced Photoshop build, pretty much spend the money on an Intel quad core, SSD, and 16 GB of ram.  And no shitty PSUs either.  Seasonic or Corsair make great mid-priced PSUs.

 

As for sources, Microcenter for CPUs (if you are near one), Frys/Microcenter for HDDs, and Newegg/Amazon for everything else.  Too many horror stories of DOA HDDs via mail, so try to buy those in store.

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by roadtonowhere08

Interesting "base combo" at Newegg:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1661630

 

$518 after MIR is a pretty good deal on that combo (the same 4 items are $547 at Amazon).

 

But might be pushing it a bit to fit into $1000 budget though.  

 

PSU:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

 

(750 watts is overkill but with the MIR and promo code it's an arm twister)

 

RAM:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

 

 

Windoze:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416806

 

Still need to check options for a case, optical drive, a real video card ....

While Photoshop utilizes GPU for better performance/features, Lightroom currently doesn't and its performance is based almost entirely on CPU and RAM.

 

Also, it's bit old at this point, but should still apply since Adobe really hasn't changed the way Lightroom is built - Will an SSD Improve Adobe Lightroom Performance? 

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by Salt Peanuts

I quite like the idea of a hackintosh and it doesn't seem like the hardware is going to cost much less/more than a windows build. 

 

How is this for a build? It's roughly $1000 even. The list is assembled from a list of parts verified to work with a hackintosh - 

 

 

and this for a hard drive - 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E3W1726/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Is there anywhere I can trim fat down as it is right at $1000. 

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by crappyjones123

Used iMac? I have noticed the Iris stuff to be a decent bump in graphics performance.

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by luvdunhill

Marc, I already have a Dell Ultrasharp 27" monitor. I flirted with the idea of having another one of the same as I love the damn thing but it would block both speakers. Same issue with a used iMac. 

Something to note - the $1000 build doesn't even have a dedicated gfx card...but I don't know what to cut down on. 

Remember while the Air is great for what it is, any quad core desktop chip absolutely crushes it performance wise so you don't need to spend that much on cpu/mobo

 

You can cut some costs there pretty easily:

 

psu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012 

cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116895

mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128712

Do you need the wireless card?  The mobo probably has a built in hardwire connection.

 

Some cases come with power supplies.

 

Some CPUs come with coolers.

Smaller SSD? 

I would ditch that 92mm CPU cooler.

 

Maybe swap the Corsair CS650M for a SeaSonic S12G-650 (not going to save you much though)

 

X2 for swapping the board with the GIGABYTE GA-H97-D3H

 Or the maybe even GA-Z97X-UD3H (SATA express, does not have a DP though)

ditch the PSU and rewire the computer to run on cosmic energy.

Get a USB3 drive with Windows to Go and use a computer at your local library/hackerspace/friend's house/university/coffee shop.

Does not (necessarily) solve speed issue.

You could do Linux & GIMP the same way, of course.

I did not see OS in the above parts list. How much is Mac OS?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forum Fiend v1.2.5.

OS X is just $20 but I have a macbook air so I can download it again as I paid for it when I was upgrading to Mavericks. Yosemite is going to be free to no worries on that account either. 

 

In typical head case fashion, I could not stick to the aforementioned budget and ordered the following. 

 

 

And a 128gb Samsung 840 Pro ssd for the OS and catalogs. Should be plenty of space since nothing else will be on that drive. Images all get stored in the 2tb drive which I can add to later once that fills up. 

 

Excited to have a desktop again. Still need a keyboard...

So you're doing a Hackintosh? I'm curious how it goes - I've been thinking of building one for a while.

Yes ma'am. The tutorials make it seem pretty easy. No harder than following instructions. To avoid problems while debugging I stuck to the list of components that are verified to work. Will keep this thread updated on how it goes. 

I was planning to do the same (stick to the components).  

 

I'll probably do this once my 2011 MBP starts driving me crazy.  I don't use PS so it isn't too bad. 

I don't use PS much at all so skipping the graphics card right now. If I find myself missing it, I'll grab a low end one - don't plan on gaming anytime soon. 

Nice assemblage of parts.

 

If you find yourself hating the fan that comes with the Hyper 212 EVO as much as I did this one is a nice replacement.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553001

Good choices.  I think you'll like the speed increase.