building from scratch for graphic design

[SirCyber]

can be but theres no denying more ram, esp for photoshop, lightwave, or CAD, is going to be much better for multilayer *or for animation, multipoint/surface* projects

 

[dirkpitt45]

Photoshop isn't all that ram hungry, its just got a lot of messy code. Try adding over 1k fonts and watch happens Or lots of brushes, either of those slow it down so much its not even funny, like unusable slow. I find photoshop cs4 64bit runs great with 4gb ram, DDR2 at that. School computers are crap though (at least here, I gotta run cpuz sometime and see what they have), I do all my work at home for the most part, just browse and do other work in tech class.

I'll be starting lightwave in a couple weeks so idk, and I've never used CAD stuff so can't say. Though I'm not sure what kinda stuff your doing in photoshop that uses lots of ram? I've got photoshop (couple tags and tuts open, I've been slacking in the art department lately >.<), illustrator (vectored logo I'm working on), and AOE3 open right now. Using 2.03 gb ram, though aoe3 is just open, not running anything.

But as said before, go with standard 4gb for phenoms or 6gb for an i7 and see how much you use.

 

[OtisBlack]

I agree that PS may not be a ram hungry application. i dont know this for sure, but every thing I have read seems to say the same. I have also come to believe (and I very well could be wrong) that you can never have to much ram, assuming you rig can handle it. Everything I have read does however say that PS will use every bit of CPU you can throw at it. This is what leads me to wanting the 965 OCed to about 3.7. The wish for ram is more due to the 3d rendering software I plan to start playing with in the future. I am to understand that a high end video card is not needed for PS but that for the 3d stuff it is a must. I have looked at workstation cards and they all seem to be very very exspensive. So as of now my plan was to run onboard for the PS stuff and save up for a workstation card after doing some more research. Basicly I need to know if the SSD is that much of a difference. And if the 650 OCZ will be enough to power everything down the road with a video card supporting dual monitors. Also if I dont need to run xp would the home version 64b W7 be plenty. As for the case, I chose the Apevia X-cruiser for astetic value and the fact it has the gauges, basicly just thought it looked cool and seemed to have good ventilation. Any comments on that case?

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

I agree that PS may not be a ram hungry application. i dont know this for sure, but every thing I have read seems to say the same. I have also come to believe (and I very well could be wrong) that you can never have to much ram, assuming you rig can handle it. Everything I have read does however say that PS will use every bit of CPU you can throw at it. This is what leads me to wanting the 965 OCed to about 3.7. The wish for ram is more due to the 3d rendering software I plan to start playing with in the future. I am to understand that a high end video card is not needed for PS but that for the 3d stuff it is a must. I have looked at workstation cards and they all seem to be very very exspensive. So as of now my plan was to run onboard for the PS stuff and save up for a workstation card after doing some more research. Basicly I need to know if the SSD is that much of a difference. And if the 650 OCZ will be enough to power everything down the road with a video card supporting dual monitors. Also if I dont need to run xp would the home version 64b W7 be plenty. As for the case, I chose the Apevia X-cruiser for astetic value and the fact it has the gauges, basicly just thought it looked cool and seemed to have good ventilation. Any comments on that case?

Again I want to re-iterate that if you're using programs that benefit from a better CPU, you'll want an i7 over the Phenom builds.

And if you DO go with a Phenom II, get a Phenom II X4 955 as it can overclock just as far as a Phenom II X4 965, but is cheaper.

The 650w PSU will be more than enough for your needs.

And the home version of 7 will be plenty, or premium or w/e they call it.

The SSD makes a world of difference, ask any of the SSD owners on the forum.


Also AS RAM IS EASILY UPGRADEABLE, you literally just slap a stick in...

I recommend AGAINST going all out and wasting money on extra RAM at first...

Build your computer, run your programs, and check your RAM usage.
If you find that you are using 90%~ of your RAM or more at any given point in time, then you should upgrade.
There's no use to wasting the money on extra RAM if you don't really need to.
Please, think about it logically.

 

[OtisBlack]

Hey I am with ya brother. I would love to build my dream machine for way less than I ever thought possible. So what makes the i7 so much better for CPU demanding applications? Are they as easy to overclock? I plan on running 64 bit OS, would 4g ram still sufice? Also this will be the first time I have bought an OS, is there a difference in the packages as far as can I load it on my other home PCs as well? I am going to go "build" an i7 rig on paper right now and see what I come up with. One more thing, everyone on here seems to be pimping newegg, but I just went and priced piece for piece against Tiger and newegg seemed to be quite a bit more exspensive. What is it about them that you guys like so much more? Again thank you all so much for your help. I am so glad I didnt pull the trigger this morning before joining here.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Hey I am with ya brother. I would love to build my dream machine for way less than I ever thought possible. So what makes the i7 so much better for CPU demanding applications? Are they as easy to overclock? I plan on running 64 bit OS, would 4g ram still sufice? Also this will be the first time I have bought an OS, is there a difference in the packages as far as can I load it on my other home PCs as well? I am going to go "build" an i7 rig on paper right now and see what I come up with. One more thing, everyone on here seems to be pimping newegg, but I just went and priced piece for piece against Tiger and newegg seemed to be quite a bit more exspensive. What is it about them that you guys like so much more? Again thank you all so much for your help. I am so glad I didnt pull the trigger this morning before joining here.

I don't know who this sort of stuff applies to...
But there's a Tigerdirect in my state, so if I order from them I have to pay taxes.
If I order from Newegg, I don't have to pay taxes.
So I save loads ordering from Newegg.
Also, Newegg offers better combo deals than Tigerdirect, and generally has cheaper shipping.

If you wait until the Phenom II X6's come out before you make your purchase, they may be a more viable option than building a Phenom II X4 rig.

The rumored prices for the Phenom II X6's are as of right now between $200-400

If you want to go ahead and buy a computer now, I suggest getting an Athlon II or Sempron 140 temporarily, and then upgrading to a Phenom II X6 when they are released, just waiting, OR buying an i7.
But that's just my recommendation.

(Multiple threads helps when rendering, the i7's use hyperthreading, giving them a total of 8 threads, versus the Phenom II X4's 4 threads, also the i7's are faster than the Phenom II's clock for clock as the i7's access and perform L2 and L3 cache operations much faster than the Phenom II's, and the i7's DO overclock higher on standard third party air coolers.)

Take a look at some i7 920 reviews and some Phenom II X4 965 reviews, you'll see the performance differences in rendering.

 

[OtisBlack]

Tracking now. Thanks. And you are exactly right about the tax thing. I didnt notice that at first. I just recently moved to NC and was not aware that there was a Tiger Direct store here. I just checked my cart and there it is, 99.47 in taxes. Add that to the 41.?? in shipping and you have just about the difference in an i7 build. I am so torn on this buy that I will probably end up waiting until the x6 releases, not by choice mind you, just because I cant make up my mind. For the price of the i7 build shipped to my door, I can get the AMD build w/ a 24" lcd if I act now. But that will most likely not happen as I am torn. Where in NC are you? I am in Fayetteville/Bragg.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Tracking now. Thanks. And you are exactly right about the tax thing. I didnt notice that at first. I just recently moved to NC and was not aware that there was a Tiger Direct store here. I just checked my cart and there it is, 99.47 in taxes. Add that to the 41.?? in shipping and you have just about the difference in an i7 build. I am so torn on this buy that I will probably end up waiting until the x6 releases, not by choice mind you, just because I cant make up my mind. For the price of the i7 build shipped to my door, I can get the AMD build w/ a 24" lcd if I act now. But that will most likely not happen as I am torn. Where in NC are you? I am in Fayetteville/Bragg.

The Tiger Direct store is a Tiger Direct/CompUSA in Raleigh.

I'm in Chapel Hill right now on the UNC campus, I'm living in Hillsborough currently, but I'm going to NC State in Raleigh.
So basically, I hop around the triangle.

 

[OtisBlack]

Ok my man, you sold me. Not only on the i7 but on the egg as well. Thanks. Let me know what you think of this set up if ya will.

ABS Canyon 595 Black Anodized Aluminum Super Full Tower Computer Case, Multiple Heat Zones Design, Front 3x 120mm Double ...
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 -
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard -
Kingston HyperX 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1800 (PC3 14400) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX14400D3K3/3GX
Rosewill Xtreme Series RX750-S-B 750W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire ...
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
ATI 100-505564 FirePro V3700 256MB PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card
OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
SAMSUNG 22" 5ms Height &Pivot Adjustable Stand Black Widescreen LCD Monitor -

Total shipped to my door 1361.95 - 30.00 mail in. Not as much ram as I had intended to get, but as you said, ram is so easy to upgrade later. This mobo seems pretty ****** too. It has 6 slots for ram so when I decide I just have to be a ram ***** then I can go nuts. lol Thanks again for being patient and advising me in the right direction. After reading some reviews I think I will be very happy with this set up as is. And who knows maybe a week or two aft6er owning it someone can teach me to OC this bad boy!!

 

[LiLChris]

Good setup.
Though i think 30gb ssd is kinda small for a designer.

I would try to get this one. I dunno if you can find it cheaper or is possible get it as an OEM.
Newegg.com - OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD

Unless all your using is photoshop and not any other stuff.
Then yea 30gb is enough.

I got the Adobe Collection + 3dsmax plus more.
And thats just a start, and having all those in my SSD is nice!


Edit- Also have you checked for a microcenter nearby? Just on the i7 you will save $88.
You can get a i7-930 and have leftover money from $288 if you do find a MC near ya.
Plus then you can look for a good batch #