FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Non-gaming desktop for Lightroom

Post Date: 2010-09-08
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
ctyankee View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 08 Sep 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2 		  Quote ctyankee Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Non-gaming desktop for Lightroom
    Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 10:27am
Budget: $1000 (preferably)-$1500 (max)
have 1 monitor*, keyboard, mouse
No gaming, primarily used for Lightroom, plus basic home computer usage

I'm looking to upgrade a 5-year old PC.  I have 600GB of photos on a Buffalo Terastation (4x250GB in RAID 5 == 750GB ... already replaced 1 of 4 drives).  It's slow in Lightroom and I'll be better off with an internal drive.  I was thinking about going RAID 1 in the machine, but have been reading that RAID isn't a great backup strategy; I'm better off backing up with external drives (thinking eSATA would be the way to go here).  Current machine has 160GB mirrored drives; 108GB in use.  (At least 60GB of that is my CD collection in iTunes and some photos that don't need to be on that drive). 

With that in mind, was thinking of a 2-drive solution.  Primary (boot, application and some data) at maybe 500GB and then a 1-2TB drive for photos.  I also plan to start doing a little more with shooting & storing video, but won't be editing much.  I would pick up an external drive of the same size as the photo drive for backups, and maybe use the Terastation for backups of non-photo files ?  (I'm really not sure if the Terastation has a serious use for me any more).  Another option is an SSD boot/application drive, a 1TB drive for photos and another drive for other data (iTunes, video, etc). 

I was leaning toward i5 7xx but open to Phenom IIx4.  Not sure what to pick between H55 & P55 MB or graphics card.  I would like to use dual monitor support in Lightroom (second monitor would be above stated budget).  Was thinking 8GB; not sure if 4GB would suffice. 

Thanks for recommendations.

- Dennis


Edited by ctyankee - 08 Sep 2010 at 10:32am
Back to Top
MagiK View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 10:59am
No real need for two secondary drives if you are looking to save expense.  Get a single 2TB drive and an SSD for the OS.  You can use good file managment to use directories to store your data on the 2TB drive or you could partition it into 2 partitions...in the end it should be cheaper than two separate drives.

As for the processor, Id go with the Intel   Just my 2 cents.unless you are really trying to save expenses.

If your apps will use the memory over  the 4gb range then 8gig works.  I have never been unhappy about having too much memory  :D


Edited by MagiK - 08 Sep 2010 at 11:02am
Ancalagon, My Syndicate SubZero Build Review
Back to Top
!ender_ View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 11:54am

depends on how big the photos itself are but if youre using lightroom for lots of pictures at a time i doubt your ram selection would make too much difference as it would likely be using way more or way less than your alloted at 4 or 8 gb..

id definitely reccomend intel as well, and since you arent gaming at all you dont have to invest too much in a video card, but even if you changed your mind this build would let you do light gaming
 
you could go with something like this which should more than fill your needs
 
the 40 gig ssd would be a good boost to productivity if you thought you could take advantage of it, but if not, you can just change that to a 500gb standard drive
i definitely would not raid, since you have a lot of space needs and you are on a budget i dont see many ways raid could benefit you
 
case choice was just the cheapest, you can choose any of the cases you like since you wont be doing anything extreme it wont make a difference
Back to Top
ctyankee View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 08 Sep 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2 		  Quote ctyankee Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 12:13pm
Thanks for the replies so far.  I'm editing 12MP compressed raw files now (about 12MB each), likely higher res in the future.  I rarely work with big files (stitched panoramas, etc.)  I won't rule it out, but don't ever expect it to be a mainstream activity.  I've read that Lightroom loves memory, though. 

The configuration is pretty basic which I guess I should have expected :)  The video card ender recommended looks like some place where I could save money (put toward RAM or a larger SSD) ... would something like a GT 220 do the job for me ? 

Thanks again,

- Dennis
Back to Top
dblecircle View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 80 		  Quote dblecircle Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 12:31pm
I don't think lightroom is very intensive for modern comps, but if you get into video, especially HD, and using other adobe products like Premiere Pro etc then its a totally different story.  Stick to Nividia graphics cards just in case because CS5 uses the CUDA architecture on them.
 
Adobe is committed to Nividia so anything they run will probably run better on them.
 

980x @ 3.9, SLI Dual 480s, 120 gig SSD, X-fi Champion, 1200w, 800d, 12 gigs RAM, RTS + CS5 Fun O Fun Oh My!
Back to Top
!ender_ View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 09 Sep 2010 at 10:30am
Originally posted by ctyankee


The configuration is pretty basic which I guess I should have expected :)  The video card ender recommended looks like some place where I could save money (put toward RAM or a larger SSD) ... would something like a GT 220 do the job for me ? 

 
if you plan on never gaming, i dont see why a 220 wouldnt work, though it is pretty dated.. its a good way to save some, but will lock you in to not gaming on anything tough, you know you better than we doHahaha
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 5.664063E-02 seconds.