Looking to build a mid-range, photo-editing computer

[onemorekornkid]

Hi there,

I've really been out of the loop in the computer hardware news for about 2 years now so I'm really lost to as to what is good and what is not. But I'm looking to build my dad a computer to replace his old 5 year old Dell. He does a lot of photoshopping and photo editing. So I'm looking for a computer that is specifically cpu and ram/bus intensive. No video card is necessary. What combination of motherboard, processor, and ram will work best? The price range is about 500 dollars.


Thanks a lot guys!

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Can you recycle the HDD (if its ide or old sata, assuming he doesn't worry about load times)

If you won't OC

Q6600 $209.99
G. Skill 2x2gig DDR2 1000, $84.99
GIGABYTE GA-EG31M-S2 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $56.99

TOTAL: $352 before shipping

Thats assuming you don't want to OC. That' about as cheap as I could go offhand w/ enough ram, decent mobo (integrated graphics), quadcore (more threads, the better I'm guessing).

Anyone, please correct me if they have better ideas. I don't use photoshop.

[onemorekornkid]

Yeah, I'm not looking for any overclocking. And, unless there are some deals on relatively cheap high speed hard drives, we'll just be using his the one he has now.

[Sleepyzone]

Yeah, I'm not looking for any overclocking. And, unless there are some deals on relatively cheap high speed hard drives, we'll just be using his the one he has now.


Dont need a new Ps to run it?

[Soulburner]

I'd agree with Synthetic on the choices. That is the same RAM that is on its way to me right now, its a great deal. My 2GB set isn't cutting it anymore and I'm getting memory errors in Photoshop when working with HDR Merging of RAW files. NO LESS THAN 4GB can be considered for a good photo editing machine now, at least if you use it like I do. You may do simple JPEG editing...then your needs are far less. Regardless, the machine will be useful for much longer if you don't skimp now.

I'd go with one of the new 334GB per platter drives as well for storage. For me, it will be the Samsung Spinpoint F1 640GB, but it can't be had in the US yet. A Spinpoint F1 1TB in an external enclosure will handle my backups - do not overlook this. Backups are extremely important when we are talking about potentially losing years of work and memories.

[perkam]

If you're not looking to overclock, you can get this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8775756&type=product&id=1204331848044

If you want to get it off newegg, go for a q6600 + 2gb ddr2 1066 ram + P35 Motherboard.. Should be around $600.

Perkam