First time system builder

KyleK · 07-23-2005, 06:39 PM

Tell me what you think of the system I am putting together:

Antec Sonata II 450 Watt case & power
Emprex 16x DVD dual layer burner
Hitachi 250 GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA hard drive
ATI All-in-Wonder X 600 Pro 265 DDR PCI Express
LanPartyUT DFI nF4 Ultra-D mother board
AMD Athlon 64 Processon 3000+ 939 Socket
1 GB Corsair matched memory pair

I am planning on using the system for video editing, photoshop and other general stuff. I got the all-in-wonder video card on a recommendation from a friend, however I have been told that it might be a bit of an older one and may not play the newest games (although gaming is not my primary concern). I definitely have the option of returning parts if I find out that I need something better. Altogether the parts cost about $1000.

Prior to this I had very little hardware experience, but I sure am learning fast!

Harris_C · 07-23-2005, 07:55 PM

Looks pretty good to me for what you are planning on doing.

Christ Reynolds · 07-24-2005, 02:51 PM

i agree, looks pretty good. if you plan on editing video and using photoshop a lot, i would make sure to leave as many ram slots free as possible. that way, when you upgrade ram (photoshop loves to gobble ram), you will just be putting new sticks into the empty slots, not taking out smaller ones to put in bigger ones. best of luck.

CJ

Ari · 07-24-2005, 08:14 PM

For a photoshop machine, you should consider getting two or more hard drives so you can separate the OS, program files, paging file and ps scratch disk (highly recommended)...and you'd probably want to ghost everything to another HD if you're anal. You might also want to consider adding more RAM. You didn't mention getting a monitor so I assume you're using one from a previous build...the monitor's critical for any ps work...

2D work such as photo & video doesn't need a recent video card....Radeon 9200 works fine for this purpose although you'd probably want to upgrade if you're planning to do any 3d stuff at all. Mine crashes when I use Google Earth....

Jim Lyles · 07-25-2005, 08:38 AM

I second the recommendation on the second harddrive. Something quick like a Raptor will be great or a nice WD SE drive (8mb cache). Corsair is great memory! I would look at getting a tad more ram for editing purposes; although 1gig will get you started nicely.

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KyleK · 07-27-2005, 02:55 AM

Hey guys-

Thanks for the responses, they have been quite helpful. I booted it up today and it is pretty sweet! As Ari pointed out I haven't gotten a new monitor yet, I am using some dinosaur I just found laying around. Can anyone recommend me a quality, reasonably priced monitor in the $150-$250 range? LCD is preferable, around 17in.

Also someone told me I should get another fan. I already have the 120mm fan that came in the case, the cpu heatsink fan and two small ones on the motherboard and videocard. Do I really need another one? And if so where should I mount it?

Thanks,
Kyle

Michael Hein · 07-27-2005, 05:38 AM

I'm not to sure of the X600's pro potential for gaming but a great bang for your buck card is the nVidia 6600 GT.

Ari · 07-27-2005, 05:45 AM

LCD just isn't as good as CRT when it comes to color fidelity which is critical for PS work, plus CRT is cheaper than a similarly sized LCD. That being said, I'm using a Princeton Senergy 17" LCD monitor for my PS work (avid amateur level), hardware calibrated. I bought it from newegg.com for right around $250. Features that I'd look for in an LCD monitor would be DVI input and contrast level.

Jim Lyles · 07-27-2005, 07:55 AM

Best thing I can tell you about buying a LCD is research. Look around for reviews done by websites and narrow it down. Then look at consumers opinions to really see how people like them. I just purchased a new LCD; my first one; a Hyundai L90D+. I love it, but it took some time to get the color close to what my 17" CRT looked like. CRTs are MUCH easier to setup, color wise; but if are willing to take some time and play with your LCD and video card settings, the LCD maybe the way to go!! IMO

Scott L · 07-27-2005, 05:13 PM

At work (I'm a web designer) we have these new Samsung LCDs. What the boss didn't count on, though, is that the ones boasting fast reponse time are usually horrible at color reproduction.

I get home on my slow 30ms Viewsonic LCD and see colors I didn't see at work! Such a pain. I also have a CRT which is even better but for my line of work, a decent LCD will do.

How is the Emprex brand name btw? I'm not up to date on the best buys but I do know Lite-On makes really good drives for the price.

Ken Chui · 07-28-2005, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Also someone told me I should get another fan. I already have the 120mm fan that came in the case, the cpu heatsink fan and two small ones on the motherboard and videocard. Do I really need another one? And if so where should I mount it?

Even if there are no plans to overclock the CPU and/or memory, the case and CPU temps will run a bit warmer than others, I would think, due to the lack of air ducts at the front of the case (for air intake); buying another fan may not help because there are no other air ducts available in the case to install it (not unless the case was modified, or you decide to go with a different case altogether).

I'm a fan of ATI cards, but I've always been suspect of the All-in-Wonder line. Video editing and Photoshop, IIRC, are CPU-dependent (in Photoshop's case, also RAM-dependent); you may want to consider going with a regular X600 PRO (or X700) and using the remaining funds toward more memory (which you can never have too much of for Photoshop).

I'm not familiar with the Emprex brand of DVD burners. I think you would be better of with a Lite-On, Pioneer (check the popular DVR-109) or NEC (the ND-3520A is among the best; there's also a slightly newer, faster model, the ND-3540A).

Christ Reynolds · 07-28-2005, 07:08 PM

Quote:

you may want to consider going with a regular X600 PRO (or X700) and using the remaining funds toward more memory

this is good advice. it may seem counter-intuitive at first, but photoshop does not require a powerful video card at all. as long as you buy one that can handle higher resolutions (pretty much all name brand GPUs within the last 4 years), spend your money on a better CPU and more ram.

CJ

Mike Fassler · 07-28-2005, 10:46 PM

system seems pretty good, only thing I would consider changing is the video card as others have said.