Graphics card power consumption (like CPU) is very dependent upon what you're asking it to do. A pair of NVidia 295s running LR2/PS will use nowhere near the kind of power they'd use with all the settings cranked up in the latest game. That said there's really no point in an SLI setup unless you plan on running the latest games. I also find some of these calculators are very much on the high side when it comes to what peak power you really need. I think in reality 750W would be ok for most SLI setups unless you overclock massively with a load of HHDs. Bear in mind that gamers may be looking at putting in more than two cards these days and then they'd really need that sort of power under peak load.
At the moment if building an i7 system I'd start with a top quality Mobo which will likley work with most other high quality components. Once you have the mobo, compatibility with other things is easy to check on the manufacturers website.
If performance with PS/LR is the priority then fast processor (any upper end Core2Quad or i7), lots of memory (the very fastest speeds aren't necessary and are much more expensive) and the fastest disks you can afford at least for your OS and Programs is the way to go.
I also build my computers, but one thing to remember is that if you run into problems, you are on your own. The support from part makers can be really bad and sometimes it may be difficult to narrow the problem down to a single component. For example, if you have memory related problem, is that a memory problem or a motherboard problem? How do you determine that if you don't have another motherboard to test? Well, if you have plenty of time and playing with computers is your hobby, than that isn't a big deal. If you like spending your free time with photography though, getting a higher end Dell or something may not be a bad idea either and is not going to be necessarily more expensive. I've seen Core i7 Dell machines for third of the price I spent building it myself.
talexander wrote:
Budget is the real question but as far as SSD's I think your crazy to buy one. The real like performance vs a western digital black edition 1 TB drive is minimal and you can get 2 of them for data backup for price of an SSD.
[snip]
Tim
I disagree totally with this statement above regarding SSDs. There is definitely a lifespan issue with SSDs, but as long as we're talking about Intel SSDs, there is a huge difference in speed. I'm running Intel X25-M 80 gb SSDs in our server- one for the OS, one for Quickbooks Enterprise (which is very disk I/O intensive). There is a huge difference in performance running SSDs vs. normal HDs. I was running WD Velociraptor 300s (which at the time were some of the fastest SATA drives out there) and they could not handle the disk I/O generated by Quickbooks (we have over 185k invoices with approx. 3k items- a huge database- the company file is around 6gb).
There is a huge difference in speed- photoshop would benefit tremendously from having a dedicated SSD scratch disk due to the speed.
For the OP- you should definitely consider running a 64-bit OS and go for something like 12 GB of ram running Windows 7 64-bit and Photoshop CS4 64-bit. The ability to use more ram is going to help performance tremendously- that combined with SSDs and you'll have a blazing fast system.
I have a core i7-920 system pretty much built except for the HDs- I'm going to run Vista 64 Business with 6 gb RAM and Photoshop CS4 on an Intel SSD with a 1 TB WD Black for storage, although I have to transfer my RAID array from my other workstation to this new build- then I'll have a 5 drive SATA RAID setup controlled by a hardware RAID controller (don't do RAID on the MB). It's only about 1 TB in RAID 5 but it's enough for what I need right now and I can always rebuild it with faster, larger drives down the road.
It comes down to how much space you need - how fast you want it to be - and how much you want to spend.
In my servers, I have 6x Velociraptors (+hot spare) in RAID10 off of an Areca 8port SATA controller. This gets me 900Gb of VERY fast storage, that SSDs can only beat in access time. Cost is around $1400 that is not only fast, but redundant and backup drive on standby.
The same cost for an SSD configuration of that size would be over $3000.
I fully agree that SSD is the future - but it's at a price premium right now. Those willing to pay for that - thank you - it will make the prices lower for the rest of us in a few short months.
I don't think one uses SSD's for storage, there you are absolutely correct: it makes much more sense to use conventional HDD's. SSD's have the edge when it comes to OS or apps that are disk I/O intensive. I have SSD's in my laptops for the OS & software drives but conventional HDDs for data storage. I'm in the process of building a desktop system now - thanks in large part to the encouragement of the contributors to this thread - I've yet to decide whether I will go with all Caviar Green's or get an SSD for the OS.
Apologies for ressurecting this thread but I am trying to make a decision about a graphics card - is there any reason to choose NVIDIA over ATI or is it largely a question of personal preference?
The specs of the ATI Radeon HD 4870 seem really great but the Geoforce GTX 260/275's seem to get better buyer reviews. Are there advantages of either I'm missing?
I used to be an Ati guy for many years - after being a Matox guy for many years. Lately, I've been an nVidia guy - not really sure why, but they had the performance/price point a few years ago (but performance for the 1 game that I occasionally play (COD4), no PP)
I've built a second box for CS4, which has built in video and CS4 is working great (although it does get slow on rotates, zooms, etc... the stuff that Adobe says it uses OpenGL to accelerate - and my built in video is not OpenGL compliant)
I've been waiting all summer to get a GTX 260-216 core (superclocked to match the 275 speed) and just when that model got under $200 (as Ati models were expensive to get better performance in my one game), but then (now) Ati announced their 5800 series.
I've looked at the spex of the 5870 and 5850, and now I'll probably be getting the 5850 by the end of the year. About $50 more expensive than the GTX 260/216, but 30% more performance in my one game and as fast as a GTX285 in other games.
However, the biggest reason that I'm willing to pay $50 more is the fact that the new ATI cards support DX11 and Eyefinity. nVidia will be another few months before they get their next generation cards available to support DX11. There are some interesting reads on theInquirer.net about nVidia and Ati.
Either way, in a few months, there should be a slew of new cards on the market - all touting the best spex for everything: games, cad, PS, cooking and even cleaning windows
Whatever you get, it would be best to order it, and then stop researching... as with CPUs, there will always be something better and cheaper around the corner.
You know, in Canon forum I hear complaints about how Canon is crippling their cameras for marketing purposes, stuff like putting a crop sensor instead of FF in the 7D.
Those people should look at what nVidia and ATi are doing to differentiate their consumer and workstation cards.
Hammy wrote:
Whatever you get, it would be best to order it, and then stop researching... as with CPUs, there will always be something better and cheaper around the corner.
Very true. I was all set to pull the trigger on Invidia but foolishly kept researching & decided that maybe I should really be buying ATi ...
Many thanks for the info. & the insights.
globalkiwi wrote:
Very true. I was all set to pull the trigger on Invidia but foolishly kept researching & decided that maybe I should really be buying ATi ...
Many thanks for the info. & the insights.
Take a look at the ATI4670... especially if you are not too interesting in gaming. Although this is a very decent performing card. This is probably the only latest generation card with directx10 that does not need an additional 6 pin power connection as it gets all the needed power from the pcie bus. This translates into a quiet, cool running card.
- I've yet to decide whether I will go with all Caviar Green's or get an SSD for the OS.