Computer for CS5

[sraichur]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of assembling a computer for CS5 use. Looking at bang for buck price point, not all out speed.
I've read through a few threads on this but still have a few questions and would love to get all your advice.

The max file size I would load might be 2 to 4 GB.
2 Stitched 4x5's scanned at 4000 dpi.

With that in mind could you all answer a few questions for me?

1. which processor - i5 - i7 - dual , quad or 6 core?
Affordability wise the i5 quad core 3.0 ghz is not bad. - I've read that it's better to spend the money on memory and SSD rather than CPU.

2. How much memory should i put - 16, 24, or 32 GB?

3. Does the speed of the memory matter that much - 1333 0r 1600 etc?

4. From previous threads people indicate it would be nice to have a SSD for applications, and photoshop scratch disk. Is this required if i use 32GB of memory?
I could spend the money on a SSD or 32GB of memory. Or should I do both? - Or is that overkill?

5. I don't do any gaming, (though i'll probably get MS Flight when it comes out), so is a video card required?. If so, which one would people suggest?

6. Any other suggestions?

Thanks very much
Sandeep

[Brian K]

Sandeep.

According to what I read on the Adobe site you need a 64 bit computer to utilize all your available RAM for Photoshop so make certain it's running 64 bit. I would get as much RAM as possible. Also I would reconsider using an SSD for photoshop if you get that much RAM. SSD drives are very fast but no one is sure how long they will last, there is a limit on rewrites with them and they are very costly. I would use one on a laptop, which I do, because they are shock proof.

[sraichur]

Brian,

Thanks. I will be using win 7 64 bit.
Have you had experience with SSD's failing? So many people are reccomending them these days.

[Brian K]

Brian,

Thanks. I will be using win 7 64 bit.
Have you had experience with SSD's failing? So many people are reccomending them these days.

Sandeep, it's not that they fail like a hard drive, it's that they have a certain limit on read/writes and eventually they stop doing that. I have an SSD in my laptop and have yet to have any issues with it. But it might be expensive to use it as a scratch disk for photoshop and you never want your OS on your scratch disk if you can help it. If I were you, I would RAM up and use a cheaper hard disk as a scratch disk, that is unless you can afford to burn out an SSD over time.

[Kirk Gittings]

I've done some homework on SSD failures and they are about the same as regular drives-about 3%.

[Preston]

Sandeep,

"With that in mind could you all answer a few questions for me?"

1. CPU: an i5 Quad Core will be fine
2. RAM: for the size files you are using, I would get as much as you can afford--32GB will likely be the best price point.
3. 1333 RAM will be fine. Faster RAM will just cost you more money for a marginal gain.
4. SSD's are fine for the OS and applications. They are too expensive for mass storage and as a scratch disk.
5. I have a 1GB NVidia video card. If you use two monitors, one can run off the video card, and the second can run off of AGP on the motherboard. If you plan to run games, a video card will give better 3D performance.

I agree with Brian's notes about SSD's.

Take a look at Puget Systems. They built a machine for me back in May of 2011. It has performed flawlessly.

--P

[Brian K]

I've done some homework on SSD failures and they are about the same as regular drives-about 3%.

But they cost significantly more. A 250gb SSD drive will run you $300-400. You can get a 500 GB hard drive for $125 to 150. A 500 GB SSD enterprise drive will run you $1200.

So you're better off getting more RAM and a cheaper drive.

[Peter De Smidt]

I agree that maxing out your ram is the most important thing. Don't worry about ram speed, as it's a much smaller boost. Multiple cores is more important for video editing, I've been told, than for Photoshop work. An ssd does really speed up some things. Check out Tom's Hardware and others for reviews. From what I've read, the Intel ones are the most reliable. If it's just for a system drive, do you really need a 250 gb? Have a separate start-up drive, storage drive and scratch drive. Make sure to enable UDMA when you install windows, so that esate drives will be recognized when you plug them in.

[sraichur]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I was planning on a regular HD for all mass storage, - 1 TB and use a 120gb SSD for OS and applications and scratch disk.

From what i have read i thought its good to put the OS and applications on an SSD because they open much faster and generally work better. Is this true or not?
Is it better to not use SSD at all right now, or are they reliable enough?

Then i also read that after maxing out on ram - say 32 gb would you not want a fast SSD scratch disk?

Wouldn't A 120gb SSD give me enough room for OS, apps and Scratch disk? Those are about $180 i think. I was thinking i could get 32gb ram, then another 60gb or so of scratch disk left over from the 120gb SSD.

Why would you not want your scratch disk on the same disk as the OS?

If that is the case is it better to have let's say:
60gb SSD SATA III for OS and apps ($100)
60gb SSD SATA III for scratch disk ($100)
1TB regular HD for storage
32 gb ram

[Preston]

"Why would you not want your scratch disk on the same disk as the OS?"

When you work on an image file, the OS is pretty busy. If your PS scratch disk is on the same physical drive, the drive will be even busier handling all the reads/writes. This will slow things down. Therefore, if your PS scratch disk is on a separate physical drive, performance improves. I have my PS scratch disk on 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue, and performance is excellent.

There is one thing I will mention regarding saving of PSD files on CS5. From what I have read, CS5 is using an algorithm that results in a more accurate file. Because of this, save times are longer, even with SSD's. So, if you use SSD's, don't expect a miracle in this case. If you use TIF files, the saves will be faster, but the file size will be larger.

In my opinion, using an SSD, which are expensive for their capacity, as a scratch disk is a waste of money. You could buy a much larger standard HD and use for a scratch drive and as a storage drive for archived documents.

--P