I'm an avid Bird Photographer (hobbyist, not pro) and I need a PC that will process photos quickly and has lots of storage. I usually take hundreds of photos in a half-day sortie (using up at least 10gb of CF cards). This could mean a thousand photos, each more than 13mb. I then run some processes that convert each photo to multilayered TIFF files, each more than 300mb. And the process takes a looong time.

I'm thinking about the configuration below which I plan to source from eWiz:

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz 1066MHz
Asus P5N-E SLI Quad-Core/ nForce650i SLI Motherboard
2 strips of Super Talent DDR2-800 4GB (2x2GB) CL5 Dual Channel Memory Kit (total 8gb)
2 Seagate ST3750330AS 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB NCQ Hard Drive
EVGA nVidia GeForce 8600GT 512MB 2DVI/HDCP PCI-Express Video Card
AOC 2216Sw 22 inch Widescreen 3000:1 5ms LCD Monitor (Black/Silver)

This'll probably set me back a little less than $1.1k, and some more for the casing, keyboard, mouse, DVD.

I'm definitely not rich and I don't make money from this hobby so economics is an issue. I'd appreciate some tips on reducing the cost without reducing functionality/capacity. Perhaps even improving it? Or did I make some conflicting/incompatible choices?

Not sure if that video card or a motherboard with SLI capability are worth spending on since I do not do gaming anyway. Am also thinking if 8gb of RAM is overkill. Photoshop can be hacked to use up to 4gb only.

You're not playing any games or watching HD videos on this build at all? If not, you can settle for a lesser gpu like Geforce 7X00 for about 10-20 bucks.

Is it going to be overclocked? If not, you can use the stock cpu cooler.

The cpu is the best bang & right choice. I strongly suggest you take a quick look at frys.com for the $179 Q6600 deal. If it's gone, then wait for Monday to order cuz Intel will cut cpu prices on the 20th.

If you don't need SLI, consider the tried and true P35 such as GA-P35-DS3L with no RAID. You MIGHT benefit from a fast RAID 0 setup for your uses: copying files. All you need is a RAID mobo like GA-P35-DS3R & 2 identical hard disks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#Standard_levels

And for your backup, use DVD-Rs - cheap & available. It takes a few minutes to burn a 8x/16x disk. Be sure to verify the copy.

No no no, more ram is not wasted. Photoshop isn't the only one using memory. The os, security software, background apps, web browser, email client, plug-ins/extensions, etc. etc. etc. etc. 4GB for Photoshop, the rest for other programs. However, you will need a 64-bit os to use more than 4GB. Otherwise, stick with 4GB for now. If you buy 2GB and wait 1-2 years to add another 2GB, you'll be paying a premium as DDR2 will be obsolete. Good example is DDR. Also, choices will be severely limited to maybe only used ones on ebay.

^ Thats very good advice.

No gaming...SLI goes out the window. The DS3L is an excellent mobo.

As far as a video card goes, the 8600 will do the job but for the same money the 8800gs is a better card.

No games or movies. Games was a past stage in my life (back in the days of Quake and Halflife). For movies, I got a little home theater built in a room.

Back to the topic: I may overclock since photo processing always benefits from fast CPUs. But I'm completely ignorant of those cooling devices. Any recommendations? Or do I just put an extra fan in the casing?

If I remember right, the GA-P35-DS3L and DS3R do not have firewire. Sorry, forgot to mention: I also download videos from my cam and do some simple editing. My video cameras are best controlled via firewire. Is there a comparable mobo that has it? Or am I better off just getting a firewire card (is there one that slots into PCI)?

Yes, I do backup on DVDs. In fact, I always make two and keep one at home and the other in my office.

RAID0 does seem like a good idea. Will I take a performance hit if I back up on DVD from the mirror while I work using the primary?

Good point on the RAM. The Gigabyte mobo supports up to 1066 memory but they're much more expensive (double) than 800s. Is it worth the difference?

Define "work". The RAID speed WILL be faster than that of non-RAIDs (standalone drives). Your objective for this build is to have the fastest pc for photography within your budget. If you're copying data to dvd and you MUST have access to the other data on the pc at a good speed, you might want non-RAIDs. You could have a RAID 0 for purely photography work & a small standalone drive for software. Couldn't you wait for 10 mins before using the pc? Oh, you could browse the Web or listen to music while you burn dvd's. Set up the browser to NOT use disk cache.

You can pick up a 3-4-port fireware pci card for $10. Stick it in the pc. Same thing if you run out of USB, get a cheap USB 2.0 cards. Integrated firewire is good if it's slight more expensive. But the downside is if the integrated firewire craps out, you're done. If you want, take a look at GA-P35-DS4.

No, you don't have to match ram speed to the max of a mobo. Do you buy the most expensive cpu just cuz the mobo supports it? No. It's up to you. Some like bragging rights. They pick up extreme cpus for $1000+ each. DDR2-800 would be what I recommend.

Thanks, a lot, akhilles. Goog point about onboard vs card firewire.

My apologies on the RAID0 question, I meant RAID1, actually. Confusing my mirroing and striping. I guess I'll have to be patient backing up on DVDs.

The DS3R's looking more attractive. I'll probably go for it and get me a cheap firewire card and cheap videocard; the rest of the config stays. I have some time so I'll wait till Intel drops prices..

RAID's a new thing for me. Never done before on a home PC. Since I plan to get two 750gb drives, I'll give it a shot.

You're welcome.

You can buy a DS3R & 2 identical hard disks for photography & 1 standalone harddisk for software. Experiment with RAID 0 & 1. Use your existing photography with a backup copy. If things don't turn out the way you want, you can always start fresh.

Yup, you can use the pc while it's burning a dvd. But my guess is the data to be burned will be locked by the burning software until the program exits.

Be sure to have at least 1 backup of everything including the OS drive. The os backup is built into Windows.

We probably all go through this: flip-flopping between hardware choices.

For this build I’m contemplating, I guess I’m settled on the Q6600 CPU. First question: What is the G0 version and what is the B3 version?

Now, the motherboard. As I mentioned, I’m thinking I may have RAID on my horizon so I will probably settle on the ICH9R Southbridge. Now, the Northbridge is where I’m having problems.

People here have recommended the P35 chipset and it seems like the tried-and-tested choice. But I also saw that Intel has the G35 chipset which includes video (albeit shared memory). For my purposes (no gaming, just photo and video processing), I don’t need a high end graphics card. So would you think this chipset would work for me?

One mobo with the G35, ICH9R chipsets would be the Asus P5E-VM HDMI which has everything I need (SATAs and USBs galore, firewire, eSATA…) Sounds perfect. Has anybody had experience, good or bad, with this mobo running 8GB? On RAID?

If that wouldn’t work, I can fall back on the P35, ICH9R combination. Top picks would be:

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R
Asus P5K-E

I got lots of encouragement above on the Gigabyte mobo but the Asus is just too difficult to ignore as it has the firewire and eSATA. I know that I can get firewire and eSATA on PCI cards so the question is to get an all-in-one or safer to separate the components. Does anyone here have experience with both and would care to steer me into the right direction?

Finally, I haven’t built anything in 8 years! At that time, AGP and SDRAM were just coming out. So, if anyone can point me a link to a DIY with lots of pictures for this practically-a-beginner, I’d appreciate it.

G0 can take more heat and is better for overclocking. If you don't o/c, B3 is fine.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/d [...] spec=slacr
http://processorfinder.intel.com/d [...] spec=sl9um

The mobo looks good to me, and does everything you need. Integrated graphics is fine for 2D work.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] 3=584&l4=0

The only thing about G35 is its overclockability. If you plan to o/c down the road, you're best off sticking with P35 & X38 or even X48. Otherwise, G35 is it.

Good point about G35's probably non-overclockability.

I think I'll stick to the "stable" choices: P35, ICH9R. So Asus P5k-E would be it. Will now have to look for a source of Q6600 that's G0 version.