Budget-friendly equipment for photo editing

[aquaryorp]

Good morning ;D

Well, since these days I've been tinkering with configurations again, I have a colleague who is starting to get into photography and his laptop has given up. Since he has a limited budget, he asked me if I could look into and put together an inexpensive but photo editing oriented setup. Initially, he was planning to spend around 400€, although I already told him that it was a bit tight.

Let's see what you think of the configuration I've made, which today would cost around 583.75€:

• Nox Pax 23€
• Gigabyte GA-Z97P-D3 93€
• Intel Core i5-4590 3.3Ghz Box 202€
• NOX Hummer H-300 CPU Cooler 30€
• G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 8GB 2x4GB CL7 59.95€
• Sandisk SSD Plus 120GB SATA3 57.95€
• Gigabyte GeForce GT730 2GB GDDR5 71€
• LG GH24NSC0 DVD Burner 24x Black 16.95€
• Nox Urano SX 500W 29.90€

Recommendations? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[Fassou]

To put a GT730, it's better to save the money and go with the integrated one, and if you want more later, buy a GTX750, or its improved version GTX950 when it comes out.

The budget is very tight, but a large HDD I think you will need, unless you already work using a lot of external storage, or you manage by using the cloud <:(. And another option is to put more memory (16GB), that with the arrival of DDR4, it is likely to go up in price in the medium term.

Salu2!

[aquaryorp]

Hello Fassou, thanks for your reply.

Are you referring to this one?

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 OC 2GB GDDR5 117.95€

It is that I see several models of the GTX750 that go up to 159€. Will it be enough to run with the integrated one at first? Also, I see that both the motherboard and the processor have integrated graphics? I get a bit lost in this part.

For storage, you currently have an external 500GB drive, so you can postpone the investment at this point.

Ok about the memory, but 16 GB in 2x8GB or 4x4GB? What is better in this case?

One last question. Will the 500W power supply be enough? Or will it fall short with the graphics card in the future?

Thanks!

[whoololon]

Everything depends on what level your friend is working at.
These settings basically work with processor and memory.

For an amateur level, that equipment is not bad, but as Fassou says, they will need a larger hard drive.

If we are already talking about a semi-professional level, an i7 4771, minimum (never less) 16 GB of RAM, an SSD for OS and applications and their 4 mechanical disks of 3 TB in RAID 10 with discrete controller for samples and finished work. The graphics, a Gigabyte GeForce GT730 2GB GDDR5 (good connectivity and allows 4K resolution, for the rest, we are not going to rely on graphics) and, of course, a decent IPS monitor, for example the BenQ GW2765HT of 27"
I haven't done the calculations, but I think it will be around five times the budget.

Edit: I just read the last message. 44 or 82 depends on how much you plan to expand the RAM in the future. Because of the occupied slots.
Remember, on the other hand, that power supplies are not only looked at for Watts, but for the amperage they are capable of offering. That's why medium-high range power supplies with certification are recommended, for safety.

[aquaryorp]

Well, let's call him an amateur. He would like to dedicate himself professionally someday, but now he combines it as a hobby with his work, so if he makes the leap he will already have time to quintuple the budget, hehe.

What I see that you don't agree on is the graphics card, which for Fassou was lacking. I recommend starting with the integrated one and 16GB better, and that later he invests in the graphics card?

I have searched the forum for information about the integrated ones in the processor and motherboard, and their operation in parallel, but I have not been able to locate anything interesting. Do you know of any site that is worth checking out?

Regards,

[Fassou]

The integrated one is carried by the processor, and the board just says it supports it, not that it has its own.

Regarding the memories, better 2x8GB than 4x4GB to avoid problems.

Salu2!

[whoololon]

Reducing to the essential, when an image is retouched-edited-processed, the one working is the micro pulling from what is in memory.

The thing about integrated and discrete graphics:
Discrete is a graphics card that is inserted into the fashion slot (PCI, AGP, PCI-e) and that is responsible for managing the graphic interface.
Integrated is a circuitry on the motherboard that, along with the CPU's pertinent graphic processor, allows the system to manage the graphic interface. Like a pre-installation of air conditioning, to give an analogy.
That is to say, putting it simply, that while a discrete one is in charge of all the graphic, using its own resources, the integrated one simply tries to do the same using the system's resources.
While the discrete one uses its own processor, the integrated one also but this one is in the micro, which increases its temperature. The discrete one uses its own RAM (usually VRAM GDDR) while the integrated one uses the one installed in the computer (RAM DDR, much slower), leaving us with less memory for certain things.

I already put something in another thread about graphics for video editing, but I'm going to eat. I'll look it up later.

[aquaryorp]

Many thanks, guys!!!

I keep browsing the forum, I found a very interesting post about the topic of power supplies. If you locate the one about graphics cards, I'll try to catch up a bit too ;D