Photo editing / multimedia build with multimedia management issues

softmint13

Hi All, looking for a bit of help/guidance on a new build I'm planning. Its the first time I've built a PC. My main use will be photo editing via Photoshop and some multimedia stuff, more on that at the end in what may be a question for a completely different forum but ideas on that would be welcome also.

1. What is your budget? [€800]
2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Photo editing, management, multimedia management, maybe some AutoCAD]
3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]
4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No, always bought laptops up to this point]
5. Do you need a monitor? [No]
5a. If yes, what size do you need. []
5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080 Dell IPS, not a nice aspect ratio but nice enough monitor]
6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [SD card reader, 802.11n, ]
7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No need I think?]
8. How can you pay? [PayPal,Laser,Credit Card]
9. When are you purchasing? [Within 2 weeks]
10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [Tipperary but I want to have a go at it, looks easy enough on YouTube]


My second question relates to multimedia management and a pickle I am in due to crap broadband in my area. I have an Iomega 1TB NAS box with all my photos, videos, music, etc on, all good so far. I also have boradband from 3 mobile which is delivered via a Hauwei B260a router which integrates WiFi with the mobile broadband. Max speed is 54Mbits/s. The NAS box is plugged into the network connection of the router. This all works and I can connect to the wireless network and browse the web and access my content, however it works poorly. I have to put the wireless router in the attic to get decent internet speed, however the WiFi signal strength and hence speed is pretty slow around the rest of the house due to its location in the attic. As I stream media from the NAS to the T.V., mobile, laptop, etc I would like an 802.11n solution to my problem and internet speed is only usable when router is in the attic.

All help on both topics would be greatly appreciated and a solution which solves both issues would be treasured.

Skylinehead

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€214.15
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€91.79
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€37.72
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.64
TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps PCI-Adapter|€23.47
Akasa AK-ICR-07 Interner 6-Port Card Reader mit USB 3.0, 8,89cm (3,5")|€13.25
LiteOn iHAS122-18 schwarz SATA|€16.61
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€53.79
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€80.72
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express|€119.50
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€111.29
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€823.92

Not sure if you need the graphics card at all. Didn't include a HDD as you said you have a NAS, so specced an SSD instead. As for your wifi problem, have a look at homeplugs (if you get them, take out the wireless card in my build)

softmint13

Looks very nice, thanks for quick response.
Think I will definitely need an HDD as my backup practices are pretty poor at the moment. Can you recommend one please, and also what I could scale back slightly?

For home plugs, are you suggesting that I use one for the mobile router in the attic, connect it to a network switch beside the PC and then connect the NAS box and PC to the other ports on the network switch?
I'm still stuck with slow media streaming to my mobile devices/T.V.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious in the configuration.
I would prefer if solution didn't require PC being permanently powered up.
I think I need to get the fast internet connection from the attic onto a fast wireless network somehow.

Monotype

You could save a tenner getting that SSD from dabs. Free delivery.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-128gb-830-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--ssd-laptop-kit---free-norton-ghost-15-7SR9.html

Maybe a homeplug from the router to a wireless access point downstairs? Probably wouldn't be a great solution though. The faster and more expensive option would be to get a load of homeplugs.
Sounds like you need to do some proper network wiring.

ED E

1920x1080 Dell IPS, not a nice aspect ratio but nice enough monitor

Huh, 16:9 is standard nowadays. I assume you're a photographer with 4:3 habits?

On fixing the network, homeplugs are an option, a good one. If you arent going for them though, I'd say a length of cat 6(network cable) and a decent router.

Few points to clear up first:
1. Unless you buy dual band, 802.11N will drop to b/g(54 vs 300) the second an older device connects, this may well include your laptop, many android phones, ipods etc.
2. Even with N, if you're on the edge of the range performance will be bad anyways, 54 and 300 are theoretical maximums, you wont even get them with the two devices side by side nvm at a distance through a house.

If you can run(outside the house is easiest) cat6 as above down to say the tv, then you can set the current router to bridge so it becomes just a modem, then the new router beside the tv can manage your LAN, will have a port for the NAS and give good wifi signal around the house.

Monotype

What about the U2412M monitor then for 1920x1200 which would give more vertical room?

softmint13

Hi All, thanks for responses. I'll try to answer all questions posted.

Thanks for the monitor recommendation, I wish that was available 2 years ago at that price, at the time I bought the U2310 for E200 which was about 1/3 the price of the U2410 at the time. Really like the look of the U2412M, great value, and if I have a few quid left over then I will certainly invest in one.
Don't like 16:9 as monitor aspect ratio as its too narrow, 16:10 is much nicer in my opinion, I think side by side you really notice the difference, may have something to do with photo editing being what I use if for though. I think 16:9 is only popular because that is what the panel makers are making lots of for the T.V. market and have pushed them into the PC market by offering loads of them at cheap prices.

Routing CAT 6 is not an option, concrete walls + chasing cables makes for a very messy solution.

I understand the speed limitations with WiFi but it should be much better as the wireless access point is now on the ground floor near most of the stuff that will be using it.

From the posts I think I am understanding the homeplug solution a bit better.
Is this what people are suggesting and are there any reasons it won't work.
1) Keep my Hauwei B206a mobile broadband in the attic
2) Set it up in bridge mode. ( Any more info on how this works, can be done would be great. )
3) Connect Hauwei B206a downstairs to wireless access point via Homeplugs, this should be fine as the boradband speed will be limiting factor here anyway.
4) Use a dual band 802.11n router to take advantage of higher data rate even with legacy 802.11b/g WiFi devices connected.
5) Connect my Iomega NAS box to another port on the wireless access point.
6) Connect PC to another port on the wireless access point.
7) TV, phones, laptop, etc can then connect to the network via the WiFi.

What speed am I likely to get between PC and the NAS box with this setup?

Any recommendations for a good wireless router?
This is sounding like a reasonably promising solution.
Thanks again for help everyone.

mloc

I would suggest 16GB + of RAM if you are editing large RAW files or HD video. I guess it depends on your needs. If you are using Photoshop a lot and working with high res files with plenty of layers, a separate scratch disk might also be worthwhile.

ED E

softmint13 wrote: »

From the posts I think I am understanding the homeplug solution a bit better.
Is this what people are suggesting and are there any reasons it won't work.
1) Keep my Hauwei B206a mobile broadband in the attic
2) Set it up in bridge mode. ( Any more info on how this works, can be done would be great. )
3) Connect Hauwei B206a downstairs to wireless access point via Homeplugs, this should be fine as the boradband speed will be limiting factor here anyway.
4) Use a dual band 802.11n router to take advantage of higher data rate even with legacy 802.11b/g WiFi devices connected.
5) Connect my Iomega NAS box to another port on the wireless access point.
6) Connect PC to another port on the wireless access point.
7) TV, phones, laptop, etc can then connect to the network via the WiFi.

What speed am I likely to get between PC and the NAS box with this setup?

Any recommendations for a good wireless router?
This is sounding like a reasonably promising solution.
Thanks again for help everyone.

The way you've outline it is correct. Notes:

• Brige mode/modem mode etc is configured differently for each router but http://www.indiabroadband.net/bsnl-broadband/21754-configure-huawei-mt841-bridge-mode-ppoe-mode.html details how do to it
• The wireless AP now becomes the router, that means its in control of the whole network, connect the homeplugs to its WAN port, not one of the 4 LAN ports
• Speeds depend on the homeplugs, I'd go for the standard 100Mbps type, that means a maximum transfer of ~12MegaBytes per second, more than enough for video. With good signal the 54Mps b/g will work for lower bitrate files, but not bluray archives etc. Wireless N at max will actually be fastest of them all. This all said, the NAS itself can only serve packets at a certain rate, so it'll be the limiting factor(shouldnt be a problem though).
• Personally would go for Netgear WNDR series, use the 3800 here, but its the top model and overkill, something a few notches down will do you fine.

Think thats about it.

softmint13

Hi All,
Just an update on how the build is going. I ended up changing some of the components as I happened to be speaking with a friend who gets Intel discount and he offered to get me a few bits.
So from the original spec I've changed

Intel Core i5-3570K -> Intel Core i7-3770K

ASRock Z77 Pro3 -> Intel DZ77GA-70K

Samsung SSD 830 128GB -> Intel 180GB SSD 520

I also dropped TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps as the Intel motherboard comes with wifi and probably won't need it anyway.

I also upgraded the
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-1066 -> 8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9

and changed the graphics card from
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express -> SAPPHIRE HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI / DVI-I / DP (Lite Retail)
as the 6850 seemed to have taken a big jump in price and I won't be gaming -> went for cheaper option, but still o.k. I think?

Ran into a bit of a problem with Windows however, accidentally ordered the German version of Home Premium so am going to return and replace with the English one, that should set things back a week or more :-(

I'm about 1/2 way through the hardware build, going o.k. so far. Will post pictures when its all done.

Oh and almost forgot added this too.
WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s :-)

Skylinehead

softmint13 wrote: »

Ran into a bit of a problem with Windows however, accidentally ordered the German version of Home Premium so am going to return and replace with the English one, that should set things back a week or more :-(

Download an English ISO of Windows, burn it to a disk and use the German licence key, it should work. And it's legal.

softmint13

I read that somewhere, however once its opened I can't return it and if it doesn't work I'm down E85. I was very temped to try it but think I'll go down the patient route and keep things simple. The other negative is it would probably take a week to download a Windows ISO with my "broadband" speed :-(
Something always goes wrong when it comes to software workarounds.

softmint13

Hi All,
Another update. I took Skylinehead's advice and downloaded a Windows 7 64bit ISO, put it on a usb key and used the product key from my German version, worked completely fine, no hassle what so ever.
The build is complete and everything seems to work perfectly, was much simpler and stress free that I had anticipated. Significant step up in speed from my old laptop.
Thoughts.
Think modular supply would have been nice.
SSD + HDD seems like a really nice way to go until SSDs get very big and cheap
Intel motherboards and SSDs seem good, instructions for MB were excellent, although I'm not stressing it much.
Probably didn't need graphics card, not sure.

Still need to order my homeplugs and router to finish the job.
Will post some pictures soon.
Thanks for all the help.

softmint13

Pictures as promised.

Monotype

Wow, nice photo skills, but of course since you said you want a build for photo editing, you've clearly got talent in that area. Nice neat job too.