Compatibility Check

[Irregular Joe]

So, it's been more than 2 years now since I've built a computer (and followed tech news closely). Now, the time has come for me to build one for my mom, but I'm feeling a little bit out of the loop with the new standards. I've put together something, but I'm not exactly sure if the compatibliity is there. Would you mind helping me out for a sec?

She'll be primarily using it for her growing photography needs as a hobbyist and starting professional.

Here's what I've got:

LCD Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 2208WFP 22 inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor

Hard Drives: 2X Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive (with RAID 1)

Video Card: EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GT 600MHZ 512MB 1.8GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

Motherboard: ASUS P5K-E ATX LGA775 P35 DDR2 1333FSB 2PCI-E16 3PCI 2PCI-E1 SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard

RAM: Mushkin EM PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-18 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

Case/PSU: Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan

DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S203B Black SATA DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 18X/12X INT DVD Writer OEM W/ Vista SW

CPU Heat Sink/Fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM

CPU Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound Paste NON-ELECTRICAL Conductive 4 Gram

OS: XP Pro for now, hopefully Vista 64bit in the future. (I am aware of the RAM limitations that are introduced with 32 bit.)

Am I all set? Any recommendations?
Thanks for your time.

[jaqu]

Are you on any knd of budget?
Irregular Joe, what you have here, is a good gaming rig. You said this is primarily for photo editing? What is it for secondary? If it wont be used for games, I'd say the 8800GT is overkill. For photo editing id want a good CPU and a decent amount of RAM. The CPU you have is really not nesesarry, but if you aint on a budget, keep it.
Also whats with the Arctic Cooling? You planning to overclock? Stock Intel will do.
Lol maybe im just jealous of ppl who can afford this stuff, but IMO everything is fine, exept for the display card being overkill.

[paul9]

The larger the monitor, the better as far as graphic work goes. And for photographic work you may still want to consider a good CRT screen over an LCD.

[Patrick]

Joe, for what it's worth, I just built a computer for photo work. I live in Mexico so some of my options are limited. I am assume that since you are building the computer and selecting the components, you're mom is low on the geek scale and won't want to spend time on computer issues.

My computer is similar to what you built. Due to taxes here, my processor is a P6550. I got 4Gb or RAM. Two 500Gb 7200rpm hard drives. I am using an Intel motherboard, DP35DP with the same chipset as your ASUS, I think.

The differences? I don't use a RAID array. For me, backing up to DVDs is routine and it just isn't worth the hassle. If I had a RAID1, I would still back up to DVD.

I love dual monitors so I got two 22" LCD monitors. For me, it's great for editing photos--and other stuff.

The stock cooling system is working fine and I didn't need any thermal paste. I did get a "gaming" case so I have five fans but I live in the tropics, too.

I run Vista 32.

[Irregular Joe]

Yeah, I don't have a strict budget at all... all I know is that my mom kind of wanted the Dell 24", but it costs $699 CAD, compared to the $299 CAD for the 22" screen, and that didn't make her so pleased. Maybe I could go with some cheaper components so that the 24" monitor is more affordable (or get two 22" monitors, like you, Patrick)... although she already might be happy that I've managed to keep all of the components and I/O, minus the monitor, under $1000 CAD, when she was expecting a bill of something around $1500.

The "overkill" factor on the components is more of a future-proofing technique... I think it's rather unlikely that any major gaming will be done with it. I go to school in the States, so I won't be around too often to be able to upgrade later on, if needed. This is my "set it and forget it" method... and since it's for her work, I don't think she minds spending the extra buck.

jaqu, thank you, I've nixed the Arctic Cooling. I never did use any for my own build 2 years ago (X2 4200+), but I thought that it might be necessary these days, especially after I read someone's comments about the poor quality of the stock HSF and thermal paste on the E8400. On second thought though, they may have been talking with regards to overclocking. Yeah, I think it should be good, as is.

That's an interesting thought about RAID, Patrick. My mom also makes it routine to back up her photos to DVDs after she's done editing them for jobs, but now that she's moving on to a few weddings every year, I figured that the extra security during the editing process might be worth it. But maybe that's something I'll need to reconsider, especially since I've never done RAID before (or is it not that difficult?).

Thanks for your help, guys. Do you think that the system is well-balanced enough (without the Arctic Cooling)? If there are any bottlenecks (or components being bottlenecked) please let me know.

Oh, also as a side topic, do you have any recommmendations for keyboards or mouses? I've been using a Logitech MX518 myself, but I don't know if a "gaming" mouse like the MX518 would be best for my mom. It is rather comfortable, however.

Thanks again.

[Rootstonian]

I'm going to throw my $0.02 in here and say get a Raptor 150 Gig for OS and programs. It'll start-up programs lightning fast and allow for snappy editing and saving of pictures. You can always just toss the edited picture(s) onto a bigger hard drive.

My wife has done similar work and it's just a pain to watch her wait while the hard drive is chugging away!

[Patrick]

Joe, I forgot to mention but I also have a battery backup. Where I live we can occasionally lose power and it helps with my peace of mind.