Considering a new build for a photo editing only ATX.

philmarion · 19 Feb 2023

Considering a new build for a photo editing only ATX.

My 11 year old i7 3700K build was masterful and while overkill at the time it still serves me well. I spent the time to understand the needs of a photo editing rig and the components that were available then but things have changed. I only process one raw photo at a time, no large event photography batches, no video and no gaming. For years I have been using the ASUS bios auto-overclock feature in my ASUS P8Z77 mobo and that has helped me get more performance from the build. I was even able to survive with only the onboard graphics until I purchased a second 1440p monitor. However I am noticing that it is now slowing me down in Lightroom when I make use of the newer adjustment mask features...and also when I occasionally use Topaz Suite. I have recently retired so I have plenty of free time now to monetizing my hobby. I post on Facebook neighborhood groups and get weekly requests for prints from neighbors. I am going to buy a printer soon and also create photo books so I think the whole experience will be better on a snappier machine. My budget will be up to US$2250 though I could get a Z760 set up much cheaper ....I have to purchase my components in inflated CDN dollars though.

I definitely will go with a i7 13700K though a i5 is probably the sweet spot. I have the funds to buy a better CPU and if this rig can last a decade like the last one it will be wise to go with the more powerful one. I have been agonizing for weeks over a costlier Z790 mobo with DDR5 vs. a cheaper Z690 mobo with DDR4. Seems like the builds would have no perceptible difference in performance (according to my usage) so why throw money away for nothing with a Z790 set up? However I think that a Z790 might be a good choice as it would be more future proof. Who knows what improvements there will be to DDR5 RAM? I will buy a K version of the i713700 as I will overclock but only conservatively using the mobo autoclock software.

Most of the online mobo reviews seem to be from a gamer's perspective where mobos are valued on their overclockability (VRM and heatsink arrays). The few mobo reviews that I read from the perspective of image editing judge mobos based on ability to edit massive video files, or networking features or i/o connectivity to upload massive batches of wedding photos/videos. I don't want to pay for Thunderbolt, 10gb ethernet or even WIFI.

I plan to use two new SSDs and a new 8-12GB HDD spinner as well as include HDD data drives from my current build: My Cdrive which is a Samsung 840 pro SATA 600, a Samsung 850 pro SATA 600 drive that I use as Lightroom catalogue/scratch drive and also 2 SATA HDD spinners with data. So my mobo will need to support ALL of those.

Any thoughts and advice?

And if it only drives two 1440p monitors do I really need a GPU for my usage (no video processing, gaming)? If so, is my Radeon RX 460 of any value?

Harlequin565 · 19 Feb 2023

I recently updated my PC (for gaming as well as photo editing) so here's what I found. Caveat - I'm not a technical wiz.

I ended up with an i7 13700K CPU on an ASUS Prime Z-790-P motherboard and 32Gb (2x16) of DDR5. I was intending to reuse my SSDs and HDDs, but when I saw the deal at Scan for a pair of WD NVMe 2Tb Blues, I just went for that. I had a 1TB NVMe from my previous PC, so I just plugged all three in. The 1TB drive has OS and apps, the 2Tb has photos, and the third 2TB has games. Total cost from Scan for CPU, cooler, mobo & NVMe drives was £1200. I sold my old memory, motherboard and CPU (around 10 years old IIRC) which did surprisingly well so the overall cost of my upgrade (I kept the case, GPU & PSU) came in a shade under my £1k budget. I don't know what camera files you have, but I use an R6 for digital (30Mb per image) and am often scanning in 250Mb image files for 6x17 scans.

I did a fair bit of research beforehand, and the pre-built ones were quite a bit more money for what I wanted. And I really didn't need a new case or PSU (I future proofed when I bought them) or GPU which had been upgraded to an RTX 2070 a couple of years ago.

It was my first "rip it all out and start again" job, but I went through the hassle of registering my Win10 account online so that when I reinstalled, I didn't have to pay for another copy, and then just straight upgraded to Win11 (my reason for this was also to upgrade to W11 as it wasn't supported on my old mobo). The reinstallation of mobo, CPU and cooler was a little nerve wracking but other than not seating the ram properly (an easy fix!) it all went smoothly and I was back up and running within the day.

As to Lightroom, my experience is that it's pretty poorly optimised. Adobe have grown fat & lazy on monthly subs (in my humble opinion of course!) Also, it has the supposed capability to utilise the GPU, so I'd reuse the GPU (if possible) if you're not planning one in your build. I have no speed issues with it other than when it boots up, and it takes a few seconds to render previews - mainly because I have a short delete time on them. However I have the 2070 doing whatever heavy lifting the GPU does when Lightroom is doing its thing.

So that's my tuppence. I'm sure there are others here with far more knowledge than me. The only real things I'd suggest from your post are to consider NVMe drives, and hold on to the GPU (or at least sell it because they fetch good second hand prices). If you're not reusing the old computer for anything, consider selling as much of the spare bits as you can on eBay because they will be worth something.

philmarion · 20 Feb 2023

THANKS!
Actually the Prime Z790 P was what I first gravitated towards as I didn't want wifi and it was the cheaper entry level to this chipset. But then I started reading less than favorable reviews especially over the VRMs - but have since realised that these are reviews by people that want to extreme overclock so they don't have the same needs as a photocentric user.

In the last hour I received an order for 9 prints and now have a pile more money to spend than I originally was comfortable with (I use my photography sales to fund my hobby). So I am taking that as a sign to plow money in to the best rig I can afford without buying overkill (no ProArt). It's what i did 11 years ago and I have had no regrets.

I will look at the Prime, TUF Gaming and RoG Strix - and probably foolishly lust after the ProArt as I dither between the other two. But now I no longer have to complicate the issue with DDR4 and the Z690 chipset. Analysis paralysis is subsiding.

And your info on the Windows and GPU is very useful.

Snapsh0t · 20 Feb 2023

I was pricing a similar upgrade recently and couldn't make up my mind between the i7 13700 and Ryzen 9 7900. I limit myself to 65W CPUs as I like to run them with passive cooling. I was looking at the ASUS TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS DDR4 as overclocking isn't required but my current i7 9700F isn't really stretched at the moment so I'll probably wait a bit longer.

philmarion · 16 Mar 2023

Am still researching my new build...being recently retired I have had enough time to read tech info all day.
What I've learned: My preference was for an ASUS board as they were used in my last two builds.....but after researching current Z790 offerings they seen ridiculously priced compared to the other brands. And there doesn't seem to be as much a difference in performance between the upper tier and entry level boards now compared to 11 years ago.
The 13 gen Intel CPUs seem to be overclocked already due to Intel and mobos' 'core enhancement'/'turbo boost' technology so they have much less headroom to overclock compared to my current 3rd Gen CPU. Since I have neither the understanding or desire to manual overclock the upper tier overclock enthusiast boards with their ridiculously overbuilt heat sinks and beefy VRMs really aren't something I should overpay for.
I suspect I'll settle for a lower tier Gigabyte board (they seem well priced in my neck of the woods (Canada):
A) GIGABYTE Z790 UD AC
B)GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX
C) GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Elite
I now will need to research what the sweet sticks of DDR5 RAM should be.......XMP can easily boost the speed up to the stick's ratings but the faster ones are more expensive and apparently sometimes the added RAM speed does not translate in to any performance benefit depending on the program you are using.....and then there is latency. I still have no clue what that does.
So if anyone knowledgeable on the mysteries of DDR5 has any insight.....it would be appreciated.

Yikes...I've been looking at some of the pc hardware component prices in the UK.....ouch. We suffer from higher prices here (Canada) compared to the US but you have my condolences.

Snapsh0t · 18 Mar 2023

Remember that UK prices include 20% sales tax and US ones don't. Which way do Canadian prices go?

philmarion · 19 Mar 2023

Ah - our Canadian retailers are not so upfront....only upon checkout do you get the 13% sales tax and possible shipping fees displayed.

philmarion · 21 Mar 2023

Thanks everyone for all of your help...I asked a lot of questions....a few dumb ones in hindsight. But I feel I have arrived at a build.

I couldn't stomach the higher ASUS prices though every time I looked at the Strix I felt at home. The bios, the look of the board, their bloatware was like family but I decided since I won't be overclocking this CPU that I can get almost as good performance with a much cheaper mobo. I tend to not want to cheap out on the mobo but the sticker shock of the other components made me do it. I decided against an upper-tier overclocking mobo because it seems the 13 Gen Intel CPUs are already OC'ed sufficiently with their burst modes which is a change from my last 3rd gen build.

I settled on the 6400-CL32 G.Skill Ripjaws because I feel it will be accepted easily by my XMP enabled mobo and that any higher speed RAM would only give small incremental performance improvement...and they don't have RGB and a low profile which is important if I air cool. 32 gb will NOT be enough one day - especially of I get a larger megapixel camera 5 years from now. But I can add RAM later when DDR5 is cheaper.

CPU cooler: I may go with Noctua if it fits however I've seen rave reviews with the Thermalight. My PC usage doesn't tax the CPU for extended periods so I don't think I should be too concerned about CPU throttling. I don't game or process video.

My thinking on the SSDs is that my OS and programs should go on the best fast SSD (and it should be on the CPU connected slot). With the 2nd SSD I reasoned that 3rd gen SSD is imperceptibly slower but cheaper. It is never the bottleneck so this is a good spot to shave off money.

GPU: My thoughts are I may build it with my current Radeon RX 460 and see how it performs. If I need the increased GPU power I can add a new GPU. I just added the Sapphire to the list as a place holder. My usage with LR does not hold me back. I have GPU acceleration turned off and I am able to use the local adjustment tools without delay. A GPU would improve the export time...It takes 15 seconds to export a photo. I'll see how must faster it gets with the better CPU. I may not need to spend CDN$600 to shave a few seconds off of the export time. My time isn't THAT valuable now that I'm retired -LOL. But it is a decision I can make once I see how my new build functions.

Power supply - I know I need to think more about that as it is a crucial part .

So here is what I've designed so far. Any further words of advice or warnings would be appreciated. Thanks for all of your great help!!

My photo-editing build 2023 - Intel Core i7-13700K, Radeon RX 6600, Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

My photo-editing build 2023 - Intel Core i7-13700K, Radeon RX 6600, Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower

ca.pcpartpicker.com

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

....plus some internal fans for air flow

Snapsh0t · 22 Mar 2023

If you're not bothered about overclocking do you really need the 13700K rather than the plain 13700? Or a Z790 mobo rather than a B760?
Dropping a level on the mobo might bring the Asus TUF gaming into play if not the ROG Strix.

Mintchocs · 22 Mar 2023

I haven’t built a PC in the last 15years so with that caveat out of the way, just my thoughts. The cpu seems far to powerful for what you intend. Unless you’re running a huge number of programs or have specialised software to take advantage of all those cores it seems like a waste. The power supply also seems overkill but there are sites where you can put in your components to work out the power supply you require plus a little bit extra for security and ageing. Money saved could be used on some sort of backup equipment for your files, better monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

gman · 22 Mar 2023

philmarion said:
Thanks everyone for all of your help...I asked a lot of questions....a few dumb ones in hindsight. But I feel I have arrived at a build.

I couldn't stomach the higher ASUS prices though every time I looked at the Strix I felt at home. The bios, the look of the board, their bloatware was like family but I decided since I won't be overclocking this CPU that I can get almost as good performance with a much cheaper mobo. I tend to not want to cheap out on the mobo but the sticker shock of the other components made me do it. I decided against an upper-tier overclocking mobo because it seems the 13 Gen Intel CPUs are already OC'ed sufficiently with their burst modes which is a change from my last 3rd gen build.

I settled on the 6400-CL32 G.Skill Ripjaws because I feel it will be accepted easily by my XMP enabled mobo and that any higher speed RAM would only give small incremental performance improvement...and they don't have RGB and a low profile which is important if I air cool. 32 gb will NOT be enough one day - especially of I get a larger megapixel camera 5 years from now. But I can add RAM later when DDR5 is cheaper.

CPU cooler: I may go with Noctua if it fits however I've seen rave reviews with the Thermalight. My PC usage doesn't tax the CPU for extended periods so I don't think I should be too concerned about CPU throttling. I don't game or process video.

My thinking on the SSDs is that my OS and programs should go on the best fast SSD (and it should be on the CPU connected slot). With the 2nd SSD I reasoned that 3rd gen SSD is imperceptibly slower but cheaper. It is never the bottleneck so this is a good spot to shave off money.

GPU: My thoughts are I may build it with my current Radeon RX 460 and see how it performs. If I need the increased GPU power I can add a new GPU. I just added the Sapphire to the list as a place holder. My usage with LR does not hold me back. I have GPU acceleration turned off and I am able to use the local adjustment tools without delay. A GPU would improve the export time...It takes 15 seconds to export a photo. I'll see how must faster it gets with the better CPU. I may not need to spend CDN$600 to shave a few seconds off of the export time. My time isn't THAT valuable now that I'm retired -LOL. But it is a decision I can make once I see how my new build functions.

Power supply - I know I need to think more about that as it is a crucial part .

So here is what I've designed so far. Any further words of advice or warnings would be appreciated. Thanks for all of your great help!!

My photo-editing build 2023 - Intel Core i7-13700K, Radeon RX 6600, Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

My photo-editing build 2023 - Intel Core i7-13700K, Radeon RX 6600, Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower

ca.pcpartpicker.com

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

....plus some internal fans for air flow

That's certainly a powerful setup, good single core performance as well. Probably overkill, but at least it will keep you future proofed for a long time!