Next build, for photo editing and possibly some Video Editing

I have built the customac mini (sandybridge) to jump into hackintoshing, as well as building a computer for the first time. Right now it is running well, but I am looking for some more power, as I am considering getting into video editing. I will use quite a few parts from my previous build, to cut down on costs, and use the remaining parts to build a setup for the house computer.

Anyway, these are my proposed specs for my new build (if it has the * then I already own it):

*Intel core i5-2500k (planning to O.C. to 4.2GHz or so)
MSI Z77A-G41 Motherboard
*8gb Corsair DDR3
*Asus GTX 550ti
64gb Crucial M4 SSD
*Hitachi 320gb HDD
*WD 320gb HDD
BitFenix Ghost
*Corsair CX430 PSU
*Sony Optaric ODD

I have a couple questions:

Will this motherboard work?

Thanks for looking!

2k-jacob said:

I have built the customac mini (sandybridge) to jump into hackintoshing, as well as building a computer for the first time. Right now it is running well, but I am looking for some more power, as I am considering getting into video editing. I will use quite a few parts from my previous build, to cut down on costs, and use the remaining parts to build a setup for the house computer.

Anyway, these are my proposed specs for my new build (if it has the * then I already own it):

Intel core i5 3450
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Motherboard (or the GA-B75M-D3P?)
*8gb Corsair DDR3
*Asus GTX 550ti
64gb Crucial M4 SSD
*Hitachi 320gb HDD
*WD 320gb HDD
BitFenix Ghost (or maybe the corsair carbide 500r in white? or Fractal Design Define R4?)
*Corsair CX430 PSU
*Sony Optaric ODD

I have a couple questions:

1. Is it really worth $35 more for the i5 3570k? I know the i5 3450 doesn't have the 3000/4000 graphics, but I am using the 550ti so I don't need it right?
2. Are there any card readers I could put in the 3.5 external bay that would work in mac?
3. Will this motherboard work?

Thanks for looking!

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1. no. right.
2. this one you need to search the forum for
3. go with the B75M - the D3h has incompatible VIA audio codec

Going Bald said:

1. no. right.
2. this one you need to search the forum for
3. go with the B75M - the D3h has incompatible VIA audio codec

Click to expand...

okay, thanks. The unlocked aspect wouldn't make much of a difference in the processor? okay, editing the post to reflect the motherboard.

Any suggestion on the case?

2k-jacob said:

okay, thanks. The unlocked aspect wouldn't make much of a difference in the processor? okay, editing the post to reflect the motherboard.

Any suggestion on the case?

Click to expand...

A case is pretty much up to you. What do you think looks good? How much do you want to spend? How much room on/under your desk? What kind of ports on the front of the case? External hot swap bays? How many fans? How many HDDs do you need a bay for?

Lots of things to consider.

2k-jacob said:

The unlocked aspect wouldn't make much of a difference in the processor?

Click to expand...

Only if you want to overclock.

2k-jacob said:

2. Are there any card readers I could put in the 3.5 external bay that would work in mac?

Click to expand...

I would generally recommend a USB2 or USB3 reader, for speed/simplicity/reliability. But I have some counter-questions for you:

1. What type of cards do you need to read? SDHC? CF? both?
2. What brands/models are you likely to use? Many cards will struggle to beat USB2's bottleneck, and at your desk the speed might not matter. Out in the field with a laptop downloading fast can be more of an issue, but that's not what you're talking about.

BTW I work as a photographer and photography/photoshop/lightroom educator, so I think this is an area of my expertise.
Don't blindly believe the speed ratings on the cards: each model will perform at different speeds in different devices. I can advise on details.

My current recommendations are:

1. Kingston 19-in-1 reader (USB2). Handles almost every card type. Costs ~US$13. On my Macs this bottlenecks at ~32 MB/s with the faster CF cards. But most cards don't quite reach that (especially SD cards). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134753
2. Lexar dual-slot UDMA reader (USB3). Handles CF/SD/SDHC(and SDXC?). With my 600x and 1000x CF cards I definitely get past USB2 speeds: with the 1000x 32GB card I get 120 MB/s into a 2012 MBA! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820191596

I use both of these readers.
While neither of these fit into a 3.5" bay, they just connect to normal USB ports, are fast, and Just Work. If you only need to read SD/SDHC cards and are going to be doing it at home (were speed is of secondary concern) then possibly any 3.5"-bay reader that can connect to an internal USB2 header will be fine and take up less space on your desk. The case I'm planning for my i7 build comes with a front-panel SD reader but while I'll connect it up I don't have fancy expectations of it.

Be aware that the raw speed of the reader is not the only story. For example if you're using Bridge or Lightroom to download the files then it pauses and does some processing between each file (especially if you've told LR to convert files to DNG format). So a faster reader might be a waste of effort for many people.
I have a home-grown system which downloads from the card directly and can support parallel readers (using a SQLite DB to guarantee unique IDs inserted into the metadata) and then synchronise the new files into Lightroom later. Much faster (when on safari I need to be able to download 30+ GB quickly from all my cameras before heading back out again, so I've had incentive to tune it ).

I ended up going out and buying the i5-2500k as amazon had it on sale for 199. Quick question, can i use the 2500k with the new ga-z77n motherboard? I dont use onboard graphics if that makes a difference.

My Lexar SD card is rated for 400x speed, I notice a huge difference with it in my nikon d3100, havent really run any benchmarks quite yet on my laptop...

2k-jacob said:

I ended up going out and buying the i5-2500k as amazon had it on sale for 199. Quick question, can i use the 2500k with the new ga-z77n motherboard?

Click to expand...

Yes, you can. The 1155 socket Ivy Bridge boards are backwards compatible with the 1155 socket Sandy Bridge CPU's.

Going Bald said:

Yes, you can. The 1155 socket Ivy Bridge boards are backwards compatible with the 1155 socket Sandy Bridge CPU's.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for that

Updated with new motherboard, cpu and case