What do you think of this Cyberpower build?

[gregrocker]

My friend wants to spend $1500 on a production PC for his art business which does Photoshop, video editing, etc. He's asked me what I think of this build from Cyberpower: Customize Year End Deal X99 Gaming PC

Any suggestions? Only thing I spotted is no USB3 ports on the list shown under the price, but that must be wrong.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

My friend who's made out of money wants to spend $1500 on his production PC for his art business which does Photoshop, video editing, etc. He's asked me what I think of this build from Cyberpower: Customize Year End Deal X99 Gaming PC

Any opinions? Only thing I spotted is no USB3 ports.

Thanks.

Greg all the ones I could see had 3.0 USB ports on top so I am guessing must have them on the back panel and most of the models had DDR4 RAM too but without the exact links because I cannot make out what this site is telling me.

 

[Golden]

That motherboard definately has USB3.0 ports:
MSI Global X99S SLI PLUS

Ditch the hard disk (use for storage), and use Samsung EVO 850 250GB (or 500GB) as Primary disk

What make is the PSU? I would be tempted to go with Thermaltake or Corsair brands.

 

[whs]

For half the money you could build it yourself - without this irritating box.

It definitely should have a SSD. But since he intends to make a lot of picture/video work, I would keep the 1TB HDD and add a SSD for the OS.

And since the CPU is a "K" and they offer overclocking, I would do that. For video work you need a LOT of muscle. I have a 3.4GHz i7 and even that is slow at times when encoding videos.

Golden is right. A prime PSU is important. I personally favor Antec.

And I would not want to live without an eSata port. USB3 is slower.

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks, I couldn't imagine it not having USB3 ports. He also mentions he's going to add an SSD so I'll pass along your recommendation.

Apparently it was his PSU that shorted out the mobo on his last Cyberpower build so I wonder if that de-recommends them or makes it important to specify the PSU. But at ten years was this not to be expected? I've not seen it on major brands.

 

[whs]

The PSUs are often the weakest link. You do not want to skimp on that. He should explore with them what the options are.

 

[bej]

The Corsair CSM 750W Gold, modular unit above the selected 800W standard unit.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

The PSUs are often the weakest link. You do not want to skimp on that. He should explore with them what the options are.

Spot on and it would be interesting to see a readout on the one it comes with. My own personal choice for a PSU are the Corsairs followed by Seasonic. Mind you I have had good Thermaltakes and Coolermasters too.

Now I also agree with the SSD stuff and the only downside to that machine apart from the case I think is the MSI board - have never heard much good said about them and personally I wish I could afford that sort of money on building a machine

 

[Layback Bear]

Personally I'm not able to use the website as I would like to.
No information is available on many parts using that site.
Any time one of those sites gives no exact information on things like the heart of the computer
(the power supply) I recommend running away.

For the last couple of weeks I have been researching X99 motherboard and I haven't found one with out problems. No mater what brand. As usual I will just keep researching.

**Kind of a question for whs.**Who does a lot of video editing.

Do you find their is a sweat spot for the amount of ram when doing video editing?

I'm assuming because this is a business doing Photoshop and video editing they want to be able to do these things as quickly and efficient as possible.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Greg:

Is your friend leaning toward Cyberpower for some reason? I'll grant that OEM PCs are commodities to a large extent, but I don't know that Cyberpower is in the upper tier.

Is he indifferent to the customer service aspect of the purchase?

Is he indifferent to noise levels? That thing looks like it has plenty of areas for noise to escape. So-called "gaming" cases tend to emphasize bling rather than noise levels.

If he is made out of money, I'd think he could commission a local build with hand-chosen parts that we could whip up in short order.

Like others, I'd also be spooked about the PSU.

I can't drill into that link to the level I'd like to regarding parts details.

 

[Layback Bear]

Everything I have read about Photoshop/64 bit the better the hardware and the more of it works best.
To make Photoshop work as well as it can you need at least 4 core cpu or more.
As much ram that will fit in the motherboard. A video card with balls and a power supply to back it up.

Now Photoshop/64 will run with less if you got the time to wait. Better yet; if your customers and employes got the time to wait.

Here is a lot of good information for using Photoshop.

Build a powerful PC for Photoshop and other imaging applications

 

[TVeblen]

Couple thoughts Greg (repeating some already mentioned)

I always have the owner research the motherboards. There are many good ones in the list. But you want to pick a board that has the minimum features you need, and eliminate the ones with features you don't. This is a user-specific item.

RAM: should plan ahead on this one. Populating 4 slots with 4GB sticks will limit your total RAM in the future. Video editing is one of those tasks that will actually use all the RAM you got, so if you thought you might go for 64GB in the future, now is the time to make that decision. I am not a fan of mixing different size RAM modules. This is a conversation item.

No name power supply: uh uh. That Corsair RM-850 is a really nice unit.

No SSD: no way!

No name HDD: uh uh. Go for the WD Black, or equal. Transfer speed is important as all video files are huge. A high performance drive would show real benefits. I think he/she would fill up 1TB pretty quickly. Might make sense to look at larger drives for the work.

Even with water cooling you need to cool the spinning hard drives. So at a minimum the case should have at least one 120mm fan front and rear/top.

I think it makes sense to get Win8.1 Pro for just $31 extra.

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks, Guys. I've suggested my pal Galen from OKC sign up to interact with you about these great suggestions. I am not a good intermediary because I'm not any more hardware conversant than he is. I remember when I first saw his Cyberpower custom built rig ten years ago with the spooky case lights and bubbling water cooler. I'd never seen anything like that, though it does make me wonder if that water somehow got into the PSU to short it and the mobo out since he'd heard a loud shorting sound with smoke and replacement PSU couldn't start the mobo.

Galen is a famous artist educated at the Sorbonne but also a country boy who is so multi-talented I bet if he wants to take this on as a project, with your guidance he could build it himself at considerably less cost with better hardware and performance. The premium paid for fancy in this case may be completely unnecessary, and nobody knows function better than you guys!

Happy New Year everybody!

 

[bej]

I believe one area of concern is the GPU. Most video/Photoshop recommendations use NVIDIA cards usually Quadro for high end systems. I think NVIDIA standard cards also use CUDA and the OpenGL standard.

 

[TVeblen]

Happy New Year to you too!

I'm not so sure about the saving money part though. It's very hard to suggest cheaper parts just to save money. I feel so dirty afterward!

Better hardware and performance > now you're talking!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Have him look at Pugetsystems.com

They are a boutique builder that lets you custom-configure from scratch or lets you begin with one of 7 or 8 base models which you can also configure. Each base model places emphasis on a particular aspect: gaming, low noise, small size, business environments, post-production workstations, general purpose, extreme performance, etc.

Prices begin somewhere near 1300.

You can get Xeon processors if desired, along with a variety of SSDs, hard drives, cases, power supplies, etc.

And bling if he wants bling.

 

[gregrocker]

I get the idea that Cyberpower inflates prices to make flashy gaming rigs, that cutting them out as a middle man might save some money even using better parts like the PSU. What are the benefits of using a builder since he's going to manage the OS himself, and the hardware is all warranteed separately?

Core i7 is all good, 16gb RAM seems plenty to me, how about the GPU?

He said he's avoiding water cooled this time and may go with the flatter case to fit better.

 

[whs]

Happy New Year to you too!

I'm not so sure about the saving money part though. It's very hard to suggest cheaper parts just to save money. I feel so dirty afterward!

Better hardware and performance > now you're talking!

With the same components (less that eerie box) it would probably be cheaper as a home built. But you are right, one would go for better components and then the price may not be any different - but at least you have a better computer.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I get the idea that Cyberpower inflates prices to make flashy gaming rigs, that cutting them out as a middle man might save some money even using better parts like the PSU. What are the benefits of using a builder since he's going to manage the OS himself, and the hardware is all warranteed separately?
/QUOTE]

I suspect your suspicions are right about Cyberpower.

Probably a good idea to avoid watercooling unless he has heavy duty overclocking on his mind and is a tinkerer type.

The builder saves you the time of assembling if you know how, and is mandatory if you don't. And it should help you avoid DOA parts and increase the chances it will fire up on the first attempt.

They may also include a year or more of tech support, sometimes extendable to several years.

Offhand, I'd think the advantages of a builder are diminished if you have little control over brand names/models for the parts. Unless of course you HAVE to use a builder because you can't or won't build it yourself.

You need to find a builder who in fact gives you more control over parts or else just take your chances, as many do.

 

[whs]

I know a small builder who is very good. I can give you his email - have to ask him for permission first.