Time to update my desktop

I did increase the usefulness of my desktop computer built in 2009 as noted in a previous post. With the new Haswell processors out, and new boards, I decided to update my desktop. I could have reused the case and other parts, but decided to give it to my son for gaming, as is is a i7- 920 processor with 12 GB of RAM, and a three year old video card. While not bleeding edge, it will perform better than his laptop for games. So on to the new build. What I hope to accomplish is better speed in handling files, better transfer speeds, and more efficient editing. With the D800, the files take a while to process, and if you make a panoramic or stitch a photo, or even render a layered tiff, it can take a while. 

It makes sense to look at your computer, similar to your camera, every couple to three years and see if you need updating. While it is very functional, it can benefit from greater processing speed, more memory, improved GPU or video card, and more importantly, larger, faster disks that transfer faster.

So here is what I am going with. I caution those who may be adverse to such geekiness to skip this, but for those who are interested, here goes:

A good sized case to make it easier for me to work on, and it has to have good air flow. The Cooler Master HAF922 with an add on 200mm side fan works for me. The new case has USB 3.0 headers. Lots of room, lots of bays for external items such as a bluray burner, card reader, external Hard Drive bay, etc. Lots of hard drive bays. Great airflow.

Haswell i7 4770k processor. I want the faster newer chip, multiple cores and threads, for better performance. Yes, I could have more cores, but on average, this should be best for now.

32 gb of RAM. This is the biggest improvement. Faster RAM and lots more of it.

The new 1150 boards have more PCI-e and PCI-16 slots, and I love the flexibility that brings. More importantly, it is sata 6 gbs rather than 3 gbs for most drives. New architecture and speeds go hand in hand with the new CPU.

A faster GPU. a Sapphire 7850 GPU that I got a while back for my old desktop. It should be fine as it is Open GL.

SSD for the program or my C drive

SSD for Lightroom catalog and previews.

SSD as a scratch disk

6gbs 7200 Hard Drives for file storage. I keep my working files separate from my program files. The 6gbs is a major enhancement internally.

I will post some images as I go through this. It is not as difficult as you might think, so long as you have a plan, and make sure, in advance, that all the components play well with each other. There are several places to check, like Tom's Hardware or Part Picker to see what might be a conflict. Here's to another couple of years.