A graphic designer I worked with was looking for a laptop on a $500 - $600 budget, that he could use for graphic design. Now that is not a huge budget but this the event that got the ball rolling. I posted how the designer should not buy the cheap Dell for what he wanted and was asked via twitter for a good desktop or laptop for $1500.00. So Here is my custom build machine that I feel would be great for doing photoshop, video and graphic design production. For the Budget I am going to with the AMD Phenom 1090T. A six core processor running at 3.2GHz. A great budget processor and you get 6 cores! Much cheaper and a little bit faster then the entry i7 on the 1366 socket and much faster then the i7 on the 1156 socket. The prices are from http://www.b-com.ca
CPU - AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T 3.2GHZ AM3 9MB $319.00
Motherboard - ASUS M4A88TD-M/USB3 SK AM3 AMD 880G+SB850 $110.00
RAM - KINGSTON DDR3 NON-ECC KVR1333D3N9K2/4G 4096MB $102.00
Hard Drive - SEAGATE SATA 1TB ST31000528AS 7200RPM 32MB Cache $57.88
Video Card - ASUS EAH5750/2DIS/1GD5 RADEON HD5750 1GB-DDR5 $149.00
Case - ANTEC SONATA III FRONT MOUNTED USB ESATA 500W $125.00
DVD-RW - SATA DVD-RW-OEM LG GH24NS50 - $28.00
OS - MS-OEM DSP WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT $115.00
Cost before Taxes and Assembly - $1005.88
Below is a chart of highend CPU's showing in blue where the Phenom X6 1090T is. Please note that it is higher then the i7 930 the entry level i7.
Now for the price the i7 is $20 cheaper but the RAM and the Motherboard are also significantly more expensive. The i7 1156 is also a little cheaper but not for the savings in my opinion. Especially when you start comparing motherboards. The M4A88TD-M is loaded with goodies and comes with USB3 and Sata 6! If you ever wanted to upgrade the system's motherboard you can buy a low powered Athlon and use it as a media centre since it has an integrated ATI 4250 with VGA, DVI and HDMI output.
Motherboard Details:
Specifications
| CPU | AMD Socket AM3 ;Phenom™II /Athlon™II /Sempron™ 100 Series Processors Supports 45nm CPU AMD® 140W CPU Support AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ Technology |
| Chipset | AMD 880G/SB850 |
| System Bus | Up to 5200 MT/s ; HyperTransport™ 3.0 |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel memory architecture *Due to CPU spec., AMD 100 and 200 series CPUs support up to DDR3 1066Mhz. With ASUS design, this motherboard can support up to DDR3 1333MHz. **Due to OS limitation, when installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, Windows® 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Install a 64-bit WindowsWindows® OS when you want to install 4GB or more memory on the motherboard. ***Refer to www.asus.com for the memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists) |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI |
| VGA | Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4250 GPU - Supports HDMI™ Technology with max. resolution up to 1920 x 1080 - Supports Dual-link DVI with max. resolution up to 2560x1600 @60Hz - Supports D-Sub with max. resolution 2048x1536 @85Hz - Hybrid CrossFireX™ Support - Dual independent displays support with HDMI / DVI and D-Sub - Supports Microsoft® DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 2.0, Shader Model 4.1 - Hardware Decode Acceleration for H.264,VC-1, and MPEG-2 - Maximum shared memory of 1GB |
| Storage | SB850 Chipset 6 xSATA 6.0 Gb/s ports Support RAID 0,1,5,10 VIA VT6415 PATA controller 1 xUltraDMA 133/100 for up to 2 PATA devices |
| LAN | Realtek® RTL8111E Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET 2 |
| Audio | ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Supports 192kHz/ 24bit BD Lossless Sound - Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-Streaming, and Front Panel Jack-Retasking (HD mode only) - Optical S/PDIF Out ports at back I/O |
| USB | - 2 x USB 3.0 ports (blue, at the back panel) - 12 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at back panel) |
| ASUS Unique Features | ASUS Xtreme Design ASUS Hybrid Processor -- TurboV EVO - Turbo Unlocker, Auto Tuning, TurboV, CPU Level UP and GPU Boost ASUS Hybrid Switch - Core Unlocker ASUS Hybrid OS -- Express Gate ASUS Power Solutions - 4+1 Phase Power Design - ASUS Anti-Surge Protection - ASUS EPU ASUS Exclusive Features - MemOK! - Anti-surge protect ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution - ASUS Fanless Design: Heat sink solution - ASUS Fan-Xpert - ASUS Stack Cool 3 ASUS EZ DIY - ASUS O.C. Profile - ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 - ASUS EZ Flash 2 - ASUS MyLogo 2 |
| Overclocking Features | Precision Tweaker 2 - vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.003125V increment - vChipset (VDDNB): Adjustable chipset voltage at 0.003125V increment - vDIMM: Adjustable DRAM voltage at 0.015V increment SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) - FSB tuning from 100MHz up to 550MHz at 1MHz increment - PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to 150MHz at 1MHz increment Overclocking Protection - ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall) |
| Special Features | 100% All High-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo port 1 x DVI 1 x D-Sub 1 x HDMI 1 x S/PDIF Out 1 x LAN(RJ45) port 8 -Channel Audio I/O 2 x USB 3.0 ports (blue) 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports |
| Internal I/O Connectors | 4 x USB 2.0 connectors (8 ports) 1 x COM connector 1 x IDE connector 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 1 x CPU Fan connector 1 x Chassis Fan connectors 1 x Front panel audio connector 1 x S/PDIF Out Header 1 x Core Unlocker Switch 1 x MemOK! Button 1x LPT connector 24-pin ATX Power connector 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector 1 x System panel connector |
| BIOS | 16 Mb Flash ROM , AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI 2.0a, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 |
| Manageability | WOL by PME,WOR by PME,WOR by Ring,PXE |
| Accessories | 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66 cable 2 x Serial ATA 3 Gb/s cables 2 x Serial ATA 6 Gb/s cables 1 x Q-Connector (retail version only) 1 x Q-Shield 1 x User's manual |
| Support Disc | Drivers Anti-virus software (OEM version) ASUS Update ASUS Utilities |
| Form Factor | uATX Form Factor 9.6 inch x 9.6 inch ( 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm ) |
As for the video card I have selected the ATI 5750. You can hook up 3 displays to this video card. It is very slick and powerful. Now the 5770 isn't currently available there and the one they have doesn't do eyefinity. If your going to buy and ATI card make sure it does eyefinity! In my opinion, It's the best card you can buy for under $150.00
AnandTech 5750 Review | Hardware Canucks Review | Neowin 5770 Review (has benchmarks of 5750)
So overall for the money for parts I really feel your getting your best bang for your buck. As for a laptop I have selected 3 different ones for under $1500.
17" Laptop
Asus N71JQ-A1 w/ Core i7-720QM, 4GB, 640GB, Blu-ray Combo, 17.3in LED HD+, Radeon HD 5730, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $1,499.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX27439%28ME%29.aspx
16" Laptop **** BEST BUY ****
Asus N61JQ-A1 w/ Core i7-720QM, 4GB, 500GB, DVD+/-RW, Radeon HD 5730, 16in HD, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit $1,169.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX27213%28ME%29.aspx
15" Laptop
Asus G51JX-X5 w/ Core i7-720QM, 6GB, 500GB, DVD+/-RW, 15.6in Full HD, GeForce GTS 360M, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $1,399.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX29831%28ME%29.aspx
Laptop CPU Rating
BTW: We did find a nice HP 3 Core Athlon for the designer with a ATI 4250, a bit better then the Intel Integrated Graphics for $599 at futureshop.
