skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

I have been using Apple computers for at least 18 years for photo processing and general computing, though I have always maintained a Windows system to stay current with that world. I need to replace my current iMac with a new desktop system, but in looking at fulfilling my needs in the Apple product line, I find that their current technology is not close to what I can get if I build my own Windows computer. I plan to build the following machine:

Intel Core i7-7700 K 4.2 GHz processor
Asus Maximus IX Hero Motherboard Z270 Chipset
32 GB DDR4-3200 RAM
Samsung 960 EVO 1 TB M.2 SSD (Boot Drive)
Samsung 850-Series 1 TB SATA 6 SSD (D or Storage Drive)
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card
EVGA 850W 80+ ATX Power Supply
Windows 10 Pro

I am still working through which case I want and whether to use air or liquid cooling, but the components above are pretty much cast in stone.

I have a Synology NAS with mirrored drives that all computers on my network back up to on a daily, automated basis. The NAS automatically copies my photos and other important files to Amazon Glacier servers every night for off-site storage. I image the C: drive of my current PC every month after Windows updates are completed. Therefore, I am not concerned about building redundancy into the new computer.

I use D810 and D610 cameras and Adobe CC for post processing as well as a few plug-ins such as NIK and DXO Viewpoint.

I have been reading numerous recommendations, comparisons, reviews of monitors, and am having real difficulty determining what to get. Most of the detailed literature focuses on gaming monitors which have different requirements for resolution and latency than photo processing. IPS appears to be the best screen technology, though I understand there are some issues with ‘glow’. At this point, I feel like I am confusing myself over issues like 4k/5k versus more conventional resolutions. I have determined that I want at least a 27 inch display and could probably go to 32 inches in the space I have available. Dual monitors are probably not feasible because of spatial constraints. I would appreciate input from the UHH community to help me identify what monitor will best suit my purposes. Price is certainly an issue, but I am more interested in ending up with components that are complementary than I am in saving a few dollars. I expect this computer to fulfill my needs for many years. Thanks in advance.

Frank

berchman Loc: South Central PA

skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

Very interesting monitor. I had not found it in my search. Thank you.

BebuLamar

I would spend at least the same amount of money on the monitor and the computer. For photo editing if compromises have to be made it would be lower resolution for more color accuracy. For other works where color accuracy isn't critical a higher resolution monitor make the work easier.

tcthome Loc: NJ

NEC are good monitors for photo editing as are Asus & eizio. I would call B&H . If u can afford it I would go with a monitor that has a Adobe rgb color space for photo editing with the computer your building.

skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

I have been looking at adobe color space mostly because I think it says something about a monitor's ability to reproduce colors in general. I didn't realize until recently that Asus made quality monitors, but they have some interesting offerings. NEC and Eizo have been around for a while and were always excellent, if you can afford them. Thanks for responding.

skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

I agree that accuracy is more important than resolution. Thanks for responding.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Good monitor, good price.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXTK4T6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

dynaquest1 Loc: Austin, Texas

Frank: You may be on the wrong forum. I'm pretty computer savy but you seem to know WAAAAAY more about computers than most here - so I suspect you should know WAAAYY more about monitors. You probably ought to be on a more computer related forum.

portcragin Loc: Kirkland, WA

Nice system. Whatever system you get plan on calibrating your monitor from time to time. I use ColorMunki but there are other good ones out there as well.

Good shooting. Good PP.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

I think you would be hard pressed to beat an Eizo Color Edge Pro, 27". Marvellous piece of kit.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

This looks like quite an impressive machine. I take it that you've researched the motherboard and confirmed that it will support an M.2 boot drive? How much is this hardware you've listed going to cost you. Don't forget USB3. I don't know if the motherboard includes USB3 or not.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've bought cars that were less expensive.

skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

I've read that Dell's monitors, except the UltraSharp line, are prone to significant unit variation.

skibumpkin Loc: Lakes Region, Maine

There are certainly a number of excellent photographers here who are doing post processing. I'm primarily interested in their experiences with monitors. I'm not sure you have to be a tech maven to know what works well. Thanks for responding.