mentor38 Loc: Houston

A close friend owns a company that has been solving computer problems for big companies all over the world for many years. I mentioned to him that my 8mb-RAM-with-shared-video laptop was frustratingly slow in some of my LightRoom post-processing tasks and that my son-in-law's gaming computer was faster but for the big bucks it cost it was not ideal for my photography needs. He custom-built one for me that literally runs circles around my old machine and offered to do the same for any of my friends -- offering good, better and best models turnkey (including the best components, 24" monitors and Windows 10 Pro) for a lower cost than they can buy one on the market. I know how much good photography equipment costs, and the cost of these would be a lot less than some of us spend on our cameras and lenses.

I told him that I would see how much interest there might be and let him know. If you think you might be interested let me know. (No obligation).

Mike

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Good for you! After hearing of the benefits of a DIY computer, I made one for me and for my son at the end of last year. Both cost more than a new Dell desktop, but the specs are great - probably more great than we need for photo and video processing. On the downside (aside from cost), my machine often takes several tries to load Windows. Asus (motherboard) was no help, and I'm not about to pay a computer shop a fortune, so I just live with it. If this were a new Dell Desktop, they would send someone to my house to fix it - or replace it.

Cape Coral Joel

If you have the install disk use it to run a repair on the installed version. I'm sure you know where to go considering you built the computer, but FYI just before it wants to reinstall the software at the bottom of the screen in small letters it asks you want to run a repair. Try it it won't affect your programs or saved files. Just a thought.

IreneAC Loc: San Diego

Hi Mike - I would be very interested, but with a much larger monitor (at least 31"). I would probably purchase the monitor on my own.
Thanks for posting this as I have been looking for a new, "photo-editing" PC, but not finding what I needed at the price I wanted to pay.
Does your friend have the pricing structure figured out yet?
Thanks,
Irene

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I would be interested, but the computer would need an Apple operating system (no criticism or offense intended to the many UHH members who have chosen the Windows platform). /Ralph

berchman Loc: South Central PA

I, too, was persuaded of the benefits of a do it your self computer by what I read on this site. I put together the various suggestions for components that people offered here and had the computer built for me. It is probably more powerful than I actually need, but I am happy with it and it is doing the job. I have an Asus motherboard like Jerry, but I have had no problems with Windows loading. I have a lot of programs loading on start up so even though I have an SD C disc, it takes about 30 seconds to load. My only regret is failing to have a Wi-Fi card installed because at that time I didn't need it. However, now that I have had cable Internet installed and Comcast has refused to guide the cable through the walls but only directly to my TV room, now I do need a Wi-Fi card in my main computer which is located two floors above. So to make life simple I just bought a fast USB type Wi-Fi to plug-in and everything is fine.

Mr.Ft Loc: Central New Jersey

I'm interested in the pricing of the units.

mentor38 Loc: Houston

Thanks for the fast replies. He is pricing everything at his cost plus 18% and his cost is at wholesale. Re: monitors. They can either be deleted from the order altogether or substituted for a larger one -- he told me that he uses a 32 inch and wishes it were only 24 after seeing mine. (My new one is a top of the line Viewsonic that has UHD and 4k resolution). I'll ask him about the Apple OS, but he has every machine tested before it ships out and tells me that Windows has improved to the point that it makes sense to install it rather than the more expensive Apple OS. I also know that he installs 500 mb SSD hard drives, since they boot so much faster, but he can add more hard drive capacity and match it to your requirements. Mine has a 1T normal drive in addition to the SSD. Mine also has 12 mixed-USB ports so I don't need the 7-port external that I use with the old computer. He told me that he will not start unless he has at least 10 firm orders, so I'll keep everyone posted.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

I switched from Windows to Apple and never looked back for speed and reliability.

IreneAC Loc: San Diego

If you had posted this thread under the Main Photography heading, chances are you would've got a lot more responses.
But I do understand why you posted in this forum.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

I run both and have no problems with either. However, I did my own build on the windows machine and it is fast!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Mine was $1,550, and my son's was $1,405. Asus Z70 boards, 32GB memory M.2 C drives and 4TB D drives, Core i7 6700k. Big cases.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

You are right there with me Jerry! With the Asus Z70 board, 32GB memory, M.2 drive and 500 SSD drive with the i7 6700 unlocked version with big case, I was at $1456. Oh, I had a water cooler and a 6GB graphics card and a 750 PS in that price as well. Running 6 fans!
8 second boot time and this baby keeps up with my Mac as well.

Cape Coral Joel

Intel has I9 cpu's now. The I7 are obsolete so the retailers are getting rid of them. Hence a lower cost.

mentor38 Loc: Houston

To all who responded: I tested several versions all the way up to Jerry's model and found that the answer to my photography needs seemed to be more general RAM with a decent graphics card that could handle the input of a high-end monitor like the ViewSonic and a solid state hard drive -- I settled on two 500mb SSD's instead of one, because I already have 2t of external drives. More graphics RAM was not as noticeable as at least 16mb of general RAM, which eliminated the need for a gaming quality video card with its extra cooling demands and greater power supply requirements. (The expert that I questioned said that video [gaming] processing needs are not the same as graphics [photography] needs.) I settled on the Asus 970 Pro gaming motherboard. Not counting the time it took to assemble the entire machine, my cost, including the new monitor, was around $1,800. I used only new, highly rated parts that were unfortunately not on sale at the time and my friend said I could have reduced that by looking for a refurbed monitor and less expensive parts.

The difference is astounding. A time consuming task in LR that takes minutes on my old machine now takes only 15 seconds on the new one and the UHD monitor makes it fun to watch. Boot time is reduced significantly because of the SSD drives, but my three computers are only booted about twice a week each, so I'm thinking that I spent money that I didn't really have to.