Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The ASRock Fatality Z170 K6 MB has 2 USB 3.1 and 8 USB 3.0 - why would he need more USB 3?
He would only need a 5 ghz wireless card if he is running wireless - otherwise he's better off using a cable and the 1000 gbit ethernet port on the router. Besides, the bottleneck is not the the ports, but more than likely the transfer speeds on the hard drives anyway.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

For the price, it may be fine, but if you can get it for $200 less with a video card that works for Photoshop or like someone else said, 30bit display, then why not put the money somewhere else. You didn't say if the computer includes any USB3 ports, and if the motherboard has any M.2 slots. The M.2 slots are the wave of the future in my opinion.

rugerbearcat Loc: Newport Beach, Calif.

I'm a big fan of MicroCenter, but not sure if all your proposed upgrades and add-ons would be worth the expense. But since you will be doing manipulation with visual media software such as PhotoShop, I would definitely go with the 64MB RAM you mentioned. Also, love the HD (data files) and SSD (for Apps, OS, etc.) combination.

rugerbearcat Loc: Newport Beach, Calif.

It's a killer system though. I envy you!
;-D

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

them 1000 gbit ethernet ports are the cats pajammas when it comes time to xfer files.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

I know I'm getting into this discussion late but I thought I'd add my 2¢.
I deal with Microcenter. They're a decent outfit and I trust them.
As to the components, you're getting top quality parts. The only thing that could possibly go awry is configuration. However, their techs are not the Geek Squad so they know a lot more.

I've been seeing/hearing/reading about the amount of RAM one needs. Seems like more RAM is not the be all/end all.
I have a fairly new Dell 8900. I double the RAM to the max, 32 GB. It really didn't seem to make that much of a difference. Just make sure you have good quality RAM of a sufficient quantity.

One last thing. I have a 2TB internal SSD. It runs pretty fast but boot up is a little slow because I have 5 external WD 5400 RPM drives attached. If I had the $$$$, I'd switch to all external SSD drives.

crphoto8 Loc: Anaheim, California

Thanks to all that replied, you were very helpful.
Some comments on issues that were raised -
1) I always run my desktops hard wired to the Ethernet card. Wi-Fi is for our mobile devices, iPhones and iPads.
2) There are 8 USB3 and 2 USB2 ports. That's plenty for my needs, i.e. external HDs, scanner and printer.
3) There's room for 3 additional internal HDs. I may go, as suggested, with a 4/6 TB WD Black or something similar for images' backup.
4) I'll definitely explore a custom machine for PP/Lr, see what Micro Center suggests.

Thanks again, Sam

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

I have bought about half a dozen PowerSpec machines for my church, but I no longer recommend them.

You save a little money upfront, but they don't last as long as a name brand (HP, Dell, etc). Also, (as least on the cheaper PowerSpec machines), they have an motherboard manufactured by Elite, which isn't supported by Microcenter or Elite. Microcenter actually told that I should have bought a more expensive computer. And, you won't get manufacturer driver updates, you will need so search the specific component manufacture to see if they have an upgrade.

So, I have decided that PowerSpec's are more trouble than the upfront cost savings is worth.