Suggestions for Adobe build

[Ladysmyth]

I have decided that I can, if I am careful and well informed, build my next computer.

I will use it for the usual: online games, e-mail, etc., but the major use will be Photoshop and Illustrator (Adobe CS5)

I am looking at the Intel Core i5-4670 processor, but would love to hear suggestions for motherboard, etc., and whether or not I would benefit from an seperate graphics card.

All suggestions most gratefully received!

[Vlasta]

My advice is to buy an iMAC, as much memory as you can afford and an i7 processor - forget about building it.

[hardwarecop]

Building it oneself, I think, is the smarter choice in case of a limited budget.

I'd recommend you to use an Intel Xeon E3 (SMT enabled, but significantly cheaper than i7 just without the IGP) combined with a motherboard using an H87 chipset.
Besides the Xeon, the AMD FX-8350 also represents a very good choice if you use programs like PS. These programs highly benefit from AMD's core multithreading (CMT) which is more efficient than SMT. The AMD is also much cheaper. If AMD's your choice, use a 970 chipset M/B.

Either 4 or 8 GB of RAM will do it.

Using a dedicated GPU is only worth when you use GPU/VRAM intensive applications. Otherwise, using an entry level VGA card is not only faster and take the loads of the CPU/RAM, but also cheaper compared to buying an i7.