Questions regarding future build

segasega

Don't worry I'm not asking for certain parts now or anything, cause this PC wont be built for a while. But these are just a few general questions. I'm building it for my brother who does Graphic Design and Illustration. So would be using programs like Photoshop, Illustration and other Adobe products. My main question is, are these programs more dependent on CPU, GPU or memory?

He would be building this on a budget of 400ish, so would going for a APU be a good idea, as he wont be gaming on it or anything?

Cheers.

marco_polo

segasega wrote: »

Don't worry I'm not asking for certain parts now or anything, cause this PC wont be built for a while. But these are just a few general questions. I'm building it for my brother who does Graphic Design and Illustration. So would be using programs like Photoshop, Illustration and other Adobe products. My main question is, are these programs more dependent on CPU, GPU or memory?

He would be building this on a budget of 400ish, so would going for a APU be a good idea, as he wont be gaming on it or anything?

Cheers.

The requirements do seem to vary depending on the particular Adobe software suites used but as a general rule the two most important things by far are sufficient memory and a good CPU.

A dedicated GPU helps especially for 3D tasks, but for the most part even an average GPU offers significant benefits , and from what I have seen in benchmarks like the one below, the cost/benefit ratios of highest end GPU is fairly poor.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CS6-GPU-Acceleration-161/

I am far from an expert in adobe products, so take this as info as someone with a little knowledge which as the old saying goes that can be a dangerous thing.

BloodBath

It depends which versions of the software. They are pretty cpu bound but can get a significant boost from gpus. A budget gpu is usually enough to give good gains.

Is it 400 for the total system or main guts? cpu/board/ram ect.

An apu like the A10 5800k may be the best bet if it's for total system.

segasega

BloodBath wrote: »

It depends which versions of the software. They are pretty cpu bound but can get a significant boost from gpus. A budget gpu is usually enough to give good gains.

Is it 400 for the total system or main guts? cpu/board/ram ect.

An apu like the A10 5800k may be the best bet if it's for total system.

Its for the whole system. He dosen't do any 3D work. As far as I know it would be Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign mainly.

BloodBath

You could probably squeeze a dedicated card in there with a 6300 depending on what he needs.

Photoshop can make use of cuda or open cl depending on which version.

Monotype

I know the budget is tight, but I'd try and fit in an SSD - even 64GB for the main programs. It makes life much easier opening huge programs like photoshop especially when you've got a load of fonts to load.

marco_polo

segasega wrote: »

Its for the whole system. He dosen't do any 3D work. As far as I know it would be Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign mainly.

Illustrator and InDesign make hardly any reference to a GPU at all in the system requirements, and I know that Photoshop somewhat from a GPU but not to the degree where it is more important than the other two parts.

http://www.adobe.com/ie/products/photoshop/tech-specs.html
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/system-requirements-indesign.html
http://www.adobe.com/ie/products/illustrator/tech-specs.html

The only remaining question is how well multi-threaded each of these application are, which would lend itself to a dual or quad core recommendation, but honestly have never seen a definitive answer for this question TBH.

I reckon there wouldn't be much to choose between an i3 or quad core AMD APU, and either would give you good enough performance for what you need.

BloodBath

Afaik photoshop can use up to 16 threads. That may be just the latest version though.

If it's cs6 then definitely go with an amd apu to make use of open cl. An A10 5800k would be a decent choice.

tuxy

BloodBath wrote: »

Afaik photoshop can use up to 16 threads. That may be just the latest version though.

If it's cs6 then definitely go with an amd apu to make use of open cl. An A10 5800k would be a decent choice.

The intel hd APUs also make use of opencl.

Here's a test that shows the A10 beating the current i3 in photoshop by 16%

http://www.techspot.com/review/580-amd-a10-5800k/page4.html

I do wish they included details on how exactly they tested this.

The new haswell i3 with updated hd graphics will be out soon. This may or may not out perform the A10 in applications like photoshop.

BloodBath

Amd's 6800k is out soon too though which I'm sure will **** on the Haswell from a great height in everything except power consumption.

Let's not forget the A10 can be overclocked as well.

marco_polo

tuxy wrote: »

The intel hd APUs also make use of opencl.

Here's a test that shows the A10 beating the current i3 in photoshop by 16%

http://www.techspot.com/review/580-amd-a10-5800k/page4.html

I do wish they included details on how exactly they tested this.

The new haswell i3 with updated hd graphics will be out soon. This may or may not out perform the A10 in applications like photoshop.

It does says radial blur, which is not listed as a GPU accelerated effect so it must be a pure CPU test.

EDIT: Its actually looks like it is going to be a busy day for this type of build, apparently the Haswell i3 embargos might lift today, and the A10-6800K is already listed on newegg for €149.99 so reviews must be imminent for that too, as it is due to release today.

marco_polo

Richland review are in, some nice but relatively small incremental improvement over Trinity, although not worth the likely €15-20 higher prices it will initially retail at.

http://www.techspot.com/review/681-amd-a10-6800k-a4-4000/

Since you are not building for a while come definately back and check again, the Haswell i3 desktop parts should be out soon enough, and depending on exactly how long until you get around to it, Kaveri APUs might even be on the horizon towards the end of the year.

Both are products that will be of interest to this type of build.