New computer for photo editing. Advice please..

Dinarius

Currently, I'm using a DELL that is a few years old.

Spec is;

Intel Core2 Extreme CPU X9650 @ 3.00Ghz
8Gb RAM
Quadro FX1700 Graphics card.

There are three separate drives. The smallest, 250Gb, contains all software and operating system, Windows 8.1 x64.

That's it.

My problem is that everything is taking too long to do. Capture One is sluggish, Photoshop is sluggish etc..etc..

I've never had a problem of any consequence with DELL, and when I have they've sorted it. So, I want to stick with them. The question is, which machine?

Could one of you whizzkids please help? :rolleyes:

Spec I'd like is:

Very fast processor.

Three drives again. Two x 2Tb for image files (as these fill up I move the images to external drives) and a very fast SSD for all the software.

At least 16Gb RAM.

Fast graphics card.

Anything else you can recommend...

At the moment, am leaning towards a DELL Precision.

http://www.dell.com/ie/business/p/desktops-n-workstations.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn

But, which one?

Thanks.

D.

unkel

Upgrade to Windows 10 (this is free), make sure it activates, then wipe the hard disk with your operating system and do a clean install of Windows 10. It will activate. Then buy an SSD and clone your hard disk with the operating system to your SSD

Your system will have sped up immensely. If you're happy you have a sub €100 solution. If you're not happy enough, you haven't lost a cent, keep your new SSD and buy the other components to build a new system. If you haven't done that before, there's plenty of help here and in the PC building and upgrading forum. Linky

Dinarius

What a brilliant suggestion. Thank you so much!

So, one other question.......

Can you recommend a very good make of SSD? And what size should I buy?

Thanks again.

D.

Ps. I have just (via Advanced System Settings) changed to Optimise For Performance (it had been set for Appearance). I also checked the "Smooth edges of screen fonts" box.

In addition, I allocated RAM from one of my images hard-drives.

Things seem to be a bit better.

But, I will do what you suggest also.

unkel

Your OS is on a 250GB hard disk, so I would suggest a 240 - 250GB SSD, which will give you no issues cloning (the new SSD will come with cloning software). The best in the business is the Samsung 250 Pro (10 years warranty) but it's not cheap. Good choice is the Samsung EVO 250 at about €100.

A slightly more advanced way to speed your system up further (for free again) is using a RAM disk (i.e. SoftPerfect RAM disk). I use one mainly for browser cache. My system is similar age to yours (about 7.5 years old now) and I still can't justify to upgrade (although I used to upgrade every 12-18 months!)

Dinarius

Windows 10 is downloading as I type (on another machine!)

On a performance related matter...

Is it possible to choose Adjust for best Performance in Advanced System Settings AND choose Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts? When I choose the former and click Apply and then choose the latter, the upper reverts to Custom. I can't seem to have both. Thanks.