PC for photo editing

Ben D Bus

My aging laptop is starting to slow down and cause me frustration.

I want to replace it and as I never move it, I think I'll get more bang for my bucks with a PC.

I'm thinking minimum 12Gb and a fast i5 chip. Better with 16Gb and i7? 512Gb SSD and USB3 are the only other things I can think of. I keep images on external drives. Does a graphics card improve performance of LR and PS?

I also would prefer a more slimline case due to the space I have to keep the machine.

So, any particular recommendations on spec and where to go to get one? Online, off the physical shelf in a high street retailer, or custom build?

Thanks.

The_Gatsby

Not sure on the specs but I would definitely custom build it as it will almost certainly be cheaper and is a very easy and enjoyable process.

I have an i3 with 8gb ram. It works ok but can be a bit slow in LR. My next upgrade will definitely be an i5 and I think if you were custom building for photo editing an i5 would be essential

Paulw

I'd certainly go 16gb ram and a good graphics card.

i5 should be fine but i7 would be better, depending on your budget.

Bacchus

Paulw wrote: »

I'd certainly go 16gb ram and a good graphics card.

i5 should be fine but i7 would be better, depending on your budget.

Is a good graphics card really necessary? I've not come across anything definitive but it doesn't seem high up the list of things that improve a LR or PS experience. I think there's a couple of features in PS that can be improved with a graphic card but most of the work is done on the processor. A good processor, 8-16Gb RAM and a PCIe SSD seem to be the top 3 things to look for.

Watch when picking your processor too. It's not as simple as just going for an i5 or and i7. They are just families of processor. There's a range of performance within each family (and there's different generations of each too) so be sure to google some performance benchmarks for any processor you are considering.

ED E

Bacchus wrote: »

Is a good graphics card really necessary? I've not come across anything definitive but it doesn't seem high up the list of things that improve a LR or PS experience. I think there's a couple of features in PS that can be improved with a graphic card but most of the work is done on the processor. A good processor, 8-16Gb RAM and a PCIe SSD seem to be the top 3 things to look for.

Watch when picking your processor too. It's not as simple as just going for an i5 or and i7. They are just families of processor. There's a range of performance within each family (and there's different generations of each too) so be sure to google some performance benchmarks for any processor you are considering.

Filters, IIRC thats basically it.

Paulw

Bacchus wrote: »

Is a good graphics card really necessary?

Necessary? No. But, some features do require a graphics card. Also, you want a good display of your images too, on a good monitor.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cc-gpu-card-faq.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/adobe-lightroom-cc.html

Just worth reading.

A PCIe SSD would be very fast and useful, but they are expensive.

magicbastarder

The_Gatsby wrote: »

Not sure on the specs but I would definitely custom build it as it will almost certainly be cheaper and is a very easy and enjoyable process.

My experience was different about three years ago. Cheaper and less hassle to buy from Dell, plus if anything goes wrong the whole thing is covered by warranty.

Paulw

magicbastarder wrote: »

My experience was different about three years ago. Cheaper and less hassle to buy from Dell, plus if anything goes wrong the whole thing is covered by warranty.

I've done both. Bought from Dell and also built my own. Pros and cons for each. It all depends on what you want.

Dell machines can limit some future expansion, where you build yourself and can usually just expand as you need.

Cost v performance, and also warranty/reliability may be issues.

Portlawslim

I'd highly recommend you build your own, you'll get more bang for buck!
If your unsure about spec's go to the lads in this forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842
Read their charter fill out the questionnaire and they'll come back to you with a parts list, where to buy it and even if your not up to it someone near you to help with the build!

glic83

I'd look into an AMD build if I was building soon.

Bacchus

glic83 wrote: »

I'd look into an AMD build if I was building soon.

Why's that?

glic83

Bacchus wrote: »

Why's that?

Price point and more cores for multi tasking, you will need a graphics card though with the new AMD chip, check out the computers forum

Balfey1972

Portlawslim wrote: »

I'd highly recommend you build your own, you'll get more bang for buck!
If your unsure about spec's go to the lads in this forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842
Read their charter fill out the questionnaire and they'll come back to you with a parts list, where to buy it and even if your not up to it someone near you to help with the build!

Just upgraded my own system with new AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, 16 GB Ram and 500GB SSD with 2 6TB Hard Drives. I'd be fairly PC savvy but it is great when you have an 18 year old son that talks a different language when it comes to graphic cards and processors and has been building PC's since he was 12.

As Paul said the PC build gives you much more options upgrading in the future, my old machine was 6 years old but there is a huge improvement in speed and processing, my main reason for the upgrade was video editing.

Delighted with it and worth a look if you are upgrading.

Did look at Laptop but having looked at it 95% of my edits are on PC and this was the way to go.

PS if you need any advice or help drop me a pm and the young fella would be only too happy to help and steer you in the right direction.

Portlawslim

Balfey1972 wrote: »

Portlawslim wrote: »

I'd highly recommend you build your own, you'll get more bang for buck!
If your unsure about spec's go to the lads in this forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842
Read their charter fill out the questionnaire and they'll come back to you with a parts list, where to buy it and even if your not up to it someone near you to help with the build!

Just upgraded my own system with new AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, 16 GB Ram and 500GB SSD with 2 6TB Hard Drives. I'd be fairly PC savvy but it is great when you have an 18 year old son that talks a different language when it comes to graphic cards and processors and has been building PC's since he was 12.

As Paul said the PC build gives you much more options upgrading in the future, my old machine was 6 years old but there is a huge improvement in speed and processing, my main reason for the upgrade was video editing.

Delighted with it and worth a look if you are upgrading.

Did look at Laptop but having looked at it 95% of my edits are on PC and this was the way to go.

PS if you need any advice or help drop me a pm and the young fella would be only too happy to help and steer you in the right direction.

I have one of those as well! A son who speaks computer I mean!

Ben D Bus

I've decided I'd rather just buy something.

This seems to cover my initial requirements (256Gb SSD probably enough), does the price look reasonable?

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8920-desktop/pd?oc=cdx89201&model_id=xps-8920-desktop

Portlawslim

Ben D Bus wrote: »

I've decided I'd rather just buy something.

This seems to cover my initial requirements (256Gb SSD probably enough), does the price look reasonable?

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8920-desktop/pd?oc=cdx89201&model_id=xps-8920-desktop

You would build something with more juice for that kinda money, but if you don't want the hassle go for it!

magicbastarder

i don't know if the site is loading properly for me, but i'm having trouble getting to the section where you actually choose the specs you want to see the effects on price.

i can get to this almost identical link which is showing prices starting at €999 instead of the €1399 i see when i follow your link:

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8920-desktop/pd?ref=PD_OC

The_Gatsby

Ben D Bus wrote: »

I've decided I'd rather just buy something.

This seems to cover my initial requirements (256Gb SSD probably enough), does the price look reasonable?

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8920-desktop/pd?oc=cdx89201&model_id=xps-8920-desktop

In my opinion the price is extortionate when compared to building your own. You don't need to be particularly computer savvy to be able to build your own - you can gain the knowledge with a couple of hours research.

However, if you have the budget and you value the convenience factor above all else then buy whatever works for you. One thing I would say about building your own is the first time can be a bit stressful since you don't really know what to expect.

The one you provided a link to seems to be in and around the average for those kind of specs.

Portlawslim

Before you take the plunge have a look at this thread from the PC Building and upgrading forum...might change your mind!
Photo editing build

Adrian.Sadlier

I have an older PC, 2nd generation i7, 16GB RAM and a basic (by todays) graphic card.

I intend to upgrade next year and will go for an i7, 32GB minimum (4K video and panoramics etc. - I have a D810 and the PSD files are HUGE). An SSD is a must - 500GB or bigger. PS and LR will use more recent graphics cards as accelerators so that would be a help but I don't think there is any benefit from going really high end. A 24" 4K monitor is a must - I will keep my existing 1920 x 1200 24" as a second screen (keep all the menus/toolbars etc. on it). eSata for external drives (I have a 4 drive jbod enclosure and a 4 drive NAS for backups). And of course USB 3.0 at least for transfer from the camera - USB 2 takes forever when I have a few hundred files to transfer).

Not sure if I will go build or buy.

Now all I have to do is save.......

DaireQuinlan

I have a 10 year old PC which still works just fine, but it's a bit of a PC of Theseus at this stage, I think the only things that haven't been swapped out at this stage are the power supply and case :-D It's been through 2 motherboard upgrades, 3 graphic cards, 3 processors, 3 operating system upgrades, several memory additions and re-jigs, and a small cabinet's worth of hard drives. Currently has a couple of small fast disks as OS and general use and a 4TB RAID as my main storage (everything is also backed up externally). Have to throw an SSD into it at some point.

Anyhow, point being that a good case and PSU will last you for yonks, a Dell machine you'll use until it obseletes and toss the entire thing, it's cheaper in the long run I think to put something together and then incrementally update as needed over the years.

Portlawslim

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I have a 10 year old PC which still works just fine, but it's a bit of a PC of Theseus at this stage, I think the only things that haven't been swapped out at this stage are the power supply and case :-D It's been through 2 motherboard upgrades, 3 graphic cards, 3 processors, 3 operating system upgrades, several memory additions and re-jigs, and a small cabinet's worth of hard drives. Currently has a couple of small fast disks as OS and general use and a 4TB RAID as my main storage (everything is also backed up externally). Have to throw an SSD into it at some point.

Anyhow, point being that a good case and PSU will last you for yonks, a Dell machine you'll use until it obseletes and toss the entire thing, it's cheaper in the long run I think to put something together and then incrementally update as needed over the years.

My plan as well, good case (Fractal R4) Good PSU(can't remember the make) and upgrade as and when needed!

Bacchus

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I have a 10 year old PC which still works just fine, but it's a bit of a PC of Theseus at this stage, I think the only things that haven't been swapped out at this stage are the power supply and case :-D It's been through 2 motherboard upgrades, 3 graphic cards, 3 processors, 3 operating system upgrades, several memory additions and re-jigs, and a small cabinet's worth of hard drives. Currently has a couple of small fast disks as OS and general use and a 4TB RAID as my main storage (everything is also backed up externally). Have to throw an SSD into it at some point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUl6PooveJE

123shooter

An Intel i7 3.6ghz 32gb ram is what I have with separate hard drives and I use it for video processing...........dunno? I just bought it and was told it would do the job 3 years ago.

I use Adobe Photoshop........Premier and Camtasia software.

Suppose someone could tell me I need a higher spec?

Portlawslim

123shooter wrote: »

An Intel i7 3.6ghz 32gb ram is what I have with separate hard drives and I use it for video processing...........dunno? I just bought it and was told it would do the job 3 years ago.

I use Adobe Photoshop........Premier and Camtasia software.

Suppose someone could tell me I need a higher spec?

Is there a Graphics card?
If not get one it will make a big difference to your rendering if I'm not mistaken(waiting with baited breath to be corrected:) )

Bacchus

Portlawslim wrote: »

Is there a Graphics card?
If not get one it will make a big difference to your rendering if I'm not mistaken(waiting with baited breath to be corrected:) )

Graphics card more important with video editing as far as I am aware.

I came across this link btw... https://photographylife.com/the-ultimate-pc-build-for-photography-needs

It's overkill IMO on the spec (particularly the hard-drives) but it's a good starting point from which one could scale back on a few things.

123shooter

Portlawslim wrote: »

Is there a Graphics card?
If not get one it will make a big difference to your rendering if I'm not mistaken(waiting with baited breath to be corrected:) )

It has a Nvidia Geforce GTX 750.