NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Would suggest you look at the Dell Outlet store. Overstocks and refurbished models. All come with onsite repair warranties and can purchase additional years for little money. Look for their gaming series. They are excellent for post processing since the gaming world looks for the same kind of performance features that we need for photography. Stick with an i7 processor, 32GB memory, SSD hard drive, nVidia graphics and Windows 10 Pro. Monitor is a personal like thing, so can't help much there.

dgwoodward2

I would absolutely agree here. My wife purchased a dedicated video system from Puget and their build was perfect. I took all the related information and then built my still image computer using a similar template and just de-tuned the configuration a bit for my use. Did that 5 years ago and have had a great experience with PS and LR.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Bob, there is an old adage regarding computers. You can't have too much memory, too large a hard drive, or too fast a processor. although I have 4 Dell desktops and one Dell laptop, all of my photo editings are done on an 27" iMac. I started using that computer about 5 years ago and don't know why I didn't start using one sooner. They are incredible when coupled with PS/LR etc.

All of my working photos are stored on a G-Tech drive with a second drive used for scratch space and a third G-Tech used for backups. Second drives in the Dell systems are used for backups, as well.
--Bob

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Also look at the hardware requirements of the software you plan to use. Topaz apps, I believe, require an i7 processor and a video card with at least 4GB memory. Other applications may require similar or other capabilities, and certainly the hardware requirements will advance going forward.

dave.m

Wow, there is one heck of a lot high spec described above!

I run PS and LR classic mainly with RAW file input on a dell 17" laptop with i5 processor with 16GB ram, on board video card, 256GB SSD for operating system and 2TB HDD for data and no problems with performance at all. I do use a EIZO adobe colour space monitor and use a spyder colour checker monthly. I use the laptop because I have it. Now no longer travel for work I would be equally happy with desktop of similar spec at a lot lower cost. As I now only travel for pleasure I use a Dell XPS with i5 and 16GB memory on the go for LR CC only (as mentioned above LR is a lot less processor/ memory intensive than PS.

i7 processor and more memory come into their own if you do a lot of concurrent processing which I seldom do. Yes PS does internally but again, unless doing a big export or similar, you would not notice particularly. Also memory becomes an issue only if you have a lot of images open at the same time (I often have 10 to 15 but seldom more.)

If I went for a desktop now I would probably get an i7 if I could as it is expensive to upgrade, and would start with 16GB providing I left an upgrade slot empty. SSD for operating system, and apps such as PS, also set the SSD for PS scratch file. There is virtually no overhead for doing this on an SSD but there would be for HDD. Get a PS compatable video card - check with Adobe web site cos PS can take advantage of video card on-board processing/ memory and some can't. When in doubt make sure there is room to upgrade / expand.

Always have Data on separate disk for ease of backup and general management, SSD I could afford it HDD if not (although SSD costs have plummeted in recent months.) Extenal HDD/ local NAS for local backup of data, with cloud storage for last ditch security. Common sense is to have good quality local backup at least. Although we never had that with film, it is a lot easier to delete/ disk crash digital imagery than film :)

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Robert, I have a fairly powerful Windows computer setup and use Photoshop daily, with 16 gig of ram and I have had no 'slow-down' or problems because of lack of ram. If money isn't a problem, possibly 32 might even be more beneficial (?) but just wanted to share with you I've used my setup very successfully with just the 16 and it handles Photoshop beautifully.
Good Luck. Sounds like you should have a great setup when complete.
God Bless,
Papa Joe

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

My PC crashed a couple years ago and, though I thought I could probably repair it, it was a bit old so I decided to replace it. I have some regrets about my choice of a replacement and perhaps you might benefit from my experience. I had upgraded to a better graphics card with my older PC and my difficulties with the upgrade were still on my mind; as a result I looked at gaming machines because they all came with top-notch graphics cards, allowing me the pleasure of not suffering with installing one myself. So far, there was no problem, the installed GPU worked fine for me.

One problem I found quickly with my new PC was that it did not have any internal space for additional hard drives. Additional hard drives that had fit inside my old PC now have to sit outside of the PC case itself and connect with USB. I had to buy drive cases, but more importantly, this creates an unsightly and sometimes annoying pile of cables outside of the case on the floor under my desk. A nice small and neat appearing case has its downside and is not necessarily something you want.

My new PC came with a (too small) SSD to serve as my C drive. With windows 10 already installed, that drive had very little additional space. But I most add-on software will automatically install to the C: drive; often, with careful attention during installation, it is often possible to specify another drive but even so, the software may automatically revert to using the C: drive for data storage. I've been able to work around these problems in the past, sometimes by removing little needed software, but I may someday feel forced to upgrade to a larger internal C: drive. The moral of this story is that 128GB for that drive is not nearly big enough.

adedeluca Loc: holbrook ny

I just went through this last year and what a great difference in enjoyment
This is what I recommend :

I7 processor (intel suggested)

16-32 gig RAM speed not so important

A video card with 6g ram or better

Most important a SSD drive 500-1TB
Any style. This is important

A storage mechanical 2 T-up


A proper motherboard and technician that knows what he is doing.

You will love how it makes editing fun.

Also a calibrated monitor especially if you print like I do.

You can PM me if you need more help. God Bless

Mike

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Haven't you posted similar over the last couple weeks?

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

I'll be brief:
1. Go for at least 40 GB if not 64 GB RAM. You will not be sorry.
2. Buy the best video card you can afford. PS especially offloads a lot of its processing onto the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) on the video card. An oversimplification but the CPU is the gatekeeper shuffling data to and fro.
3. Get a 1 TB SSD as you main drive and try to keep a lot of free space so PS has adequate swap space.
4. I happen to use a Mac Pro but I keep all data on RAID5 units elsewhere in my house, linked by fiber optic cables. Applications only on the boot drive of which I keep a 100% bootable copy (external hard drive) whenever I make a program change on the boot drive.
5. Monitor or Monitors. I use one 32" calibrated NEC monitor, some like two monitors. That is up to the user. Certainly two monitors makes some sense if you can keep all of PS windows except the image on one monitor and fill the second monitor with image only. Again, different strokes for different folks.
HTH

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

I was penning my response when I read Gene's response which is almost exactly what I thinking. I would tread lightly on GPU suggestions. Other than Puget Systems' brand name suggestions don't cut it. Bet Adobe has learned that using multiple brand GPU cads it tricker than they thought. I will probably hire them to build my next computer. I am adding new computer to the "List of thing a man of my age shouldn't do if he no longer enjoys doing it." Cutting my grass is already on that list.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

The iMac or iMac Pro are the best choices for LR and PS editing and 16 Gb or RAM is sufficient. The iMac's 5K Retina screen is outstanding in every respect for color editing. That is why many professional photographers use iMac's and Mac Pro desktops for editing. I have two 27" iMacs that I use for editing sitting side-by side. The Mac OS-10 operating system allows me to use both computers together as if they are a single computer allowing me to have LR on one screen and PS on the other and using a single trackpad (or mouse) and Wacom Tablet to control both desktops.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I have 16GB of memory on my MacBook Pro and 32GB on my iMac Pro and I would recommend 32GB if you can afford it. I would definitely use a separate Graphics card with a minimum of 4GB of memory on-board. For pp I prefer a higher end monitor so that is budget dependant. Hard to say exactly without some budget guidelines. Listen to Gene51. Best of luck.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Lots of info here.

Memory -
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-much-ram-does-your-pc-need-probably-less-than-you-think/
http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-much-ram-does-your-pc-need/

Processor -
http://gizmodo.com/dont-waste-money-on-intels-top-processor-1791426602
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404674,00.asp
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/intel-core-i5-vs-i7/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/intel-core-i9-vs-i7-vs-i5-cpu/
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/intel-core-i5-vs-i7/
http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/core-i5-vs-i7
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/210703-intel-core-i5-vs-core-i7-which-processor-should-you-buy

Graphics card -
https://www.newegg.com/insider/how-to-choose-graphics-card/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xif6O8ekxuU
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-buying-guide,5844.html
https://techguided.com/how-to-choose-a-graphics-card/


Photoshop requirements -
https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-us/articles/202557289-System-requirements-Minimum-and-recommended-computer-specifications

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I AM NOT GOING TO POINT OUT PRO'S AND CON'S OF COMPUTERS.
THE ONLY THING I FEEL WORTH LOOKING AT IS THE APPLE SCREEN VS THE NON APPLE SCREEN.