Woodstown Brian Loc: New Jersey

Non techie looking for assistance on selecting Desktop Computer for editing photos using Photoshop and Lightroom. Current preference would be to move from Laptop back to desktop. Assume 64GB RAM and at least 1TB Internal SSD drive. I am not sure of Min Specs are for Photoshop and Lightroom for Graphics Card selection.

Thanks in advance

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Well, I purchased this last August, works great! Supports two monitors.
BUT, it depends on your preferences, desires, and requirements.....

https://www.costco.com/hp-envy-desktop---13th-gen-intel-core-i7-13700---windows-11-professional.product.4000159147.html

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Let's start by going backwards: You said Photoshop and Lightroom. That indicates either Windows or Mac and eliminates Linux. So then the question becomes one of hardware. 64GB RAM is a good start. What else will you be using the computer for? If it's not dedicated to photo processing, you'll want to make sure you have storage (you said 1TB). External storage is also handy. External SSD up to 4 or even 8TB are available. So far, the only item untouched is the GPU. NVIDIA is making bank by powering AI with their GPUs, so if you're not going Mac, which includes the GPU of their specification, you should look into that.

This may ruffle some feathers, but if you're not going Mac, you might want to check out a Micro Center or similar store where you can get one built to spec. No, it's not going to have a label saying "Dell" or "IBM" or "Lenovo" or similar, but what you save on the name can be made up for in components.

Personally, I'm a Mac guy. I rarely read Mac users complaining about the performance of Adobe products as long as there' enough RAM on board.

I don't know if it helps, but it should give you some food for thought.

therwol Loc: USA

This machine has 32GB RAM. That's more than adequate. It also has two hard drives, one SSD (512GB) and one HDD (1TB). That's fine too. The price is good. The only thing I see that it doesn't have is a dedicated graphics card. Depending on what you do, it may not matter, but it might if you're editing video. Video editors sometimes make heavy use of the graphics GPU. Anyway, fine machine on a budget. Some on UHH are going to suggest spending megabucks or having a custom machine built. Whatever suits them, but buying from Costco is the easiest thing in the world.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

YEARS ago I used to build my own, but I found that I don't need a Maserati to drive to work.
It meets my needs very nicely.
I myself, don't need a suped-up graphics card. I never saw a problem with not having one.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Haha, yes, better than when I bought ours.

BTW - It has an extra bay inside, so I took the 2TB from the old computer, reformatted into one partition, and stuck in in the spare bay. So I have C:=512GB; D:=2TB; E:=1TB

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

So, being a Mac user (after 30 years of Windows) I have one complaint about Lightroom.

Font size. It's tiny if you have a high resolution monitor.

Windows allows you to adjust the Lightroom font size significantly, but the adjustment in Mac is insignificant. However, Mac has a magnifier that is usable.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-802880-1.html

Other than that, Adobe products work great on MacOS (I'm using Apple Silicon).

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I have a Mac Studio with a 27" BenQ monitor--I would highly recommend that setup.

BebuLamar

The OP said Photoshop and Lightroom so the GPU has to have at least 1.5GB or video RAM and recommended by Adobe 4GB or Video RAM.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some links -

A lot of reading can save you a lot of money. I don't know why that "O" is on a line by itself, but I'm leaving it there.

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/
O
Monitor -
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-computer-monitors
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/monitors
https://www.cnet.com/topics/monitors/products/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-monitors/

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Do you prefer Mac or Windows?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Minimum Mac specs for an enthusiast using the Adobe Photography Plan suite today should be an M3 System on Chip with 16 GB Unified Memory and 512GB storage. That combination is a very usable photo processing setup in a 24" iMac or even a MacBook Pro 14/16 with an external monitor.

If you can wait until the end of June, Apple will most likely have M3/M3 Pro Mac minis and M3 Max/M3 Ultra Mac Studios. Mac Studios, of course, are very high end options.

photoman43

I m not a Mac guy, but I am a very pleased customer of MicroCenter. I am on my third windows desktop MicroCenter has built for me for photo editing. If I were buying a new desktop today, I would start at 64GB RAM, win 11 Pro 64 bit, SSD of 1 TB, a motherboard that had enough and the variety of ports I needed for fast downloading of images, fast access to attached external hard drives; a GPU (video card) with enough RAM for fast noise reduction software; extra cooling fans, and enough internal storage for your images and access to external storage for backups of your images. If you use two monitors, make sure your video card will allow you to attach two monitors. My current desktop needs a better/more advanced GPU for today's software.

Read info at Puget Systems to see their current recommendations for desktops equipped for LR and Photoshop.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/photo-editing-workstations/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/puget-systems-hardware-trends-of-2023/

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Last August I bought a Mac mini with M2 Pro chip, 512 SDD and a 4TB external drive placed in a hub. Only apps on the 512 SDD, all data on 4TB external (connected with Thunderbird 4 cable) and two backup storage drives of 5TB and 8TB plus Backblaze cloud. I find this setup blazing fast for me and have never looked back. All are attached to 27" Dell monitor.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

The Apple Knockers have the " Trump Syndrome " or maybe it's just the Dunning Kruger effect manifesting itself.... The poor guy on the gallows is happy also after about 30 seconds.