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New Windows pc questions
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Oct 31, 2018 07:03:53   #
Cape Coral Joel
 
The number one road block in a computer is the storage drive. If your new computer has a solid state drive you will see a remarkable difference over the older hard drives.

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Oct 31, 2018 07:24:28   #
ggenova64
 
Better Processor than RAM. RAM can always be upgraded. But get at least 64MB!

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Oct 31, 2018 08:58:31   #
art pear Loc: North Dakota
 
16 gb of ram is fine. At home I have both programs open and process raw d850 files with no problems. I do have 8 gig on my graphics card and i think that is more beneficial than 32 gig of ram. Processor is i7.

At work I have an i5 with 32 gig of ram and 4 gig on graphics card and I feel my cpu at home is more efficient. there are several other factors involved so I can't say 100% that my computer at home is faster, but I can say 16 gigs of memory is enough if you have your system set up right..

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Oct 31, 2018 09:33:48   #
pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
 
abc1234 wrote:
I am looking to buy a new pc and have two questions. I like running LR and PS simultaneously. How much benefit will I see between the i5 and i7 processors? And does 32 G RAM really improve the performance over 16 G?


Would go with both and plan for down the road. The 7 will be faster and while the memory may not be needed today for only LR/PS, you may need the extra if you also have other applications also open such as a browser, accounting, Word, etc. it will be needed down the road. As we all know, each time they come out with a new camera they come with more and bigger pixels.

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Oct 31, 2018 09:36:27   #
kd7eir Loc: Tucson, AZ
 
rmalarz wrote:
That's true. Several years ago, processors could only utilize a certain amount of RAM. So, anything above that amount wouldn't matter, or be "seen" by the processor. However, modern processors can "see" a lot more RAM than the ones produced years ago. Current i5 processors can access 32Mb of RAM.
--Bob


The latest 7th/6th generation i5 CPUs support upto 64GB of DDR4 RAM (4 slots ×16GB). Older DDR3 based systems support 32GB (4 slots ×8GB)

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Oct 31, 2018 11:19:23   #
dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia
 
While more RAM is always nice, keep in mind that LR and PS call on a computer system, not just RAM. You need to consider your system as a whole. If you do not have a good multi core processor, enough cache, a good graphics setup, updated drivers, etc........, all the RAM in the world may have no impact.

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Oct 31, 2018 12:04:25   #
kmpankopf Loc: Mid-Michigan; SW Pennsylvania
 
I run a machine with 16 G and i5. I primarily use PS. I don't use Lightroom, but will often have Bridge, On One or Photomatix running at the same time. On One will take memory.
I watch my memory usage, along with CPU and Disk, and I can say that 16 G is plenty to run. Never get over 60% memory usage.
Now, I will only have two or three large files open at any time. I'm not doing a large volume.
It will work fine.

If I were looking to upgrade, my processor would be one level down from the most current. Current will always cost more and for non-gaming use one down will be plenty. I would invest in Solid State disk, at least to run the O/S and applications. Spinning disk is OK for storage. I would also go to 32 G knowing that more and more applications are being written with the expectation that memory is no longer a limiting obstacle. Again, that is if I were to upgrade.

Get what you can afford, because you don't want to be unhappy two years down the road.

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Oct 31, 2018 12:25:54   #
markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
 
My desktop has i7, 32 GB RAM - my laptop has i7, 16 GB RAM. I do see a difference in performance with multiple processing programs opened concurrently.
Mark
abc1234 wrote:
I am looking to buy a new pc and have two questions. I like running LR and PS simultaneously. How much benefit will I see between the i5 and i7 processors? And does 32 G RAM really improve the performance over 16 G?

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Oct 31, 2018 12:31:05   #
dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia
 
Thinking further, this whole thread reminds me of choosing a camera based solely on DxO sensor tests. A sensor is only one part of a system. It is the system (paired with the ability of the photographer) that gets the shot.

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Oct 31, 2018 12:36:34   #
chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY
 
abc1234 wrote:
I am looking to buy a new pc and have two questions. I like running LR and PS simultaneously. How much benefit will I see between the i5 and i7 processors? And does 32 G RAM really improve the performance over 16 G?


Probably not too much difference between the i7 and i5 unless you were doing video editing - but the more the merrier when it comes to RAM - but 16 GB should be more than enough for photo editing and running both at the same time - I have a Dell i7 UHD laptop with 16 GB and it's very snappy even with multiple CC and other windows apps running ; if you plan to do video editing consider i7 with 32 GB. Also consider an SSD drive - that will boost performance and startup time considerably. For a desktop unit SSD for OS/apps plus a spinning HD (2-4TB) for intermediate storage. I use System Mechanic to clean up the system periodically - that keeps everything humming nicely.

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Oct 31, 2018 12:51:19   #
jfh2841 Loc: United States
 
I absolutely have to agree with dsmeltz and his advice. Please read this article as it will give you the information you need to make your decision. I have read that the new Ryzen 7 chips work better with PS and LR than Intel but I have not seen actual benchmark information on that.
Read this:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html

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Oct 31, 2018 13:23:10   #
gmsatty Loc: Chicago IL
 
I have an older i 7, a powerful graphics card and 16 gb of ram. I did some research just a couple of months ago and the conclusion was that 16 gb of ram was plenty and 32 was overkill. However as software gets more complex, that attitude may change.

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Oct 31, 2018 13:39:51   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
Depends on which I5 and which I7 (there are I5s that are faster than I7s). Get the exact model CPU and take a look at this site for it and benchmarks of comparable CPUs ((and the price): https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/

Once you make that choice, RAM and disk are the key performance drivers. 16GB is good and 32GB DRAM is better (depending on the task), but fast disk (SSD) is a MUST as many operations are I/O limited, and when you run short of DRAM and need to page to disk, there’s no comparison between the speed of a conventional HD and SSD, or as another poster reminded everyone, it’s the SYSTEM performance that matters, not just a single component.

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Oct 31, 2018 13:41:51   #
markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
 
As always, great information, Trix!!
Mark
TriX wrote:
Depends on which I5 and which I7 (there are I5s that are faster than I7s). Get the exact model CPU and take a look at this site for it and benchmarks of comparable CPUs ((and the price): https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/

Once you make that choice, RAM and disk are the key performance drivers. 16GB is good and 32GB DRAM is better (depending on the task), but fast disk (SSD) is a MUST as many operations are I/O limited, and when you run short of DRAM and need to page to disk, there’s no comparison between the speed of a conventional HD and SSD, or as another poster reminded everyone, it’s the SYSTEM performance that matters, not just a single component.
Depends on which I5 and which I7 (there are I5s th... (show quote)

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Oct 31, 2018 14:56:10   #
JP Pixburgh Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
 
abc1234 wrote:
What was behind my question was that I read years ago that beyond a certain point, the extra RAM does not matter. Any comment on this?

Many programs try to run in RAM. The more RAM you have, the more programs can run there. RAM will always be faster than picking chunks of programs off a hard drive by your processor, even faster than today's SSD drives. See how much memory LR & PS take to load up and that will give you an idea of what you really need. And don't forget your operating system loads up in RAM also.
I have an i7 processor and 64Gb of DDR4 RAM. I don't wait too long for anything to process thru. Get the fastest processor you can afford and as much RAM as you can. Also get an SSD hard drive. It's speed helps programs load tremendously. It's not cheap but you'll be impressed.

Good luck!

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