Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

My 5 year old computer started getting the blue screen last week so I had my computer tech come over and it isn't the drivers or software causing the problem. I can unhook the computer and take it in for assessing it or I can unhook the thing and have them build me a new one with my specifications. So, after some research I am thinking of having one built unless the fix is real simple and cheap. I am not computer savvy but would like your input on what would be the best components for photo editing. I am looking at CPU: Intel i7 9700k or Intel i9 9900k, GPU: GTX 1070 or 1080, RAM 32GB, primary storage: 1TB SSD and secondary storage of 2TB. Are there any components you would recommend? I'm also looking at getting a 4k monitor but nothing over a 27" viewing area. What monitor would you recommend? Thanks in advance for some educated or experienced advice.

TMurphy71

I would definitely just ditch the old computer. Make sure they dump the info from your old hard drive into a separate folder onto the new computer. Even better is to have a backup external hard drive.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

I have 2 external hard drives. One for just photos and the other is a computer backup along with Carbonite. The tech said they would load the software from the old computer to the new one? Is there a dream wish list specifically for a photo editor's desktop computer?

TMurphy71

My son is the computer guru (Software engineer and now going for his cyber securities degree), what he suggested to me was look for a high grade gaming computer. That way you'll have the speed, graphics and memory more than capable to handle just about anything.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

I think I read something about that in a Fstoppers article.

DNW

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Sounds about right. The system drive should be an m.2 NVME PCIe - these transfer data at 4X the rate of a fast SATA3 SSD.

I am still a fan of a pair of 1920x1280 displays - you end up with 4K when you extend the desktop, and you don't have to play around with scaling to get the text to a size that you can read easily. I use an old pair of Dell displays - the current version would be the UltraSharp 25 Monitor with PremierColor - UP2516D. It has a programmable LUT and can display over 1B colors - and 1024 shades of grey, for precise and accurate color/black and white images. You will need an Xrite i1 Display Pro profiling tool to be able to write the profile to the display. if you get an Nvidia Quadro 2000 or higher, (maybe the 620 will also do it but I haven't tried it) you'll be able to display 10 bit color in Photoshop, or any other application that supports that bit depth.

Are you sure 2TB is enough? Since you are having it built, you'll have more than enough expansion space, so you should be able to stack at least 6 internal drives in the box. Make sure you get some form of liquid cooling so you can take advantage of the "K" designation on the cpus you are considering - the K means you can overclock, hence the recommendation for extra cooling. Also make sure the builder matches the RAM speed to the cpu. Get 2 16 gb ram modules so you can add another pair later for 64 gb ram. More than likely that will be the only future proofing you'll need to do. Otherwise you should be fine.

I am in the process of selecting parts for my next build, and I am coming up with a price of about $2K, which is not terribly expensive for the outrageously fast machine I will end up with. Good luck with yours!

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

RAM, RAM and more RAM; go with 64 Gb. Add a video card with superior GPU and on board memory. For storage, I would stick with a SSD for the C:\drive and SATA for secondary. Oh, as many USB 3.0 and USB C ports as you can cram into it.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

You made me rethink the 2TB size and you are right that I should probably go ahead with larger since it is a build.
About the monitor, I don't have the space for 2 monitors and that is why I thought one 27" would work (Dell U2718Q Ultra sharp 4k) for me.That monitor decision is totally up in the air. I should get my xrite pro on Friday! Thanks for your great suggestions.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

You are so right about those USB ports. I only have 4 on the front of my desktop and they are taken!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

A 1TB drive is probably overkill. I have a 500GB SSD with all my programs and Windows on it, and it's just under half full. I prefer 3 or 4TB D drives for data. The HGST Ultradesk is a good one.

Memory -
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-much-ram-does-your-p
c-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

Don't trash the old computer. I have Dell desktops that are seven and twelve years old. I've replaced a graphics card and installed 500GB SSDs. Take your time and reinstall Windows. Remove memory and reinstall the memory cards one by one and see if that's the problem.

Give some thought to your choice of computer case. I chose a "full size," and it's larger than I had expected. Looking at the measurements would have prevented this surprise.

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

IMac 27" with about the best monitor available

TSHDGTL

A failing power supply can cause these symptoms.

BebuLamar

I don't know but I have a Dell laptop and when it's new it crashed often. Now it doesn't crash any more.

Thorburn Loc: Virginia

The only thing I did not hear listed is a video/ graphics card: this is important but what is going to your primary photo software and what are the software requirements what operating system are you going to use? These are a few question a former comp tech would have.