Need a new PC desktop (Page 2): I would go to your local MicroCenter store in Naples FL and discuss with them having a desktop built custom for you. I have had Microcenter build me...

photoman43

crbuckjr wrote:

My desktop PC is old and way too slow. I want a good one mainly for managing and editing photos. I use Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Topaz AI (Denise, etc) have 45 mb images……100,000 images…..etc.

Would like to upgrade to a desktop that will last a while. Want to stay with PC.

Would appreciate knowing about good reviews of such desktops, other sources of help, or specific recommendations.

Thanks much

Chuck

I would go to your local MicroCenter store in Naples FL and discuss with them having a desktop built custom for you. I have had Microcenter build me over 4 desktops over the years and all have been excellent. If this is not an option look at their PowerSpec desktops. Do not be put off if it says "gaming" as you will need a very good video card with dedicated RAM for some of your photo applications.

Inside a desktop I would have at least a 1 TB SSD and one or two spinning drives for image storage. My current desktop has two 18TB drives. If I were building it today, I would increase those to 20 TB or larger.

Make sure the motherboard has all of the ports you will need. Discuss these needs with their sales staff.

In my custom built desktops I always add extra (silent) fans to keep everything cool. Heat is what kills most computers. These are very inexpensive.

If you go the custom route, have them add an extra bay for an additional hard drive. This way you can open up the desktop and add it when needed. And it might be one from your current desktop to allow for file transfers.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Longshadow wrote:

It surely is!
Our desktop is my MAIN computer, having dual monitors, 3TB of HDs, and the HD drive dock.
(And the printer/scanner is right nest to it.)

Fortunately, we can still buy empty cases with room for lots of add-ons.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

photoman43 wrote:

My current desktop has two 18TB drives. If I were building it today, I would increase those to 20 TB or larger.

I've always been leery of having more than one HDD inside the case. I'm not sure why, but maybe I'm concerned about the excess heat from a second or third drive. I have external boxes with three or four drive, and I can use them, if necessary.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

photoman43 wrote:

I would go to your local MicroCenter store in Napl... (show quote)

A lot of that depends on one's individual needs and mostly desires.
Our new desktop has a 512GB system disk (C:), 1TB internal HD (E:) and I added the 2TB HD from the old computer (D:).
We use less than 500GB for all our data/pictures which are on D:, with Documents (user data) is on C:.
An 18 or 20TB drive for us would die before I got to use even 20% of it....
So why tell someone to get a bazigabyte drive? Because that's what you would do?

The new desktop has 8 USB ports, 4 front, 4 back.
and I have the 4 port expander from the other computer sitting on the opposite side of the desk from the computer.
Plenty of USB ports.

Markag

jerryc41 wrote:

Someone may have mentioned this, but having an SSD as the C drive with a large HDD for data is ideal. If you get a new computer, you can simply move the D drive from the old to the new.

NVMe as my C drive has proven to be a performance boost, while attempting to keep all "data" on other SSD drives.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Markag wrote:

NVMe as my C drive has proven to be a performance boost, while attempting to keep all "data" on other SSD drives.

I think most motherboards have a place for an m.2 now. When I built mine in 2016, M.2 was new. There is now a better version of the M.2 - NVME. They have different mounting requirements, and some PCIe cards have provisions to mount the old or the new.

photoman43

This link provides some info on both internal and external drives.

https://computerinfobits.com/external-vs-internal-hard-drive/

Any images or files I have on an internal drive is backed up twice on an external drive. My external drives are HDDs in hard drive enclosure cases. This allows me to replace a HDD with another one when needed.

I agree that capacities needed are determined for each person on a case by case basis. In my case I have always underestimated the amount of storage needed. And I try and not use any drive once it is 75-80% full.

BebuLamar

DirtFarmer wrote:

Another thing you might consider is a trackball instead of a mouse.

Are you German by any chance?

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

BebuLamar wrote:

Are you German by any chance?

I went to Germany for 3 days about 40 years ago. My last ancestor born in Germany emigrated about 1815.

kufengler Loc: Meridian, Idaho 83646

jerryc41 wrote:

I have desktops and laptops, but I consider a desktop to be a "real" computer. That's old-fashioned thinking, I know, but that's the way I am - old-fashioned. It's easier to get inside a desktop if I want to make changes.

I got over that thinking back in the late 1990's, when I saw 3d Solid Modeling software demonstrated on an HP laptop. (Worked there 32 years, till 2009.
That's what I use, an HP Laptop, 32mb Ram, 1Tb SSD, 24" monitor attached, an 3Tb of external HDD, and an external CD drive just in case i need that.

My set up.
My set up....

Rongnongno Loc: FL

crbuckjr wrote:

My desktop PC is old and way too slow. I want a good one mainly for managing and editing photos. I use Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Topaz AI (Denise, etc) have 45 mb images……100,000 images…..etc.

Would like to upgrade to a desktop that will last a while. Want to stay with PC.

Would appreciate knowing about good reviews of such desktops, other sources of help, or specific recommendations.

Thanks much

Chuck

Check the requirement of the most demanding software. This is the minimum needed. Ask whatever you want when it comes to RAM, usually just one step above is fine.

Extra? What ever you can afford, the sky is the limit. Your older computer maybe slow, but it still works, apparently. Use the internal drives as storage, as they are likely slow.

Pointing device? Pointless arguments as you likely have your own preference.

photoman43

I agree that a laptop today can be used to replace a desktop. Some who go this route purchase an additional larger monitor for some image processing. Make sure the video card in the laptop allows for this.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

DirtFarmer wrote:

I went to Germany for 3 days about 40 years ago. My last ancestor born in Germany emigrated about 1815.

... The year Napoleon came back from Elba and the year he was defeated at Waterloo.

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

Rongnongno wrote:

... The year Napoleon came back from Elba and the year he was defeated at Waterloo.

And a year after the British burned Washington DC.

I was presenting that date from my dim memory. I looked it up and it was 1817 that my ancestor emigrated. After being shipwrecked near the Azores, they finally made it to North America in late 1818. The family split in the Azores, and one ancestor travelled from there to Brasil (and my part of the family lost track of her).

crbuckjr Loc: Naples FL

pithydoug wrote:

Why a desktop? I just got a I9 Lenovo laptop, rocket fast, 32 GB mem and architected for 64, yada yada and I process the same programs as you. The 45MP images suggests an R5? I have a 1 TB SSD C drive and 2 4TB SSD external. One is backup. It goes where I go. If you not mobile then by all means go for the desktop. Being retired and moving around it replaced the dog. Simply food for thought.

Z7 I don't need a screen or keyboard.....and assumed that I'd get more power for my money.....is that not the case??

thanks for your....and others....replies....very helpful