Faster computer needed! Cheapest way?

Degserella

Hi, I've got an old slug of a computer with 512MB of RAM and an AMD Atholon processor. I need to be able to run Adope Photoshop and LIghtroom simultaneously and speedily in order to operate my small business and so I need a lot more power to allow that to happen.

I don't have very much money so I am wondering whether the best investment is sticking some more memory in it and hoping that does the trick, or whether I need to get a new base unit with 2GB of RAM, a decent graphics card and a fast processor?

Unfortunately I am not very technically minded, so I dont have the first clue where to start and if you post anything like this on a photo forum they tell you to get a Mac which is WAY WAY out of my budget.

Any ideas or advice or recommended models/stockists?

Thank you!

timbim_2

What is the clock speed of the current processor? Which OS? More detail is probably required.

[Deleted User]

Which version of Photoshop and Lightroom are you looking to use?

By "I don't have very much money", how much money can you dedicate to this?

timbim_2

Photoshop in itself is expensive, and does require a powerful machine!

Degserella

Luckily, I already have photoshop - (version CS3) and lightroom (version 1) so I don't need to invest in them. By cheap I mean sub-£400 and preferably cheaper - if I could do the upgrading I need for less than £200 that would be ideal.

The operating system is Windows XP - but I'm afraid I don't know what clock speed is? How do I find that out?

Thanks!

SJames_3

Download and run http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Doesn't need any installing. Also, motherboard (or "mainboard" as CPUZ called it) info would also be important.

nomoneytoday

To run both of those at max potential I would get the fastest machine available and stuff it full of ram and a decent gfx card.

The software isn't cheap, and I hope you have a properly licenced version if using it for business purposes...

It may be more economical to spec a mac to use it to its fullest potential

MX5huggy

Get on to http://www.crucial.com/uk/ and use there scanner to see how much RAM you can cram in (you will probably have to get rid of what you have at the moment). If you can get 2gigs in you have a fighting chance. You need to factor in a new computer to your pricing!

SJames_3

nomoneytoday wrote: »

To run both of those at max potential I would get the fastest machine available and stuff it full of ram and a decent gfx card.

A new new graphics cards won't really make a difference just for the 2D work you'd be doing on Photoshop and Lightroom. RAM will be the most important factor, with processing and hard drive speed also being of importance.

It's difficult to say whether it would be wiser to upgrade your existing PC or just invest in a new one without knowing your specs. I don't think it'd be worth spending too much on your existing PC, but certainly a RAM upgrade would make a large difference, and could be a relatively cheap upgrade, but it isn't worth doing if the rest of your system is going to hold it back.

Degserella

Yes it's licensed! :-)

Thank you for the link - I think I'll try with the RAM and see whether it does the trick or not!

Cheers!