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what spec do i need for a good photo editing desktop
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northernsoul
Posts: 232 Forumite



in Techie Stuff
Hi
I want a desktop pc to start doing photo editing. I have not much interest in using it for gaming.
i like the idea of an SSD (maybe a small one for loading windows, programs etc and a normal larger one) because i have read this is the best upgrade you can do.
What type of processor do i need to quickly deal with Elements 11 and photoshop?
Do i need a good graphics card for photo editing?
i guess i need at least 6GB ram but should i look specifically for a certain type and speed.
i have found in the dell outlet an Inspiron 660 with an Intel core i5 3450S and 4GB (1*4GB) 1600Mhz DDR3. Only a normal 1TB Sata3 HD, Windows 8. About £310 (£350 is my limit).
It has a CPU benchmark of 6326 whereas my current 6/8 year old desktop has a score of about 600 (and seems fine most times. Only very slow when the dreaded setup.exe takes over at startup).
I guess for photo editing i would notice a vast difference between my current 6/8 year old desktop and a new one.
I have a Intel core i5-450M laptop with about a 2000 cpu benchmark and 4GB ram. I would need better than this for fast photo editing, i guess?
Sorry cannot do links.
Thanks
I want a desktop pc to start doing photo editing. I have not much interest in using it for gaming.
i like the idea of an SSD (maybe a small one for loading windows, programs etc and a normal larger one) because i have read this is the best upgrade you can do.
What type of processor do i need to quickly deal with Elements 11 and photoshop?
Do i need a good graphics card for photo editing?
i guess i need at least 6GB ram but should i look specifically for a certain type and speed.
i have found in the dell outlet an Inspiron 660 with an Intel core i5 3450S and 4GB (1*4GB) 1600Mhz DDR3. Only a normal 1TB Sata3 HD, Windows 8. About £310 (£350 is my limit).
It has a CPU benchmark of 6326 whereas my current 6/8 year old desktop has a score of about 600 (and seems fine most times. Only very slow when the dreaded setup.exe takes over at startup).
I guess for photo editing i would notice a vast difference between my current 6/8 year old desktop and a new one.
I have a Intel core i5-450M laptop with about a 2000 cpu benchmark and 4GB ram. I would need better than this for fast photo editing, i guess?
Sorry cannot do links.
Thanks
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Comments
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Are you hard set on a desktop for this? If you are a hard core photo editor then most of your budget should be your screen, other than that, a decent laptop will do. To be fair, most modern laptops or run of the mill desktops will manage photo editing with relative ease. It's when you start getting into things like layering, content aware stuff that processors get busted. It's more processor capability than memory you'll need for photo editing, btw. Nowadays, even most onboard GFX cards can handle photo editing with ease.
Something i3, i5, with 4 or 6Gb RAM would be ideal. As a desktop you can always upgrade the GFX card if you feel the need (unlikely). The laptop you've got is no slouch certainly.0 -
What's wrong with your existing machines?!!
> . !!!! ----> .0 -
My wife does sign design where she'll be working with 16GB files on an old Core Duo machine which uses onboard graphics. One thing it does have is gobs of RAM and a fast hard drive.
The graphics card is quite irrelevant for photo editing in the main as is the CPU as long as its not a Celeron. RAM and a fast HDD is the most important as you'll be doing a lot of work in memory however AVOID A SSD HARD DRIVE. There will be a lot of writing of temp and swap files to the hard drive going on as you work with larger files. That will seriously shorten the life of a SSD drive. SSD drives like being read from a lot. They don't like being written to a lot which is why you never run a defrag program or them and ideally turn off the swapfile.0 -
I have a dell 23inch screen so i should have said also i am just looking for a tower.
I guess my laptop would be okay for photo editing then.
Just liked the idea of using my 23inch screen and upgrading my 6ish year old tower (though i hardly use it).
Thought my Aspire 8943G 18inch laptop might not be fast enough.
Thanks for the quick replies!0 -
Define photo editing. To me that means dealing with raw images and multiple layers, 30" screen, calibration equipment and so.
Having a decent screen without any calibrator is pointless.
Plus what version of photoshop you will be using. To me Elements is for someone to mess around with.Mansion TV. Avoid at all cost's :j0 -
plug the monitor into the laptop and then you have the best of bothThis is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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My wife does sign design where she'll be working with 16GB files on an old Core Duo machine which uses onboard graphics. One thing it does have is gobs of RAM and a fast hard drive.
The graphics card is quite irrelevant for photo editing in the main as is the CPU as long as its not a Celeron. RAM and a fast HDD is the most important as you'll be doing a lot of work in memory
Not strictly true these days. CPU for fast photoediting is of higher priority to Photoshop than RAM (Photoshop actually only uses 60% of available RAM by default. For layering and CA style editing, the CPU takes a massive battering and the RAM will barely be idling.0 -
Dont know exactly how deep i will get into photo editing. Not professionally, just as an enthusiastic amateur. Certainly going to use Raw files as well as jpeg. Be using CS5 or 6.
Take the point about monitor calibration. Maybe thats one for the future.
Thanks0 -
So if CS5 or 6 then cores will matter, as cs5 utilises multi threading.
So decent i3 or med range i5 or i7, That dell you posted, the i5 starts from 399. So may look like the i3 then, which is entry level processor. May want to save for a bit longer, say another £100.
Amd maybe an option if your willing to build yourself, but use AMD phenom cpu, instead of there new BulldozerMansion TV. Avoid at all cost's :j0 -
As camera resolutions get bigger, the photo files get bigger.
Every version of photoshop gets bigger and bigger and needs more and more power. It's a tail chasing exercise to keep up.
Depends what your going to do with these photos,..
If it's web or screen only, you don't need huge files. - so not the fanciest computer.
If you're going to print them to your photo glossy paper, you'll need a reasonable amount of oomph.
And the final option is out.
You're not going for professional publishing, so the Apple option is not one.
Rarely do I print anything, so all my stuff is done with CS2 and 2gb of memory on a p4 XP.0
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