bjrichus said:
We do need this in a separate thread, don't we?
Here we are
Photo Editing computers
(95 posts) (24 voices)-
Posted 9 months ago #
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So
what do you have
what do use it for
what will be your next upgradePosted 9 months ago # -
Built myself about 5 years ago and needs to be upgraded probably. It has held up against the changing technology fairly well compared to my previous computer, but top of the line parts is the only way. Buying old technology or mid range parts will make you need to upgrade even sooner.
Intel D975XBX2KR Motherboard
4 GB DD2 RAM (whatever the fastest was the motherboard could handle)
Sapphire HD3870 Toxic
Intel Q6600 (quad core 2.4 GHz)
Case and lots of fansUpgrade...
Just got a new wireless keyboard and mouse
Larger LED monitor
New parts (CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics card) <---need to research and figure out what is good now :)
Maybe new case although mine works fine the cheap plastic front always falls off.and since I keep editing this post...final notes.
I could upgrade the computer I have now slightly, but not much point I think. The CPU is still OK, but the ram is behind the DDR3. I could probably find some DDR2 ram for cheap though to have more. Graphics card is 2-3 series behind now. Motherboard can't support newer (faster) chips or DDR3 ram.Posted 9 months ago # -
Also built myself - don't recall all the specs right off (I've built about a dozen computers since), but it is an i5 with a Gigabyte MB, 12GB Ram, GeForce GTX560Ti graphics, three case fans and two PSU fans. Runs Lightroom 4 without a problem, as well as video editing. Not bad for BF3, either.
When I build my next one, it'll probably be another i5 or maybe i7, again with at least 12GB RAM, and a upper mid-level graphics card. I will add at least one solid state HD (which I'll probably do soon, anyway, to my current computer as prices are falling nicely).
Ahh. FOrgot the monitor. Right now a Dell 22". Will be adding another Dell 24" IPS in the not too distant future.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I'm using a free Acer laptop that I received instead of a mobile (cell) phone upgrade, when I renewed my contract about 5 years ago. The hard disk is way too small (partly due to a stupid 60/40 partition), with about 120 gig in "C", 2Ghz intel core 2 duo CPU and it is maxed out with 3GB of ram. It does however have a Blueray drive with DVD writer, and a reasonable 256MB nvidia graphics card, pretty good for a laptop of its vintage. I'd love to loose Vista, and will maybe think about an upgrade to a desktop when Windows 8 arrives. I would consider an iMac (I have an iPhone and iPad), but I have too much legacy MS software that I couldn't bear to loose.
Oh, and I also have a desktop that my kids use running XP, and two other laptops, a Dell Inspiron 8000 running ME, and a Lifetec giving stirling service with windows 98!!! Basically I can run pretty much ANY PC software, whatever it's age in my house :-)
Posted 9 months ago # -
^^^ wow you need to upgrade ;)
As for Vista...you should upgrade that ASAP. It was horrible and a memory hog. Windows 7 is so much better.Posted 9 months ago # -
tcole1983 said:
^^^ wow you need to upgrade ;)
As for Vista...you should upgrade that ASAP. It was horrible and a memory hog. Windows 7 is so much better.Yes I know, but recently my money's been going on lenses! So OK, here's the question, assuming I stick with a PC, what is the basic speck that everyone recommends, and where should money particularly be spent? CPU/RAM/GRAPHICS etc? These items can double or triple the cost of a machine mighty quickly. Do you need the fastest and most powerful components currently available?
Posted 9 months ago # -
Put a good bit of your $$ on the CPU (at least an i5)- important for photo editing . RAM is almost dirt cheap. Minimum 8 or 12 GB RAM. Hard drive should be 7200RPM. Just a good graphics card (1GB RAM), unless you are editing video.
Win7 is much better than Vista. Of the 18 or so computers I run, I think three have Vista and all the others stayed on XP until I upgraded to Win7. I have one running Win8, and so far, everyone seems to like it a lot.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I would say for photo editing:
CPU > RAM > Graphics Card
or some might put it
RAM > CPU > Graphics CardI have to say a combination of RAM and CPU speed are where a computer gets bogged down. Depending on what all you are running without much work you can easily use 2 gigs of ram without any effort. The more ram the better. I have had instances with my 4 gigs that Lightroom 4 got way bogged down and I had to restart my computer to free up the ram enough to use it again. On the other hand a slow CPU will do just as much damage in your processing. My CPU was fairly top of the line...I looked at the best compromise of price and performance...check out benchmark test websites for this. The top of the line CPUs are usually a waste when they are new because they want a high premium for them...and in months they are usually not the best anymore. That said you want a CPU good enough that it will be competitive for a while. I would get a quad core chip...something like the Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz seems pretty good. $330 for a 10,367 PassMark score where chips just slightly better are two or three times the price.
For a graphics card...I am not sure it makes too much difference for photo editing. If you do lots of video it might be more crucial. That being said my HD3870 was the top of the line when I got it...it is still 151st on the charts for graphics cards after 5 years which is pretty good I think. But you can now get ones two or three times as good for around $150. Like CPUs you pay a premium for the brand new ones...not sure they are worth that. You can get one that was top of the line last week and save lots of money.
Posted 9 months ago # -
MacBook Pro i7 (work) and MacBook Air with cinema displays. Also an i1 Display Pro, Canon 9500 mk II. LR4, CS6.
The i1 Display pro was a very good recent upgrade. It greatly reduces time and materials.I use it mainly to produce operator's manuals for scientific instruments when I'm at work and for recreation at home.
No upgrades planned. I am not limited by this hardware except for max print size, and I can't see going to a larger printer.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I largely agree with Tcole. Photo editing is primarily a numbers game, so the CPU is working hardest. But photo file sizes are huge compared to just a few years ago, and you don't want to be working off your hard drive - you want RAM. These days, 2GB Ram will almost get you a fully operational operating system with the usual crap attached (services running in the background). I don't think 4GB will be quite enough. Start at 8GB.
Posted 9 months ago # -
SkintBrit said:
Do you need the fastest and most powerful components currently available?Just had "play" at the Dell web site
A Desktop with the fastest and most powerful components would set us back over £10,000 ( with out monitor) So hopefully not
If you use LR4 and CS5 at the same time ~24 GIB of ram seems sensible but I cannot workout what processor and graphics card is required
One thing to look for with Graphics card is, the number of monitors it will run . Dual monitors with LR is nice but they seem to have to be the same size
e.g. you cant have the the image on your new high res 30" and the menu on your old medium res 17"Posted 9 months ago # -
sevencrossing said:
One thing to look for with Graphics card is, the number of monitors it will run . Dual monitors with LR is nice but they seem to have to be the same size
e.g. you cant have the the image on your new high res 30" and the menu on your old medium res 17"Most decent graphics cards these days have dual monitor support. I run several dual monitor machines, and none of them are running the same size monitor. I don't have my photo editing machine set up with dual monitors right now, so maybe does LR4 require same size monitors? I can't imagine that it does, but then again .....
Posted 9 months ago # -
I have a Precision T7500
12 GB ram and 2 Xeon E5520 @2.27 GHzfrom time to time LR will slow down which can be fixed by a reboot
my gut feeling is to double the RAM, but my techie friend says, I also need a faster processors, which I suspect will also mean a new mother board eg a new computer
your thoughts please
Posted 9 months ago # -
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warprints said:
an i5 with a Gigabyte MB, 12GB Ram, GeForce GTX560Ti graphics,this is basically what I have, but I have 8GB ram.
EVERYONE NEEDS A 64 bit OPERATING SYSTEM! otherwise you cannot utilise more than 4GB of Ram!
I run Windows 7 x64 with lightroom 4 and photoshop cs6 no trouble on my machine.
I have a crap monitor, but will get a dell u2711 soon.
I have a 1TB system drive, a 3TB storage drive, a 3TB server for backups and a 3TB external for offsite backups.
I wouldn't be without my Wacom Intuos 4.
I was a bit worried LR4 was going to be slow, but so far so good.
Posted 9 months ago # -
sevencrossing said:
LR will run 2 different size monitorsbut the controll panel (NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800) seems to insist they are both set to resolution lowest one.
eg I cant set the 30" to 2650 x 1800 if the 17" is 1680x 1050
if you mirror, this will happen. you will need to extend, not mirror (i think)
Posted 9 months ago # -
No i have set extend
Posted 9 months ago # -
Gareth said:
if you mirror, this will happen. you will need to extend, not mirror (i think)sevencrossing said:
LR will run 2 different size monitorsbut the controll panel (NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800) seems to insist they are both set to resolution lowest one.
eg I cant set the 30" to 2650 x 1800 if the 17" is 1680x 1050
Are you running Win7? It will let you set the resolution differently on the two monitors. I'm doing that right now on this machine. One 22" monitor and one 15" - each set at a different resolution.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I am running a 3 year old Mac Pro with 12GB, 30" cinema display, and all of my disks are set up as RAID 1 for data security. I upgraded from a Dell workstation and have been happy. I have a firewire CF card reader and I don't have any problem dealing with D800 files. I am using LR4, NX2, CS5 and everything works really well.
Posted 9 months ago # -
So here we are ... discussing computers. I have a Dell Latitude laptop, Core i7 @ 2.8Ghz, 8Gb RAM HDD onboard is 600Gb but have a collection of external disks. Via a docking station, I use two 27" external monitors (Spider for calibration), with a "real" keyboard and mouse. Windows/7 64bit with CS6 and a collection of Topaz and Nik stuff as well as other bits of stuff.
The big kick in terms of performance came in two stages for me; more RAM *OVER* 4Gb and CPU speed. I'd really like to put a bigger HDD in but I don't need it right now. Next generation of PC for me will have more RAM in and a larger HDD to allow for editing larger raw files, which will be the normal in the near future.
I used to make my own home PC's but when we went to using laptops at work, I no longer found myself with two different PC's anymore - its the same one everywhere.
For anyone with less than 4Gb of RAM and still trying to run anything Adobe on anything less than a core i5, do yourself a favor, get an upgrade. Life is too short to wait more than a couple of seconds for software to do anything - and for sure - you still are.
Posted 9 months ago # -
sevencrossing said:
Just had "play" at the Dell web siteA Desktop with the fastest and most powerful components would set us back over £10,000 ( with out monitor) So hopefully not
It's never a good idea to play that game with Michael Dell. You get lured in with the promise of a cheap machine, and by the time you've been taken through twenty seven pages of options, he owns your house and family!!! :-)
Gareth said:
EVERYONE NEEDS A 64 bit OPERATING SYSTEM! otherwise you cannot utilise more than 4GB of Ram!I didn't know that. Does the version (home/business/pro) of windows make any great difference?
Gareth said:
I have a crap monitor, but will get a dell u2711 soon.As some will know, I bought a 2711 a year ago, I'm very happy with it. The only caveat I have is that as frequently reported, I also feel the anti reflection coating is a bit too OTT. It works well, but clarity does suffer as a result.
Posted 9 months ago # -
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warprints said:
Are you running Win7? It will let you set the resolution differently on the two monitors. I'm doing that right now on this machine. One 22" monitor and one 15" - each set at a different resolution.Yes Win 7
Thanks I will have another try
(may be in a few days time the 17" monitor is in the loft )
Posted 9 months ago # -
Remember that a high end video card is useless for photography, they are made for 3D graphics and gaming.
That said -
I use a Dell Studio XPS that I got from the outlet for $500
Core i5 650 @ 3.2Ghz
8GB ram
1TB hard drive
802.11n wireless card
Nvidia Geforce GT 220 vid card
DVI
HDMI
Firewire
Win 7 HomeI plug that into a Dell 2209WA eIPS monitor I picked up for $250
Running LR4, I import, store and catalog everything to a 2TB external Seagate Goflex drive.
That 2TB drive, and everything on the internal 1TB drive, get backed up completely to a separate external 3TB external Seagate Goflex drive.
(Costco always has good deals on external drives)
Total: a little over $1k for this setup. I could not be happier with it.
Posted 9 months ago #
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