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Need advice on Photoshop only PC build


V

vetticustoms

Active Member
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Hi all! I'm looking to build a Desktop PC that will only be used for Photoshop CS6 and Illustrator CS6. I currently am Using a Toshiba Satelite A665 with a BenQ 27 inch linked via HDMI.
Just not enough output for me. I have computer knowledge so the build won't be hard but where I get lost/(where I'm outdated) is the parts/specs.
My budget is tight right now but I plan to put this build together over the next month or 2. So thank you in advance for any advice or help.


I already have the following covered


Monitor - Benq 27 Inch GL2750
Case - Nothing special - Spare Case but could use an upgrade
Software is Covered
Windows 7


Looking for recommendations on the following - and anything else I'm missing.


Case


Processor (CPU)


Motherboard


Memory (RAM)


Graphics Card


1st Hard Disk - Memory


2nd Hard Disk


Memory Card Reader


Power Supply


Processor Cooling


Sound Card


USB Options


Keyboard


Mouse
 
IMHO, unless one wants something unusual like 10 bit per channel graphics output (ie, to a specialized monitor that supports this bit depth), nix the graphic card and just use on-board graphics. If you had mentioned video, my recommendation on this might be different.

IMHO, nix a specialized sound card and rely on on-board sound, as well. The last time I checked, neither PS or AI ever said a single word to me. ;-) . Don't waste this computer's resources / clock cycles / memory to listen to music while you are working -- there are a million other alternatives.

Instead use the money you saved towards a couple of SSDs. Use the 1st SSD for the OS and applications. Booting from this will be vastly faster than booting from a conventional HD, as will switching from application to application.

Use the 2nd SSD for the OS's swap file, as PS's temporary files, for LR's catalog, etc., ie, data that is used a lot, but which, if part of it became corrupted would not be a big deal. The reason is that you want the speed of an ssd, but they have a limited (but large) number of read-write cycles before you start getting errors.

Final recommendation, fill your system with a minimum of 16 G of RAM, preferably 32 Gig. In addition to the obvious and well-known benefits, it allows the system to use your 2nd SSD much less frequently, thereby prolonging its life.

Carefully plan for how you are going to do (a) system backups, and (b) image archiving and off-site rotating backups, and budget for the necessary storage.

Just my $0.02. Gotta run,

Tom
 
SSDs aren't like hard drives, they don't use mechanical features to access and write files, as you probably know, so adding more RAM has very little effect on an SSD's lifetime, In fact it's more likely to disrupt the PSU with all those modules sitting there, they still need power.
I do agree with the more the merrier, as obviously the more RAM you have on precache means the faster the programs load etc but seriously, 32 gb is overkill, especially if you are using SSDs


my recommendation is keep it simple and keep it minimal, people often slate me for that mindset and those decisions, but there's method in my madness.

If photoshop is the most you will ever be doing, then I'm going to say:

CPU: Quad Core @2.6 - 3.2ghz - allows you to run several programs at a time this way. either AMD or Intel will do in my eyes, it's more down to budget and personal preferences.
RAM: minimum of 6gb, maybe just stretch to 8gb try and make it DDR 3 with a high-ish clock speed, as it helps with program speed as well, don't go OTT with 2GHz modules though!
Motherboard: Any ASUS or Gigabyte Motherboard that supports PCI express x16 2.1 or higher and has a minimum of 4 RAM slots. if you are going for AMD processing units make sure it is socket AM3+ and if it's Intel, Socket 1155 or better.
ensure if you can, that if you are going for Gigabyte, get Ultra Durable 4 tech with DualBIOS extends system lifetime a little, not a must have, but I recommend you have a gander.

Graphic Card: last time I checked, PS wasn't GPU intensive, a little 512mb thing will do, maybe an AMD radeon HD 5 series type, I'd recommend you have a dedicated card, as it's not going to pull the RAM away in order to use it.

Hard disks, I'd agree with tom, SSD's will be the better bet, they last longer, and are much faster than the standard mechanical hard disk drive.

Memory Card Reader: make sure it has SD/HC Support and micro SD support available, that way most cameras and phones are covered.

Processor Cooling: Depends on the processor, The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro rev 2, from personal experience does well, I'm still a bit of a skeptic when it comes to liquid cooling.

sound card: most Motherboards have an inbuilt one that's fairly decent.

USB: if you use loads of USB flash drives, make sure you have a decent set of inbuilt USB ports on the case, if not you can buy more.

Keyboard: any keyboard, so long as it's comforable to use.

Mouse: perferably a variable DPI one, 800 - 1600 is the best bet.

Make sure your power supply is good, get a 750 watt one to allow for expandability in the future.
 
check at Tiger Direct.....Bare Bones kits and parts....You will be surprised how far a dollar will go!
 
"...so adding more RAM has very little effect on an SSD's lifetime..."

Adding RAM means that the system and applications like PS don't need to read and write to swapfiles / pagefiles / scratch files as frequently. This can be a very big reduction in their usage. If these files are on an SSD, then you are saving read-write files on the SSD, thereby prolonging it's life.


"...In fact it's more likely to disrupt the PSU with all those modules sitting there, they still need power...."

Yes, RAM uses some power, but (a) it's almost always a modest fraction (e.g., 20%) of the total required by the PC, and (b) power supplies are not "disrupted". A given size PSU can either supply the required output or not. If you require a bit more power, just buy a slightly larger PS. The cost-benefit ratio is wildly in favor more RAM up to 8 or 16 G (depending on how you use your system).


"...but seriously, 32 gb is overkill, especially if you are using SSDs..."

As Z correctly points out, 32 G is probably overkill for most people.

For that matter, if all you are doing is fun and games on PSG with tiny files (say, 700 px wide) and a few layers, heck, you can get by with just 4 G of RAM.

However, if you are a landscape or aerial photographer earning your living by stitching together high resolution images (eg > 6000pixels on the long dimension) from multiple exposures, and then using dozens of layers in post-processing, 32 G can be a very reasonable number. It all depends on what you work on.


Cheers,

Tom M
 
With all newer software RAM is needed 8 is almost bare bones today, 16 is getting quite common. I would also say that the price for performance is heat...I run 3 case fans, and the CPU and Graphics card each have one....I keep the area clean, and 750 watts will work well, as long as its cool.

If you do build, think of overkill in space on the motherboard....If you do not need it today, you will....next year. The more slots and space you have, it will last longer, if you can update it.
 
As far as a card reader....make sure it will work with the larger cards...16 or 32....My OLD reader will not read any of my 16 newer cards.

I think my current card reader was 10.00 new, so no big cost and note the newer boards are set with USB2 and 3, USB3 is almost a must on a new build...minor junk
 
what I'm saying is, SSDs are flash storage devices, like I said, they won't suffer the same wear and tear as a HDD, that's the point i'm trying to get across, if RAM is going to help it's lifetime it will be incredibly insignificant bit of help at that.

I'm currently running CS5.1 (and I have used CS6 on it before you start) on 3gb RAM and I work on a wide variety of sizes from 512px to just under 5000px, with more than just a few layers, on the rare occasion Photoshop will start up slower if the RAM is currently pre-occupied but it's still pretty quick to start up and when i'm designing stuff the computer keeps up pretty well, it slows down a fair bit when i'm using filters on a larger canvas but that to me is more of a CPU thing. so honestly, don't slate a lower spec system by saying it will only cope with tiny files, it's capable of much more than you are letting on.

I would say the 700pixels wide statement is more appropriate for 1gb systems.

I agree with mike about the motherboard you will need that freedom to upgrade if need be, motherboards do tend to last a fair while, and 16gb RAM sounds a LOT more reasonable than 32gb, I would understand you needing 32 for detailed models in 3D studio, but not for large canvas images.

honestly though, if you are on a tight budget 8GB will probably do you nicely.
 

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