Desktop Upgrade Specs

After typing up the below, it appears that I don't have an "attachment" option?
I want to attach.. not upload.. a scanned jpeg of the quote specs from my hard drive but, I can't.
If I understand the image posting rules, I should be able to do an attachment.
Is there something in my settings that need to be changed?

I have an 12 year old desktop that I plan to replace as I want to get into post processing a bit more using Photoshop.
The only upgrade done to my current computer was adding more ram memory.
Went from 512MB to the unbelievable 1GB!!
Everything else in the computer is the same from the day I bought it.
I know I need something a bit more current if I want Photoshop to work smoothly.
I'm currently using PS CS5 and I hope I can install that on the new computer and if not, i'll use Photoshop CC.

I went to the same business that built the computer i'm using now and explained to the person that I want a build that could handle Photoshop and maybe video editing with no issues.

Attached is the quote with the specs for the custom build and for a Lenovo build.
As this is just a hobby for me, i'm not after the latest and greatest regarding computer set up.
But, is there anything that maybe I should get added to the build or, is there anything in the quoted specs that might be overkill?

I have no idea at this time if there are certain features of Photoshop I plan to use on a regular basis that might be a strain on the computer's system, as i'm experimenting with and still learning how to use the program.

You should have uploading ability. More than likely your image exceeds the limits for direct uploads.

Either read the sticky on photo upload limits or else it may be simpler just to us a service such as Flickr.

Turns out the problem of not being able to add an attachment was due to the IE browser I was using.
Works fine using Firefox.

I really do need to get a new computer!
Even my IE browser is so out of date that I can't update it.

Below are the specs of the new computer quotes.

That system will sure get the job done. Main question is how involved are you in photography?

The 256Gb SSD is great. Even enough for a full time pro. Mother board supports 32 meg. That is great.

Where it may limit you is two 4Gb memory modules. 8 is enough. Where it would limit you would be if you want the machine maxed out with memory. Your upgrade path is now add two more 4Gb modules for a total of 16Gb max for the machine or to pull out the two 4's and install two 8Gb for step one and then add two more 8's for a total of 32Gb later. There is where it is important to know your likely future plans. If they are to take 100-200 photos or less a month, don't worry about it. If you have plans to shoot weddings or sporting events many weekends then go ahead and get two 8Gb now because it won't be long before you will want to go to the machine's limits on memory.

The other thing is the other hard drive. 1Tb is a lot of space, but will quickly fill up with a 20 megapixel camera shooting RAW files. Easy enough to swap out, but larger ones are cheap enough now you may as well spend $20 or $30 more and get a little bigger one.

The machine is plenty to do the job. It is expandable enough that it should grow with your needs for the next 4 or 5 years. My only question for you would be, do you see your needs growing in the near future? If so you may want to go ahead and have these two upgrades done now.

Thanks for your input Nogo.

My computer knowledge isn't that great but I do know that lots of memory is a good thing so, i'll keep in mind what you've suggested when I go to have the computer built.

Regarding how involved I am with photography.
Well, at this point it's just a hobby and it's mostly landscape/nature picture taking.
I don't do weddings, sports, people, etc. and don't see any of those being done in the future either.

As far as amount of pictures taken over a month, that varies.
It could easily be over 100-200 some months or none at all other months.
I sort of go in spurts.

As far as hard drive space goes, I have a couple of external hard drives I can store pictures on.
I also burn to DVD's from time to time.
I'm trying to get into a habit of limiting myself the amount of pictures I actually want to keep instead of downloading to the hard drive and just leaving them there.

So, it sounds like this computer build should meet my needs.
Just wanted to hear from some of the members on this forum as to if that was the case.

Thanks

Good thing.

For your needs it sounds fine. Plus it sounds easily upgradable. We never know what our needs in the future will be but it sounds like that machine will fit your needs even if your needs expand a little in the next three or four years.

I built a very similar spec machine for a friend a few months ago to do photography processing on.

It is working very well for her, and she has no problems. She's a very capable enthusiast, using LR and Photoshop etc.

Overall looks good. I would:
- Go to the 850 pro SSD, for reliability (2 bits per cell instead of 3). I have the 840 pro. What you've got is fine though.
- I would go to 16GB RAM most likely - it's cheap and having more stuff cached in RAM increases performance. Not necessary.
- A 2TB disk is less than twice as much as a 1TB disk. WD black is good.
- I'd go for a new video card - something like an 820 (no idea if that model exists). Basically 1st number = series, second two numbers = how high up the range. Latest series and lowest or second lowest model is good. 1GB is enough RAM on the video card.
- Lenovo system down the bottom seems good. Perhaps overspecified, i5 would be fine. I rate lenovo as very good.

What's your budget for the upgrade? Going to the 1155 platform would be best but your budget will dictate things a lot.

I'll check about a video card upgrade as well.
That was talked about as the quote was being done up but, if I remember correctly, I think an upgrade to what's in the quoted specs, would've been fairly expensive?
I do remember $900 being mentioned about a video card.
I sort of zoned out after hearing that.
I'm guessing that was given as an example of how much certain video cards can cost.

Regarding budget, the custom build is based on the maximum of what I was willing to spend.
The Lenovo was basically the same price as the custom build.
The person who did up the build quote, had high praise for Lenovo but thought the custom build would be better for me.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

Below is my current set up.
I'm guessing I should see a huge performance difference between my current set up and the new one.
I may have to upgrade the 17" CRT monitor.
I hear there are even bigger ones available now and some are even LCD!
Just kidding, replaced the CRT quite a few years ago.

canongear wrote in post #17344362
I'll check about a video card upgrade as well.
That was talked about as the quote was being done up but, if I remember correctly, I think an upgrade to what's in the quoted specs, would've been fairly expensive?
I do remember $900 being mentioned about a video card.
I sort of zoned out after hearing that.
I'm guessing that was given as an example of how much certain video cards can cost.

Regarding budget, the custom build is based on the maximum of what I was willing to spend.
The Lenovo was basically the same price as the custom build.
The person who did up the build quote, had high praise for Lenovo but thought the custom build would be better for me.

Video cards need not be that horrendously expensive. In this past month I finally upgraded from a (failing) 1280x1024 LCD to a 2560x1440 27" IPS monitor...too high in resolution to be driven from the standard video support of the motherboard, I spent the princely sum of $79 on CyberMonday (and I get a $20 rebate) for a video card to support that resolution.

I have found that one benefit of the name brand off-the-shelf PC is the tech support which is available! Questions about upgrade compatibility...get on the phone with tech support. Questions about problems with hardware or even OS support, call tech support -- often at any time of the day or night. HP and Lenovo are both pretty good about it. Doing the same for a custom job made at the local shop is somewhat more problematic.

BTW, it seems that i7 chip and $900 video upgrade is indicating that the store(s) THINK you are a gamer who has no qualms throwing money at hardware! The i5 is more than enough for you...heck, my current PC is an i3 from 5 years ago, upgraded weeks ago with that hi-res video card. No complaints of performance or whatever; more than adequate for home office programs and photo editing and RAW conversion software. For a brief moment I had recently thought I had a hardware failure requiring a new PC...$500 easily gets an i5 (with the video card upgrade), not $1600!

I'm curious why they want to stick a Micro ATX mother board into a Mid tower case?
Maybe talk with them about the motherboard a bit. Expansion could be tricky. The Micro ATX costs less, but ti's likely limiting you.

I agree that 1TB is small these days. Might want to go at least 2GB on the disk drive.

Wilt
After reading your reply, it came back to me, gaming is what the person was talking about regarding the $900 video card.
I understand your view about name brand computers and the tech support they offer.
I'm going back to this business as they have treated me really good in the past as far as repairs and tech support go.
Plus, they are only a five minute drive away.
Good point about the monitor/video card as I might be upgrading my monitor as well.
I might be misunderstanding what you are saying about the $1600 but, that is what the cost of my almost 12 year old system was.
The new system is a few hundred dollars cheaper than that.

CyberDyneSysytem
What is it about using a Micro ATX mother board in a Mid tower case that has you curious?
I really don't know that much about mother boards and what one would be better for a Mid tower case.
Can you recommend one and then i'll bring that up to the builder and see what they have to say.
As long as it something that doesn't add a lot more money to the build, I would be interested.

The system should be more than fine. I'd upgrade RAM to 16Gb from 8Gb though, if you want to future-proof the desktop. Otherwise keep it the way it is. How much does this setup run you, out of curiosity? There's a nice Dell right now that BH is selling for $820 or so, the XPS8700 - 1880 which is an excellent workstation. I've bought 3 of these recently for the office, and the only thing I upgraded was adding an SSD to 1Gb built-in mechanical drive. I purchased Samsung 840 EVO for $130, and the system runs great!

canongear wrote in post #17345201
Wilt
After reading your reply, it came back to me, gaming is what the person was talking about regarding the $900 video card.
I understand your view about name brand computers and the tech support they offer.
I'm going back to this business as they have treated me really good in the past as far as repairs and tech support go.
Plus, they are only a five minute drive away.
Good point about the monitor/video card as I might be upgrading my monitor as well.
I might be misunderstanding what you are saying about the $1600 but, that is what the cost of my almost 12 year old system was.
The new system is a few hundred dollars cheaper than that.

CyberDyneSysytem
What is it about using a Micro ATX mother board in a Mid tower case that has you curious?
I really don't know that much about mother boards and what one would be better for a Mid tower case.
Can you recommend one and then i'll bring that up to the builder and see what they have to say.
As long as it something that doesn't add a lot more money to the build, I would be interested.

The main reason people use a MicroATX board is to build a smaller form factor PC. Putting it into a mid tower defeats the purpose. Personally, I would not build a PC with a motherboard based on the Z87/H87 chipsets at this point unless you are on a tight budget and need to save a couple dollars. Z97/H97 are the current mainstream Intel chipsets, not a lot of differences but they will be compatible with the next generation of processors and do not cost that much more.