Need advise on CPU for new PC

I'm a Dell devote, and am getting a new Precision Workstation to run a 4K monitor with an NVidia 5300K video card. I'll be using it with Photoshop CC to process 50MB files from the new 5D S. I'll have at least 12 GB of memory.

But it seems PS is driven mainly by the power of the CPU. I'm not sure how much power I need to quickly process those 50MB CR files, and how much is overkill and overspending.

For best performance, don't get a laptop. The desktop processors deliver much more bang for the buck. If you are able to spend $2,000.00 USD on a computer get a recently released i7 processor. You will still have plenty of money to buy two SSD, one for the main drive and one for a swap drive. 16 or 32 gb of memory and two built in data drives.

If you are getting a camera close to $4,000.00 USD, there is no reason to skimp on the computer you use with it. The computer should be appropriate for the camera system you are using. The only reason you would want to use a lower priced processor would be if you can't spend that much on a computer and need to balance what you spend on the different parts. If you have to choose, it is better to have at least the main drive as a SSD and 16 gb of memory than to have the latest i7 processor. Also, remember the new Lightroom is supposed to have support for the graphics processor, so you may want to be able to upgrade the gpu when you update your Lightroom version.

I've found Photoshop speed to be just about equally affected by both Ram and Processor. I'm running an 8 core 3rd gen i7 and got a noticeable performance increase going from 16gb to 32gb of ram, not that it was slow prior to that.

The ram seemed to make the most difference when applying filters.

GPU has little effect on speed, though of course it does affect the appearance on screen.

Upgrade to a Quad-Core i5, Xeon or i7 CPU. The I5-4690 is the sweet spot; none of the other options offer any measurable performance benefit until you go up to the I7-4790.

Get at least 16GB RAM. But don't buy it from Dell. Pay Dell for the base 4GB RAM and buy 16GB elsewhere for around $120 (2x8GB) and install it yourself to wind-up with 20GB. Later you can replace the original 4GB with another 16GB if you need more RAM.

No idea what an NVidia 5300K is. The NVidia GTX-960 is the least expensive card I know of that will do 4K video at around $200 if bought elsewhere than Dell. You will, however, need the upgraded power supply option to support an add-on video card.

Also, ordering things like SSD's and extra HDD's are also much more affordable if purchased from other than Dell. At today's price's I'd consider two 256GB SSD's (one for the OS, one for temp/scratch files) and two 2TB HDD's (one for data, one for near-real-time backups; I don't do RAID because of the performance hit) to be the ideal setup.

My estimate is if you buy the RAM upgrade, graphics card, SSD's and 1 of the 2TB HDD's from Amazon you will save around $500 on the total system in exchange for a couple hours of work.

Also note that Dell has a "Free Ultrasharp Monitor" deal going on now. Unfortunately the 4K IPS monitors are not listed in the deal on-line, but perhaps you could sweet-talk a Dell agent into giving you something if you order by phone.

What BITR said. i5 good, i7 great. 16GB RAM very useful. SSD will help a lot - Samsung 850 Pro is IMHO the best out there and good value. Hard drive get HGST Helium disks (good performance and very good reliability), otherwise Seagate Barracuda (cheap and decent), WD Black (performance) or WD Blue (good all rounder). Make sure everything backed up, get another disk, external.

For what you doing, maybe a bit of video. I would say get the 5820k with 16 gigs of ram to start. Your preference on a your gpu, platinum grade psu, depending on your taste on a case, nothing looks as elegant as a asus deluxe mobo with that white accents, and your preferences on fans and heat sink. Let me know if you need a guy to pick out parts.

Thanks to you who responded. Definitely will be a desktop with an SSD primary drive. Yes, external backups covered.

I plan to use this computer for at least 5 years (my present one is 6 years old with 12GB RAM and was top of the line when bought). Is there any reason, with the future involved, that I should get 64GB of RAM, or a tower with 32GB, with expansion slots capable of going to 64? I mean, 5 years ago, I didn't think I'd ever use 12!

Helping the cpu with opening and maintaining speed in programs. Also, rendering and running alots and alots of tabs on your browsers.

I would get 2x8GB RAM modules, that way you can go to 32GB in future. I can't see any need to go to 64GB in the next few years unless you do a LOT of heavy duty high def video editing.

tvphotog wrote in post #17504133
Thanks to you who responded. Definitely will be a desktop with an SSD primary drive. Yes, external backups covered.

I plan to use this computer for at least 5 years (my present one is 6 years old with 12GB RAM and was top of the line when bought). Is there any reason, with the future involved, that I should get 64GB of RAM, or a tower with 32GB, with expansion slots capable of going to 64? I mean, 5 years ago, I didn't think I'd ever use 12!

You can get a Precision full-size tower that accepts up to 128GB RAM, but that adds significant cost to the base system that I think can be put to better use. I can't foresee a need for more than 32GB in the next 5 years, I rarely use more than 16GB, even when running Lr, Ps and Pr all at the same time with other MS-Office apps and web browser sessions open. And the industry is moving towards thin/lightweight clients with cloud-based compute and storage. In 5 years it's more likely that you'll be using your desktop, laptop or tablet to communicate to a virtual machine hosted by Amazon, Google or Microsoft, where you have unlimited access to additional processor, memory and storage (at least according to your subscription plan). This isn't quite ready for photo editing today because the remote display technology is slow, but I expect things to improve.

My recommendation for both performance and price is to buy the system from Dell with 4GB and add 16GB yourself. This would actually be less expensive than buying the system from Dell with 16GB and adding RAM is pretty simple.

Then I'd suggest only buying the system with only a single drive from Dell and adding whatever additional drives you need yourself. Again, this is much more economical and relatively simple, though replacing the boot drive is a bit more involved. The least-cost option is to upgrade your system to 2TB/7200RPM internal HDD then buy the additional SSD and HDD off Amazon or Newegg and install it yourself. However, replacing the boot/system drive may be more effort than you want to deal with. So the next best alternative is to upgrade your system to a 256GB SSD and let Dell set it up with the operating system, then buy the additional drives you want for scratch files, data and backup.

bumpintheroad wrote in post #17504806
You can get a Precision full-size tower that accepts up to 128GB RAM, but that adds significant cost to the base system that I think can be put to better use. I can't foresee a need for more than 32GB in the next 5 years, I rarely use more than 16GB, even when running Lr, Ps and Pr all at the same time with other MS-Office apps and web browser sessions open. And the industry is moving towards thin/lightweight clients with cloud-based compute and storage. In 5 years it's more likely that you'll be using your desktop, laptop or tablet to communicate to a virtual machine hosted by Amazon, Google or Microsoft, where you have unlimited access to additional processor, memory and storage (at least according to your subscription plan). This isn't quite ready for photo editing today because the remote display technology is slow, but I expect things to improve.

My recommendation for both performance and price is to buy the system from Dell with 4GB and add 16GB yourself. This would actually be less expensive than buying the system from Dell with 16GB and adding RAM is pretty simple.

Then I'd suggest only buying the system with only a single drive from Dell and adding whatever additional drives you need yourself. Again, this is much more economical and relatively simple, though replacing the boot drive is a bit more involved. The least-cost option is to upgrade your system to 2TB/7200RPM internal HDD then buy the additional SSD and HDD off Amazon or Newegg and install it yourself. However, replacing the boot/system drive may be more effort than you want to deal with. So the next best alternative is to upgrade your system to a 256GB SSD and let Dell set it up with the operating system, then buy the additional drives you want for scratch files, data and backup.

The great advantage of the Dell system is that it's very easy to open the case and upgrade oneself. I agree completely with paying for the minimum and added data drives and memory myself. The memory cards are not very expensive, I just need enough expansion slots, it's the CPU that is want to be careful about. Slinging 50MD RAW files around Lightroom and PS is going to need a lot of power, I suspect, and there are not many DSLR users who can comment, as the new bodies that shoot those big files aren't even out yet. I wonder how medium format users set up their machines.

The downside to Dell is that they use non standard cases and Motherboards. Can be very hard to switch out the motherboard and power supply, cables don't always reach like a standard ATX layout. Last two upgrades on Dell machines I've done I ended up scrapping the cases.

Non-standard stuff from big computer vendors is why I build my own. It's cheaper, you get what you want, it's expandable, but it's a lot more hassle.

Buy a fast i7 processor for processing huge RAW files, and an SSD. Actually I use two SSDs, one for OS, one for data, just so I can take an OS image easily (Macrium Reflect) without it being bloated with extra data. Clock speed is possibly more important than core count, within a given generation of chips. Don't bother with AMD. Not much else you can do about it.

All sensible advice so far. Thanks. I will have one SSD for the OS alone, and the data on other internal drives. I've been imaging the OS drive with Acronis.

tvphotog wrote in post #17505386
All sensible advice so far. Thanks. I will have one SSD for the OS alone, and the data on other internal drives. I've been imaging the OS drive with Acronis.

Your cache/catalog effectively MUST go on an SSD. If you only want one SSD put it on there. If you can have two then put cache, catalog, and your images on the other one.

In terms of efficiency you can think about simultaneous data access. It makes more sense to put your images on the OS SSD and cache/catalog on the other SSD as both will be accessed at the same time - or very close to the same time. Keep the working images on the OS SSD and then move then to a spinning disk when you're done.

Not that when SSDs fail they do it suddenly, so keep everything on spinning disk from the moment they're imported, and keep offsite backups. Obvious stuff I know, but many don't do it.