What to look for in a new PC

Sometime in the next few months I'll probably be getting a new PC. My last several have been Dell's and I've never had an issue so will likely go with another Dell. It will be used primarily for photo editing (Photoshop CS3, Lightroom 6.14 and also Photoshop Elements 2020 since it's fairly cheap to add it as an option). I'll also use it for going online but NOT for gaming.

Here are my questions that I hope to get some feedback on:

1) the base graphics card seems to be an Intel UHD Graphics 630. Will this meet my needs or is it worthwhile to upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5?

2)the base processor is 9th Gen Intel Core™ i5 9400. Good enough for photo editing? The next option up is 9th Gen Intel Core™ i7 9700.

3) Would 12MB RAM be enough?

4) The one I'm looking at has dual hard drives. 256GB SSD for boot and 1TB SATA for storage. I also have an external HD that I will backup to. Is it beneficial to have the boot and storage on separate drives?

5) The monitor will be purchased separately and I'm looking at either a Dell Ultrasharp or a BENQ in the 24-25" range. Thoughts on these?

Thanks in advance for the replies. Money is a factor so I don't want to pay for extras that aren't really required for my needs.

shane_c wrote in post #19005863
Sometime in the next few months I'll probably be getting a new PC. My last several have been Dell's and I've never had an issue so will likely go with another Dell. It will be used primarily for photo editing (Photoshop CS3, Lightroom 6.14 and also Photoshop Elements 2020 since it's fairly cheap to add it as an option). I'll also use it for going online but NOT for gaming.

Here are my questions that I hope to get some feedback on:

1) the base graphics card seems to be an Intel UHD Graphics 630. Will this meet my needs or is it worthwhile to upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5?

2)the base processor is 9th Gen Intel Core™ i5 9400. Good enough for photo editing? The next option up is 9th Gen Intel Core™ i7 9700.

3) Would 12MB RAM be enough?

4) The one I'm looking at has dual hard drives. 256GB SSD for boot and 1TB SATA for storage. I also have an external HD that I will backup to. Is it beneficial to have the boot and storage on separate drives?

5) The monitor will be purchased separately and I'm looking at either a Dell Ultrasharp or a BENQ in the 24-25" range. Thoughts on these?

Thanks in advance for the replies. Money is a factor so I don't want to pay for extras that aren't really required for my needs.

Often the base graphics capability shares the “common” RAM as a resource. This can slow things down considerably as opposed to something that has its own dedicated RAM, like the NVIDIA offering.

If the budget permits, I’d move to the 9th gen i7. By the way do you have a online Dell outlet store in Canada? Sometimes great deals exist down here in the States.

As to RAM, 16 would be better, 32 would be best, but I personally would not pay the Dell prices to upgrade, especially in a desktop! RAM prices, at least here in the States, are quite low, and it is very easy to replace RAM on a DIY basis.

As far as internal drives, again like the RAM they are easy to replace, so look up front at the additional cost to move to a 512 SSD. I presently have a similar setup to yours and I don’t find the 256 limiting; it is at about 50% capacity but I make an effort to keep it clean about once a month. That 1TB SATA drive, is it straight spinning platter or one of the newer hybrid drives? Check the RPM if HDD and go preferably with 7200 RPM, not 5400 RPM. If 5400, maybe do without. A 1TB 7200 RPM drive is very reasonable and like RAM, easy to install DIY. A WD Black 1TB, 7200 RPM, is abou US$75 and. 2TB about $115.

I would make sure that the PC which I bought came with (even if added via purchase of a graphics card) graphics capability supporting at least 2560 x 1440 resolution or 4K resolution, and a monitor with inputs that are compatible with that card's outputs. LR and Photoshop don't make max use of fancy 3D graphics cards like gaming programs do!

Pick a processor whose inherent clock rate speed has a higher rate...for programs which do not make good use of multiple cores or multiple processors, the higher speed is what makes for faster performance. Be aware that within each processor family, different microarchitectures and internal componentry can make a particular i5 model run faster than a specific i7 model. So always check the specs of the specific processor of the PC...i7 is not always better than i5. The Intel Core i56600K is faster than the Core i7-6700, however it has less cache. Core i7 processors have more cache, or onboard memory, to help them deal with repetitive tasks. This helps them save time by storing info in the cache instead of waiting to store and retrieve it from the memory on the motherboard. The Skylake Core i7 processors have 8 MB of cache while the i5s only have 6 MB.

High numbers of cores and/or processors only matter if simultaneously running different programs in parallel, so that each program gets bogged down less by another program running on another processor. LR and Photoshop don't make max use of multiple processors. Overall if you’re building a custom gaming computer, your best bet would be to go with an Intel Core i5 and the best graphics card you can afford, instead of an i7 and getting a less expensive graphics card.

Monitor size about 27" or larger, particularly if 4K resolution. Higher pixel count in the monitor needs larger physical dimension to keep text at a readable size without reliance on text size options of the OS, since some applications don't well handle remapping of the text size by the OS itself. IPS display type, since you are editing photos with it, sine IPS has better color/contrast than many VA and TN panels. IPS monitors continue to be the display technology of choice for users that want color accuracy and consistency.

And 16K of RAM as a minimum.

Thanks for the reply John! I did add extra RAM to my current PC, it maxes out at 8GB, and have changed the HD in my laptop for an SSD so have no trouble changing stuff like that. I just don't know all the techie side of things.

I know we have Dell.ca but don't know if there's an outlet site or not. I'll have to check it out.

Sounds like the NVIDIA graphics card would be better. Will have to see at time of purchase if I can swing the i7 processor over the i5.

Good advice. Thanks Wilt!

shane_c wrote in post #19005879
I know we have Dell.ca but don't know if there's an outlet site or not. I'll have to check it out.

I believe this https://www.dell.com …hop/deals/clear​ance-deals is the Canada site