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Graphics Card

FAT8BIKER
Posted 28/01/2013 - 13:25 Link
Hi all
Will a graphics card be a worth while upgrade for photoshop elements.
Or stay with the onboard graphics and upgrade the CPU and fit more Ram.
Cheer
Dave
PS i dont play games
bettyswolloks
Posted 28/01/2013 - 13:33 Link
All of the above will help mate. The easiest and most cost effective upgrade is in the RAM department, get as much as you possibly can Mate, you can use this to help find out what you need.
Then I'd get a graphics card, something with a gig of its own ram will do the job nicely. And lastly the cpu if you still feel the need
One day you'll find, 10yrs have got behind you.
greynolds999
Posted 28/01/2013 - 13:45 Link
Which operating system are you using? There's no point adding anything to a system which can't use it effectively.
wvbarnes
Posted 28/01/2013 - 14:19 Link
Hi,

A multi core processor such as the Intel i7 (mine is an early one from over four years ago) massively speed up RAW processing for example. It can do this as one core runs the OS, another your software, another your browser etc all at the same time. I found a ten fold speed improvement when I changed to the multi core chipset. Not something you can upgrade to on an old motherboard though. Third generation four core i5's are better value just now in a new PC for around £500. i7 from around £700 (less monitor of course)

Any memory over 4GB is an extravagance (you need 64 bit OS anyway for this). Any less that 2gb is too little. Mine has 6Gb. Newer PC's are often cheaper to upgrade RAM for than old ones where the chips are no longer made.

Free things to do...
Do watch out your page file drive isn't too full though as this will affect your virtual memory once the RAM is in full use. Always have regular defragmentation and clean up scheduled. Remove daft stuff from Startup such as silly update checkers. Do not have an over sized background pic or indeed too many icons on the desktop. Turn off Windows effects if struggling, they do little and use up valuable memory and processing power.

Graphics cards... (I have a four year old ATI (now AMD Radeon) with 1gb of its own fast memory
A graphics card can take on some of the processor workload BUT the analysis is right that the system as a whole needs to be good to be worth bothering. The on board chip will be using your general RAM.

Hope this helps.
Posted 28/01/2013 - 14:27 Link
upgrade graphics card and ram (min8 gb matched pair of 2x4gb)
FAT8BIKER
Posted 28/01/2013 - 22:19 Link
Thanks all
It appears from web search's a graphics card is overkill for image editing, as you dont need 3D.
Money is better spent on a fast CPU (i7-3770K).
I am making a list of components, as i have allways wanted to build a PC.
Cheers
Dave
cabstar
Posted 28/01/2013 - 23:00 Link
Ram, graphics card, ssd and cpu in that order finally USB 3 has made biggest improvement to my workflow for importing raw files from card to pc.

For the graphics card you dont need to spend alot, any graphics card will relieve the cpu from this process. Most modern cpu's are fast enough for image processing so ram becomes more crucial, my laptop has 16 gig and flies, admittedly it has the latest i7 but take half the memory out and speed drops particulalrly when flicking through the image library in lightroom. Finally a 256gig ssd is so cheap its just not worth ignoring now, fast boot speeds, quick to open photoshop and lightroom and quick to export too
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dcweather
Posted 31/01/2013 - 19:30 Link
Agree with Bill, generally. If you don't want to spend a lot get the third party ATI cards made by Sapphire or Asus. e.g The 1 gig 6450 Silent is good because it has no fan and uses very little power, for about £35 on amazon.
Dave
redbusa99
Posted 01/02/2013 - 01:19 Link
you may have to start all this with a new motherboard to mount all these nice new bits of hardware, that will need to be at least atx size so check your existing case is capable of taking this, you may also need a new power supply to run it all, definitely i would say to run a modern 1g graphics card, i have an old ati 4870 and that requires 2 power lines.
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Smeggypants
Posted 01/02/2013 - 09:10 Link
wvbarnes wrote:


Any memory over 4GB is an extravagance (you need 64 bit OS anyway for this). Any less that 2gb is too little. Mine has 6Gb. Newer PC's are often cheaper to upgrade RAM for than old ones where the chips are no longer made.


Don't agree with this at all. I currently have 6GB RAM and it's a bottleneck to my system. My next upgrade is to install 24GB to max out the mobo and be done with it. I'm fed up with with waiting for the swap file to be written and read from.

Of course anything over 4Gb is utterly pointless on a 32bit system as the OS can't address it, but for more 64nit systems the more the better
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Algernon
Posted 01/02/2013 - 10:09 Link
Doesn't Windows set up a massive swap file (and use it) based on
the size of you ram anyway?

On XP (with 4GB) just to load a small 32k text file into
Notepad I have to wait ages for the system to dump everything
to the swapfile before it will fire up Notepad?

Windows 98SE used to run great with no swapfile.... you just
put instructions not to use one in system.ini

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Lü
Posted 04/02/2013 - 08:20 - Helpful Comment Link
Fat8biker, what you need is someone who knows what they're talking about and that isn't me. This probably aint the best place in the world to get advice on upgrading your PC. A lot of good points have been raised but I'd recommend you visit your local High St independent computer shop. They'll be enthusiasts and knowledgeable about IT just like the people here are regarding Pentax kit and they'll talk your hind legs off about the options for you going forward. Do not go to PC World or Currys they'll probably be bust soon and very few of the staff in these places understand what they are talking about.

Visit a few forums, my favourite is link. It's not to techy.

If you're going to construct your own machine build up a relationship with a reputable online supplier, get on the phone and ask question's. These days most components work very well together but you stll get the odd occasion when bit's just are not compatible. ebuyer is one of my favorite sources for cheap parts, look in the bargain section. You wont need the latest and greatest components so go for last years proven hardware. It'll usually be cheaper and cause far less problems. If photo-editing is going to be your primary activity my only recommendation is to get as much ram as your operating system and pocket can handle.

PS. There are few sounds sweeter in this modern world than a Gixxer with a full Akro system. Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down. Good luck with the new build.
As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.
FAT8BIKER
Posted 04/02/2013 - 21:24 Link
Thanks for all your help.
Cheers
Dave
robbiec
Posted 05/02/2013 - 00:06 Link
Dave,

Have a look at the build logs in Special Tech Build Logs
If you're building from scratch, suggest a nice easy case to work on like a Fractal Design Arc Midi, get a Be Quiet 550 System Psu from Scan and thats your base covered for the next few years - Less than a £100 for both.
Ram should be 8GB - 16GB - Stick with something that is not finicky like Corsair - couple of 4GB or 8GB sticks of Vengeance DDR3 1600 for £50 something for 8GB, £80-£90 for 16GB
Motherboard? - Asus all the way (Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77). Pick your CPU, probably an Intel i3750K (seems to be the popular kiddie at the moment). Graphics? Pick your poison, AMD or Nvidia - CPU has graphics but the Intel driver is nowhere near as good as the 2 graphics giants. Something like an AMD HD7850 perhaps? Storage? SSD for OS and programs, try the Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, and get a couple of 2 TB std HDDs.
Keyboard and mouse are personal choices..
Monitor? Dell have a good reputation, Ultrasharp Hs for photographers, HMs for a bit less money. Difference is colour gamut. Both types are IPS so good viewing angles. Have a look in TFTCentral for reviews.
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Lü
Posted 05/02/2013 - 08:24 Link
Hi Dave,

Cheers for the greenie, just a few pointers though. As I intimated earlier I am no IT expert. My last full computer build was about 10 years ago (I am writing this on that very same machine) and the world has moved on since then so my knowledge is a bit sketchy. The build that robbiec suggests is pretty close to what I am assembling at the moment and I hope he's tuned in and can answer a couple of questions for me.

Dave, this is only a suggetion but when you buy your ram get the stuff with the low profile heat spreaders. It will allow you a wider set of options if you choose not to use the supplied cpu cooler that might come bundled with the processor. 2x 8gb sticks of ram is more than enough for my current needs but who knows what the future holds, processing a full frame Pentax DNG file might take up a whole lot of memory. I was going to go for the SSD that robbiec suggest's but now have my eye on the 265gb version because in the world of SSD's apparently bigger is faster and likely to live longer. Personally I've gone for one 7200rpm internal hard disk to keep the machine moving fast. 1 TB should be enough as long as I remember to do regular backups to an external device. This brings me to my question for robbiec. Is it practical to use a small SSD for a Photoshop scratch disk and will using it for such a purpose shorten the life of the SSD? I am hoping that with enough ram installed it won't see much action. Or should I get another HDD and use that for the scratch?
As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.

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