new computer for photoshop

Dear All,
Please can anyone advise; I need to get a new computer for using photoshop. I want a tower type,not a laptop. I am being told all sorts of conflicting things by sales people who do not understand P.Shop.
I would like to have a minimum of 8 gig of RAM ( I think?) and for the machine to be able to take more later if need be. I am told that some motherboards can make use of only 2 gig of RAM no matter how much is loaded on. Do I need a graphics card? Is Quad core OK or should I go for most powerful/fastest available? (I.7?) Any/all advice very much appreciated.
Thank you for looking.

My understanding is that fast processors and huge amounts of memory are not essential for photo-editing, but are necessary for video-editing (together with large/fast hard discs.)

That said, plenty of fast memory will help with pp'ing large files, but I think it's the graphic card/monitor combo that's most important, coupled with a Colormunki or similar for calibration of your monitor and printer.

The useable maximum memory capability of a PC is a function of motherboard and operating system.

I know there are some Forum members who are in the computer business, so hoepfully one of them will be along soon to give you the best answer. Also, I know this question has come up from time to time, so a search of previous posts may help as well.

I second the colour munki and a good monitor is indispensable I use a removable hard drive JUST to store my IMAGES on.

My current computer is a Dimension C521 with a HP LP2475W when it arrives

Hope this helps you

James

Hi!

I've never heard that a new or newish motherboard could only make use of 2 gigs of RAM, but I'm not sure if it's so. I have heard that 32 bit Operating systems can only make use of about 3,5 gig of RAM. 64 bit systems can make use of lots more. Windows 7 has several editions and they can make use of 8 to 192 gigs of memory, depending on the edition. 8 gigs of memory should be enough for quite some time.
I thought graphics cards mainly benefit games and some 3d modeling apps, but apparently with Photoshop cs4 there are some 'GPU-accelerated features that require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0'. What this means exactly is a bit unclear to me but I'm sure some users here have more info on that. I'd say though that a cheap graphics card and a fast quad processor should be more than fast enough for photo editing.

Regards
Tobio

Work on the principle of "getting enough".
- 2GB of RAM is enough, more is better but not essential.
- Dual-core is enough (not many programs can use more).
- Any processor faster than about 2.5ghz is enough. Note that several of the quad-core processors run at around 1.7ghz - and that is noticeably slower.
- Any good graphics card is good enough (the super ones are really for so-called "gamers" who want TV quality action).
- A reasonable size (but top quality) monitor is enough.

Better yet, start with the monitor decision and work backward. The first thing is to decide if you need a matt or glossy screen. That is a personal thing, but it may affect all your other decisions. And, make quite sure that you can calibrate it easily (the one drawback of the one I use).
Geoff

It depends on the socket/core what amount of memory is best.
8GB is indeed over kill but 2gb is too low, the optimum is 4GB (2GBx2) for most sockets (dual channel) with the i7 920 for example that use 3 channels for memory and then 6GB (2GBx3) is better.

I'm also currently keeping my eyes out for a new pc, something like this.
i5 750
2x2GB RAM
ATI 5770

This will run very good but if you want something faster then.
i7 920
3x3GB RAM
ATI 5850 / 5770

Of course both with windows 7 64bit.
Also nVidia will bring out their new video cards soon so it might be wise to wait just a bit longer.
Also you want a decent video card because they can now be used to do calculations for you, and they are far more effective for photoshop then a processor.

Yes you're right but it's called OpenCL, OpenGL is something different. Using your video card for calculation is called General-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU).

A video card has a processor that's great at crunching numbers but it needs to be giving that information in a special way, it's not as versatile as a CPU.
Basicly the CPU runs photoshop the program but if you apply a filter to your photo it will go through the video card.
Another form you see today is that the videocard can process certain kind of video codecs, that's basicly also a form of GPGPU.
Some of the cheaper computer with a decent videocard can therefore play 1080p videos.

We have computers using only 1GB of RAM that will quite happily run Photoshop CS2, Photoshop 7 or Photoshop Elements 7. Adnittedly this is the lowest that is useable, give or take, but anything you buy now should exceed this specification.

Our latest purchases have 4GB of RAM and video cards that have 1GB of their own RAM as well, all far in excess of what PS needs.

You do not need anything massively specified for imaging, but 4GB of RAM would be sensible. After that, buying the best monitor you can afford will be more useful. Not all monitors are good for imaging purposes.

The first thing I would do is secure a good monitor with a SIPS or PVA pannel. Then buy/build the fastest well ballanced box you can with the remaining money from your budget. The monitor is the most important component in a photo editing PC by a mile, nothing else matters even half as much.

If you want to use the graphics card to do GPGPU processing for Photoshop, go for an NVidia Geforce based card with as many Stream Processors as possible. The ATI/AMD cards can theoretically do GPGPU stuff but it's no where near as mature at this point.

Where do you base that on, do you might have a benchmark Mongoose?
From what I know the OpenCL is the most support standard and Nvidai and ATI both use that so the difference is small besides that Adobe premier CS5 wants Cuda/Nvidia for the mercury playback engine.

I was quoting what it says on the Photoshop cs4 requirements page, so they have it wrong also it seems.

Getting 8 gigs of RAM now, eliminates the trouble of putting more memory into the computer later on, which can sometimes be a bit difficult, if it's very cramped inside around the motherboard. I've heard some brand computers are not easy to upgrade later on. 4 gigs at the moment though seems more than enough for just about any photo editing purpose. When multitasking, things might change though. My dualcore laptop has 4 gigs of RAM and even using only Pentax Photo Lab makes me want to upgrade (I have firewall, antispyware and AV running at all times though). Though it might just be the dualcore that isn't up to the task.

Regards
Tobio

The bit about 2gig of ram is slightly off ball but nearly right. Windows xp will only see a max of 3 gig of ram, anything else would be wasted, so as long as your running vista or windows 7 you will be fine with more.

Having said that when i upgraded to windows 7 i only had 3 gig of ram and still not got round to upgrading yet. i am running a 2.2ghz pentium dual core with 3 gig ram and a 512 high deff graffix card, i have no problem what so ever with photoshop cs4 extended edition which also has the video/web/3d capabilities that still work fine.

My laptop is 2.2 duel core with 4gig of ram and non dedicated graffix so shares the system ram, that also runs photoshop without a problem.

I would reccomend a custom build pc from a smaller local computer shop, you will get better service and support from them and they will build exactly what you want.

If your anywhere near bristol give me a shout i'll build one for you.

In summery, a qaud core is more than enough probably too much if you can get a dual core cheaper. 4gig of ram will be fine, more is always better but then your paying for it and if you dont need it why bother. Dont use onboard graffix always go dedicated, will most likely be pci express you can get a half decent one with 512meg-1gig off the net for about 30 quid.

So I should be using a PC for photoshop and not my Nokia?

Thought it was slow....

Regards

For once I agree with Stefan 2GB RAM is not enough. Windows on it's own will eat up at least 200MB, probably considerably more if you have many extras installed (all that stuff that appears in your system tray for instance). Also reports of Photoshop running acceptably with 1GB RAM are true, if you only have one image open and have already closed down your photo asset manager, web browser, email program, word processor, etc. You'll also need a fast hard disk for all the swapping Photoshop will no doubt do with such little memory.

Also, you should note that Photoshop is one of those rare applications that does support more than 2 CPU cores, so the quad core may be a worthwhile investment.

This link has some charts showing the (dramatic!) speed increase 4GB will give you, plus the relatively minor extra benefit from 8GB.

And get a dual output graphics card.

Use a good size (19" to 23") monitor for the image software and a second monitor which can be smaller to have other windows on - directories, email, browser &c.