Spec me a photo editing PC please!

[Allen]

Hey all,

I am pretty confident in selecting parts for a gaming PC, but what about a PC for photo editing? Say a budget of £3-400 (case and everything inside), what would you choose?

I know lots of RAM and fast storage, so thinking 16GB and a small fast SSD for working on pics, then move them to a slower, larger SATA once done (don't need to add SATA to budget).

Would prefer it all in a small case (mATX a possibility?) Need lots of USB ports, no need for an optical drive, and doesn't need to be super fast as any current kit will out perform the computer it's replacing.

OS (probably) not needed, so exclude that too. Ta!

[Lemonparty]

i3-3220 100 (+40 - i5-3330, +60 i5-3470)
B75 board (GA-B75M-D3V, B75M-D3H, MSI B75MA-P45) 60
2x4GB DDR3-1600 40
Fractal Design Core 1000 30 230
A ~400W cheap PSU /Seasonic 360G/380GB 20/60 250/290
SSD Samsung 830 128GB/256GB, Intel 330 120/180/240GB, 100/130/170

Prices are in euros in my country so its less than 400 quid with 128GB SSD.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What software are you using??

Remember the CS6 suite is now increasingly using OpenCL and OpenGL for acceleration and DxO and GIMP are using OpenCL too. So,I would also look at a decent IGP or a low end graphics card too.

Edit!!

I would look at this article regarding GPU acceleration of image editing software:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...o,3208-10.html

[Allen]

Hmm, good point, I know it's Photoshop, but I think it's an old version or a cheaper variant. Will try and find out.

[Allen]

It's Photoshop Elements 10, does that make any difference to spec?

[kalniel]

At the moment the money is usually better spent on faster CPU than trying to improve GPU acceleration as the latter is only used in a few photo editing tasks, while the CPU will improve everything. But if you're getting a GPU anyway you might as well make it one that's good for openCL for the same budget. Make sure the SSD is large enough for at least the editing program, program cache if it has one, and your system page file. Ideally OS as well.

Next components for me would be motherboard, again aiming to get transfer speeds as high as possible so plenty of USB and sata bandwidth.

Consider your backup options as well - you don't need redundancy unless your editing is mission critical, but saving some budget for an external HDD might be sensible.

[Allen]

OK, I need to keep costs down a little more. Have seen the AMD A6-5400K, built in GPU which will handle OpenGL so hopefully provide a boost to Photoshop, think that'll do? Need an mATX board, think 8/16GB RAM, a nice mATX case with plenty of front USB ports, an SSD and a SD card reader. It may not be a powerhouse, but it will be a massive improvement over their 5 year old Celeron thing with 512MB RAM!!

[Allen]

So, just need assistance with the mATX board and case please!

[kalniel]

I can't recommend that processor for photo editing, it's just way too slow and the onboard GPU doesn't help enough to change that. If you can possibly afford an i5 and motherboard then even if it eats the majority of the budget go for it as it'll make a big difference to speed.

CPU: i5-3330 - £140
http://www.ebuyer.com/393557-intel-c...-bx80637i53330

Mobo: Asus P8H61-MX USB3 mATX - £38
http://www.ebuyer.com/392930-asus-p8...-p8h61-mx-usb3

Case: coolermaster elite 342 - £26
http://www.ebuyer.com/233665-coolerm...su-rc342kkn1gp

Card reader: Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Dual Slot Reader - £20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lexar-Profes...6104799&sr=8-1

[technodean]

Out of curiosity, how often will you be editing photos with this build, is it for work? Using eliments myself, I have never seen it use more than 4gigs of ram. Looking at your current PC specs, its perfect for photo editing.

[Allen]

Thanks kalniel, will check out those specs. Technodean, it's not to replace my PC, it's for a budding photographer who has a 5 year old PC which is struggling to cope.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably at least try and get a B75 based motherboard:

http://www.ebuyer.com/363618-msi-b75...oard-b75ma-p45

It has a SATA3.0 port,two USB3.0 ports and 4 RAM slots.

[technodean]

Lol, got me thinking. anyway, no need for 16gb of ram, that amount is only need for video rendering, just edited a photo while checking my usage with elements 10, ram usage didn't move at all with a max cpu usage @ 27% on 1 core with the rest between 6 to 9%. So if you friend does't game then an I3 with its hyper threading would be perfect, and maybe a small gpu as I fitted a 5450 to a friends as his cpu couldn't play 1080p smoothly. As he is a photographer, I would try and get a case with a sd card reader.

[Allen]

OK, have adjusted the budget to £200-300, the PC is mostly used for internet with the odd bit of basic editing in Photoshop Elements. The main problem I have with this budget is OS, I don't want to have to move them off of XP (32-bit) but adding more than 4GB of RAM will be pointless otherwise. This is the spec I have so far:

MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 AMD A75 (Socket FM2) Micro-ATX Motherboard £41.95
AMD (Trinity) A6-5400K Black Edition Dual-Core Socket FM2 Unlocked Accelerated Processor £41.50
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit [CMX8GX3M2A1600C9] £ 34.99
Crucial m4 64GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive £47.50
Fractal Design Core 1000 Black Micro-ATX Case £25.93
430W Corsair Builder Series 430CX 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply £30.25

Total: £266.54

Bit concerned about the case choice though, I would want to get an internal SD card reader and this case has a mesh front panel over the front meaning it would have to be opened, and I would have to use the 5.25" to 3.5" converter to add a reader in, so thoughts on options here? Preferably with as many USB ports on the front of the case as possible.

Also, I have just seen "Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 32-bit/64-bit RETAIL - UPGRADE DVD [3UR-00006]", anyone know if this can be used for a fresh install if you provide the media or code for a previous version, or will it only upgrade an existing installation? If so, I'm guessing it won't upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit?

[Reduxion]

It also is important to have a good monitor for graphic designing / photo editing etc.