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MarcySB
Inspiring
September 23, 2018
Question

New PC computer configuration sort of techy questions

  • September 23, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 486 views

I am thinking about what I might need for a new Windows desktop computer and have a few questions. I know I’ve posted this type of stuff before, but I’m still a little befuddled about what direction to go.

Which part of the computer configuration is most important for Lightroom (and Photoshop) to work properly – the processor or the dedicated graphics card? Which is more important to consider spending a little extra money for? How does the amount of RAM fit into this?

That said, a B250M-BAZOOKA has been recommended as a mother board, with i7 7700K processor and 16 Mb RAM. The graphics card I have is a Radeon RX 470 4 GB discrete graphics card and my computer guy thinks that is good enough to move over to a new computer. I will definitely be getting a 240 gig SSD drive and a secondary 2 Tb drive.

One of my concerns is that the graphics card is 2 years old, and the next-to-lowest one Radeon makes. It is listed among the tested cards for Lightroom and Photoshop, so that is good.

Any thoughts on this setup would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want to spend a huge amount for this computer, and I want to spend it in the best way possible. If anyone thinks this graphics card should be upgraded, what would be your suggestion for one or two levels up? Or is this graphics card OK?

Thanks so much,

Marcy

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1 reply

John Waller
Community Expert
John WallerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 23, 2018

Discussion also ongoing in Photoshop forum

New PC computer configuration sort of techy questions

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
September 23, 2018

The problem is that hardware configurations that work with Photoshop are not always configurations that work well for Lightroom.

To the orignal poster, who said;

That said, a B250M-BAZOOKA has been recommended as a mother board, with i7 7700K processor and 16 Mb RAM. The graphics card I have is a Radeon RX 470 4 GB discrete graphics card and my computer guy thinks that is good enough to move over to a new computer.

Usually, a "computer guy" doesn't have a good idea about what is needed for Lightroom. One of the biggest causes of slowness in Lightroom is the size of the monitor in pixels (not inches). If you go with a 1920x1080 monitor, then you don't need any specific graphics card, you can go with the cheapest one available or no graphics card if the motherboard will provide that function. If you go with a 4k monitor or larger, then you probably need a top of the line graphics card, plus, as reported here many times, brushing and spot healing causes lags in Lightroom no matter how fast your CPU and GPU are. Now the i7-7700K is a decent processor, but faster ones are available and if you can possibly afford a faster one, I would recommend that. If you are going to use a 1920x1080 monitor, go for a cheaper GPU and faster CPU. (By the way, a 1920x1080 monitor saves you money over the 4K monitor too ... ) NOTE: All of the above apply to Lightroom only, other software you have may require different/more powerful hardware.

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