Participant

Answered

Dell Desktop Computer and Monitor for use with Creative Cloud for Photographers?

10 replies
122 views
Translate

I am looking to purchase a Dell desktop computer for use with Creative Cloud for Photographers (both Photoshop and Lightroom). Can you give me some guidance as to system requirements for the desktop and the monitor for decent performance? Any caveats to avoid? Do I need to go with a Dell Tower? I am not a professional photographer but am serious about my photography. Thanks.

J E LCorrect answer

Community Expert

Hi @Margie Muniak, it’s a great question, and I hope you get a lot of different opinions so you can weigh your options. I've used Dell laptops for at least 20 years. I use an external Dell 27” monitor in my office, but there are times I need to bring my computer with me so a tower doesn't work. I'd say you want to focus first on memory (32GB minimum; 64GB is better) and storage (1TB Solid State Drive is a minimum; you can add external drives if needed, but Photoshop likes a lot of free scratch space). After that, your graphics card should be one of the latest NVIDIA models (RTX Pro Series or equivalent is fine), and configure it with the studio (not the gamer) driver. External ports are important to consider. I use a Dell dock since their laptops come with limited ports. Of course, this type of configuration can cost you around $4,000.00 today, so if that’s a stretch, you'll need to dial back something. They do have financing available. You probably don't need the Intel Ultra 9 processor and can use the 7. And you can dial back memory. My strategy has always been to get more than I think I need so I can get five to seven years out of my Dell. Call up Dell sales, and they will help you configure something that works for your situation, so don’t feel limited to buying one of their standard preconfigured models or buying a Dell from an office supply or electronics store. You don’t need a super fancy monitor for hobby photography. Something like their Ultra Sharp 27” would be great. Enjoy the process and your new system!

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

We really need context to give you meaningful advice. Dag (D Fosse) is proud of his expensive Eizo monitor and loves to bore us about colour management. You have said that you have the Photography Plan, but is photography your sole reason for using Photoshop? Just how invested in minute difference in colour are you going to be, and would be enough to pay twice as much for your monitor (leaving you less for the rest of the system)?

Check out the Evolution of Photoshop threads pinned to the top of this forum. The Development Team are currently working on a major rewrite of the core code of Photoshop making much of it a lot faster, and it is doing this by making better use of the GPU, so that might influence your hardware choice. It is most definitely going do that with my next system.

Memory is important, but Photoshop makes a lot of use of Scratch space. I have four small projects open, and this much data on my scratch drive. Photoshop has to write to and read from this drive, so a fast M.2 NVMe drive is the way to go. I just looked and while I found that Dell desktops do have M.2 slots, I could not find info on the specific drives they come with.

For real world information done with different computer setups running Photoshop, check out the Puget Systems articles but remember that things might change when Photoshop’s ‘Next Generation Engine’ is released.

Translate

M

Margie MuniakAuthor

Participant

I looked at the Evolution of Photoshop thread and would love to wait until that is further along but my current laptop setup is getting way too old to wait. I don’t have clients but mainly do photography clubs and competitions but got behind in keeping up with the technology for about a year while moving across states.

I will probably initially stay with a Dell Ultrasharp 27” monitor. I have seen the BenQ monitors at photography conferences but have a few qualms about getting support across vendors if something doesn’t work. Maybe I’m being too conservative but I also will need to use the system for general purposes as well.

Translate

D Fosse

Community Expert

Most people underestimate the importance of the monitor! Don’t go cheap, you’ll regret it later and buy a better one anyway. Spend real money on a good one, at least 1/3 of your total budget. Save on the rest of the computer hardware instead.

The two biggest cost drivers in monitors are 4K and HDR. You don’t need either. For photography, the ideal panel size is 27 inch at 2560 x 1440.

Option one, and you’ll never look back. Trust me, it’s worth the price: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1566863-REG/eizo_cs2731_bk_cnx_coloredge_cs2731_27_hardware.html

Option two, if you’re on a budget. Make sure to factor in a calibrator, not included here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1986959-REG/benq_sw272qn_27_professional_monitor.html

Next on the critical list is the GPU. Photoshop really relies more and more on the GPU. Luckily, you don’t need to go all the way up, an RTX 5060 will work splendidly. Here’s a good one: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1952297-REG/asus_dual_rtx5060ti_o16g_dual_geforce_rtx_5060.html

The rest isn’t as critical. Just have enough disk space, 2-4 TB, plus any additional archival storage as needed.

Translate

jane-e

Community Expert

I didn’t know B&H Photo shipped to Norway, DFosse! I’ve been a devotee since my college days in NYC when they were just a small store within walking distance of my campus. Now they have two stories and take up an entire city block.

Translate

D Fosse

Community Expert

Actually I’m just using B+H as a common reference point for prices. It’s like the stock market for all kinds of computer/camera gear.

I did once buy a NEC Spectraview there that wasn’t available in Norway, so they have shipped at some point, but I don’t know if they still do. As it turned out, getting it through customs was a rather complicated affair.

Translate

M

Margie MuniakAuthor

Participant

For sure, I did visit an electronics/computer store just to look at the Dell Towers to get an idea about the size of the current models. I’ll be calling Dell directly as soon as I do a little more online research. Thanks again.

Translate

Conrad_C

Community Expert

For the display, it depends on what kind of work you do.

If you do general photography for home, small business, social media, web sites, and print, then you don’t have to spend a lot of money. A display that can cover sRGB and SDR is fine. 4K is not necessary, but is nice to have.

If you do work for clients with demanding color requirements, or for high-end graphics, or you are a fine-art photographer, then you need to spend more on a display that can cover a wider color gamut such as Adobe RGB or P3. If HDR images or video are part of your work, then the display luminance should be able to reach 1000 nits to meet the requirements for the HDR edit mode in Adobe photo applications.

Regardless of the work you do, the most important thing is how accurately the display renders tones and colors. When you calibrate it, it should be able to achieve a Delta E of less than 2, where inaccuracies are too small to see. Many displays today can achieve that. Color accuracy is more important than resolution or gamut.

The graphics hardware (GPU for Graphics Processing Unit) is important for Photoshop and Lightroom. Check the Adobe system requirements and make sure the graphics hardware of your next computer meets the Recommended, not Minimum, level. Cheap towers may use integrated graphics; for Creative Cloud it’s better to have a discrete graphics card.

Translate

J E L

Correct answer

Community Expert

Hi @Margie Muniak, it’s a great question, and I hope you get a lot of different opinions so you can weigh your options. I've used Dell laptops for at least 20 years. I use an external Dell 27” monitor in my office, but there are times I need to bring my computer with me so a tower doesn't work. I'd say you want to focus first on memory (32GB minimum; 64GB is better) and storage (1TB Solid State Drive is a minimum; you can add external drives if needed, but Photoshop likes a lot of free scratch space). After that, your graphics card should be one of the latest NVIDIA models (RTX Pro Series or equivalent is fine), and configure it with the studio (not the gamer) driver. External ports are important to consider. I use a Dell dock since their laptops come with limited ports. Of course, this type of configuration can cost you around $4,000.00 today, so if that’s a stretch, you'll need to dial back something. They do have financing available. You probably don't need the Intel Ultra 9 processor and can use the 7. And you can dial back memory. My strategy has always been to get more than I think I need so I can get five to seven years out of my Dell. Call up Dell sales, and they will help you configure something that works for your situation, so don’t feel limited to buying one of their standard preconfigured models or buying a Dell from an office supply or electronics store. You don’t need a super fancy monitor for hobby photography. Something like their Ultra Sharp 27” would be great. Enjoy the process and your new system!

Translate

M

Margie MuniakAuthor

Participant

Thanks for your quick reply, that is very helpful. I also have had Dell laptops for quite a while but decided to go with the desktop this time around. I didn’t know about the studio vs gamer configuration of the graphics card device driver so I’ll be sure to look further into that. I will also want to get at least 5 or more years out of this configuration so I’ll get as much as I can within reason.

Translate

J E L

Community Expert

You’re welcome! And the desktop tower workstations will save you money, for sure. I’m thinking of going that way next time. Please come back to let us know what your configuration ends up looking like, and if you have any questions about Photoshop, Lightroom, or working with your images!

Translate

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.