Inspiring

Question

I need a new computer, one that can handle several Adobe products open at the same time

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
December 17, 2016
3 replies
24093 views

I need a new computer and I need some advice about what to get in a computer. Please do not reply if you’re not familiar any of these products and the computer resources they use.

I have had some friends say that it is all in the graphics processor you get and others says its computer processor and memory. I need someone that really knows what they’re talking about and uses these programs to offer advice.

First off, I do not want and Apple, I want a PC and I want Windows 7 professional.

I need a computer that will handle running these products, Adobe photoshop, Illistrator, Indesign, Acrobat, word, and excel. I will have three or four of these products open at the same time. I need a machine that will be able to handle a majority of these products open at the same time and not be slow or sluggish. I would rather it be a laptop so that I can travel with it but I might consider a desktop.

I currently have a laptop that works with this but when I get into some real intensive work on Photshop or Indesign it really starts getting very sluggish. Here are my current specs.

Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.20 GHz = Processor

16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable) = Installed memory

64-bit Operating System

Can someone that is very familiar with this, please offer advice on what I need to get?

This topic has been closed for replies.

KShinabery212

Community Expert

So here is an example of me running Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Character Animator and Adobe Video Presenter Express all at the same time on a Wacom Cintiq Companion 2. Also note... I was running its built-in webcam along with my c922 Logitech webcam and Blue Snowball mic.

https://kennshinabery.myportfolio.com/adobe-character-animator-overwatchs-winston

In fact, it is better to have Illustrator running at the same time as Character Animator... because as you change your Illustrator file, the puppet in Character Animator changes.

So if the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 can handle more than one piece of software... then I know the Wacom MobileStudio Pro can really handle multiple programs as it is even more powerful.

Let's connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshinabery/

AttrollAuthor

Inspiring

I thought I would post a follow-up on the outcome of this thread and my new computer.

I took the plunge last January and had a company build a computer for me.

Everyone had their ideas and opinions on what would work. I went above and beyond what everyone told me and the computer still did not live up to expectations.

The computer I had built does work a heck of a lot better than the one I was using but it does not live up to my expectations.

I wanted a computer that would handle large files in InDesign and get instant responses when I made changes to my project. It does not do this.

Let me explain what I got for a computer.

Intel Core i7 Quad-core 3.40 GHz32 GB memory

525 GB Solid state drive

GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Graphics Card – 1.29 GHz Core – 1.39 GHz Boost Clock – 4 GB GDDR5

Is there something wrong with this setup that will not let me handle large files in Adobe?

Erik Lord

Inspiring

I don't think there's anything 'wrong'. That's a beefy setup, for sure.

Only thing I can suggest is adding a second drive.

With one drive, you have the OS, the applications, and the 'scratch disk' all accessing that drive as needed.

SSD is fast, but the bus can only handle what it can handle.

So a second drive might help. One drive for the OS and application, one drive for the scratch - i think that would be best.

It has been a long time, however, since I've built a higher-end custom rig

Randy Hufford

Community Expert

I just did research and built a new system. I found these guys that are a real blessing check them out and call them.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/

You can call them and discuss all of these questions and they will answer in detail. (888) PUGET-PC (784-3872)

I would also have to encourage you to support Adobe with their monthly subscription. As far as I am concerned Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom is what has made photography where it is today. To have access to all of the newest tools and know you are supporting the leader of our industry is a good thing. Please consider for only $9.95 per month to support more research and development of all of the new tools that we now have. Just the one tool of content aware makes it worth it!

kglad

Community Expert

i can vouch for pugetsystems, too. i purchased a computer from them several months ago and it was a great experience.

i told them what i wanted and they built the system. i got exactly what i wanted with no crap-ware (<cough>dell</cough>) and at a great price.

here's my review (k.g.) along with a couple of dozen others, Puget Systems - 33 Photos & 27 Reviews - Computers - 2707 W Valley Hwy N, Auburn, WA - Phone Number - Yelp

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

There is no one size fits all answer here. It all depends on which apps you use and how you use them.

System requirements | Adobe Creative Cloud

Heavy graphics apps like Photoshop and InDesign require more resources than say Dreamweaver or Acrobat. And if you do a lot of heavy lifting with 3-D graphics, filters, multiple layers and effects, you'll need a good deal more than the minimum requirements.

Generally speaking, buy the best machine you can afford. A fast chip, a rugged desktop with plenty of memory -- physical and RAM to handle all the tasks you will be throwing at it. A good graphics card & the more RAM you have, the better.

I would stay away from 4k and 5k displays. Adobe support for ultra Hi-DPI screens is not quite there yet. You probably won't like what you see.

IMO, Windows PCs give you a lot more bang for your buck than Apple . But you may have a hard time finding one that doesn't come with Windows 10 already installed on it. At least that was my experience a year ago when I bought my current system. BTW, I'm very happy with Win10.

Happy shopping!

Nancy

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

AttrollAuthor

Inspiring

Nancy

Thank you for your reply. The reason I did not want Windows 10 was because of what I have been told. I was told that Windows 10 will not run the old Adobe programs, like the CS3 versions (which I have). I was told you have to pay the monthly fee through Adobe to use them now. Do you know if that is true?

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

I see. Eventually Microsoft will stop supporting Win7 the same as they did with XP and Vista. That's why I replaced my 7 year old machine last year. It wasn't safe to keep using it.

CS3 is legacy software from 2007 (10 years old). It's not certified to run on Win10, however it might work if you run it in compatibility mode. No guarantees however.

Another important point, CS3 has no support for Hi-resolution displays. It's just too old. I realize you don't want to pay monthly for Creative Cloud software but at some point you may have no choice.

So you have a lot to consider. New computer with the latest OS & cross your fingers that legacy CS3 will work. Or new computer with old OS & cross your fingers that MS keeps supporting Win7.

Nancy

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

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