Computer specs for running adobe programs

[AdeleFouche]

Which pc would you choose?

I see google ai said that the Lenovo might not be able to run high performance tasks. Is the asus ryzen 7 a better option? Or what do you use

ASUS TUF Gaming A15 AMD Ryzen 7-7435HS / 16GB DDR5 RAM / 512GB Ultra-Fast NVMe SSD / NVIDIA 30 Series GeForce RTX 3050 4GB

Or 

Lenovo LOQ 15IAX9 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1245 / 16GB DDR5 RAM / 512GB Ultra-Fast NVMe SSD / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB

[creative explorer]

@AdeleFouche Honestly, I was leaning towards the Lenovo because of the extra 2 Gigs of Ram NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB — but, I would spend more money on an i7 or i9 and spend more money on RAM. With AI, AI takes alot of RAM and GPU VRAM! 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

• I would go with an i9--I believe the latest i7 update was late 2023 (but not sure). The AMD processor is somewhat equivilent to an i7. 
• I would get MUCH more than 16 GB RAM. My laptops have 64. 
• I would get a 1 TB SSD.
• I would get the best video card that is offered. 

It cost more in the beginning but laptops have limited upgradability. Unfortunately, I don't believe either of those models would fit my specs.

[AdeleFouche]

Hi thanks for the response

The guy at computer store said i should rather take this one?

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ARH7 Ryzen 5 RTX 4050 6gb

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

That system only goes up to 16 GB RAM. 

I would also add to my list a 4K monitor.

[AdeleFouche]

I also saw something that, that lenovo won't be supported after 2028 and no
new updates available. So i think I'm still going to look around for
something else.

What laptop brand would you suggest i look at?

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS · Accepted solution]

My Wndows systems are Dell. They sell Alienware too. 

My newest system are XPS 15 7590 with an i9 processor, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, 4K monitor. It's a little old--purchased in 2019--but it still runs circles around most laptops I've come across. I also got the 4 year hardware and accident coverage (from Dell, not a third party). 

Since laptops are hard-to-impossible to upgrade, get the best you can so it will last. I usually max everything out and then decide where to cut back due to budget. (Dell also offers financing.)

[Bobby Henderson · Accepted solution]

Some notebooks can be upgraded to a limited extent. I have an Alienware X17 system at home; I have its RAM maxed out at 64GB, but the memory modules are removable. It's increasingly rare to find notebooks with removable, user-serviceable RAM modules. So many OEMs just love soldering the RAM onto the motherboard so they can be like Apple. The SSD bays in the computer have removable drives that are easy to replace in case one fails. As bad as baked-in RAM can be, some OEMs have the audacity (or stupidity) to solder a computer's SSD into the motherboard too. A failure in a baked-in SSD can result in a very expensive repair job or just require the entire notebook to be replaced.

Making matters worse, various small form factor computers (Mac Mini, Mac Studio and various other hamburger size computers) are using the same notebook PC manufacturing methods, often soldering critical components like RAM and even the SSD into the motherboard. Traditional desktop tower PCs are either getting more expensive, harder to find or if they're available at a site like Dell's they're harder to configure with a good price to computing power balance.

[AdeleFouche]

Thanks for telling me that about the ram and ssd will look for something where it can be removed in case of failure

[AdeleFouche]

Thanks this helps alot will take a look at something better.

[AdeleFouche]

Hi Dave 

Would you say this laptop specs would work?

ASUS | TUF A16 FA608PM-91610G0W Laptop | 16" FHD+ | AMD Ryzen 9 | 16GB DDR5 RAM | 1TB NVMe SSD | Nvidia RTX5060 8GB

AMD Ryzen™ 9 8940HX Processor 2.4GHz (80MB Cache, up to 5.3GHz, 16 cores, 32 Threads)
16GB DDR5-5200 SO-DIMM
1TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 SSD
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5060 8GB GDDR7 Graphics
AMD Radeon™ Graphics

[Monika Gause]

You want to have more than 16 GB RAM

[AdeleFouche]

So the rest will be fine need ram upgrade

[AdeleFouche]

Hi Monika 

Dave and Conrad said i should listen i will definitely get more ram. Is this asus laptop good enough or do you think i should look at something else?

[Monika Gause]

All the other stuff looks good. 

I'm not a lot into PC hardware, since I'm using Macs. The first thing I'm looking at in hardware specifications is always the RAM, because it regularly explains a lot of the problems people have. The people in PC stores usually know their processors, but they do not know what design apps need.

[AdeleFouche]

Yes i agree some do not know

Thanks for your advise

[Conrad_C]

I’m not sure which CPU is better, but the 12th Gen Intel is about two generations behind the current one. 

In general, for Adobe applications I think 16GB of RAM is minimal today, especially if you plan to use multiple Adobe applications simultaneously. I really like having the 32GB in my current laptop, but I could probably get away with 24GB. But 32GB is probably better matched to future software requirements. It also depends on what kind of work you do with Adobe software, because if you said part of your work was editing very large Photoshop documents or long animations in Adobe After Effects, I think a good minimum for that would be 48GB.

For the GPU, it seems like 8GB is the baseline for pro workflows today. 6GB could be OK, but I would probably refuse 4GB unless the GPU workloads were light. It’s important to recognize that if you are interested in the best performance when using the many new features based on machine learning/AI, that is very GPU-based so you don’t want to skimp on that for the future.

If you’re asking in the Illustrator community because you use Illustrator the most and the others only occasionslly, and if you’re on a tight budget, maybe 16GB RAM and the 6GB GPU would be OK for a few years.

[AdeleFouche]

Yes Illustrator is the one I use the most.

Thanks for the advise it's real hard trying to decide what to get. I contacted a pc place and they recommended a pc but support on that pc will end in 2028 and i think no new updates will be available from this year, so i probably will only be able to use for 2 - 3 years which i feel is a waste of money. Luckily i saw this before paying the quote.

If i buy something now i would like to keep using for a couple of years. 

[AdeleFouche]

Hi Conrad

Would you say this laptop specs would work?

ASUS | TUF A16 FA608PM-91610G0W Laptop | 16" FHD+ | AMD Ryzen 9 | 16GB DDR5 RAM | 1TB NVMe SSD | Nvidia RTX5060 8GB

AMD Ryzen™ 9 8940HX Processor 2.4GHz (80MB Cache, up to 5.3GHz, 16 cores, 32 Threads)

16GB DDR5-5200 SO-DIMM

1TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 SSD

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5060 8GB GDDR7 Graphics

AMD Radeon™ Graphics

[Conrad_C]

Most of the specs seem OK except the RAM. As I already said above, I think 16GB RAM is minimal today for Creative Cloud applications (that is, it’s better to have more than 16GB), but those specs say it has 16GB RAM. As I said, 24 to 32GB is a better starting point.

Monika Gause also replied above that you want more than 16GB RAM, and you should listen to her…she knows a lot more about Illustrator than most of us here.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

As I and others have said, get as much RAM as you can _stuff_ into it. That system supports up to 32 GB RAM. I believe that model has soldered RAM which means it can't be upgraded after the fact. You will be quickly disappointed with 16 GB.

>>she knows a lot more about Illustrator than most of us here.

Hey... I know enough to be dangerous! 😜

[AdeleFouche]

I appreciate all your advice I was totally lost in deciding what to get, just to get my mind together i should look for the following 

ryzen 9

Rtx 3050 or higher 6gb+

32gb ram

1tb ssd or higher

Will definitely listen and get more ram

[AdeleFouche]

Cool thanks yes the ram i have taken in mind so will upgrade that the IT guy said it can be upgraded so will make sure it can be done before purchase. So you say specs only ok should i get something else?