Thinking about upgrading computer

[MerkurNJ]

I am running a 10+ year old computer I have upgraded myself over the years. Performance-wise it is getting a little slow and I need to upgrade the C drive SSD and graphics card as I am getting warnings from Lightroom that the card is no longer supported.

I am looking to buy a turnkey computer suitable for Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom processing.  If I do a Google search I am weary of the results.  What is the best computer & monitor I can buy off the shelf that offers spare bays for the SATA drives I have and has some expandibility?  Is there a thread here to discuss hardware upgrades?

paul

[dj_paige]

Get the fastest CPU you can afford. Get the most powerful GPU you can afford. 16GB RAM or more (but for Lightroom Classic purposes, there are diminishing returns to obtaining more memory — might not be true for other software). SSD for the Windows C: drive (put the LrC catalog there) and slower disks are fine for photo storage. Monitor is based upon your taste, there's no real speed or performance issues with modern monitors (although 4K and 5K monitors can cause LrC to lag if the GPU isn't powerful enough), and all can be calibrated to display color correctly.

[Conrad_C · Accepted solution]

You may want to look at the turnkey workstation configurations at Puget Systems, at least as a suggestion as to what’s possible or what to look at. This is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy from them (I’m not a customer because I actually like using Macs for these applications), but if you want to get an idea of what kind of performance current PC components will help achieve for various graphics applications, Puget Systems is also known for their published and widely used benchmark tests that are tuned for Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Lightroom Classic, and others. For example, you could download one of their benchmarks, run it on your current computer, and compare the scores to what their configurations achieve.

Is there a thread here to discuss hardware upgrades?

By MerkurNJ

You can try the Video Hardware community here. There are some knowledgeable PC users who know a lot about configuring for the Adobe video applications, especially when it comes to graphics hardware.

[dj_paige]

Every time I see someone discuss Puget Systems, I feel compelled to mention  that they are a business that wants to maximize their profits. Have they skewed their benchmarks so as to sell you components you don't need? Entirely possible. They make at least one false statement, in which they claim that storing photos on an external HD is a major reason for LRC slowness. Does this let them sell you other components that you don't need with higher profit margins? Yes, I think it does.