Specs for new computer

[cranberry]

I need a new computer.  I am an amateur photographer and Adobe home user, working only in Photoshop and Lightroom.  I do a lot of photo editing and some graphic design, often working almost pixel-by-pixel, with many layers.  I have always had a Windows machine and do not want to change.  Also, I need a laptop, since I move around a bit.

I am willing to pay for features that will make things easier and faster, stopping just short of overkill.  I need a large hard drive (my current hard drive of 500 GB is almost full), since I like to store my files locally.

Suggestions, please...thanks in advance.

[Nancy OShea]

Check out the system requirements for Creative Cloud + Lightroom + Photoshop + Bridge, etc... + your OS. 

Adobe Creative Cloud system requirements

These are just  basic recommendations.  Depending on what size files and how many layers & filters  you work with, you could be needing a faster processor, better graphics card and a good deal more physical and ram memory.  My motto is "buy the best PC you can afford."

[cranberry]

These recommendations seem to be "basic" and "minimum"---not what I am looking for.

[D Fosse]

Photoshop and Lightroom have somewhat different requirements. Lightroom is mostly CPU limited. The faster the better, and the more cores the better - up to a point. Above 6 cores is probably not paying off.

Photoshop is a different animal. It is mostly bandwidth limited - it moves large amounts of data back and forth from memory. That doesn't necessarily mean RAM. You never have enough RAM for Photoshop no matter how much you put in. The key for Photoshop is the scratch disk. This is a portion of a drive that Photoshop uses for storing temporary working data.

You get best performance with the scratch disk set to your system drive (as long as it's an SSD). The faster your system drive, the better. And you obviously need to have enough space. 500GB is minimum.

If you can avoid it, no dual graphics! Photoshop doesn't like that, it doesn't know which one to use. So to speak. But beyond that, any reasonable video card will do. It's not performance critical - it just needs to work. And that can be a problem with buggy video drivers. It's really not possible to give specific advice here. The card will work, the problem is the drivers.

EDIT: I would normally advise to split the budget in two and spend half on a good monitor. That's the one component that lets you work better, not just faster. With a laptop, I'd still recommend keeping an eye on the display. Some are better than others, although you shouldn't expect too much.

[cranberry]

THANKS SO MUCH, everyone---very helpful!

I have looked at the specs on my current computer and wonder if I am getting ahead of myself.  It is a 5-year-old Dell XPS 15:

- disk drive:  LITEONIT LCS-512M65 2.5 7mm 512GB  (it doesn't say SSD but I believe it is)

- processor:  i7 3632 QM CPU@2.20 Ghz  (8 of these)

- 16 GB of RAM

- two things are listed under Display Adapters:  intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M  (Does this mean I have dual graphics?)

The biggest problem I have with this computer is that, for instance, today it has only 303MB of free space.

I do own 2 external drives, one is 1TB and the other is 2TB.  I am willing to transfer most of my photos to these drives provided they are backed up somewhere--my photos are precious.  At the moment I have Carbonite backing up my computer and the 2 external drives backing up each other.  Obviously I need to move more files off the computer ASAP.

I also own a Wacom Intuos tablet (a gift) which I have never learned to use.

A friend of mine, also a Photoshop junkie, has a large high-end display hooked up to her laptop and loves it.

The other major problem with my current computer is that the fan quit a long time ago.  I have it raised up about an inch above my desk surface with a tiny electric fan blowing underneath it.  Shabby but does the job.

Looking to the future...I won't be doing animation but I have dabbled a little in editing my own videos (cropping and combining with still images and music in slideshows) and enjoy it.  What has prompted me to get a new computer now is that I have just begun a new project that I believe will stretch my computer, Photoshop, and my own abilities to the limit...a Photo Mosaic to hang in my home that will be 8' x 4' and contain about 300-400 of my photos.

I am interested to know what you all think of my current computer and if an upgrade is a good idea.  I am very willing to spend some serious $$$ on a new system if it would make a difference.

THANKS AGAIN for your help...

[Guest]

Hi

This may help

https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Adobe-Photoshop-CC-139/Hardware-Rec...

[Test Screen Name]

Watch out for SSD (a new faster kind of hard disk). This is popular, and extremely fast. Unfortunately it's also expensive so computer makers put in one as small as 128 GB, even in a quite powerful computer. A laptop with both SSD (as a second disk) and big hard disk may be ideal but rare; so you may either need a more expensive 2 TB SSD, or a very large hard disk. As a rough ballpark a 2 TB hard disk might be $100, but an SSD might be $500. Prices are certainly dropping.

[KShinabery212]

I always tell people to think about what they might do in the future.  As new software comes out... you might find yourself doing things in a year or two that you are not doing now.

For example.  I was heavy into Photoshop and Illustrator.  But then when Animate CC and Character Animator came out I got back into animation.  Now I am editing videos from time to time.  So always think future forward.  Even if you think you will not be into something in the future... you might find yourself wanting to to try new things later.

I have a Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 and a Wacom MobileStudio Pro.  Once I had the ability to draw directly on the screen my life changed.  My workflow got better and now I find myself trying out new software.  These both run Windows 10 and are amazing devices.

Worth the investment.

Apple is good... but a PC can do just as much.  And I woudl even say hey go for a PC.... if you need a desktop then build one!  You can always update that!  With an Apple you are stuck with what you bought.

So again... think about the future.  You may start exploring other Adobe products and even other software.  So make sure that you get a device that can handle anything.... as you never know where the future will take you and having the power to create new things is great!  Limiting yourself to a device that can only manage what you are doing now is a bad thing.... so make sure to get something will more power than you think you will need if that makes sense.