whats the best computer set up for creative cloud

[andyb9486504]

Hi there,

I'm looking ay buying a new computer to run creative cloud including photoshop, illustrator, indesign, premiere pro and after effects

Ive always had an IT department build my work computers but I'm now branching out on my own so need to know what is the best set up to have. I'm happy on both PC or Mac so not got loyalty to either I just want to make sure I spend my money wisely.

Please can anyone advise me

Thank you in advance

[Bojan Živković]

Here is a site where you can determine which setup or build is most effective for any specific software. The higher score, the better.

https://benchmarks.pugetsystems.com/benchmarks/

[andyb9486504]

Thank you for answering, I will take a look 🙂

[Lumigraphics]

I'm a Mac user so I'd wait a month or so until Apple announces new computers and then grab a Mac Studio.

The Windows space is a mess right now, Intel has had a lot of problems and its processors are barely competitive. Windows on ARM processors are a lot better technically except for lots of software incompatibilities. We also see constant reports of Windows video card driver problems. Eventually, I suspect that ARM is going to totally displace Intel x64 chips.

Beyond all that, there really is no one "best" setup. Its just what you can afford.

[D Fosse]

Build a desktop machine (or get one built). It's the most reliable workhorse you can get. Avoid any kind of laptop if possible.

The CPU has never been the critical component for any Adobe application, and less so now when the GPU takes over most of the advanced functions. CPU performance isn't important (and insofar as it is, Intel does just fine).

And no, Windows is not a mess. A lot of laptops are, however, but not because of the operating system. It's because the laptop manufacturers modify the operating system beyond recognition, adding all kinds of junk that get in the way and cause nothing but problems. Left to itself, as it will be with a desktop machine, Windows is rock solid.

GPU problems on Windows can basically be split in two. One, laptops with dual GPUs and manufacturer mods, and two, AMD systems. The reason for the latter is most likely that AMD target their products very specifically to the gaming community. That's where their market is, or that's where they see their market.

One more consideration: with a laptop, or a Mac, you'll pretty soon find yourself relying on external drives. That's not only a practical problem, but also a reliability problem. The risk of file corruption is orders of magnitude higher.

[Lumigraphics]

I pretty much loathe Windows and would not recommend it to anyone. A MacBook Pro is excellent for image editing- fastest laptops available, long battery life, best display on the market, best operating system. Or a Mac Studio if you don't need portability. External drives are fine if used with some care, not banging them around. A Thunderbolt RAID is the fastest consumer storage you can get.

[D Fosse]

Yeah, I've noticed. Some of us feel the opposite. That's fine, to each his own.

The point I'm trying to make is to just exercise some basic common sense, and you'll be fine.

[Lumigraphics]

"basic common sense" 

(Insult removed by moderator)

[Conrad_C]

Mac: For the software you listed, a good starting point is an M2 or M3 of the Pro level or above (Max/Ultra) with 32GB Unified Memory and 512GB storage. But you may need to tweak that if your Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects usage are rather intensive. Very large Photoshop documents or After Effects projects might benefit from 64GB Unified Memory. High use of AI features and Premiere Pro would benefit from upgrading to more GPU cores to better support GPU-accelerated features. And 512GB storage is a minimum, and especially for Photoshop and video apps that number pretty much assumes that you also have high capacity external storage for the scratch disk and Media Cache, respectively.

Windows: Bojan’s recommendation of Puget Systems benchmarks is a good reference for Creative Cloud apps, and Lumigraphics also makes a great point: Starting this year the PC world got a lot more complex, especially in laptops where the ARM-based processors are being introduced (the transition Apple completed starting four years ago). And also with the introduction of the Copilot+ PC standard, which potentially affects AI performance through the NPU requirement (depending on how quickly Adobe AI features support the NPU). So now you have to decide whether you want a PC based on x86 (Intel, AMD) or ARM (Qualcomm). The ARM PCs have limited software support right now, so even though the Mac-like power and thermal efficiency is tempting, you have to make sure your software runs natively on ARM and most don’t yet. Or, see if the new Intel Lunar Lake CPUs (outsourced to TSMC, like Apple does, instead of using Intel’s own foundries) really do challenge the ARM PCs with Apple Silicon-like efficiency (some initial reviews indicate that they do). And at least from the forum posts, AMD graphics seem to have more issues with GPU acceleration in Adobe apps than Nvidia graphics do.

One way to avoid that mess, especially if you have to buy a PC right now for Creative Cloud apps specifically, is to stick to Intel/AMD for the CPU, and with Nvidia for the GPU especially if you want to use AI features. Similar to the Mac, including Premiere Pro and After Effects would favor more CPU cores, a more powerful GPU, maybe more than 32GB RAM, and lots of additional fast storage.

Or, on both platforms, see how long you can wait. Because over the next few months, Apple will have new Macs presumably based on M4; on the PC side more time might tell us how well ARM, Lunar Lake, Copilot+ PCs, and NPUs are eventually supported by Creative Cloud apps vs traditional Intel/AMD x86.

[andyb9486504]

Thank you for answering, it's definitely a bit of a minefield at the moment

I'm think a PC/Mac as my workhorse and a Macbook Pro as my mobile unit as I have a Surface Pro 9 laptop and that can struggle with more complex PS work butmI hadn't considered the whole co-pilot stuff 

Doing this for myself is a bigger headache than I thought 🙂

[ladysemi]

Hi Conrad! With releases and updates over the past month, do you feel there are any updates to consider? I'm currently in a must-buy position for a new laptop specifically, for work. Design programs are not playing nice with my current work computer (an older Legion).