help with upgrade to the photo editing beast

Sedko

Sedko

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Hey guys please help me to upgrade my current pc to photo editing beast
Bellow my current pc specs
Thank yoy

Moterboard
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Processor
Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz


Enermax Noisetaker 535W EG565AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU

RAM
GeIL 4GB (4x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

Graphic card
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
 
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You might get a better response to this in the Computers area:)
 
TBH bin the ram / processor / MOBO and buy a new set - also stick in an SDD :)
 
budget?

you can keep your current case, power supply, and gpu if you're strapped for cash

but what i'd do is:

super budget build

keep your current set-up, add in as much ram as it will take and stick in the fastest core 2 quad chip you can find and overclock it some, add in an ssd too
but the ram will be a false economy as last generation ddr2 ram it will cost so much more than the ddr3 ram they use in current gen computers

budget build

intel i5 2500k
any compaitible motherboard, preferably gigabyte
8gb ram
1tb drive
60gb ssd
re-use gpu, case and psu

pricier build

intel i7 2600k
any compaitible motherboard, preferably gigabyte
16gb ram
1tb drive
120gb ssd
nvidia 285 (probably won't need any more power than that)
re-use case and psu
 
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depends what you mean by photo editing beast, the need for a spec computer is vastly over rated, the only real point with upgrading I would agree with is increasing the ram on machines and perhaps the video card if that is particularly weak. My 2nd desktop is in line with your machine and it runs photoshop and lightroom with no issues even on really large edits with lots of layers, I mean you really have to push it a long way for it to struggle.

Photo editing is easy for most machines, its moving graphics they struggle with, not static.
 
If Lightroom is your main tool then focus on the processor and HD (i.e. SSD) but if you are a heavy Photoshop user then you'll need the RAM as well I reckon.
 
I have 8 gig ram on my laptop and it has handled focus stacking of 25+ raw files with no trouble at all - I edit on my desktop pc (2gb Ram) but that is so old it can only handle around 5 raw images if I stack them together - anymore and it will say needs more RAM - still good for everything else
 
The most cost-effective upgrade imho would be to change the OS to Linux (I presume you are using a variety of Windows - you don't mention OS) and run Gimp for image-editing ;)

Earlier in the year I bought the following:

MSI Z77A-G43 INTEL Z77 (SOCKET 1155) MOTHERBOARD

KFA2 GEFORCE GT 440 1024MB GDDR3

INTEL PENTIUM G840 2.80GHZ (SANDY BRIDGE) SOCKET LGA1155 - RETAIL

CORSAIR XMS3 TWINX 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT

OCZ MODXSTREAM PRO 500W SILENT SLI READY ATX2 MODULAR POWER SUPPLY​

For a grand total of about £255. Used my old Coolermaster Cavalier case and magnetic hard drives, bought a S-ATA DVD re-writer (my old one was parallel and a PCI header wasn't worth the expense imo). Not much of an 'upgrade' to what you already have - but I don't find it lacking at all :)
 
weybourne said:
The most cost-effective upgrade imho would be to change the OS to Linux (I presume you are using a variety of Windows - you don't mention OS) and run Gimp for image-editing ;)

Earlier in the year I bought the following:

MSI Z77A-G43 INTEL Z77 (SOCKET 1155) MOTHERBOARD

KFA2 GEFORCE GT 440 1024MB GDDR3

INTEL PENTIUM G840 2.80GHZ (SANDY BRIDGE) SOCKET LGA1155 - RETAIL

CORSAIR XMS3 TWINX 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT

OCZ MODXSTREAM PRO 500W SILENT SLI READY ATX2 MODULAR POWER SUPPLY​

For a grand total of about £255. Used my old Coolermaster Cavalier case and magnetic hard drives, bought a S-ATA DVD re-writer (my old one was parallel and a PCI header wasn't worth the expense imo). Not much of an 'upgrade' to what you already have - but I don't find it lacking at all :)
Click to expand...

Except that won't load any raw images! This comes from an open source supporter by the way.


The cheapest short term solution is 8GB RAM and a some old small SSD, but I'd probably do what mrjames suggested, except sticking in 16-35gb ram and 256gb ssd.
 
daugirdas said:
Except that won't load any raw images! This comes from an open source supporter by the way.
Click to expand...
Eh? There are plenty of open source raw converters - and UFRaw works as a plug-in to Gimp. I shoot raw and the pc is set up to use Gimp as the default programme for my Canon (50D) CR2 files and I would have noticed by now if I couldn't open them ;)

I'm not seriously suggesting that the OP converts to Linux as the answer to his post, but I am serious that for me, going from Windows to Linux was the biggest and most cost-effective performance boost that I have had - but it's not for everyone. I find I can do almost everything I want with Linux (but a lot more than I could with Windows) and with less ado than with Windows (off the top of my head, the only thing I can't do with Linux that I can with Windows is get software to tell me my shutter actuation count!)

The cheapest short term solution is 8GB RAM and a some old small SSD, but I'd probably do what mrjames suggested, except sticking in 16-35gb ram and 256gb ssd.
Click to expand...

I'm still not really sure what the OP wants - what is a 'photo editing beast' and why want one? Sounds a bit like a lust for overkill to me. As long as you can edit your pics without the machine unduly stuttering or hour-glassing, it's not only capable but is good for the job.

I can boot my Windows 7 laptop and edit my photos in Gimp - with 4gb RAM and a Pentium T4400 @ 2.2GHz - it is a tad slow but it is manageable, so I can fully understand him wanting to upgrade. mrjames's budget upgrade sounds more than enough to me. Imho, unless you really need a 'formula 1' computer, expensive upgrades are a waste of money and quickly become an expensive habit (though I would say to go for a decent case and power supply - they will probably outlive most other components - the case is the bit you can see and a good power supply makes for a stable system). Most people just don't require the performance that they think they need - spend the serious money on glass ;).
 
I have roughly the same setup as Sedko and have had no real problems when photo editing with it.

The only difference is that I don't use Photoshop but a far simpler editor - Serif PhotoPlus x2 which I have had for years.

I don't know whether the complexity of Photoshop makes it need a faster computer but a lot of people on here with it seem to be asking about upgrading their PCs - or is it just that so many people use it?

My workflow is fairly simple - I batch convert all my JPEGs (which I regularly shoot in) to TIFFs using DPP, then batch process them in Neat Image for NR.

Then I edit them.

Apart from the batch processes taking some time I haven't really benn bothered by slow editing.

However I have now upgraded my main PC to i7 using this bundle from Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-i7-...3?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item1c2b53b283

It comes already assembled, so I added a case (which I already had), a 750 watt power supply,and my own Sata 2 hard drives.

The M/B has eight Sata connections (3 Sata 3, 5 Sata 2) so I could fit in all my HDDs (Sata 2) for a combined total of about 6-7 Tbs.

Several large fans keep everything cool especially the HDDs, and it runs very fast indeed.

So far have only tried a bit of rendering some DVDs to X-vids where it really stonks away.

But it should make me "future proof" for the next few years at least!

.
 
Whatever cpu/mobo/ram/graphics card you get be sure to get a ssd for the os drive and some much used apps . Running windows and photo shop from ssd makes for much quicker load times.
 
stu.artd said:
Whatever cpu/mobo/ram/graphics card you get be sure to get a ssd for the os drive and some much used apps . Running windows and photo shop from ssd makes for much quicker load times.
Click to expand...

I agree, using a PC which is 3 years old now and stuck an SSD in couple of weeks ago. Much faster start up and loading now. :)
 
Sedko said:
Hey guys please help me to upgrade my current pc to photo editing beast
Bellow my current pc specs
Thank yoy

Moterboard
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Processor
Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz


Enermax Noisetaker 535W EG565AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU

RAM
GeIL 2GB (4x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

Graphic card
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Click to expand...


Right.. nowhere in that list do you mention the monitor.

This is typical. People spec out the PC and never, ever give a rat's ass about the monitor. The monitor is what you look at for hours, and hours on end. It's what you'll be judging colour, tones, and contrast on, and it's the ONE and ONLY part of your computer system that actually effects the QUALITY of your photographs.

Forget the rest, start with upgrading your monitor.. everything else can wait. If anyone disagrees.. then they're just wrong :)

Oh... and budget for a decent calibrator for your new monitor too, or it's probably pointless even upgrading it in the first place.



Having said all that, 2GB of RAM is pitiful, so upgrade that to at least 8GB for Windows 7/CS6.


...but seriously, think about a large, high quality IPS or S-PVA monitor.

Also... you neglected to give a budget for your proposed upgrades.. that would be helpful.
 
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