Is this pc likely to be any good with the latest Lightroom?

Brentor

Brentor

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Is this pc likely to be any good for the latest Lightroom?

Costco

www.costco.co.uk www.costco.co.uk



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Should be OK. RTX 3060 good for the latest LR denoise etc. Probably worth adding a HDD for data files.

Probably be “experts” along soon to tell you you MUST have a faster processor and more memory etc. But I think it will be fine
 
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Not a bleeding edge CPU (was introduced in second quarter 2020) but as said above it should be good for most post processing software.

My new build has the RTX3060 and since I bought that GPU it has dropped in price as newer models have come out!

As above IMO you will need at least one HDD or SSD for data storage.

Also, I would ask the company what capacity the power supply is and whether it is a modular one....and if so do they supply it with all the (normally included in the retail box) extra cables? Why, well just for a bit of future proofing i.e. in case you upgrade with more drives or even a more power hungry GPU at some stage you need to be sure the PSU has enough power and the cables to connect to extra devices?

I build my own PC's and the heart of it is the motherboard, I am a little concerned that the company don't state the make & model of the motherboard? Why, well again you need to know for example, should ever want to add multiple extra drives ... how many SATA ports are available and also in regard to the case, how many drives can it accommodate?
 
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I agree with what @Box Brownie says. I would also say that, whilst it's not over-priced, it's not a bargain either considering that the CPU (and, therefore mobo as well) is well behind the leading edge. It might be worth seeing what real computer retailers like Scan or Novatech can do for you for the same budget.
 
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Box Brownie said:
I would ask the company what capacity the power supply is and whether it is a modular one....and if so do they supply it with all the (normally included in the retail box) extra cables?
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Box Brownie said:
how many SATA ports are available and also in regard to the case, how many drives can it accommodate?
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Good luck with that - OP's buying from Costco!
 
It has lots of flashing lights? A bit of a distraction for image editing. Or can you turn them off?
 
Or you could always do what I did after getting fed up having to keep upgrading my desktop, purchase a Apple Mac Mini:)
So far compared to the desktop a winner all the way.
Russ.
 
russellsnr said:
Or you could always do what I did after getting fed up having to keep upgrading my desktop, purchase a Apple Mac Mini:)
So far compared to the desktop a winner all the way.
Russ.
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I am considering this option. However I have been Windows based at home and work for several decades so it will take time for me to adjust. It would also mean having to buy new programs. I also do not like the fact that you cannot upgrade most Macs.
 
I will probably try a self build for the first time and use better specs than the one in my original post, with the expectation that it will cost more. My concern is getting compatible components.
 
Brentor said:
I am considering this option. However I have been Windows based at home and work for several decades so it will take time for me to adjust. It would also mean having to buy new programs. I also do not like the fact that you cannot upgrade most Macs.
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Hi, I am in my 70's and have been a Windows user for a long,long time and as I said got to the point of not being prepared to keep throwing money at the Windows computer, I only got the Mac Mini a few weeks back and it is not that difficult to get your head round the change, as for paying for new programs I think most have a Windows or Mac option so does not cost extra.
Quote "I also do not like the fact that you cannot upgrade most Macs." but that is part of the Mac option you don't need to keep upgrading, I also took out the 3 year cover plan, for £90 well worth it it seems from the reply's I received when I asked the question over on the Mac forum.
I purchased mine from a well known Ebay reseller ( Mac Mini M2 ,512GB, 16GB Ram) under a £1000 delivered.
As I say very happy with performance overall so far and I use On1 Photo Raw 2023 not Lightroom.
I did before diving in go into a Apple Mac store to look around and would advise doing that before you decide. Russ.
 
Brentor said:
I will probably try a self build for the first time and use better specs than the one in my original post, with the expectation that it will cost more. My concern is getting compatible components.
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Talk to us here and, between us, we'll make sure you make good choices. It might cost more but you'll have your choice of components. As your starter for ten, I'd recommend going for AMD processors and the latest AM5 socket.
 
In fact, here's my suggestion to give you a start. You could save £20 or £30 on the case but I like this one as it has a 200mm fan so will move lots of air quietly. You could save another £20-£30 on the mobo but coming up a step or two is usually worth it. It might be worth spending an extra £20 on a GTX 4060 instead of the GTX 3060. Another £30 would get you 32GB of RAM instead of 16GB.

pc suggestion 2.jpg
 
Brentor said:
Is this pc likely to be any good for the latest Lightroom?

Costco

www.costco.co.uk www.costco.co.uk



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That unit is better spec'd than my 2018 i5 PC (except that I have 32GB of RAM) and mine eats up the latest version of LR, PS and Topaz apps with no trouble at all. It may not be the cheapest or the best you can get but for an off-the-shelf computer it's a good compromise and should last you many years.

Computers are like camera bodies - there's always a better one that you "must have" even though the one you are already using it perfectly adequate.
 
Brentor said:
I am considering this option. However I have been Windows based at home and work for several decades so it will take time for me to adjust. It would also mean having to buy new programs. I also do not like the fact that you cannot upgrade most Macs.
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That’s because you don’t need to. Before I retired I was a senior IT manager, having risen through the ranks from mainframes. Latterly I was responsible for about 3000 Windows PCs. When I retired I swore I wouldn’t touch another Windows machine, good though they are. So I transitioned to Mac. Took about 6 weeks to be conversant with the basics. I’ve never looked back.
 
Brentor said:
Is this pc likely to be any good for the latest Lightroom?

Costco

www.costco.co.uk www.costco.co.uk



​

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I've seen problems and ripoffs from companies like that.

I presume you're in the UK, my best advice is to sign up to PCSpecialist Forum and ask what PC they recommend (and take in account what these guys and gals on here recommend),

I've bought 2 PCs from PCSpecialist and my father has had 2 PCs and 1 laptop. Company is based in Wakefield. (They do have a date 'limit' if you want the PC before Xmas).
 
Dael_Pix said:
I've seen problems and ripoffs from companies like that.

I presume you're in the UK, my best advice is to sign up to PCSpecialist Forum and ask what PC they recommend (and take in account what these guys and gals on here recommend),

I've bought 2 PCs from PCSpecialist and my father has had 2 PCs and 1 laptop. Company is based in Wakefield. (They do have a date 'limit' if you want the PC before Xmas).
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I have also had 2 PCs from PC Specialist, plus a laptop for my wife. My B-I-L also had a desktop. The forums are the best place for advice, rather than the company personnel.
 
I am edging towards an Apple Mini Mac, M2 pro with 16gb ram and 515gb ssd. Not cheap by the time you add a decent monitor, keyboard, mouse and external ssd but it looks good on paper. I expect some Windows based PCs are cheaper but not necessarily better.
 
I was in your position just about a year ago now. The PC I had at the time was an off the shelf HP. I got it in 2014 and it did a great job but was starting to slow and also, became tedious with modern software, especially NR programs like Topaz.

It also developed a mind of it's own, often doing its own thing, which got annoying. I also got the odd BSOD.

I considered another off the shelf PC but this time, a gaming machine with decent RAM, GPU and CPU. I must've looked at 10s, possibly 100s of machines but I always found there was a compromise in components somewhere, everytime.

I decided to go self build, I got a lot of help here as well as a mate. I was a build rookie so I needed advice.

My PC took a while to get together, I think the whole thing was about 6 weeks but boy, it was worth it. It's a joy to use and I no longer swear or throw things at my PC.

You won't go wrong, I can recommend the advice here and if you can rope a mate in too, even better.

Good luck.
 
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I've just replaced my laptop. I was quite tempted by the new 15" Macbook Air M2, but I also need to run some software which is Windows only and requires nVidia graphics, so went for a Dell XPS 15 laptop.

My previous Apple laptops did sterling service lasting 7 or 8 years each before an upgrade was really due. Now it seems its more economic to buy a cheaper model and replace more frequently.
 
The problem with off the shelf PCs is that a few elements are advertised to draw potential customers in, but they usually have comprises that are not so obvious. Weak power supplies, slow and / or small disks, insufficient RAM, poor case & cooling are all common and affect the long term performance and ability to upgrade. Self build, or custom building via a company like PC Specialist can give you a lot more for the same or lower price
 
Honey Monster said:
The problem with off the shelf PCs is that a few elements are advertised to draw potential customers in, but they usually have comprises that are not so obvious. Weak power supplies, slow and / or small disks, insufficient RAM, poor case & cooling are all common and affect the long term performance and ability to upgrade. Self build, or custom building via a company like PC Specialist can give you a lot more for the same or lower price
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^^^^^^
This especially from the likes of Currys although you are not shopping there.

I will second the Mac as your purchase, they are fantastic computers and will fly through all that you want.

There is an old saying, buy cheap, buy twice ;)
 
Brentor said:
I am considering this option. However I have been Windows based at home and work for several decades so it will take time for me to adjust. It would also mean having to buy new programs. I also do not like the fact that you cannot upgrade most Macs.
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If you are using Adobe CC you do not need to buy again, you can have two copies of the same program on two separate computers but only use one at a time. Some software is also transferable from one machine to another.
 
After all the advice and research I have decided to go with Mac the first time. I have ordered a mini Mac M2 pro with 16gb memory and 512 gb ssd. Just need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, external storage, programs….. Custom build PCs were coming out at higher costs.

Do Mac users use antivirus software or rely on the Apple in built protection?

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You can use any keyboard/mouse etc with a Mac.

I use AV on my Macs, but it is not essential.
 
No antivirus software on any of my Macs and I have had a few. They are not like windows machines which tend to attract the undesirables in there swarms.
 
There are viruses and malware for Macs, but they are generally more secure, and as most software is notarised, Apple has a kill switch if the software turns out to be dodgy. If you want to install software that is not notarised you have to jump through lots of hoops and acknowledge warnings.
 
Update:

The new mini mac is very good. Transferring from a PC has not been easy. My external drives were in the wrong format so could only be read from the mac ie no write. Topaz Denoise AI needed to be upgraded to a more current version, which they did FOC (impressive). My FLAC converter does does work on Mac. I took ages to set the keyboard up as an English version (it is not just a case of setting the the look language).

Plus points :

It is very fast. My mine requirement for photo editing
Bluetooth is very stable
Transfer from my ipad was scarelly fast.
It is not that difficult to understand by having come from Windows.
It is a very small and quiet machine

I am still learning.
 
steve_lyt said:
TBH if its not for a hobby and not professional use , then in my opinion the speed is not that important, waiting 30-40 secs monger doesn’t really matter
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It is a hobby. There is a big difference between taking 9 mins on my old system and 30secs on the new system, especially when the old system often would often crash.
 
I am no PC expert but some of the comments and suggestions posted here seem to love to spend other people's money.
It has 1 TB of storage how much more does anyone need for amateur/hobby use.
 
wornish said:
It has 1 TB of storage how much more does anyone need for amateur/hobby use.
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I have around 2.5TB of images from 10 years of shooting, some will have much more than that. I was running out of space on 3TB storage on my main editing computer 2 years ago, and it's only because I've not done much since that I haven't exceeded 3TB
 
ancient_mariner said:
I have around 2.5TB of images from 10 years of shooting, some will have much more than that. I was running out of space on 3TB storage on my main editing computer 2 years ago, and it's only because I've not done much since that I haven't exceeded 3TB
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How many duplicates are in there?
How many will you or anyone one else ever look at?
Why are they all kept online for immediate access?

Just a few questions that spring to mind:)
 
Storage is cheap these days. In my opinion you can never have too much. I have 7.5TB available in my PC across 5 drives 2 NVME, 1 SSD and 2 HDDs
 
My Mac Mini has 512 gb ssd, I decided against getting more internal storage as the Apple prices are high. I have instead added external SSDs for all my photos, music, docs etc and a HHD for backup. My computer knowledge was out of date so I had to research NVME and suitable enclosures, the latter impact on the data transfer speeds. Based on a YouTube video (probably not advisable) I wanted one of the drives to be quick but the required enclosure was out of stock on the sites I checked in the UK so I ordered from the USA and got a delivery from China within week and the delivery was free. Impressed. It is also fast. Do I need the speed, probably not but but I wanted to try.

Learning to use Mac OS has been much easier than expected.

It seems that computers are like cameras. There is no right answer and several different opinions.
 
wornish said:
How many duplicates are in there?
How many will you or anyone one else ever look at?
Why are they all kept online for immediate access?

Just a few questions that spring to mind:)
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None of those questions really matter when deciding how much storage is required. Perhaps I could delete 99% of them, but I prefer to keep them instead. Hard drive space is not expensive (unless you buy Apple).
 
ancient_mariner said:
Hard drive space is not expensive (unless you buy Apple).
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Are there Apple branded external drives? Genuine question as I looked on the store and couldn't find any, They're still doing the LaCie drives, of course.
 
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