Setting up a new pc for photo editing

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Hi all - new here so be gentle with me.
SORRY LOOKS LIKE i HAD BETTER ASK THESE QUESTIONS IN THE COMPUTER SECTION ---i WILL BE OVER THERE
I need help with a few things about getting an ugraded pc to use for editing curently I use --
Xp 2 gb ram pentium 4 del 4550 and a nivida 6200 GPU -- yes old and slow with--
Photoshop 7
Canon zoom browser
Canon DPP
Canon 5dmk 3
NEC 2490wuxi monitor

I am specking up a referb pc so far with
win 7 pro
16 gb ram
x2 HDs
1 ssd
i5 3.2
BUT what about a card - its not really used for photoshop is it ? so how important is this ?

I have more questions about ssd but may start another post about that one.
Thank you
 
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You do not "have to" have a graphics card for Photoshop and Lightroom. Your motherboard have its own on-board graphics hardware, it is not something special, just good enough to work with Photoshop and Lightroom. But it would use most of the processor's powers, leaving your i5 CPU feeling like it is trying to do all the work by itself, including refreshing the screen every time you make changes such as adjust exposure or browsing through LR catalogue.

So having a graphics card added to your system, just helps off-load some of the work from the CPU, give the system a bit of spare room to work with. It's not really very important, just very useful. It would really be helpful if you do have the budget to spare for it.

You do not "have to" buy the most powerful graphics card, just start at the most basic one, and work your way up depending on your budget. Low-end range or cards will work fine, but you could go a little next step up if you want to and if you can afford it.

Do not aim high. Better start at the bottom and see how much you can afford to spare by going up a step or two.

So it is really up to you, and if you do want to go for one, then it is up to you how much you can afford to spend on, just remember that it is not really that importantly needed, it is a helpful option.
 
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Thanks for that I dont have light room - just ps7 and the card I am looking to get is a NVS 290 with 256mb
 
I dont know - have I got it wrong. thought it right as I am trying to set up for photo editing, how can I move
 
It's not a case of wrong but whether you would get more responses.

I do have an interest in the answer as I need to replace/upgrade my pc as I run Vista and raw files from a D750 aren't compatible with Photoshop. I've also subscribed to the cloud version of photoshop and that only works on Win7 or above.
 
I've asked the mods for the topic to be moved, so you'll get more replies :)

I think even a modest graphics card will make a difference to the performance. Have you checked that your version of photoshop is compatible with win7 and and the later versions when your operating system upgrades - possible through automatic updates!
 
Hey thanks for sorting the move.
I have my pc that I am changing with all your help (the xp one above), but I have just brought a refurb pc for the rest of the family to use that is
i3
8gb
nvidia quadro NVS 292 (256mb)
win 7 pro
And yes photoshop works on that pc
As for auto upgrades I will be setting it to let me chose.
 
My main issue with my old pc is when using canon dpp raw to jpeg with 200 5dmk3 files it takes loooooooog.
Also using canon quick view takes about 10 seconds to render each raw file to go through a culling process.On my old pc, the better family pc is quicker but I want quicker still.
I ran a raw to jpg conversion test and the better pc had done 200 files and the older xp was still working on number 86.
 
Are you planning on upgrading your processing software? Photoshop 7 is going to be 32bit which will not use any new hardware to its full potential (32bit software can only address approx 3gb RAM).
 
neil_g said:
Are you planning on upgrading your processing software? Photoshop 7 is going to be 32bit which will not use any new hardware to its full potential (32bit software can only address approx 3gb RAM).
Click to expand...
They were going to be some of my next questions
I still plan on using Photoshop 7, which I am using now on my old slow pc that has 2gb ram pentium 4 2.5ghz, I dont find most photo editing slow apart from sometimes applying some filters I have to wait while the progress bar trundles along.
So I am hoping to see a vast improvement with a better spec pc.
But what about my canon DPP software and zoom browser which are both win 7 programs as well as xp are they 64bit.
I also have questions about SSD and or HD for best speed
What is the first version of photoshop to use 64bit maybe I could get that
On the 32 bit photoshop only using 3 gb - even though I have 2 gb now, its not all available is it, so I dont know how much photoshop is using now ?1.5gb-1.8 ? . But at least on my new pc it will have 16gb and so photoshop will have full access to the whole 3gb which would be approx double that i have now
Is my thinking right there
 
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As far as I know cs4 was the first version to be 64bit (shipped with 32 and 64 bit installers). Legit sources of that may be few and far between these days.

You can get CC photography subscription for £6.85/month (for first 12 months) which gives you lightoom and Photoshop.
 
neil_g said:
You can get CC photography subscription for £6.85/month (for first 12 months) which gives you lightoom and Photoshop.
Click to expand...
Thats exactly what I want to avoid, paying every month when I can buy it once for ? and have it forever (as I have my PS7 )
I could just try see if I do see an improvement and if not have a look for a copy of cs4.

My main issue is with slow canon dpp, would using a ssd help this
 
You'd be better off looking at Photoshop essentials then. With cs4 not being sold anywhere legit (just had a quick Google) any higher versions won't be cheap.

Can't comment on the canon software. Never use it.
 
Ebay I wonder or does that come under non -legit
Think I had better start a new post about SSD vs HD use and where to place programs
 
Personally I wouldnt consider eBay a source of legit software unless it was a store of a reputable well known trader.

Always os, programs and working set of files on ssd.
 
neil_g said:
Always os, programs and working set of files on ssd.
Click to expand...
Well that sounds straight forward enough.
Considering my ps7 s 32bit issue would it still work faster on an ssd rather than a HD.
My xp pc now has 40gb that includes a lot of "working on" files and some random snaps, if I got a win 7 pc with a 128gb ssd do you think that would be a little too samll. I would have another internal HD for general storage once I have worked on the ones on the SSD.
And what ssd should i get, the pc will be a refurb one from a refurb seller but I plan on asking them if I can supply the ssd for them to build and add the OS on to. It will be a i5 second gen 3.2ghz but from reading here some motherbords wont work to the speed of some ssd - is that right.?
I saw on here that a samsung was best but if my mother board cant match its speed then ther is no point in that one is there. ?
 
In don't think you'll notice Much difference on Ps7 to be honest.

When I built my i7 rig I has CS3 (which was 32 bit) and there wasn't much difference to my old machine. Upgrading to CS4 was night and day.

Considering how cheap ssd are these days at least get 256. Personally I favour Samsung. Either evo or pro depending on budget.
 
I think I will give it a go and if i dont see enough difference I will look out for a cs4, nice to speak to someone who has gon from a 32 to a64 bit ps and seen the difference.
What about this ssd as opposed to the sammy http://cpc.farnell.com/sandisk/sdssda-120g-g25/120gb-ssd-plus-solid-state-drive/dp/CS28615
It may ove enen been one of your posts but some one else I read said samsung - any reasons why you recommend it.
is this the one
http://cpc.farnell.com/samsung/mz-75e250bw-eu/850-evo-series-250gb-2-5-sata/dp/CS28445

And can you recomend a good place to buy from at the best price

And (sorry ) another question
would an almost full ssd be slower than a 1/4 full ssd -- like a standard hd would be.
I dont think I will have as much as 80 G stuff on there at any one time so thinking could get away with 128gb and all the stored stuffwill be on another HD (TB)
 
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Generally ebuyer.com, aria.co.uk and curiously enough, amazon (a certain amount of caveat emptor is required to ensure the product is genuine required with vendors *selling* through Amazon) can all offer excellent pricing. Ebuyer presently offering Sandisk and Crucial 240GB SSDs for £54 each (inc VAT - CPC Farnell usually price goods without VAT) and 240GB Samsung drives for about £67. I'd echo Neil's comment about not buying 128GB now, as you will quickly fill such a small drive, even with just OS, program and working files.
 
Just seen the samsung 250gb in pc world for £69 dont mind paying a bit extra for peace of mind and I can get it tomorrow
 
keep an eye on ebuyer
using the code SSD can get you a 480gb Sandisk ultra for 79£
 
Well I have done it now I have brought the sam 250gb evo and sent off to the peeps building the pc,
 
neil_g said:
In don't think you'll notice Much difference on Ps7 to be honest.

When I built my i7 rig I has CS3 (which was 32 bit) and there wasn't much difference to my old machine. Upgrading to CS4 was night and day.

Considering how cheap ssd are these days at least get 256. Personally I favour Samsung. Either evo or pro depending on budget.
Click to expand...

I just thought that I should report back after running my new (refurb) pc for a few weeks.
Great advice on getting the 250gb and not the 128gb ssd - no brainer rearly as its only an extra £20 for twice the space.
As for photoshop 7 it is running like lightning even though it is only using 3gb of my 16gb of memory, so much so that before if I did something I could see it happen but now it processes a job so fast I have to double check that it did it.
Although I had 3gb memory on the old pc it was not all available for photoshop to use so its that and the ssd and the better processor that has done the trick, I don't think if I went to a 64bit photoshop that I would see a difference between 100th of a millisecond 32bit and a 200th millisecond 64bit.
Thank you all for your help :ty:
 
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