PC requirements for photo editing

[Sabin]

<p>Hello,<br>

I would greately appreciate any help and sugestions regarding PC requirements to run a good Photoshop Software. My computer is very old and it just died on me yesterday. I need to replace it A.S.A.P, however there are so may choices out there. Would I need more than 4GB of RAM? Also is it worth spending a lot of money on a good graphics card?<br>

Thank you.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Not sure which operating system you have in mind, but 4GB would be suitable for photo editing. A high-end video card isn't nearly as important as a hardware display calibration device (like the Spyder products, or even the modest Huey Pro). </p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Here's Adobe guidance, always a good starting point:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/systemreqs/?promoid=DRHXH">http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/systemreqs/?promoid=DRHXH</a></p>

[bobar57]

<p>Not sure as if you need as much as 4GB for photo editing but certainly your computer will run faster under Photoshop with 4GB.<br>

Regarding a good graphic card and saving some money try browsing this store: http://www.tigerdirect.com/<br>

They have good deals and a new computer,even a refurbished one,why not? can cost here less than any other place,they even accept your old one and give you some credit for it,but I don't know if financially is feasible to justify shipping costs.Try it.</p>

<p>RA</p>

[jephotog]

<p>I built my own a few years ago for about $1300. It was a great learning experience and I can now build my own, fix, upgrade any computer so it was worth it. However If you are in the US or a big city I would look to the used market. A 1-2 year old gaming computer should more than cover the needs for photoshop. I recently bought a computer with similar specs but better and newer than my homebuilt one for under $200.</p>

<p>You don't need 4GB of Ram but it is so cheap nowadays might as well go with it. I would get at least 500GB HD, maybe two or more of those for backup mounted in the same computer. Graphic Card is not too demanding for Photoshop. Any AMD X2 4000 or higher CPU should do. I am not sure of the newer AMD available or Pentiums but anything fairly modern and medium to high end should do okay with PS.</p>

[mike_bisom]

<p>Whether Mac or PC I recommend two (or more) distinct hard drives: one for the OS and applications, one for all your media. This will be inherently safer and faster than a single hard drive. Usually, the more Ram the better. In a Windows system, Ram will be limited by your choice of OS and your motherboard (you need a 64-bit OS to take advantage of more than 4GB or RAM). On a Mac system, you are limited by your budget. A Mac Pro can take up to 32GB of Ram. Photoshop will only "see" around 3-4GB of it but will use up to 8GB as scratch. Any decent graphics card will do. I might add that using dual monitors will do more for increasing productivity than anything else I can think of- so a graphics card with dual monitor support might be something to look for. </p>

[Sabin]

<p>Thank you all for the very prompt and helpful answers.<br>

Sorry Matt I should have been a little bit more specific in my request. I was thinking of purchasing an Intel System. An Intel i7 920 processor with about 4GB of RAM and room to upgrade later on. Also I was thinking of running 2 x Nvidia Geforce 9800GT 512MB graphic cards. It might seem like overkill, I was thinking that if I chose a reasonably good package to start with it will save me in the long run, not having to upgrade as often.<br>

Unfortunately Robert I live in Australia and the shipping cost would be a problem as well as the warranty might be lost if the items are purchased overseas.<br>

I do not know a lot about computers, with my last PC I did a lot o research beforehand and picked different parts and had one of the local shops put them togheter for me. That was in 2001 and it has lasted until now with only minor maintenance work. I read a few magazines( with reviews on different PC parts) and looked for good parts( motherboard, graphics card, etc) things that were top of the range maybe 6 months ago and now that new ones have come on the market the prices of this ones have significantly dropped. I do not play to many games on the PC so it will mainly be used for sending and receiving emails, surfing the net and photo editing.<br>

I'm only a novice amateur photographer and I will not be making any money out of photography , it is only a hobby, something I enjoy doing in my spare time. I have never used any of the photoshop CS software packages but I would like to start teaching my self slowly because I have seen some of the work on this site and it is very impresive and inspirational.<br>

Once again thank you all for your suggestions, I realy appreciate it. It has helped a lot.<br>

Kind regards,<br>

Sabin.</p>