Posted by Dwight Folts on July 31, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I just read the message posted by Becky Wolfe on 03/27/06 at 2:12 pm EST.
It has been 3-years since her post. So perhaps you are willing to revisit?
I too am looking at kits to buy to upgrade a 6-year old Dell system that has performed well but needs to be replaced as I process more and more RAW files in Photoshop... I'm sure you all know the drill.
We can choose from AMD or Intel dual and quad core processors. Does anyone know if Photoshop takes advantage of these multiprocessor systems?
Do any of you use these processors and do they give good result?
Any recommendations or processors to avoid would be appreciated.
Also, what video cards are recommended or should be avoided??
If you have Photoshop CS4 you can run the 64 bit version which will take advantage of all processors on some tasks. I dont think it is 100% supported yet but sure it will be in the next version. Obviously you need a 64 bit operating system such as Vista 64 to do this though. I'd *highly* recommend going 64 bit - you'll see an obvious improvement in performance. I've been running Photoshop CS4 64bit for months and found it rock solid and extremely fast. Ideally make sure you have 8gb of ram or more.
Yes, PS CS4 is 64-bit native and Tristan's right, you do want to go that route for speed. Also, CS4 FINALLY leverages the video card, and you should see how well that works! Instead of having to view an image at 25/50/75/100%, you can view it at ANY percentage and the image isn't pixelated.
I'll list the rig I just built solely for Photoshop and Premiere CS4 (I use that to edit 5D Mark II video). You can always get a $499 PC from Dell or HP, but it's usually integrated video and hard to upgrade, and speedwise will become out of date fairly quickly. However, we all don't have big budgets for hardware of course, but if you CAN make the investment in a serious gamer rig, your PC will outlast the next few versions of Photoshop. Off the rack you can spend $2500 for a rig like that, but I recently built one for under $1300. It's so fast I'm still blown away. Here's what I got so you have an idea in case you decide to go down this road. It wasn't hard to build at all... prices I paid are after mail-in rebates, etc:
Processor: Intel i7 920 - $212 at Micro Center
Motherboard: EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 - $265 at Newegg.com
RAM: Two 6GB kits of Patriot RAM, 12GB total (#PVT36G1600ELK), $59.99 each at Amazon
Video: EVGA GTX 260 Core 216, $155 at Newegg. Unless you do gaming, you do NOT need two of these for SLI mode, neither Photoshop nor Premiere leverage SLI.
Hard drive: Western Digital 300GB 10K RPM Raptor, $189.99 at Newegg. (WHAT?? Nearly $200 for a 300GB hard drive??) YEP, the 10K RPM is worth every penny. Install your OS and Adobe suite on there.
I would suggest a 2nd drive for holding your media and other files, and as the scratch disk. The 1TB Western Digital Black series is a good one, and it's under $100.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W-TX, $115 at Amazon. 850w is plenty of power with room to grow.
Case: Here's where I went nuts... I bought the gigantic Antec 1200, enough room for all the components and part of a station wagon. Has several fans and room to work when building. You can go cheaper obviously, this thing on SALE at Newegg is $159. It's huge, reminds me of the monoliths in 2010 Space Odyssey.
I added in a cheap DVD burner and Card reader for under $35 total.
If you don't overclock, the stock cooler is fine. Otherwise you'll need something better, like the Coolermaster V8, etc. Add about $75 for that.
Lastly, I haven't purchased an OS yet because I'm using Windows 7 64-bit Release Candidate. You should get on Microsoft's site and download that TODAY, but hurry, the download ends soon! Just grab it now while you can. It's the OS that Vista should have been; I've been on 7 for two months... flawless! The real version hits the stores in October, but the RC version is good until March of next year. And best of all, it's FREE. This is a first for Microsoft... releasing a pre-sale version of their OS that's basically ready for retail. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance, don't miss it! You can easily find the download on the Microsoft site. The gamer community has adopted this new OS like crazy, it is VERY well done, stable is an understatement. DON'T GET VISTA 64 BIT, use 7RC for now then get the real version in October. I guaratee you won't be disappointed.
I would probably do things a little differently, but close to what Paul has put together, which, btw is a very impressive system.
Instead of using a WD 300 gb boot drive, I would go a little smaller and get an Intel X25E SSD (solid state drive). They are available in up to 160 gb capacity, and anywhere from 15x to 30x faster than a Cheetah hard drive. They can transfer data at the rate of 250 mb/s and have a .1ms access time, compared to a Cheetah's 5.7ms time. While a fast SAS is still king on streaming continuous writes and reads, as far as the type of data access you need for Photoshop the SSD is definitely faster. Typically, a high performance workstation would be set up similar to a server - with three or more physical hard drives (or drive systems) - one for the OS, one for software and pagefile, and one for data. Typically the OS and program drives are smaller, usually in the 80-160 gb range, and the data is as big as you can fit or afford. Cheap 1 tb or bigger drives abound, but they also fail at alarming rates - which is why I would suggest at the very minimum a mirrored pair, or better yet, a three drive (or more) RAID array with parity, so that should a drive fail, your data is intact on the remaining drives. Otherwise, the rest of the configuration Paul suggests is top shelf and they way it should be done.
A second display with a second display adapter is always a nice addition, however.
Posted by Dwight Folts on August 2, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Thanks to all of you!!! Really good suggestions, especially the 64-bit OS and Windows 7. I have heard good things about W7 and wanted to skip Vista anyway... I've benn usings windows since 1.0... and Vista just did not cut it in so many ways.
Solid state drive sounds great but $$ may be a imiting factor. I'll see.
One thing I just remembered - add extra cooling - most motherboards have provision for it - your system will last longer, especially the hard drives and memory.
Posted by Scott Nelson on September 2, 2009 at 2:46 AM
I have been running CS4 and Vista 64 bit for quite a while in my Intel Q9300 machine, and I have been very happy with the performance with it. The ONLY down side to running Photoshop CS4 using the 64 bit version to keep in mind; there are a very limited amount of plugins that are compatible with the 64 bit version. The saving grace is that the 32 bit version gets installed as well as the 64 bit, and the plugins I use are compatible with the 32 bit.
I understand that the plug in mfg's are "feveriously" working on making them compatible wit PS64 bit, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll expect something around the time the next rev of PS comes out.
Discussion
6 repliesIt has been 3-years since her post. So perhaps you are willing to revisit?
I too am looking at kits to buy to upgrade a 6-year old Dell system that has performed well but needs to be replaced as I process more and more RAW files in Photoshop... I'm sure you all know the drill.
We can choose from AMD or Intel dual and quad core processors. Does anyone know if Photoshop takes advantage of these multiprocessor systems?
Do any of you use these processors and do they give good result?
Any recommendations or processors to avoid would be appreciated.
Also, what video cards are recommended or should be avoided??
Thanks!!!
Dwight Folts
I'll list the rig I just built solely for Photoshop and Premiere CS4 (I use that to edit 5D Mark II video). You can always get a $499 PC from Dell or HP, but it's usually integrated video and hard to upgrade, and speedwise will become out of date fairly quickly. However, we all don't have big budgets for hardware of course, but if you CAN make the investment in a serious gamer rig, your PC will outlast the next few versions of Photoshop. Off the rack you can spend $2500 for a rig like that, but I recently built one for under $1300. It's so fast I'm still blown away. Here's what I got so you have an idea in case you decide to go down this road. It wasn't hard to build at all... prices I paid are after mail-in rebates, etc:
Processor: Intel i7 920 - $212 at Micro Center
Motherboard: EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 - $265 at Newegg.com
RAM: Two 6GB kits of Patriot RAM, 12GB total (#PVT36G1600ELK), $59.99 each at Amazon
Video: EVGA GTX 260 Core 216, $155 at Newegg. Unless you do gaming, you do NOT need two of these for SLI mode, neither Photoshop nor Premiere leverage SLI.
Hard drive: Western Digital 300GB 10K RPM Raptor, $189.99 at Newegg. (WHAT?? Nearly $200 for a 300GB hard drive??) YEP, the 10K RPM is worth every penny. Install your OS and Adobe suite on there.
I would suggest a 2nd drive for holding your media and other files, and as the scratch disk. The 1TB Western Digital Black series is a good one, and it's under $100.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W-TX, $115 at Amazon. 850w is plenty of power with room to grow.
Case: Here's where I went nuts... I bought the gigantic Antec 1200, enough room for all the components and part of a station wagon. Has several fans and room to work when building. You can go cheaper obviously, this thing on SALE at Newegg is $159. It's huge, reminds me of the monoliths in 2010 Space Odyssey.
I added in a cheap DVD burner and Card reader for under $35 total.
If you don't overclock, the stock cooler is fine. Otherwise you'll need something better, like the Coolermaster V8, etc. Add about $75 for that.
Lastly, I haven't purchased an OS yet because I'm using Windows 7 64-bit Release Candidate. You should get on Microsoft's site and download that TODAY, but hurry, the download ends soon! Just grab it now while you can. It's the OS that Vista should have been; I've been on 7 for two months... flawless! The real version hits the stores in October, but the RC version is good until March of next year. And best of all, it's FREE. This is a first for Microsoft... releasing a pre-sale version of their OS that's basically ready for retail. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance, don't miss it! You can easily find the download on the Microsoft site. The gamer community has adopted this new OS like crazy, it is VERY well done, stable is an understatement. DON'T GET VISTA 64 BIT, use 7RC for now then get the real version in October. I guaratee you won't be disappointed.
Have fun!
Instead of using a WD 300 gb boot drive, I would go a little smaller and get an Intel X25E SSD (solid state drive). They are available in up to 160 gb capacity, and anywhere from 15x to 30x faster than a Cheetah hard drive. They can transfer data at the rate of 250 mb/s and have a .1ms access time, compared to a Cheetah's 5.7ms time. While a fast SAS is still king on streaming continuous writes and reads, as far as the type of data access you need for Photoshop the SSD is definitely faster. Typically, a high performance workstation would be set up similar to a server - with three or more physical hard drives (or drive systems) - one for the OS, one for software and pagefile, and one for data. Typically the OS and program drives are smaller, usually in the 80-160 gb range, and the data is as big as you can fit or afford. Cheap 1 tb or bigger drives abound, but they also fail at alarming rates - which is why I would suggest at the very minimum a mirrored pair, or better yet, a three drive (or more) RAID array with parity, so that should a drive fail, your data is intact on the remaining drives. Otherwise, the rest of the configuration Paul suggests is top shelf and they way it should be done.
A second display with a second display adapter is always a nice addition, however.
Solid state drive sounds great but $$ may be a imiting factor. I'll see.
I understand that the plug in mfg's are "feveriously" working on making them compatible wit PS64 bit, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll expect something around the time the next rev of PS comes out.