Anyone build their own Photo Editing PC?

tenthumbs · Mar 14, 2018

I've had an iMac for several years and it's no longer reasonably capable of processing Lightroom/Photoshop processes. After pricing the latest iMac's, I just don't wish to go down that path anymore. Truth be told Apple pisses me off but that's another thread.

Has anyone put together their own photo editing PC recently? I've have googled this topic but the info varies so much I figured I would ask here. Cost is certainly a concern but I would rather drop $2500 bucks on a PC I can upgrade myself than an iMac.

Thanks!

Vtec44 · Mar 14, 2018

Not recently but I built my computer about 4 years ago for photo editing. I'm still using the same computer but the storage went from 4TB to 38TB

jcdeboever · Mar 14, 2018

tenthumbs said:
I've had an iMac for several years and it's no longer reasonably capable of processing Lightroom/Photoshop processes. After pricing the latest iMac's, I just don't wish to go down that path anymore. Truth be told Apple pisses me off but that's another thread.

Has anyone put together their own photo editing PC recently? I've have googled this topic but the info varies so much I figured I would ask here. Cost is certainly a concern but I would rather drop $2500 bucks on a PC I can upgrade myself than an iMac.

Thanks!

You don't need to spend anywhere near that. I5 quad core, 16 gb corsair ddr4 vengeance ram, 500gb samsung evo 850 ssd drive for Windows 10 64 bit, 2 to 4tb western digital black drive for storage, rosewill capstone 650w power supply, aft internal card reader, antec three hundred two case, ASUS Prime Z370-P LGA 1151 motherboard.

480sparky · Mar 14, 2018

I did. About 9 years ago. So the specs are meaningless as I doubt you could even find hardware that ancient.

smoke665 · Mar 14, 2018

jcdeboever said:
You don't need to spend anywhere near that. I5 quad core, 16 gb corsair ddr4 vengeance ram, 500gb samsung evo 850 ssd drive for Windows 10 64 bit, 2 to 4tb western digital black drive for storage, rosewill capstone 650w power supply, aft internal card reader, antec three hundred two case, ASUS Prime Z370-P LGA 1151 motherboard.

Seems like I read somewhere that the useful lifespan on a computer is about 4 years. Cost wise how does buying a bare bones model and upgrading it compare.

jcdeboever · Mar 14, 2018

smoke665 said:
jcdeboever said:

You don't need to spend anywhere near that. I5 quad core, 16 gb corsair ddr4 vengeance ram, 500gb samsung evo 850 ssd drive for Windows 10 64 bit, 2 to 4tb western digital black drive for storage, rosewill capstone 650w power supply, aft internal card reader, antec three hundred two case, ASUS Prime Z370-P LGA 1151 motherboard.

Click to expand...

Seems like I read somewhere that the useful lifespan on a computer is about 4 years. Cost wise how does buying a bare bones model and upgrading it compare.

No comparison. This is high quality hardware that should offer 8 -10 years service. I still work on computers I built in 94. Not very often these days but I still have a few legacy systems out there that are software dependent and frugal owners.

For quality hardware, this would be less money, to build themselves.

jcdeboever · Mar 14, 2018

480sparky said:
I did. About 9 years ago. So the specs are meaningless as I doubt you could even find hardware that ancient.

I agree. I just put together a new PC out of old, new stock. 2nd or 3rd generation Xeon CPU.

pip_dog · Mar 14, 2018

$2500 would build you a total overkill, kickbutt, make all your friends drool over it computer. I spent ~$800 building my computer about 4.5 years ago, it is geared towards playing video games but runs all the adobe products I use (photoshop, lightroom, premiere, and after effects) like a dream. If you spent $1000-1500 on the PC itself and some of the rest on nice monitors, peripherals, etc then you'd have a super kickin' setup that can always be upgraded when needed. Also, pc component websites tend to have really good deals every so often so I'd look out for those.

jcdeboever · Mar 14, 2018

I could spec you a system even less. this spec I gave should hold you for 10 years. The power supply I recommend is really a super flower power supply manufactured in china. It is amazingly well built. I could spec at most price ranges but I cut the line on quality. I understand hardware.

Personally, I would recommend a current MAC. I understand you may be troubled by the experience but they use high quality hardware and demand us programmers to be like God when we are writing drivers. I am not an advocate of any operating system, just hardware. I write great drivers and they are never ported to windows, just apple.

tenthumbs · Mar 14, 2018

Thank you! This is all very helpful information that I will use.

ac12 · Mar 15, 2018

I did, kinda.
But you can get a LOT of horsepower in some of the preconfigured PCs. So for a LOT of things, it no longer makes $$ sense to DIY.
A lot of the specing depends on all the other stuff you do on the computer and how everything loads the computer.
I used a used Dell Optiplex as my base platform.

CPU, here you want the FASTEST quad core you can afford, for the image processing.
- The CPU may be upgradable, but it could be expensive. So accept the pain once, and get the computer with a FAST CPU.
- If you are unlucky, you will not be able to upgrade the CPU.
- Laptops/notebook computers are DIFFICULT to upgrade the CPU, because of the difficulty to disassemble the laptop, to get to the CPU. So again, get it with the FASTEST CPU you can.
- As technology advances, computers with more than 4 cores will be available.
RAM, 8 to 32GB.
- I have 23GB (max 32GB), but have never used more than 16GB, for anything.
- RAM usage is hard to predict. I've had my browser with many windows open, using 4-6GB of RAM. Close the browser, and I get 4-6GB back.
- I would go 16GB, and leave memory slots open for expansion later.
HD, SSD or 7k or 10k rpm drive.
- My system drive is on the SSD, my data files on a 2TB 7k rpm drive.
- SSD is nice, to load the OS and programs fast, but IMHO you really don't need it. The issue is, a SSD as the system drive will require a custom PC or a rebuild of the preconfigured PC. I only know of SSDs factory installed in notebook/laptops, not desktops (but I have not been shopping recently).
video. I use the on-board video. It is good enough for me.
USB3 interface
- For connection to a USB3 card reader. I've seen the read from the card at over 100MB/sec. So when you have a LOT of files on the card, a FAST interface reduces the data copy time.
- For connection of a USB3 external hard drive, for backup.
Network interface, GigaBit.
- I think most computers today have GigaBit network interface.
- This allows you to use a Network Attached Storeage device (NAS) to store files on, and transfer to it FAST.

sergezap · Mar 15, 2018

All my PCs were built by myself.
Lightroom performance sucks on any PC systems because of some legacy components poor programming.
Trying to solve this problem by increasing your PC power and price it's a ridiculous imho. The cost-benefit ratio is inconsistent.

1 & 2 - The first 2 basic things you need - a good big serious gorgeous MONITOR! And a monitor CALIBRATOR. Not a fastest CPU, not a bag of RAM, not a $over9000 GPU. If you don't have a good calibrated monitor there is no sense at all.

3 - Good PC case with solid power supply. 600W-650W will be ok.
4 - SSD for your system and soft installation. SSD RAID 1 is a good idea.
5 - Fast HDD for your working files. Smthg like a WD Black series.
6 - Slow but reliable HDD (or NAS) for your archive. Smthg like a WD Red series.
7. RAM - 16GB is a reasonable minimum.
8. Solid motherboard. I do prefer Gigabyte.
9. GPU - at least a GTX 1050 ti. GTX 1060 is highly recommended.
10. CPU - anything from core i7 4790 is enough. It's a quite old LGA1150. I suggest smthng newer, but it's a good point for comparison.

Don't buy a computer hardware for a future tasks.
Don't buy the latest hardware. It's doesn't full supported by the software you are using now. You will not get any benefits from your additional spending.

Overread · Mar 15, 2018

Few thoughts

1) Some prebuilt machines are cheaper than home built at present, mostly if you are putting higher end graphics cards into them because dataminers are gobbling up the graphics card stock (for bit coins and such until that bubble bursts). Now for photo editing you won't need a beast of a graphics card, but it might be something you read of in your research.

2) Pick parts. Build your PC. Compare and share. - PCPartPicker United Kingdom
That site has regional websites so just change the country to suit your needs. Lets you pick out component and build a pc up from scratch and also has nifty links to most major online retailers worth considering. I used it when building as it makes it a lot easier to sort things out and share the build with others for advice

3) Data storage wise you ideally want
a) SSD (Solid State Drive) for the operating system (windows) and also for installing lightroom/photoshop and other software onto. SSD drives are much faster than regular harddrives and thus putting software onto them really helps with the loading speed of that software. They are not generally used for data storage as much because they cost more than regular harddrives for the same volume.

b) At least 2TB if not larger regular harddrives. These will be for storing your photos on.
With your budget chances are that you can not only afford several drives, but you could easily purchase and setup your own backup drives as well. So that your data is mirrored and thus reducing the chances of losing it. External drives are often advised for this as they are separate from your main computer and thus can be unplugged except when you are backing the data up.
Data backup is its own topic and there are a few ways you can do this from simply mirroring the drives to RAID setups.

4) When it comes to the case/tower that the computer goes into get a large/fullsize tower. It's going to sit on the floor under the desk anyway so larger won't be a problem (unless you live in a very tiny flat) and the other bonus is that a larger case not only has more room inside it for more harddrives and such; but also makes it a lot easier to put everything together.
Smaller cases can often be trickier because there's less room to move everything around inside.

5) Are there any other uses, besides photography, for the computer. In general a good end photography capable PC is going to run most of your bog-standard software without any issues; but if you are into music making, gaming, software work or other such hobbies/work/interests then you might have reason to consider a more powerful graphics card.

jcdeboever · Mar 15, 2018

People may be surprised by my choice in power supply but many people don't know that model is made by super flower. They are very high quality and reasonable in cost. Seasonic gold power supplies are excellent as well. The biggest mistake people make when building their own computer is that they go cheap on the power supply, which is a huge mistake. Mother boards are tricky as well, most manufacturers cheap out around the VRM area, That is what controls the voltages. I have looked at many store bought P c's throughout the years and I can tell you these or all manufacturers are using the cheapest components that they can find. Good vantage to building your own is you are able to select high quality components That will outlast OEM by many years.