What is the best photo editing desktop computer and why?

[Dao]

Why do you care what we think? You already got the Apple. If you're not happy with it, return it. If you're happy with it, keep it. The post processing programs are what do the hard work. Why are you hung up on the sleek design and technical aspects? Those are not going to improve anything, especially your pictures.

Anytime I have a question I ask.
Thank you for participation and your prompt response

I am with Alan. I do not think there is a "best photo editing desktop computer" but I am sure there maybe one for you based on your personal preferences and criteria.

 

[sm4him]

At work, I have a 27" iMac, with pretty much top-of-the-line specs. It's sleek, and beautiful, and it has that awesome little apple icon on it.

At home, I have a refurb hp desktop, Core i5 processor, only 8gb RAM (note to self: Self, get eldest to add RAM), 1 TB hard drive. It is neither especially sleek nor beautiful, and there is a distinct lack of hipster-worthy icons on it. It's paired with an even less sleek and less cool 21" monitor from Sansui, some old thing my music minister found in a storage closet at church and gave to me.

I also have a new laptop (home) and an insanely old PC (work), but I don't do photo editing on those.

Which do I prefer? The one I'm sitting in front of at the time. Honestly, the difference is just not ALL that significant to me. The biggest difference is the monitor size, and while I'd love to add a larger monitor at home, my current desk space wouldn't allow anything bigger anyway.

I've used Macs and PCs in combination at work for many years now. I don't honestly have a strong preference for one over the other. I tend to stick with PCs at home for the simple reason that I don't really like paying the "shiny tax" on Macs.

 

[chuasam]

Here is my computer i am on now it will slaughter most any other computer.

Nitpicky here:

You have a 5.1 surround sound system. Your rear left and rear right speakers are pretty much parallel to your front left and front right speakers. Your front right and your front left speakers are too close to your center speaker. Ahhh! Pointless!!

Nitpick here too.
The room is too bright to really get much photo editing done and the monitors need hoods. Where's the graphics tablet?
Must be a really humid environment from the water grabbers on the floor.

 

[Scatterbrained]

...and there's no tablet. Everyone knows if you're doing serious editing work you need a Wacom tablet.

 

[snerd]

Nitpick here too. The room is too bright to really get much photo editing done and the monitors need hoods.......

Okay, explain, please. Too bright? And what's a monitor hood?

 

[Scatterbrained]

Op, if you want a serious editing machine you can go two routes, build a custom machine with Windows (7) or spec out a Mac Pro. Personally, I went the Windows route. I've never jived with Apple and their need to utterly control everything, hence I stick with Windows. I'm running an AMD machine, with a 1090T processor, 16GB ram, SSD drives, etc. I've never had an issue with speed on my machine running Lr or Ps. Just bear in mind that there is more to a good editing station than the tower (though that's important) : good monitor (I had a 27" iMac and wasn't exactly happy with the glossy screen) that is calibrated properly, a proper viewing environment, a quality graphics tablet like a Wacom Intuos, a good external storage solution for your images, a backup system for your files, a comfortable chair, and quality beverages. Personally, I use an NEC PA241W monitor with a Wacom Intuos Pro medium tablet, and I use an array of LaCie 2Big Quadra RAID drives to store all of my files on. I have a Samsung 840 Pro SSD for my software (C Drive) and another for scratch/temp/page files. I use a Spyder3Elite calibrator for the monitor. For the most part everything runs "real time" in Lr and Ps with the exception of some more complex filters in Ps. It definitely is faster than my old i7 iMac.

Whether you decide to stick with Mac or build a custom PC, expect to spend some coin on a serious machine. Or just stick it out with the iMac and find a way to make it work.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Nitpick here too. The room is too bright to really get much photo editing done and the monitors need hoods.......

Okay, explain, please. Too bright? And what's a monitor hood?

One, you should edit in a darkened room, preferable with the monitor brightness turned down. Most consumer monitors come set up with retina burning brightness out of the box. Of course when you set the brightness where it should be now it looks dim in the well lit room.
A monitor hood is a shroud for the monitor to prevent glare, reflection, and general contamination from external light sources from effecting the appearance of the screen. A decent hood will set you back about $100-$160.