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by Aaron Jors on Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:46 pm
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It's about that time for a new desktop computer.  Below are the specs I'm considering.  Any thoughts?  Used mainly for photo work in Photoshop CS6 may upgrade to Photoshop CC at some point.  Currently running a 24" monitor and smaller secondary monitor.  Will upgrade monitors at some point probably to two 27" (on the fence about going 4K or not but likely they will be 4K.)

Intel Core i7-8700K
ASUS TUF Z370 PRO
GeForce GTX 1070 SC
4x - 16GB DDR4 2400 RAM
Samsung 970 EVO 250GB SSD
2x WD Black 4TB Hard drives
Windows 10 PRO 64 bit

One question I have is if 64GB of RAM is needed or if 32GB would suffice.
http://www.aaroncjors.com


Last edited by Aaron Jors on Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

by Richard B. on Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:09 pm
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Aaron,

Here is a link to an article that you may find of interest on building a photoshop computer. It's a couple of years old but it still may be of help. I'm sure others here will add information.

https://photographylife.com/the-ultimat ... aphy-needs

Richard
 

by bradmangas on Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:11 pm
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These questions are always a somewhat obscure proposition to comment on. They are typically based on getting the most for what one can afford. Since you are not mentioning the newest available or the most maxed out available I would say get the most you can afford to get. That being MB, processor, graphics, memory. That along with a quality build by a reputable company.

I am somewhat confused on the 2x 4TB hard drives. My assumption is one will be a working drive and the other a back up to the working drive. If this is the case I would recommend reconsidering how you are doing this. I would not have two hard drives installed with one being the backup. There are much more reliable (albeit possibly more costly) ways of providing backup to a working drive.

One other consideration if needing to find ways to get the best results for your money, don't feel obligated to spend more on a 4k monitor. Since you are going with a PC most things are okay with the PC end and 4k. Though not a critical consideration when producing high quality prints. Mac and Apple 4k monitors on the other hand have known issues due to Apples process of emulation to attempt to achieve 4k, which ends up not actually being 4k and skewing the shown display size to the actual physical size of something like a print. But no need to digress down that track. A good sized color accurate monitor such as you mentioned (27") will be much more advantageous even if it is not 4k. Along with the proper software/hardware calibration system for it. Small pixels are not what you need when editing an image that will be produced as a print on something like a 300 dpi printer.  

Always exciting buying new hardware, have fun.
 

by adamsti on Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:37 pm
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I looked at a bunch of articles trying to pick what I would have built. This is on the test bench now at avadirect.com.

Core V71 Tempered Glass, No PSU, E-ATX, Black, Full Tower Case
ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi), Intel Z390 Chipset, LGA 1151, HDMI, ATX Motherboard
Core™ i7-9700K 8-Core 3.6 - 4.9GHz Turbo, LGA 1151, 95W TDP, Processor
Mild Overclocking, 10-20% Performance Increase
GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING ACX 2.0, 1506 - 1708MHz, 6GB GDDR5, Graphics Card
32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2666MHz, CL16, Grey, DIMM Memory
FOCUS PLUS Gold, 80 PLUS Gold 850W, Fully Modular, ATX Power Supply
MasterAir MA620P, 164.5mm Height, 200W TDP, Copper/Aluminum CPU Cooler
Formula 7, 4g, 8.3 (W/m-K), Nano Diamond, Thermal Compound
1TB MX500 2280, 560 / 510 MB/s, 3D NAND, SATA 6Gb/s, M.2 SSD
3TB BarraCuda ST3000DM008, 7200 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s NCQ, 64MB cache, 3.5-Inch HDD
DRW-24B1ST, DVD 24x / CD 48x, DVD-Writer, 5.25-Inch, Optical Drive
PCE-AC51, Internal, Dual-Band 2.4 / 5GHz, 300 / 433 Mbps, PCI Express 2.0 x1, Wireless Adapter
Standard Wiring with Precision Cable Routing and Tie-Down
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit DVD OEM
http://www.timadamsphotography.com
 

by Richard B. on Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:36 am
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Adamsti:

Pardon me for not knowing the language, but "on the test bench at "avadirect.com" means that this system is being built for you? If that is the case, would you mind indicating a ball park price for the build?

Thanks.

Richard
 

by Phil Shaw on Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:46 am
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Just some quick thoughts.

32Gb of RAM will be fine - if you are doing a lot of large panoramas, then I would go for 64Gb.
I think you should get at least 500Gb SSD for OS, apps, temporary desktop storage etc.
You don't say which motherboard will be used. In some respects, this determines all else, and particularly, the headers available for SSD connections. Presumably the mb has an M.2 header for the Samsung drive, or is this being installed on a PCIe card?
I didn't think WD Black drives were available any more - old stock? The replacements are called WD Gold and have a slightly better spec. Nothing wrong with the Black drives in my experience though, I have a bunch of them and never had a problem.
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by adamsti on Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:43 pm
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Richard B. wrote:Adamsti:

Pardon me for not knowing the language, but "on the test bench at "avadirect.com" means that this system is being built for you? If that is the case, would you mind indicating a ball park price for the build?

Thanks.

Richard
Yes, this is the third system they have built for me. They do burn-in testing, and make sure the overclock is stable before they ship. It is a little over $2,300.
http://www.timadamsphotography.com
 

by Aaron Jors on Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:51 pm
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Phil Shaw wrote:Just some quick thoughts.

32Gb of RAM will be fine - if you are doing a lot of large panoramas, then I would go for 64Gb.
I think you should get at least 500Gb SSD for OS, apps, temporary desktop storage etc.
You don't say which motherboard will be used.  In some respects, this determines all else, and particularly, the headers available for SSD connections.  Presumably the mb has an M.2 header for the Samsung drive, or is this being installed on a PCIe card?
I didn't think WD Black drives were available any more - old stock?  The replacements are called WD Gold and have a slightly better spec.  Nothing wrong with the Black drives in my experience though,  I have a bunch of them and never had a problem.

ASUS TUF Z370 PRO is the motherboard they have speced.  What benefits would there be tot he 500GB SSD?
http://www.aaroncjors.com
 

by adamsti on Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:28 pm
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I have a 250GB SSD on my current system. I have to watch because it tends to fill up fast with temp. files from the internet. It does not leave a ton of room to spare if you have a lot of programs loaded onto it.
http://www.timadamsphotography.com
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Dec 10, 2018 7:55 am
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Without knowing what camera you are using (megapixels) and how you process your photos, and whether or not you do panoramas and any number of other considerations, one can not tell you how much memory is "enough"

The main thing I would consider is an m.2 SSD not a traditional SSD, they are literally 5 to 10 times faster.
 

by Aaron Jors on Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:38 pm
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Thanks everyone for the feedback.
http://www.aaroncjors.com
 

by Aaron Jors on Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:39 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:Without knowing what camera you are using (megapixels) and how you process your photos, and whether or not you do panoramas and any number of other considerations, one can not tell you how much memory is "enough"

The main thing I would consider is an m.2 SSD not a traditional SSD, they are literally 5 to 10 times faster.

I use a Canon EOS 5DSR.  For processing I use Photoshop, Tony Kupers Luminosity Masking Panel alot, a do some panos but not to many.
http://www.aaroncjors.com
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Dec 10, 2018 11:43 pm
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Aaron Jors wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:Without knowing what camera you are using (megapixels) and how you process your photos, and whether or not you do panoramas and any number of other considerations, one can not tell you how much memory is "enough"

The main thing I would consider is an m.2 SSD not a traditional SSD, they are literally 5 to 10 times faster.

I use a Canon EOS 5DSR.  For processing I use Photoshop, Tony Kupers Luminosity Masking Panel alot, a do some panos but not to many.
I'd go with the 64GB if it were me given that usage model.  32GB will work fine but once you get a few apps open things can really slow down with huge files like that.
 

by Brian Stirling on Thu Dec 13, 2018 2:14 am
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Things get even more challenging if you also do video work, particularly 4K video -- especially H.265 4K video. I've been doing more video work the last few years and 4K is a beast to work with requiring the best high-core-count CPU's as well as high dollar GPU's. The practical end of Moore's Law a few years back has made performance increase harder to come by with Intel in particular struggling at 10nm and AMD outselling them.

I'm not sure 64GB is needed or that even with a heavy workload doing panos that 64GB would offer much of an improvement, but it couldn't hurt other than in the pocket book.

I would definitely go with a 4K monitor and if you do go bigger as well -- my current monitor is 32 inches and at 4K it provides a large desktop as well as great detail without having to zoom in really far. And, as EJ said, a good M.2 PCIe based SSD will be much faster than a SATA based SSD which tops out about 550MB/sec whereas M.2 can exceed 3000MB/sec.

Main storage on HD's is a whole kettle of fish that is almost impossible to answer but 4TB would be at the low end with 6TB being mainstream and drives up to 12TB and going to 16TB shortly. But, to keep the price within reason I'd say 6TB is about the sweet spot though you may find a good deal on something a bit bigger. A 50MP camera is going to eat through around 65MB/image in RAW so knowing how many frames per year you expect to keep should give you a ballpark. Having all your drives inside your PC doesn't offer the kind of security that offline storage using externals does and cloud based storage for multi terabytes is not feasible even if you had the bandwidth to upload them -- you'd go through your monthly data caps pretty quickly if uploading by phone using your wireless carrier.


Brian
 

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