Thoughts on a spec for Photo Editing?

PhotoNewbie

New member
Hi all,

I use a laptop for WFH (excel, wordpress mostly and some photoshop work), and photoediting in my down time.
I've got three questions for anyone able to help - 1, thoughts on the spec, 2, a variation, and 3, storage.

My priorities are get as much RAM as possible and keep the budget down at same time.

Thanks in advance!

1 The Spec:

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Get Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
500GB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Cosmos VII Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)

2. I was considering lowering spec somewhat to opt for i5 Processor and MX150 graphics card - I'm not a heavy user, so think this might suffice?

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 8300H (2.3GHz, 4.0GHz Turbo)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

3. I've no idea what storage requirements I'd need, is one SSD enough?

Thanks for looking it over and any input is welcome!
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
500GB of storage isn't a great lot these days, especially if you're talking about editing high-res photos. The 5400rpm hard drive you've selected is slow, you'll notice an improvement going to the 7200rpm drive.

TBH, if you can afford it, you'd be much happier with an M.2 SSD for Windows and programs - 128GB at a pinch, but 256GB should be ample - and a SATA hard drive (7200rpm) for your user data - go for 1TB if you can afford it.

With an M.2 SSD you have a choice of the cheaper NAND SSDs or a much faster and more expensive NVMe SSD. It's really down to your budget but an NVMe M.2 SSD will make Windows very snappy, though a basic NAND M.2 SSD will be way better than running Windows on a hard drive.

For the uses you describe I'd go for the cheapest graphics card you can, the on-board GPU will be fine IMO.
 

PhotoNewbie

New member
Thanks for reply.

Storage is one area I dont know the intricacies so appreciate the advice.

What about this?

Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 630 - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3210MB/sR | 1315MB/sW)

Thanks
 

Tony1044

Prolific Poster
Thanks for reply.

Storage is one area I dont know the intricacies so appreciate the advice.

What about this?

Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 630 - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3210MB/sR | 1315MB/sW)

Thanks

What do you use to edit your photos?
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Thanks for reply.

Storage is one area I dont know the intricacies so appreciate the advice.

What about this?

Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 630 - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3210MB/sR | 1315MB/sW)

Thanks

That looks ideal for your needs to me. :)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Does lightroom benefit from a dGPU? In which case the GTX 1050 would be worth it, since unlike a desktop you can't add one in later. Other adobe CC software would certainly benefit.

Also the WD Black SSD seems to be the same price as the Intel 760p, and it's faster, so I'd go with that instead.
 
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