Adobe Photoshop editing PC

[Kevin Goodchild]

Hi guys,

just wanted to get some thoughts on this spec for a photo editing PC, it will be 99% used for photo editing 1% for video. As I understand Ram is key for Adobe, but not so much for a graphics card. so I have come up with this based on my budget of £1.500

Case	PCS P209 ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-11700K (3.6GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard	ASUS® TUF GAMING B560-PLUS WIFI: ATX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)	32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card	8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive	512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive	4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader	USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply	CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable	1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste	STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card	10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card	NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options	MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media	Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software	FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus	NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser	Google Chrome™
Warranty	3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time	Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days

Pricing Information
Price (Ex VAT)	£1,209.17
Price	£1,451.00

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't recommend that build at all. It's on an old/outdated platform and you have sacrificed many crucial areas in order to reach for the headline components. The case, Motherboard, PSU & cooling are all way below par for me.

To have similar performance, but with a modern offering & proper foundation, would take a bit more budget.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,637.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/n9CP607jQ6/

 

[Aza]

I'd avoid the gen 11 Intel chips, in a bizarre twist of fate they were generally worse than 10th gen...
Id also urge caution with the PCS cases.... A very good budget case is the Lancool 215

Some things to consider, if you have a copy of windows already that can be transferred (if retiring an old system for example) and also storage.
I know with video editing I benefit from having a scratch drive, but I only have 16GB RAM so it may not be as useful with 32GB

Are you able to post your configuration link?
On the page you copied across, just below is a button for "post to forums" which reformats and includes a link to the build, its very useful for suggesting alternative builds.

Have you also considered AMD CPU's on your budget?

 

[Aza]

.... I type too slow...

 

[Aza]

Video editing benefits from multithreading, from what I understand, photo editing not so much.
Think resolution plays a big part in it as well... I can quite happily do video editing on my system and biggest boost for me would be to increase to 32GB RAM (which is on the cards, but editing is a hobby, not main use)
In terms of cores... its also dependent on software...some prefer 6, some prefer 8... Premiere pro is one that prefers 8 if I remember...been a while since I looked at that stuff.

Im running a 3800XT, and I play with 1440p video (not 4K though)

 

[Kevin Goodchild]

thanks guys really appreciate it,
again as I understand from various youtube vids photoshop does like to use cores, hence going for 8, Scott you have chosen a 10 core i5, is that a weigh-up between more core against older generation i5 ?

 

[Scott]

thanks guys really appreciate it,
again as I understand from various youtube vids photoshop does like to use cores, hence going for 8, Scott you have chosen a 10 core i5, is that a weigh-up between more core against older generation i5 ?

The 10 cores aren't performance cores. It's made up of 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores.

Photoshop won't make a lot of use of multi-core, it more relies on higher frequency which the 12600k is perfect for. Video rendering will use as many cores as you can throw at it. Similar with the GPU, I selected the 2060 due to having way more tensor & RT cores, over the 3050.

 

[Kevin Goodchild]

Thanks once again, great insight and much apprecaited.