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I've got a mid 2011 27" iMac that is still zipping along nicely - since I do just about everything on my laptop other than work requiring a large monitor. It has 8GB RAM 1333 MHz DDR 3 and a 3.4 GHz i7 Intel processor ADM Radeon HD Graphics Card, and dual hard drives, a 251GB Intel 6 SSD and an Intel 6 1TB HDD. That SDD was pricey at the time but best decision I ever made. Anyway, I'm thinking of upgrading to a 24MP camera so much larger RAW files and wondering if I should get two more 4GB RAM cards (or whatever they are called) to fill in the two empty slots and upgrade it to the max 16GB RAM. It looks fairly easy to do. Will I see a big increase in processing speed and is a machine this old worth upgrading? I'd love thoughts from the tech minded and anyone else who has done this sort of thing before. I believe all the other components are conducive to the max speed I can get from this machine, and it was designed to take up to 16GB RAM. I run my LR catalog off the HDD (the SDD is too small) and have a 4TB (soon to be replaced by a 6TB) external drive for my photos attached via thunderbolt cable - v 1.0. Has been fast though working on my 500GB SSD MacBook Pro with 8 GB RAM and a 2.8 GHz Intel i7 is a bit faster - the RAM on that is 1600 MHz - so thinking the SSD and the faster RAM both help but I'm really clueless as to what does what and I read conflicting things on the Internet, so pro advice is welcome. Any thoughts on how I'm running my LR catalog welcome too. Thanks much!

I'm looking to buy a new desktop PC (definitely PC - although I like Macs as much as PCs, for a number of pragmatic reasons this one has to be a PC, and also not an all-in-one). What is current thinking on specs? My photo workflow mainly involves Lightroom, but I also use Photoshop and various plugins. While working on images, I usually have a considerable number of browser tabs, word docs, etc open at the same time. I already have a screen. In the past, I've always had machines custom-built in local shops. However, due to early problems with my current machine which the shop didn't resolve well, and the fact that such shops seem to be going out of business at a fast rate, I'll probably go with one of the mainstream brands (eg Lenovo, HP, Dell) this time to get a good solid warranty, despite them being more expensive than local builds. I'll spend whatever it takes to get a decent machine and am aiming for something reasonably future-proof without going over the top. I'd love to hear any helpful suggestions, recommendations and/or experiences, but I have some specific questions as well: Are there any pitfalls in buying mainstream brands? For example, do non-standard cases mean that future expansion is more difficult? And would adding an extra HDD or more memory (things I'm used to doing myself) invalidate the warranty anyway? I get the impression that it's a good idea to put the OS, programs and Lightroom catalogue plus previews on an SDD. But do people find 256GB enough, or is it better to go to the (considerable) expense of 512GB? More RAM is better, I know, and I'm thinking of getting at least 24GB, but does the law of diminishing returns kick in beyond that? Is there a noticeable difference between, say 24GB and 32GB? Many thanks in advance!! David.