Mark Baigent Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Hi all I need to upgrade my steam driven PC to something that can cope with modern photoshop/lightroom. A desktop system. I have a budget of £1,700 to £2,000, Any suggestions for an off the shelf system? Not Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I have a Lenovo that has 12GB of RAM, (expandble to 32GB) 2 TB hard drive, fast processor (would have to look it up). Paid $600 Cdn for it 2 years ago and it works great with PS. And I can have 3 or 4 programs running at the same time. If you get an SSDrive it would be even faster and the drive would last for ages. You don't have to spend a fortune any more. Do spend on the monitor though. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 25 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said: I have a Lenovo that has 12GB of RAM, (expandble to 32GB) 2 TB hard drive, fast processor (would have to look it up). Paid $600 Cdn for it 2 years ago and it works great with PS. And I can have 3 or 4 programs running at the same time. If you get an SSDrive it would be even faster and the drive would last for ages. You don't have to spend a fortune any more. Do spend on the monitor though. Jill I agree. No need to spend a lot of money on a PC these days (which is why I stick with them). That said, I'm about due for an upgrade when finances permit. Shall have a look at Lenovo. BTW, what monitor do you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 For half that money I can pick up an off the shelf gaming computer that will handle VR headsets so will more than handle photoshop. However, my suggestion with that budget is asking around your mates and see if there is someone close to you who builds machines from components then work with the builder to come up with the exact machine you need and build it from components. It did use to be cheaper to do that now it is not (my desktop is 4 years old - could not build it for the price it cost me then and it is still comfortably above minimum spec now) however there are definite advantages to building a machine from scratch - you may not need the hi-speed 3d rendering capabilities of a gaming machine but could use higher levels of RAM and/or an SSD. You can also future proof better - you can take a rough guess at which way photoshop and cameras are going and make sure the machine will still handle it in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 minute ago, John Mitchell said: I agree. No need to spend a lot of money on a PC these days (which is why I stick with them). That said, I'm about due for an upgrade when finances permit. Shall have a look at Lenovo. BTW, what monitor do you use? It's a 27" LG. I love it. I also have a 24" Huion IPS monitor that I use for doing graphics work. It is a great monitor as well, but I do the photography on the LG. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inchiquin Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I've just had a new hi-spec desktop built for me by a friend (I usually build my own but he offered). It's for photography, video and music production so it needed to be high performance. It cost me less than £750 and it flies. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Hi Mark, I can put you in touch with one of our suppliers. Every so often they have an absolute bargain on new Dell desktops with a very high spec. I got an I7, 32gb ram, 512gb SSD hard drive ( you could fit another internal drive, or use a NAS for storage ). Way lower in price than your budget. ON their stock list at the moment they have an i7, 16gb ( which you could add to ) 256gb SSD drive + a 1Tb hard drive and a 2Gb graphics card ( although not sure which one ). 3 year on-site warranty for < £700 . Alternatively go have a look at Dell factory products, again they quite often have more ram in as standard and less price than if you configured one up as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Baigent Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 15 hours ago, Jill Morgan said: I have a Lenovo that has 12GB of RAM, (expandble to 32GB) 2 TB hard drive, fast processor (would have to look it up). Paid $600 Cdn for it 2 years ago and it works great with PS. And I can have 3 or 4 programs running at the same time. If you get an SSDrive it would be even faster and the drive would last for ages. You don't have to spend a fortune any more. Do spend on the monitor though. Jill Thanks Jill, the Lenovo range looks good. I guess my next question will be about monitors :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Baigent Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 2 hours ago, David Pimborough said: I added two RAM cards (8GB) and an extra 2 terabyte Toshiba hard drive to my 2013 PC all for £160 (parts from Amazon) Took 30 minutes to install and the PC can happily handle Lightroom and Photoshop plus other programs. As long as the processor is a good one just upgrade parts its cheaper and saves having to transfer programs and data files. Thanks David, that is an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Baigent Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Simon said: Hi Mark, I can put you in touch with one of our suppliers. Every so often they have an absolute bargain on new Dell desktops with a very high spec. I got an I7, 32gb ram, 512gb SSD hard drive ( you could fit another internal drive, or use a NAS for storage ). Way lower in price than your budget. ON their stock list at the moment they have an i7, 16gb ( which you could add to ) 256gb SSD drive + a 1Tb hard drive and a 2Gb graphics card ( although not sure which one ). 3 year on-site warranty for < £700 . Alternatively go have a look at Dell factory products, again they quite often have more ram in as standard and less price than if you configured one up as usual. It would be interesting to see where you got that :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 3 hours ago, Mark Baigent said: Thanks Jill, the Lenovo range looks good. I guess my next question will be about monitors :-) I recommend a wide gamut 27 inch Eizo for excellence. They are expensive and would put you well over budget even if you were to save a lot on your computer but they are really worth the money as everything about them is truly excellent - build quality, image quality, even appearance. If that is out of your price range then the wide gamut BenQ SW2700PT 27 Inch is very good for the price. I see a lot of photographers spend lots on camera gear, lenses and even computers and then skimp on the monitor. Given that many (probably most) don't even print their work any more, they are never going to see it at its best or anywhere near its best. A beautiful matte monitor really makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 2 hours ago, MDM said: I recommend a wide gamut 27 inch Eizo for excellence. They are expensive and would put you well over budget even if you were to save a lot on your computer but they are really worth the money as everything about them is truly excellent - build quality, image quality, even appearance. If that is out of your price range then the wide gamut BenQ SW2700PT 27 Inch is very good for the price. I see a lot of photographers spend lots on camera gear, lenses and even computers and then skimp on the monitor. Given that many (probably most) don't even print their work any more, they are never going to see it at its best or anywhere near its best. A beautiful matte monitor really makes a difference. The 24 inch EIZO CS2420 is only 650 Euros here. You do need your own calibration device though, this is the model without the build in one. I have 2 Eizo's: the older model and the newer model. I have bought the older one used. They have an internal clock that tells you how long it has been on. Like a boat engine or a light booth. Mine had 12 hours on the clock and looked/smelled like new, but it was 3 years old: a failed project. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 57 minutes ago, wiskerke said: The 24 inch EIZO CS2420 is only 650 Euros here. You do need your own calibration device though, this is the model without the build in one. I have 2 Eizo's: the older model and the newer model. I have bought the older one used. They have an internal clock that tells you how long it has been on. Like a boat engine or a light booth. Mine had 12 hours on the clock and looked/smelled like new, but it was 3 years old: a failed project. wim I have one with the built in calibrator but I find I get best results using an X-Rite external device with the Eizo software. I am not sure why but I think it may be partly because the built-in one reads from a corner of the screen. I wouldn't make a built-in calibrator a buying criterion for that reason although it is a lot better than not having a hardware calibrator at all. What amazes me is the variation not just between calibration devices but also between different monitors on the same computer with the same device. I continue to strongly advocate color management, and I could not live without it but I have to admit I don't entirely understand it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 22 hours ago, Mark Baigent said: It would be interesting to see where you got that :-) Drop me an email info at cornwall-ideas.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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