Best Computer Hardware Upgrades for Efficient Photography Workflows?

[jackhicks121]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to upgrade my computer hardware to improve my workflow when editing and managing large volumes of photos for stock photography. Currently, I’m working with a fairly old setup, and it’s starting to struggle with high-resolution RAW files, especially when using Lightroom and Photoshop simultaneously.

For those of you who’ve upgraded recently, what components do you think offer the best performance boost for photography work? Should I focus more on upgrading my processor, adding more RAM, or switching to SSDs for faster storage? Also, if anyone has experience using high-end GPUs for photo editing, is it worth the investment for tasks like batch processing and export speeds?

Any suggestions or insights from your own hardware upgrades would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Jill Morgan]

I have 32gb of RAM and use a Radeon RX 580 GPU.  I run a heavy load of software at once such as PS, Illustrator, Gigapixel and my various vinyl cutting apps.

 

Adding more RAM and a GPU would definitely improve performance.  Depending on your computer, if it is old, it may not be able to add a lot of RAM.  I could run up to 64gb on mine.

 

Jill

[Brian Yarvin]

In my opinion, the most important additions you can make are more drive space, more usb ports, and a built in card reader. After those, a better monitor.

[Steve F]

Probably best to confirm if you're Windows or Mac.

 

15 hours ago, jackhicks121 said:

Should I focus more on upgrading my processor, adding more RAM, or switching to SSDs for faster storage?

 

Will all help. You certainly need a faster processor and minimum RAM for the AI features in Photoshop and Lightroom (with the caveat that they will work with older spec machines, but will take a long long time to run). SSD is probably just a nice to have, although I believe they don't break as frequently as traditional hard drives.

Edited September 6 by Steve F

[Martin L]

Might help 

 

By the way I'm not associated with the company linked and is Windows centric so if you use a Mac ignore 👍

Edited September 6 by Martin L

[Joseph Clemson]

Much may depend on how old your present machine is. When mine reached  the same kind of point as yours I'd had it eight years and it wasn't new then.  I improved it through more RAM and HDD space, but the most impact was seen by upgrading the graphcs card.

 

I've always tried to get by on the minimum spec (and price) I can manage. When my computer eventually gave up the ghost altogether, I went to a local dealer who specialises in buying and refurbishing redundant office computers from large companies. I was amazed to find that, for some years, many computers now come in cases no larger than an external hard drive! I paid £250 for a refurbished base unit of a traditional type case, complete with a mere 250Gb system drive. It blew away my old system like a new Porsche against my trusty 12 yr old Ford Monedo. I transferred my existing graphics card  (having alreay made sure it would fit in the case and motherboard) and  I've not looked back since. My bulk data storage is on a Synology NAS network attached drive, so the limited internal HDD space was not a big problem.

 

The computer I bought was designed for office work, not graphics, but it is still very capable at my level when I am using Lightroom v.7 (and a very old version of Photoshop). I think I would suggest that before you spend money on your existing machine, have a look what is available in the rufurbished or even new marketplace. Your software demands may well be greater than mine if you are using up-to-date versions of Lightroom etc, but if you are using older programmes, you may find them more forgiving of older hardware.

 

[Phil]

On 05/09/2024 at 20:28, jackhicks121 said:

...it’s starting to struggle with high-resolution RAW files, especially when using Lightroom and Photoshop simultaneously.

For those of you who’ve upgraded recently, what components do you think offer the best performance boost for photography work? Should I focus more on upgrading my processor, adding more RAM, or switching to SSDs for faster storage? Also, if anyone has experience using high-end GPUs for photo editing, is it worth the investment for tasks like batch processing and export speeds?

 

Some additional info on your workload/workflow might help with suggestions. 

 

Such as batch processing and export - how many images do you typically batch process and/or export?  There's considerable difference between 10 vs 50+ images being batch processed or exported.

 

Both PS and LrC now have AI tools which would definitely be helped with even a modest GPU if one is not in current system.  As for storage - I built my own PC a couple summers ago and one thing I decided was to use only SSD's in it or attached to it - except for an NAS used for backups with a couple of old Hitachi HDDs still spinning after many years.  

[Bryan]

On my aged machine I found changing to a SSD assisted matters. I don't keep much on the SSD, just the applications, all of my data is stored on a separate internal hard drive and backed up to an external drive.

 

The computer recently died and a local computer store pronounced it unfixable, but a local one man band shop found that it was the power supply at fault, a reasonably cheap fix. 

Edited September 7 by Bryan

[Vincent Lowe]

Might be worth bearing in mind that a lot of older PCs (including mine) can't run Windows 11 and support for Windows 10 ends in October next year.

[Chuck Nacke]

On 05/09/2024 at 16:28, jackhicks121 said:

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to upgrade my computer hardware to improve my workflow when editing and managing large volumes of photos for stock photography. Currently, I’m working with a fairly old setup, and it’s starting to struggle with high-resolution RAW files, especially when using Lightroom and Photoshop simultaneously.

For those of you who’ve upgraded recently, what components do you think offer the best performance boost for photography work? Should I focus more on upgrading my processor, adding more RAM, or switching to SSDs for faster storage? Also, if anyone has experience using high-end GPUs for photo editing, is it worth the investment for tasks like batch processing and export speeds?

Any suggestions or insights from your own hardware upgrades would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Jack,

 

Keeping in mind that I drive a 25-year-old car, wear a 30-year-old watch and ride bicycles dating from the 80's.  I will tell you from my experience trying to upgrade PCs is most often a waste of time and money.  I can only speak for PCs.  The last time I asked a tech to upgrade an old LENOVO laptop he told me that I would be better off just buying a new laptop.  I did not listen to him and spent over $350 on upgrades and now it is a ten-year-old laptop that works like a ten-year-old laptop.  I also had a high-end DELL XPS that I spent a lot of money on a new graphics card and SSD main drive and now it works great for my daughters F1 game, but not worth much for running CC apps.  Last year I just went out and bought a new high spec DELL XPS and it works well running all apps.  I will add that DELL customer support SUCKS, but I have had very good luck with LENOVO.  The last thing I would say is if you are paying for Adobe CC?  Call Adobe tech support and talk to them about the best machine to run CC.  They helped me a bit with upgrades and buying the new machine I am using.

 

Chuck

[Johnnie5]

Something like this would be good.  Intel Core i9-13900K Up to 5.3GHz, 32GB RAM, 4TB NVME SSD + 2TB HDD, Windows 11 Pro and an Nvidia 4060 graphics card with 12GB ram. 

[IKuzmin]

8 hours ago, Johnnie5 said:

Nvidia 4060 graphics card with 12GB ram

The 4060 is 8Gb. For 12Gb one needs the 4070. And here we stuck at the ACR problems with memory leak when using AI elements. Will the extra ~$270 spent for the 4070 over the 4060 be justified?.. This is the question I ask myself repeatedly while looking at a new computer right now.

Otherwise, I strongly consider i7 of 14th generation, 64 Gb Ram, 512Gb SSD + 2TB HDD, Windows 11 Home.

[John Richmond]

I recently bought myself a mini gaming computer.  It's tiny but for £400 I got windows 11, 32Gb RAM, 1Tb SSD, a reasonable graphics card and the ability to run 2 decent monitors at once.  No internal hard drive other than the SSD but I always use external ones for storage and backups.

 

It's probably nowhere near as quick as some of the ones suggested but I'm happy enough with the speed when I use it for DeNoise and Generative Remove in Lightroom along with Stacking in Photoshop while dealing with the thousand or more photos I generate a month.

[jackhicks121]

Hi I was checking there are many hard drives available these days online.  https://serverorbit.com/solid-state-drives-ssd

 

 

 

[MDM]

Gotcha - no images - an ad for SSD drives or something else? 

Edited Tuesday at 21:26 by MDM

[Mr Standfast]

10 hours ago, MDM said:

Gotcha - no images - an ad for SSD drives or something else? 

Agreed. But  this was running for so long I was starting to doubt my spider sense. 

 

I suspected a bot. The silver lining to this sham was it prompted me to go on chatgpt for the first time to see if I could formulate the same question, but to no avail. Had fun though, chagpt recomends 16 gb ram. 😊

 

Close the thread alamy.

Edited Wednesday at 07:30 by Mr Standfast

[gvallee]

Reported to Alamy.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:26 by gvallee

[noelbennett]

I used to use Windows machines, even enjoyed putting them together. Now i use an Apple Mac Mini. They are an absolute joy to use. I got a bargain at the time, but I would never go back to Windows. 

[Chuck Nacke]

21 hours ago, MDM said:

Gotcha - no images - an ad for SSD drives or something else? 

I have no idea, nor do I much care who started this thread or why they did.  I will only add that I finally went out and upgraded my old CF card reader, USB 2.0 to a more modern USB 3.0 reader and WOW what a difference.  I know this is old tech by most standards, but I am "old tech" myself........

 

Chuck

[Marianne]

I just got an M3Max processor on a Macbook Pro with 64GB RAM. It's like night and day upgrading from 32GB Ram and an i9 Processor which was so slow just reviewing photos in Lightroom never mind processing them - the graphics processor was a big part of the slowdown. I've had Macs with SSDs since 2011 and that's a must - I also have used fast external SSD's on the new MacbookPro with no slowdown. Very fast with LR, PS and Chrome all open and processing large files from my Sony A7riv. 

 

I got the 16‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU on the 14 inch model and so far it runs much cooler than my old i9.

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 19:04 by Marianne

[MDM]

51 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said:

I have no idea, nor do I much care who started this thread or why they did. 

 

I can honestly say I give neither a jack nor a hick myself.  

 

52 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said:

I will only add that I finally went out and upgraded my old CF card reader, USB 2.0 to a more modern USB 3.0 reader and WOW what a difference.  I know this is old tech by most standards, but I am "old tech" myself........

 

Chuck

 

You can say that again Chuck. Wait till you discover USB-C circa 2034 or thereabouts. It'll blow your mind or what's left of it by then. I might not be around myself to witness that but I wish you the best. 😀

[MDM]

50 minutes ago, Marianne said:

I just got an M3Max processor on a Macbook Pro with 64GB RAM. It's like night and day upgrading from 32GB Ram and an i9 Processor which was so slow just reviewing photos in Lightroom never mind processing them - the graphics processor was a big part of the slowdown. I've had Macs with SSDs since 2011 and that's a must - I also have used fast external SSD's on the new MacbookPro with no slowdown. Very fast with LR, PS and Chrome all open and processing large files from my Sony A7riv. 

 

I got the 16‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU on the 14 inch model and so far it runs much cooler than my old i9.

 

 

Well done Marianne. Have you discovered HDR stills yet - the little button at the top of the Basic panel in the Develop module. It really is worth checking out. Even more mindblowing than Chuck discovering USB-C. You need to switch your Display Preset to HDR Video (P3-ST2084) and off you go.