Building Photoshop PC

[olds]

Going to build a PC for Photoshop (CS6), Microsoft Office and web browsing.
It needs to be relevant for 3 or so years so I'd rather build it a little strong so it's not long in the tooth too soon.
Hard drive will be an SSD with a mechanical for backups.
My questions are:

1. Which processor?
2. Video card?
3. 8 or 16 GB RAM?

Price range $1k
1080X1920
I'll purchase parts online from New Egg or Amazon.

Thanks.

 

[Ken g6]

You have questions? [thread=80121]So do we.[/thread] Edit: Add this question: Are you near a Micro Center?

More RAM is definitely better, though.

 

[olds]

No Microcenter

 

[dave_the_nerd]

1. i5
2. Mostly irrelevant for Photoshop, I wouldn't worry about it.
3. 16

 

[olds]

Thanks

 

[alkemyst]

Get the highest core and then fastest Intel based CPU you can afford, a mid level video card and at least 16GB of RAM (assuming you are going to be using large images).

Also PSE does most of what CS6 will do at a much lower price point. Unless you are publishing, I don't see an advantage with full-photoshop over PSE in today's market.

This is Adobe's whitesheet on PC builds: http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/files/2012/07/CS6_hardware_recommendations.pdf

 

[olds]

Get the highest core and then fastest Intel based CPU you can afford, a mid level video card and at least 16GB of RAM (assuming you are going to be using large images).

Also PSE does most of what CS6 will do at a much lower price point. Unless you are publishing, I don't see an advantage with full-photoshop over PSE in today's market.

This is Adobe's whitesheet on PC builds: http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/files/2012/07/CS6_hardware_recommendations.pdf

Already own CS6. I have PSE 12 on another machine and I don't believe is does Content Aware.

 

[alkemyst]

Already own CS6. I have PSE 12 on another machine and I don't believe is does Content Aware.

PSE 11 and 12 should support Content Aware

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_NCpNKmiU

 

[nsafreak]

PSE 11 and 12 should support Content Aware

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_NCpNKmiU

This is true but since he already owns CS6 there's no point in getting PSE.

 

[alkemyst]

This is true but since he already owns CS6 there's no point in getting PSE.

Well yes and no, adobe is pretty much offering PSE with everything CS/CC has other than the publishing type things for commercial printing.

CS6 is about two generations old now and the upgrade is far more expensive than buying PSE outright.

I used to use PS and around version 6.0 I switched over to PSE because web development is nothing like what one needs for publishing media.

If you can afford / have access to full PS then that's great, however; even in my last job where I had the latest photoshop and PSE, I would launch PSE most of the time since it was faster to load and did what I needed.

 

[mfenn]

You have questions? [thread=80121]So do we.[/thread] Edit: Add this question: Are you near a Micro Center?

More RAM is definitely better, though.

:thumbsup: Yes please.

 

[SystemOverclock]

The more RAM the merrier. I would almost consider 16GB a minimum, especially if you are looking for a little future proofing.

 

[Cerb]

1. i5-4460 to i7-4790K (don't bother with the i7-4790), Xeon E3-1231V3 is a fair CPU, with a video card. Core speed and count matter, and PS likes SMT (HT) and CMT (AMD's modules) (but, the FP throughput and single-threaded integer performance leaves AMD far behind).
2. Totally optional, and should not be gotten in lieu of any other component. Even Intel's IGP accelerates PS, depending on version (not sure if that was the case by the time of CS 6, from memory). But, if you do get one, a GTX 750 is a good all-rounder, and the latest PS loves it some Maxwell.
3. 16, easily.

MicroATX option:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($322.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($132.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($201.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Nanoxia NXDS4W MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.00 @ Amazon) <- cheapest good looking MicroATX I saw with nice and removable drive rails and cages. I haven't used it, but reviews are positive, as well.
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $898.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-21 09:35 EDT-0400

I'd spec a full-sized build, but I have work that involves leaving my desk, now, so...

 

[Essence_of_War]

MicroATX option:

That looks pretty sweet to me, and it leaves enough budget space that OP can add a 2-3 TB HDD if they need it and still be under budget.

 

[SystemOverclock]

That microATX that Cerb posted is pretty much exactly what I have.
I have two render nodes of a similar spec (different mobo and case , working very nicely!!) Main PC I went a bit mad with 32GB though.