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09/25/2011 12:07:05 AM · #1 |
Dear Hardware experts,
I need an PC upgrade for better performance of CS5. I have updated my Camera to 5DMark II 5-6 months ago & finding my PSD file on an average 500MB-600MB. I am using Windows-7 (64 bit) + CS5 (64bit). I don't do too many batch operations. I am looking for performance regarding opening,working on single file at a time. Usually Lightroom & Photoshop keep on running simultaneously.
My current custom assembled PC configuration is:
Motherboard: Asus M2N-MX
Processor : Athlon X2 3600+
RAM: 2GB + 2GB (DDR2, 667MHZ) (two slots empty still)
Graphics: onboard NVIDIA GeForce 6100/nForce 430
Hard Drives: Barracuda 7200.11 SATA 3Gb/s 1-TB + Barracuda 7200.11 SATA 3Gb/s 500GB
Display: Dell 2209WA IPS Monitor
What I am looking for upgrade for performance is with required budget in ascending order as:
1.RAM: 2GB + 2GB = 4GB RAM so total will go upto 8GB .
Considering dual processor thinking of distributing all 4 slot with 2GB RAM. 70$
2. SSD: OCZ 60GB Vertex 2 SATA SSD 150$
3. Graphics Card : NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 SE 1GB DDR5 + Power supply to 500W from my 400W 290$
I am thinking of SSD for using in two partition(10GB) one as scratch disk for CS5 & other (50GB) for OS +Photoshop along with my 1TB + 0.5TB segate drives.
I am not looking for motherboard & processor change since it will exceed the budget too much.
I am thinking for going to 1st one but tempting for 2nd one. Will you like to suggest me which one out of three one I should go for?
Nilesh
Message edited by author 2011-09-25 00:08:03. |
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09/25/2011 12:25:02 AM · #2 |
Suggest an upgrade to a Mac. ;)
But if that's not in the cards, add memory (as much as you can afford ... maybe 12 G), add processors (8 cores?), SSD will speed up boot and app loading but little else. |
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09/25/2011 12:31:21 AM · #3 |
Personally, I'd keep your HDD that you already have and scrap both the video card and the SSD's and put the money into memory and new CPU.
You don't need a new video card or SSD's for photoshop and I think you'd be better served by getting more RAM (8GB@1600) and updating your CPU/motherboard.
For under $350 you can get a top of the line AMD X6 chip, excellent MOBO and 8GB RAM.
That's what I'd do :) |
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09/25/2011 12:52:06 AM · #4 |
| Having researched this extensively for the past two weeks, 8-16GB of RAM, a quad core Sandy Bridge i5 or i7 processor, and any decent video card and 7200rpm hard drive will serve your purposes. SSD helps too, but the drives are expensive. The performance gains for hardware beyond that are minimal. |
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09/25/2011 01:16:21 AM · #5 |
@Dr.Confuser Thanks ! I agree. I am tempting for SSD maybe I want to have flavor of fast booting OS & opening photoshop than seeing loading. I was guessing using it's part as scracthpad also add for performance. But it looks better I keep this temptation away.
@gcoulson Thanks! I like your options. My existing motherboard supports maximum 800Mhz RAM in 4 slots. Can I use 2GB(667)+2GB(667) existing with 4GB(800)+4GB(800) in other slots? Which RAM you will like to recommend?
In case of upgrading Processor+MB will you like to recommend any motherboard?
@scalvert Thanks really. Well changing to i5/i7 will need me to change motherboard as well. I agree about SSD the reason why I am tempting mentioned above :) |
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09/25/2011 10:28:57 AM · #6 |
Nilesh,
I think it's obvious from your post that you're dealing with an OLD motherboard. Suspect right now your major bottleneck in your system is the mobo and CPU and slow RAM. According to the specs of the mobo, it has a max RAM of 2GB at 800mhz....so you're dealing with very slow RAM modules AND you're not going to be able to just add more RAM to the computer.
Honestly, you really cant do much with out upgrading the mobo and chip first. So now's the time to decide between Intel and AMD. I'm not going to debate which is better, there's plenty of reading about that online.
Personally, here's my suggestion for a relatively "future-proof" build that will serve you well and last a few years:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz 6-core processor (overclockable) = $170
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard = $100 What you want is any AM3+ motherboard since the new chip architecture that AMD is releasing will be on that motherboard chipset (so if you want to upgrade CPU later on, you can do that without changing your motherboard too)
RAM: Kingston/Patriot/G.Skill modules 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 SDRAM @1600 = $50
Add your two HDDs that you already have and for the extra $320 you have a very nice computer!! Depending on your budget, you could then get a decent dedicated video card for around $100-150. Unless you are doing much video encoding, you dont need a top end video card for photoshop.
PS...I'm upgrading my system and this is very similar to what I plan on purchasing myself!
Message edited by author 2011-09-25 10:30:54. |
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09/26/2011 06:57:17 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by gcoulson:
Nilesh,
Add your two HDDs that you already have and for the extra $320 you have a very nice computer!! Depending on your budget, you could then get a decent dedicated video card for around $100-150. Unless you are doing much video encoding, you dont need a top end video card for photoshop.
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Thanks really Garry for to the point suggestions & I liked that. I will check out at my end what does goes well with my requirements keeping the suggestions in mind.
The USB 3.0 & DDR3 definitely looks worth investing for new motherboard. I use segate freeagent 1TB external hard disk which supports to USB3.0. I purchased such two USB drive for keeping my images as backup & didn't come to know when I started using them for storage instead of backups :) I know I need another drives for keeping backup.
Message edited by author 2011-09-26 06:58:01. |
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09/26/2011 07:48:22 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Having researched this extensively for the past two weeks, 8-16GB of RAM, a quad core Sandy Bridge i5 or i7 processor, and any decent video card and 7200rpm hard drive will serve your purposes. SSD helps too, but the drives are expensive. The performance gains for hardware beyond that are minimal. |
This is nice to hear -- it's what I just went to: i7 - 3.4, 8 gb RAM quad core!
Seems to be much better than my old one |
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