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PC spec help

NNN636490550797811361
I am new to this forum so not sure if it's appropriate to post this question here - would appreciate any guidance. I am considering moving from Lightroom to Capture One. I am about to build a new PC and want to make sure that it is as fast as possible given a budget of $2000 (not including monitors). I will continue to use LR for the short term and Photoshop, so also need to make sure that the PC is fast for those applications as well. I do no gaming! Could you either recommend a build spec of pint me in the direction where I can find out more. FYI - I am familiar with PCPartPicker, but that community is more focused on gaming. Thanks!
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Comments

11 comments

Date Votes
  • Michael Rogers
    I build my own pc's. My recommendation is. .

    500W EVGA or Corsair power supply
    Asus H370 Plus motherboard. No overclocking needed. Gigabyte is ok too.
    16GB DDR4 2666 memory. Higher spec not worth the performance gain for price
    Intel I7-8700, use stock cooler (no overclocking needed)
    PCI-e G-force video card w/4GB memory

    Any more is overkill IMHO

    Mike
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  • NNN636490550797811361
    Thanks, Mike. What advice on M.2 NVMe for the boot drive and catalogue locations?
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  • Michael Rogers
    Ooops!

    Forgot to mention I use the Western Digilal Black drive for photo storage and boot to SSD. NVME boot drives are too expensive and performance increase will only be realized when moving large chunks of data. If you need more space for storage than an SSD provides, use the Western Digilal Black drive.
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  • Michael Rogers
    I keep all my data including catalog, photos, etc. on the WD Black and backup to external.
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  • Michael Rogers
    Check out this video. It might help you make a decision on drive choices.

    https://youtu.be/TmVquu3aDkE

    Mike
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  • Wesley
    [quote="NNN636490550797811361" wrote:
    I am new to this forum so not sure if it's appropriate to post this question here - would appreciate any guidance. I am considering moving from Lightroom to Capture One. I am about to build a new PC and want to make sure that it is as fast as possible given a budget of $2000 (not including monitors). I will continue to use LR for the short term and Photoshop, so also need to make sure that the PC is fast for those applications as well. I do no gaming! Could you either recommend a build spec of pint me in the direction where I can find out more. FYI - I am familiar with PCPartPicker, but that community is more focused on gaming. Thanks!

    Depends,

    - how much megapixel your camera has
    - if you have other programs running while editing
    - do you like to use layers a lot in photoshop
    - are you a high volume shooter (thousands of importing/exporting photos)
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  • NNN636490550797811361

    - how much megapixel your camera has
    - if you have other programs running while editing
    - do you like to use layers a lot in photoshop
    - are you a high volume shooter (thousands of importing/exporting photos)


    Currently use a 5D Mkii which I think is around 21mp but will be upgrading at some point to something higher, say 40mp.
    Layers - yes
    Not high volume - hobbyist with no budget constraints.
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  • Wesley
    [quote="NNN636490550797811361" wrote:

    - how much megapixel your camera has
    - if you have other programs running while editing
    - do you like to use layers a lot in photoshop
    - are you a high volume shooter (thousands of importing/exporting photos)


    Currently use a 5D Mkii which I think is around 21mp but will be upgrading at some point to something higher, say 40mp.
    Layers - yes
    Not high volume - hobbyist with no budget constraints.



    I created a generic build on pcpartpicker so far.
    There are builds on there for photo & video editing you know 😉

    I've left several things empty right now because it's going to be personal preference like the case size & color which will than help with motherboard selection and case fans.
    Case: Quiet? Small, medium, or large? Flashy, modern or low key business-like?

    I also don't know if you need peripherals like archive hard drives. Backup setup?
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  • Robert Whetton
    [quote="NNN636490550797811361" wrote:

    - how much megapixel your camera has
    - if you have other programs running while editing
    - do you like to use layers a lot in photoshop
    - are you a high volume shooter (thousands of importing/exporting photos)


    Currently use a 5D Mkii which I think is around 21mp but will be upgrading at some point to something higher, say 40mp.
    Layers - yes
    Not high volume - hobbyist with no budget constraints.

    There's a Benchmark thread, take a look at that, will give you an insight into speeds vs cost 😊
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  • Filthy Lucre
    IMHO, 16GB of RAM is not enough. I have 32 and frequently find 3/4 of it or more in use (large prints/panos).
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  • NNN636490550797811361
    [quote="Filthy Lucre" wrote:
    IMHO, 16GB of RAM is not enough. I have 32 and frequently find 3/4 of it or more in use (large prints/panos).


    I agree. Will definitely get 32GB.
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