BillieBoy Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I’m looking to upgrade to a new desktop come tax return time. I still need to keep it reasonable. I haven’t had a desktop in a long time, I’ve had laptops for years, but I need some more power. I need something that will run Adobe CS5.5 Master Collection. Now, I run CS3 barely on my Dell Vostro with an Intel Duo Core w/3G RAM, and I don’t have Premiere or any of the other video components. I know they have the monster machines out there, but I was hoping someone could tell me the minimum they would use to run everything without freeze ups and slow rendering times. I’m especially confused as to what processor. An i7 sounds like it would work, and do you really need 12G or even 24G RAM for the video applications? I’ll be using Windows 7 64 bit so it can access that kind of RAM, but we are talking $$$$$. I use Illustrator, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver the most, but really want to expand into the video realm. Any suggestions would be helpful. I’ve gone onto the Adobe and other computer forums, but they kind of go crazy with their dream monster computer scenarios. I thought maybe other fellow homeschoolers would understand my plight a bit better. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I have seen recently that you can buy 32GB of DDR3 RAM for less than $200... I run CS5 with a dual-core processor (overclocked Pentium E2160) and 6GB of RAM, and it runs pretty good with standard definition video. My 1080p stuff is not real time for playback, and rendering is a pain. I would think any i7 would be powerful enough as far as CPU needs, and would recommend 12-16GB RAM. I would also recommend getting an nVidia DirectX11 videocard that can use CUDA. The Adobe software will offload much of the processing and rendering to the graphics card instead of the CPU/RAM of the computer. You do need to make sure the video card has at least 1GB of RAM though (I would look at a GeForce 560 Ti, if you don't want one of the expensive Quaddro cards.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillieBoy Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Perfect advise, thank you. Wow, this is going to add up. Other than price is there much of a difference between the nVida DirectX11 and the GForce? I was thinking about customizing a Dell, but I'm not sure I can get close. I might have to build this myself. What kind of GHz are you getting with the overclocking on your processor? The only reason I saw for the i7 was speed. Or would there be a greater advantage of having the quad core? Thank you so much for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Well, any modern GeForce card will allow you to use DirectX11. My processor is steady at 2.25 GhZ with air-cooling. Stock speed is 1.8GhZ. I am actually currently looking at building a new system this year, mine is from mid-2008 and I am wanting to upgrade due to the aforementioned troubles editing HD video. I am looking at getting an i7-2600K. The i5-2500K is also good, but the 2600K has hyperthreading, which is useful for content creation. I would definitely recommend multiple cores over higher clock speed, since Adobe can use all those cores. I build my own computers (used to do it for a living, before I joined the military), but if you want a DELL, look at the XPS 8300 here: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dxdwmn5&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=xps-8300 Edited January 2, 2012 by tntgoodwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillieBoy Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 I guess I was thinking both were sound cards, got confused. I did look at the XPS 8300 and that comes with the AMD Radeon™ HD 6670 1GB DDR5 video card, would you still change that to a GeForce 560 Ti? I figure with Win7(64) and CS5.5 Master I'm already out a grand...(education discount at the Academic Superstore). If you don't mind sharing what would all your components be when you build your own? And how much less expensive would it be? It sounds like you have similar uses. Thanks again for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 It doesn't have to be the 560 Ti model, but I would definitely choose an nVidia model over a Radeon for your uses. I am still working on planning my system, but I will share the thought I have so far. Actually, check out this build here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5184/holiday-midrange-system-buyers-guide/4 I would change a few things about that system, but use it for a jumping off point. I would definitely replace the 430W recommended power supply with a good quality 750W or higher one. (PC Power & Cooling, Antec, or Corsair tend to be good choices) I would use Windows 7 Professional x64 rather than Home Premium, but that isn't a huge deal. And as I have mentioned, I would add a graphics card for best results. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121446 is similar to a videocard I would use...but it may be a bit more than what you need (I do a little gaming on mine as well as the video stuff) Other than that, a system like that should do you pretty good. The prices listed in that article aren't current, so, adding a video card and those upgrades I mentioned, you are probably looking at about $1500 or so, maybe less. Keep in mind this doesn't include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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