What to Upgrade on PC First for Photoshop and Lightroom Performance

[Deactivated] on 05/01/2019 - 23:20
Last edited 06/01/2019 - 14:05

Hi all,

Happy new year :)

So i got very simple PC setup which i use for my lightroom and photoshop and i want to spend 250$(can go slightly above) on upgrades to make it better. Where can i spend the money on to make my experience better? A Graphics card? better CPU? better monitor?
I can spend on used or new products i dont mind.
Personally, i feel the colours on desktop is not the same when i see it on my mobile and on other devices. I would like that to change and maybe faster lightroom processing

Pentium CPU 3.5ghz LGA 1151
8gb DDR4
Sandisk 240gb SSD plus
Old 4:3 LCD monitor

Thanks for your help in advance. Please comment if I missed any details.

Poll Options

  • 2
    DELL U2414H 3 year old
  • 0
    BENQ EW2440L 4 year old( not used last 2 year)
  • 1
    Any other under 200$?
Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • MSG on 05/01/2019 - 23:40
    +1

    Looks like your system is fairly recent with good RAM / storage. $250 should get you a reasonable 1080p monitor + GPU (perhaps a 750ti)?

    • [Deactivated] on 05/01/2019 - 23:44

      I have been researching about gpu. Very confusing to me this. Many friends said i cant use gpu with low grade Pentium and all… and also some forums says no need for GPU for lightroom and photoshop coz it doesnt use it. What do u say

      • No Username on 06/01/2019 - 00:21
        +1

        Use this tool to see if your components are bottlenecking each other.

        • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:54

          Oh wow. Thanks a lot :) i ll check it out

        • garetz on 06/01/2019 - 06:43

          Nice site.

        • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2019 - 16:23

          @no username is there any website to find gpu without bottlenecks, tried google couldnt find :(

  • GangGang on 05/01/2019 - 23:42
    +1

    I second a monitor

    • [Deactivated] on 05/01/2019 - 23:44

      Help me with some suggestions? What should i look for? Hz rate ? Or resolution?

      • Sage on 06/01/2019 - 00:13

        Well think about it. Hertz rate is how fast the image changes, resolution is how detailed the image is.
        I have heard good things about the colour reproduction on Dell monitors, you could get this one.
        Full HD should be a minimum. (1920x1080)

        • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:54

          Added to my shortlist :) thanks heaps

      • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:27

        Hz rate is only really an issue for gamers. Any 1080p 16:9 60hz monitor will be an improvement and help with photoshopping to a degree.

        A $150 monitor and $100 second hand gpu is my recommendation

        • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:38

          @tightbottom sounds stupid even typing this, so i guess go for an i3 or i5 quadcore over i3 or i5 dual core? or would a 3 or i5 dual core ~3.5 ghz and pentium 3.5 ghz will be similar performance ?

          • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:40

            @[Deactivated]: I don't think a cpu upgrade is worth it with a $250 budget

            • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:42

              @[Deactivated]: so dell 1080 monitor it is i guess :)

              • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:47

                @[Deactivated]: Doesn't have to be a dell but nothing wrong with the recommendation by sage above.

                • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:53

                  @[Deactivated]: The deal for lg 27" from harvey $168 . Would that be better? I guess i ll need to look that up tomorrow in store. Are monitors in harvey and officeworks usually plugged into some demo modes? Never noticed lol

                  • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:55

                    @[Deactivated]: I prefer 1080 on a 24" monitor but you are best to try them for yourself

                    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:56
                      +1

                      @[Deactivated]: I ll go instore tommorow :) thanks tightbottom

  • No Username on 06/01/2019 - 00:25

    If you're not doing anything graphics intensive like 3D rendering in photoshop then, differently upgrade the monitor for better colour accuracy.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 00:44

      i have seriously no experience with monitors… would u suggest the Refurbished Dell P2314H too? or any other?

  • Understandable on 06/01/2019 - 01:04

    Your CPU is perfect, being under the assumption it is a Pentium G4560 - hypertheeading so you’ll get the same performance theoretically as a i3-7100 as for a gpu definitely go a for a GT 1030, they are around 100 and under and can handle video processing and games easily if wanted.

    Buy yourself a nice monitor though as it’s what you’ll be spending all your time looking at

    • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2019 - 16:22

      just found out my proccesor is 3.3ghz not 3.5.. it is a pentium 4400 .. suggest me any graphics card? i got a monitor for 120, so some graphics card around 100$?

      • Understandable on 10/01/2019 - 00:08

        A Nvidia GT 1030 designed for home theatre pc’s and has a fair amount of power. I previously was doing 1080p gaming on one but it would be a nice addon to a system like yours

  • UncommonName on 06/01/2019 - 02:20

    Well, I wanted to upgrade like you but then I bought Affinity Designer and Photo on Balck Friday sale (<100AUD). Needless to say, I do not need to upgrade anymore lol.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 08:02

      How do you feel about the software.better than LR?

  • munecito on 06/01/2019 - 13:00
    +1

    No matter what monitor you get, for better colour accuracy you need to get a screen calibrator

  • StickMan on 06/01/2019 - 13:39

    Photoshop can use GPU to accelerate the processing of effects such as blur. LR also for some stuff. Are you noticing slow downs when doing this?

    PS and LR are also RAM hogs if you’re dealing with large file sizes. Check their preferences, and see how much RAM they have allocated. Then check task manager to see how your system RAM is going. 8GB could be a bottleneck if you’re dealing with multi layer large PS projects.

    Your monitor is 4:3 so I assume it’s old as dirt. Probably has crap colour. Dell U series is $250+ but has good performance - otherwise get a lower end Dell and it should be okay.

    You’ll need to calibrate the colours with a meter for pristine results. U series can come pre calibrated, which is pretty close.

    Your phone screen has a couple key differences. Auto screen brightness will mean that more often than not your phone screen will be dinner than your PC monitor, meaning it’ll look under exposed on phone. Use the histogram to confirm. Secondly, 90% of phones (Samsung) are too blue, so the photo colour temperature will look wrong. iPhone OLED screens, or those with ‘true tone’ enables will move more to the warm side, more than neutral. Again, use histogram and use one source as reference (PC screen).

    Overall, it’s clear your build and budget is quite low. My suggestion is to check my above steps and work out if you’re struggling when making complex blur/etc edits, or when making lots of layers. If yes, GPU (NVIDIA CUDA probably - you gonna need to research this) will be good purchase. I think RAM to 16GB is good too (if you can just buy extra sticks, and not have to chuck out entire existing 8GB kit…). Or, work out if your monitor colours/brightness/etc are total trash, as $250 can go a long way to getting you a more modern and accurate screen.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2019 - 14:03

      Thanks for that grear comment. I see lag while changing to different photos and applying filters…. anyway… i found a used 3 year old dell u2414h or a good price..should i get that? Or a BenQ EW2440L 4 year old. Same price

  • aragornelessar on 06/01/2019 - 14:17

    Personally, i feel the colours on desktop is not the same when i see it on my mobile and on other devices

    Thats because not everything in the world is calibrated to look the same. And even then, you have different monitors with varying different levels of colour reproduction. You'll have to determine what you want ultimately want with your photos - if you're just going to be posting to social media so your friends can see them, your colours are going to be different to printing your photos.

    If you want to go down that rabbit hole, google and look into reading up on colour gamut and sRGB vs AdobeRGB.

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