Computer Upgrade to Run Photoshop/Video Editing

[Deathslayer7]

So my main question is this: does my computer need an upgrade to smoothly run photoshop/video editing (Adobe Cloud) without lagging. It should be noted, that I've upgraded a part here and there to keep this computer semi up to date

Current specs are:

Tower:
Mini-Tower
Dimensions (WxDxH): 7.2'' x 17.7'' x 14.5''

Motherboard:
Dell Inspiron 660
Expansions available:
x3 PCI Express x1
x1 PCI Express x16
x1 PCI E mini-card

Notes:
Unsure as to which expansions are currently used.
Uses a LGA 1155 socket for the processor
Uses an Intel B75 Express chipset

Processor: Intel i5-3330 @ 3.00 GHz (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116781) Ivy Bridge

RAM: 4x2 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
uses a DIMM 240 pin
motherboard only has room for 2 slots

Graphics Card:
NVIDIA GeForce GT610 EVGA (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130788)

Power Supply: Corsair CX650M (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139148)

Storage: 256GB SSD for startup. 1TB Black HD for regular use.

My main concern is the Graphics Card, RAM, and processor. This computer is at least 5 years old if not more concerning those 3 parts. I've upgraded other parts here and there, the most recent being the power supply. I'm afraid that if I do upgrade, I have to upgrade all 3 at the same time since they are all so old and there might be compatibility issues. I understand that I could buy a new computer, but I rather not. The other thing I was looking at was DIY bundle upgrades from Newegg as well.

I looked on Adobe Premiere and it says 16GB of RAM is recommended (https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html), but the graphics cards start at GeForce 650.

I know Black Friday is coming up, and I was wondering if I could possibly get some good deals there. I probably wouldn't want to go more than $500 total for my budget though. I've been slowly looking around but I figured I would get some advice here. Newegg/Fry's are the two I've looked at so far.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! :smallsmile:

[Mando Knight]

A new CPU would require a new motherboard and thus newer RAM (since boards compatible with AMD's Ryzen or Sky/Kaby/Coffee Lake Intel processors use DDR4).

For Adobe Premiere, a higher core count is all but obligatory for performance, so at your budget, either a Ryzen 3 (https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Desktop-Processor-Stealth-YD1200BBAEBOX/dp/B0741DN383/) or i3 8100 (https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80684I38100-Core-i3-8100-Processor/dp/B0759FTRZL/) (both 4 core/4 thread processors) would be the way to go for a totally new processor if you can't go over $500 for the whole package, and offer better clock speeds than your current processor. Your alternative would be to stick with your current motherboard and instead get the i7 3770k (https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-3770K-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B007SZ0EOW), which is pretty much only available used, but offers 4 cores/8 threads at a price the newer, lower-tier processors can't match once you factor in the cost of the platform. Even so, it may end up feeling like it's only a stopgap improvement since the processor, motherboard, and RAM is still all 5 years old, and the fact that it's a more powerful processor may require you to upgrade your processor's cooler as well (particularly if you want to even entertain the thought of overclocking the machine).

A new GPU should still be compatible with your system. A GTX 1050 (https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Geforce-GDDR5-Graphic-GV-N1050OC-2GD/dp/B01MG0733A/) or RX 560 (https://www.amazon.com/MSI-RX-560-AERO-ITX/dp/B072J422CZ/) will probably fit within your budget the best, and will provide a lot better performance than an entry-level card from five and a half years ago.

[gomipile]

Look at this:
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/r2NnTW/entry-level-amd-gaming-build

If you just get the motherboard, CPU, GPU, and up the RAM to 16 GB, you'll stay under your budget(barely,) since you don't need any of the other parts.

[Silfir]

If you're going to upgrade your CPU and motherboard, there's no point in aiming too low - the Ryzen 3 1200 only has four cores itself, and pairing it with an A320 motherboard defeats the point; it needs overclocking to really pull away from the i5-3330 in terms of performance. A significant upgrade would be a 1400, but what you'd really want to shoot for is a 1600. Remember, you'd have to replace motherboard and RAM as well.

The big issue is that RAM in general and DDR4 RAM in particular is extremely expensive at the moment. There's also no particular indications that that's going to change anytime soon, though. DDR3 RAM would be just as good, if only you had free slots!

The GPU, on the other hand, can be upgraded meaningfully, and very definitely should. You should consider doing just that upgrade at first, and see if that makes Premiere usable on your old system. You don't even need to shoot for a GTX 1050 Ti; a GTX 1050 would do it. That being said, it turns out a $500 budget can make all of the above happen... or, at least, just barely.

PCPartPicker part list (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/m7XhWX) / Price breakdown by merchant (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/m7XhWX/by_merchant/)

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mV98TW/amd-ryzen-5-1600-32ghz-6-core-processor-yd1600bbaebox) ($193.44 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6T7CmG/gigabyte-ga-ab350m-gaming-3-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-ga-ab350m-gaming-3) ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/VKdFf7/team-dark-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3000-memory-tdged416g3000hc16cdc01) ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sc4NnQ/evga-geforce-gtx-1050-2gb-acx-20-video-card-02g-p4-6150-kr) ($104.99 @ B&H)
Total: $498.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-15 04:44 EST-0500

[Fri]

I agree with the conclusion here. Your CPU actually should be good enough, especially for graphic editing. RAM and VGA should matter more for that. So yes, suggestion is get *at least* RX 480 or NVIDIA 1050, they're should be good but cheap enough for your budget. Then get at least 2 8 GB Ram. That should be enough for your purpose.

[Silfir]

I agree with the conclusion here. Your CPU actually should be good enough, especially for graphic editing. RAM and VGA should matter more for that. So yes, suggestion is get *at least* RX 480 or NVIDIA 1050, they're should be good but cheap enough for your budget. Then get at least 2 8 GB Ram. That should be enough for your purpose.

2x8 GB DDR3 RAM runs over $100 on its own, and it's obsolete tech. I don't think that's a good investment. When it comes to CPU, motherboard, and RAM, "replace all or replace nothing" is what I'd recommend.

[factotum]

I'm not sure I'd agree, but then, I've always been a fan of doing the absolute minimum necessary to get your machine into a state where it will work for what you need it for--that's why I got an Athlon 860K the last time I upgraded, because it was by far the cheapest way to get a quad-core CPU that would run Far Cry 4. (If the Pentium G4560 had existed at the time I would probably have gone for that, but unfortunately it didn't!).

As for DDR3 being obsolete--yes, that's always going to happen in computing. Let's say he gets his 16Gb of DDR4 with new motherboard and CPU now, by the time he decides another upgrade is necessary in, say, 3 years' time, everyone will probably be on DDR5! I just don't see the need to throw away what is still a pretty powerful CPU, to be honest, although I might be tempted to attempt to overclock the CPU and see if you can get some more power out of it before spending any money at all on upgrading the existing system. Even if the CPU goes pop you were planning the upgrade anyway, so you can then do the full-on replacement you specified.

[Silfir]

By that logic there is no need to replace the old RAM either. 8 GB RAM is "functional" by any definition. Which is why I recommended upgrading the GPU first, and seeing if that helps.

I don't subscribe to it mainly because it'll lead to paying for upgrades far more often, even if you're paying less. So, over time, you'll save very little - or even pay more! - and you will have worse hardware while you're doing it. It's a matter of matching cost and benefit while retaining flexibility for the future.

[wumpus]

Storage isn't mentioned. Do you have enough storage? It looks like everything you have is "good enough", so replacing those components while running out of storage would be bad.

Photoediting shouldn't be a challenge anymore, photos take up megabytes, computers have gigabytes in memory.

Video is a completely different story. I'd expect to need a decent (all but the cheapest DRAMless types) SSD to hold the "working memory" and a huge rotating disk (or possibly some sort of RAID array, but don't think it replaces backups) for longer storage. I'd expect if you wind up reading and writing to rotating disk often during the course of editing, that will slow you down more than replacing your hardware on $500.

The GPU appears absolutely minimal. It should meet the checkboxes needed to convince the software to run, but if you use to features on a regular basis, you might want something more geared for the job. Oddly enough, I didn't see anything indicating that it uses the GPU for video encoding.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cc-gpu-card-faq.html

[Deathslayer7]

Storage I wasn't concerned with but I should have mentioned it anyway just to be complete. I added it in to the first post, but here it is. Also, I'll go through the advice and look at it. Probably get a late post about 13-14 hours from now. Long day ahead of me.

Storage: 256GB SSD for startup. 1TB Black HD for regular use.

[factotum]

I don't subscribe to it mainly because it'll lead to paying for upgrades far more often, even if you're paying less. So, over time, you'll save very little - or even pay more!

Well, yes, it's a fairly short-term approach, but I find it's easier to justify spending £250 to get a system that's good enough now rather than spending £500 to get one that's over-specced for what you need now. They'll both be just as obsolete in 3 years! It used to be the case that you might be able to get at least one CPU upgrade without swapping motherboards, but these days they seem to change the CPU socket every other week so you can't do that anymore.

[Silfir]

They'll both be just as obsolete in 3 years!

How on Earth do you arrive at a blanket statement like that?

Yes, sockets have started to change frequently, but that doesn't really change that aspect of it - now, if you get a good CPU, you just skip more chipsets. I'm on an i5-4590 with 16 GB RAM - I've already skipped the Skylake and Kaby Lake chipsets and I'm all set to ignore Cannonlake as well, plus whatever comes after that. If DDR4 turns out to have a short lifespan, I can probably skip it as well and upgrade to DDR5 directly. I very much doubt you can do the same with an Athlon 860K.

There are ways in which you can "over-spec", but it's erroneous to apply that statement to CPUs and video-editing with Premiere, since it scales with both processor speed and core count. The R5 1600 would provide a substantial increase in the former and a massive one in the latter.

It's just something you should seriously think about before you drop £80/$115 on 8 GB of DDR3 RAM.

[factotum]

How on Earth do you arrive at a blanket statement like that?

Because £500 isn't really a lot to spend on a motherboard/CPU/RAM/GPU combo--you'll still be getting something mid-range at best that will probably be overtaken by newer games within the 3 year mark I said. If you don't care about games it might last a bit longer, I guess? 860K has done me fine in the 3 years I've owned it, but I fully acknowledge I'll likely need to upgrade it quite soon.

[Gnoman]

Because £500 isn't really a lot to spend on a motherboard/CPU/RAM/GPU combo--you'll still be getting something mid-range at best that will probably be overtaken by newer games within the 3 year mark I said. If you don't care about games it might last a bit longer, I guess? 860K has done me fine in the 3 years I've owned it, but I fully acknowledge I'll likely need to upgrade it quite soon.

This is wrong. A high-end CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo will last you much more than 3 years. More likely it will last you five or even ten for a fairly small cost markup. For the price you quote, you can get quite a solid system - if you discount the fairly pricey case and expensive keyboard, that's pretty close to what I have invested in mine - and mine is in the top %20 according to Steam analysis. Meanwhile, adding more RAM to an obsolete system, or swapping out your CPU for a more powerful one in the same chipset not only costs you more for the same performance (obsolete stuff doesn't really go down in price that much), but will be incompatible when you eventually can't go any further with that motherboard, requiring you to replace the same component again. The "all or none at all" approach" to CPU/Mobo/RAM is by far the most fiscally sensible choice.


GPUs are another story, as they are universal, will almost certainly carry forward for the foreseeable future, and are essentially a drop-in component. Upgrading that individually makes a huge amount of sense.

[Silfir]

Because £500 isn't really a lot to spend on a motherboard/CPU/RAM/GPU combo--you'll still be getting something mid-range at best that will probably be overtaken by newer games within the 3 year mark I said. If you don't care about games it might last a bit longer, I guess? 860K has done me fine in the 3 years I've owned it, but I fully acknowledge I'll likely need to upgrade it quite soon.

If both mid-range and low-budget CPUs become obsolete at the same 3-year tack, why are you advocating RAM upgrades for the i5-3330, which, by your own estimate, is now two years obsolete?

It very much isn't, by the way. Not that gaming is the topic of the thread, but there's still no game out there that the i5-3330 would not be capable of handling. I'm not questioning the wisdom behind keeping it, mind you. Just the wisdom behind spending $115 on 8 GB of RAM for it.



Hell, if you do care about games, it's all the more reason to aim to exceed minimum requirements - games become all the more enjoyable if you can turn up details and still play them at smooth 60 fps!

[Deathslayer7]

Thank you for all the advice. I believe I shall update the GPU for now to a 1050 Ti. I'll hold off on the other 3 for now. I want to see my wife use the programs first before I put in the investment to upgrade those parts. At the moment they are okay, and she can live with it. If it becomes a more permanent thing, well then I have an excuse to get a better computer.