PC for Photoshop/Lightroom/Illustrator and a bunch of other tasks

[Cath_HK]

Hi there,

First, let me say how fabulous this website is and thanks in advance for your advice.

I am a fashion designer and I like to shoot my own models. It's not uncommon for me to be using photoshop, lightroom cc, bridge & illustrator at the same time as using other desktop apps like spotify, chrome, and the MS office. In particular I run two largish access databases (which might be moved to the cloud but still need to open) and will sometimes have all of these apps open at the same time. I quite often work with large files.

Last week my Lenovo All-In-One Idea Centre died (literally). To be fair, it was purchased in 2014 and the only modification was the increase in RAM to 16GB (2x8 GB sticks). It was purchased in the days when I outsourced most of the design work so it's job was primarily to run two large access databases. Now I am looking for a build that does all of this. We are moving (slowly) towards videos so video editing capacity might be needed in the next week. So while it's not essential for day 1, I would like the option to upgrade without buying a whole new machine.

I have done lots of research online about what I need, but have found no advice that covers everything above for pre-builds and the idea of having a custom built machine both terrifies and intrigues me. To put things in perspective, until last week I had no idea what a core was - only that once (apparently many moons ago) we were all powered by Intel

Key considerations
1. I want to be able to able to have photoshop, illustrator, lightroom, spotify, chrome and access databases open at the same time and to move freely between them without having excessive load times
2. Color accuracy is important. Definitely need RGB and Adobe RGB. I use CMYK for all of my printing files
3. The environment where this build will be used contains a lot of fabric. I have seen some pre builds that have dust filters. Maybe I need one?
4. I also need to buy a monitor and am considering the Dell Ultrasharp or BenQ 27" (very happy for recommendations on this also)
5. I am based in Hong Kong so I need to be able to buy or ship the parts here. Thankfully there appear to be places in HK that you can pay someone to build the machine.
6. My budget for the build of the workstation is around US $2k, but I have some flexibility on this
7. On ports, I am not sure whether I need thunderbolt 3 in addition to USB 3

I used the PC builder to come up with the list below and would love some advice on whether this will suit my needs given all of the above. I am happy to invest now for a machine that will last me 6 years or so with upgraded components along the way.

Many thanks


CGDirector.com Parts List: https://www.cgdirector.com/pc-builder/?=Br1Ch0h0jke

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: AMD Wraith Spire Cooler (Included with CPU)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wifi ATX AM4
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB - MSI Gaming
Memory: 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 C16
Storage PCIe-SSD: Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB M.2 Solid State Drive
Power Supply: Corsair CX Series CX550 550W ATX 2.4 Power Supply
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case

 

[Cath_HK]

I am leaning toward the Dell UltraSharp 27 4 K Premier Color UP 2720Q monitor so need a PC build that will support 10 bit color. I am desperate to get this sorted. Thanks

 

[Alex Glawion]

Hey Cath_HK,
The workloads you are listing are not very demanding compared to some others (like 3d rendering and animation or video editing) so the build you are suggesting will work nicely and get you a very noticeable performance improvement over your old Lenovo.

1. The build you suggest will have no trouble whatsoever running those Apps at the same time. You CAN consider adding double the amount of RAM to be entirely sure though. 32GB of RAM will get you a long way
2. All Monitors support RGB and CMYK, the color spectrums you are probably talking about such as AdobeRGB are usually stated in terms of percentage covered. The UltraSharp 27 4 K Premier Color UP 2720Q is a great true 10bit Monitor at 4K resolution that I can recommend without reserve.
3. The PC's Case usually comes with a dust filter for the intake fans, but if you see it become dusty anyway, you can just oben the side and blow out the dust with some pressurized air. The Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX in your build does have one at the front and top, but not at the rear where the air is pushed out.
4. As mentioned above, the dell is excellent. As for BenQ, a great alternative to the dell is the BenQ PD2700U, 27", but this Monitor achieves 10bit color through FRC, and should therefore not be quite as accurate as the dell. It's slightly cheaper though.

Every Motherboard has at least a couple of USB 3 ports, so no issues there. As for thunderbolt, you will have to check if you have any external devices that might need it.

The build above gets you to about 1500$ (not sure what the honkong prices are), add 500$ for the Monitor and your budget should be well spent.

 

[Jerry James]

I'd also suggest looking into the pricing of the Intel Core i5 10600K in your region. For the applications you've listed, it'll be better (slightly).

That said, please do wait for the CPU purchase because there's going to be an announcement about AMD's new-gen processors on October 8th. Of course, only IF it's feasible for you to wait for a month or so.

 

[Cath_HK]

Thanks Alex, I have purchased the Dell monitor already - it arrives next week. From what I've read, the GPU I purchase needs to support 10bit to get the benefit of having the 10 bit Dell monitor not sure if that was covered with the build above. I've looked at many of the other suggested builds and the comments and one that resonated with me, and from what I can see, I can buy in Hong Kong is below. Do you think this would be ok for me or should I stick to the one above? My build will never be used for gaming and I don't use programs like CAD or 3 D modelling so I am not sure that I need a GPU like the one below and in HK $ it is double to price that it is in US $.

Having read so much in the last week I realise that I have spent the last two years or so working with crazy lag times waiting for files to load, having to shut everything down etc, so now I am paranoid about having a machine that is super fast and gives me the opportunity to work in multiple apps at once. I don't want to arrive at a point in two years where I am stuck again.

I have a budget for the build (excluding monitor) of around US $2-2.5K. I prefer to invest now but don't want to spend for the sake of it either. The other thing I wasn't sure about, is whether I need two different types of storage, but I am guessing I can add to that later if I need it? Apologies if these come across as dumb questions. Thanks again

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5GHz 16-Core Processor ($709.99)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 ($89.90)
Motherboard: MSI X570 Tomahawk ATX AM4 ($268.50)
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2080TI 11GB - Asus Turbo ($1099.99)
Memory: 64GB (4 x 16GB) G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 C16 ($354.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 2TB M.2 Solid State Drive ($349.99)
Power Supply: Seasonic Focus GM-650, 650W 80+ Gold Power Supply ($99.99)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($123.99)
Total: $3097.34