Building a PC

[Nataliebordenave]

Hi Brian,

I’m here to pick your brain, if possible. I currently work on a MAC but I think it’s time I upgrade to something else. I’m considering building a PC. I want to be able to upgrade my RAM when ever I need to. Would you be able to guide me in the right direction? I have no idea where to begin but I’m tired of having a slow computer when I completely depend on PS. 

[Brian]

Are you talking about configuring a PC that's already built? Or building-building a PC? In either case, what is your budget? Because every time I try selecting parts for a potential build, I always end up more than $3000, and that's before the jacked-up prices due to the supply shortages caused by COVID-19.

But to answer your question, yes...I can guide you either way.

Edit: I will forewarn you, the biggest difference between building a PC yourself and buying/configuring one is you do not have the option of buying in bulk. Prices are still triple what they should be and a Video Card that is "Good for Photo Editing" will run you $1700 all-by-itself in 2022. Plus the cost of everything else.

[Nataliebordenave]

Incoming SS. This is what someone helped me come up with, but he is a gamer and doesn’t know if this will be exactly what I need. It’s well within my budget.

[Brian]

I’m viewing this on my phone. What video card did you choose? Because you are about $1000 too low in 2022. Today’s modern photoshop uses a dedicated Video GPU and dedicated Video Memory as a performance boost. So look for a NVIDIA RTX 3070 8GB as a starting point. 

[Brian]

The rest of the PC is fine, but I’m not liking the “Seagate NAS Drive.” You really want a 7200 RPM Drive.