PC recommendation for 2026

[Mike Comber]

Brian,

I saw your recommendations for Windows PC updated March 2025. Do you have an update on these for latest PS release? It seemed to video card recommendation was for older NVIDIA series

[Brian]

The band members might change, but the song remains the same...

It's the same recommendations, over-and-over, year after year...just with the modern / current versions of stuff. 

• It's still NVIDIA Graphics cards, either a RTX 5070 or 5080, thought the 4070/4080 should still work for a few more years. At least 8GB of dedicated Video RAM, of course, 12-16GB would be better. Be sure to install the NVIDIA STUDIO DRIVERS and NOT the default General Computing / Gaming Drivers. Adobe's products seem to be optimized for NVIDIA's stuff. 
   
• I still recommend at least 64GB of RAM, especially if your camera's MP count is high. 32GB is a bare minimum. 
   
• i7 or i9 CPU; Photoshop really relies on the Video GPU and dedicated VRAM for a performance boost. The CPU, while still important, is not that important as it was 20 years ago. So a mid-range i7 or AMD equivalent or better will be fine. 
   
• HD, I still recommend a 1TB for a main drive and a 2nd HD, either internal or external, to store your images on. SSD is fine, of course, a m.2 is better. If you can swing a 2TB for a Main HD, that's also fine. Anything larger and you are kinda wasting money at this point. 
   
• I like using the "Pro" versions of Windows, so Windows 11 Pro is what I recommend. Of course, you could get the "Home" edition, but when I go fixing stuff, I do not want Windows getting in the way with some stupid Wizard. 
   
• A power supply that is powerful enough for all the hardware. If you are building a Computer, I'd shoot for a 850 Watt in 2026/2027; if you are buying a Dell XPS or whatever, the manufacturers usually pick an adequate power supply for their system. Of course, if you go adding anything fancy, you will likely have to upgrade the P/S. 
   
• Display, it's still a 27" IPS Based Screen with a 2560 x 1440 Resolution. Though, those monitors are getting tough to find and you might have to get a 4K Display. You still want a IPS Panel, and you will have to increase the scaling to 125% or even 150% for some.