Windows desktop for lightroom and ps c£300

[noell35]

Hi all, looking for some help from the PH tech knowledge base.
I use Lightroom cc and have a subscription to the Adobe cc suite which includes Photoshop as well which I would like to start using.

I've got a crap laptop which is getting slower and want to buy a desktop to use with a Dell Ultrasharp monitor. The monitor is around £200 and I'd like to spend around £300 on the desktop. It will only be used for the purpose stated with maybe a bit of web browsing.

I've been looking at used and refurbished units but I'm a little confused by all the options.
I think I've narrowed it down to an i5 with 16gb which should be enough for what I need?
I'm unsure whether I need a graphics card?

Could anyone point me in the direction of something that meets my needs? If indeed they are realistic/correct?

[eltawater]

I use an HP Prodesk 400 G3 i3-7100 with 8GB for my Lightroom classic processing.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-ProDesk-400-G3-Mini-...

I don't have any issues with RAM when using it, hell it's a positive upgrade compared to the 4GB Dell laptop I had previously

If you can have 16GB then great, but it's not a dealbreaker as far as I can see.

The key thing with CPU architectures is that the later generations will perform better, so my 7th Gen I3 beats the pants off the Dell's 2nd Gen i5 processor.

Use the comparisons on https://www.cpubenchmark.net/ if that helps.

[noell35]

Thanks, I'll have a look. Does it run Photoshop okay?

[eltawater]

I've only got Photoshop cc as part of my adobe subs but it doesn't seem to have any issues with it.

[singlecoil]

One issue that hasn't been touched on yet is the size of the files you will be using.

[noell35]

singlecoil said:

One issue that hasn't been touched on yet is the size of the files you will be using.

Good point, they're not massive. I use a Fuji XT10. Although Fuji don't compress the RAW files so they are a bit bigger than you would expect from such a small camera

[singlecoil]

Then I don't think you will have a problem using the sorts of computers discussed so far. A graphics card is definitely a good thing to have though.

[eltawater]

I process 24MP Nikon NEF files, you'll be absolutely fine with the onboard Intel graphics

[noell35]

I was thinking if I got a 'tower' then it would be easier to upgrade components if needed in the future but now I know that a newer i3 processor is good enough I can look again.

[eltawater]

It's entirely up to you. A tower will give you more flexibility in terms of adding and upgrading but can be noisier and take up more space.

I've got the little HP Small Form Factor because it's purely for photo processing and my days of being deafened and roasted by a large tower are way behind me.

[noell35]

eltawater said:

It's entirely up to you. A tower will give you more flexibility in terms of adding and upgrading but can be noisier and take up more space.

I've got the little HP Small Form Factor because it's purely for photo processing and my days of being deafened and roasted by a large tower are way behind me.

I'll definitely think about it, I like the idea of strapping it to the back of a monitor. Thanks again for your help