Crazy Photoshop question. CPU related.

colinuk · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:12

Need to build a new PC as mine put all 4 legs in the air and wont speaak to me any more.

I use photoshop a bit for photos, but wondering if I really need an i7 cpu.

Does anyone use photoshop with ease on an i5 chip? I only ask as this is the only program I use that would use HT.

Colin.

Admiral Huddy · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:18

HT for video editing and encoding. You'll be fine using an i5 for static image work, just throw plenty of RAM at it

Not had any issues with my i5 running Elements 12.. zips through.

Devrij · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:23

Some big filters, or using photomerge/HDR can take a little while on my i5, but other than that it's perfect.

colinuk · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:28

Photomerge does get used a lot - until I decide to buy that 10-24mm lens. TY for the information, more ram it shall be.

Zogger · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:28

I run CC on my Q6600 without any problems - admittedly I don't do much with it but I don't think the processor is the bottleneck for most general editing. Having SSD as a scratch disk helps when RAM runs out (I only have 4GB RAM iirc). If you are running a big one-time operation that you don't normally need to undo and it takes a minute instead of 30 seconds* you can weigh up whether it's worth the extra money

*(random numbers)

colinuk · 15 Apr 2014 at 16:56

Well, love using photoshop 6, but only for edits and removing the odd plastic bag that got in the pictures, photomerge and just started to play with HDR as I now have a camera that can do shots for it. Didnt want to spend more than I needed too as I say, I think photoshop is the only program that will use the i7 fully.

I will go look at i5 builds. As I am the only one I knpow who uses PS on a PC, hard to get anyone elses ideas, so I apologise for the questions.

Cleisthenes · 15 Apr 2014 at 17:16

colinuk said:
Well, love using photoshop 6, but only for edits and removing the odd plastic bag that got in the pictures, photomerge and just started to play with HDR as I now have a camera that can do shots for it. Didnt want to spend more than I needed too as I say, I think photoshop is the only program that will use the i7 fully.

I will go look at i5 builds. As I am the only one I knpow who uses PS on a PC, hard to get anyone elses ideas, so I apologise for the questions.

You don't have to apoligie for asking a question

Adrianr · 15 Apr 2014 at 17:18

Zogger said:
I run CC on my Q6600 without any problems - admittedly I don't do much with it but I don't think the processor is the bottleneck for most general editing. Having SSD as a scratch disk helps when RAM runs out (I only have 4GB RAM iirc). If you are running a big one-time operation that you don't normally need to undo and it takes a minute instead of 30 seconds* you can weigh up whether it's worth the extra money

*(random numbers)

Thing is, if you're running a Q6600 you will by extension be running an older chipset and likely DDR2 ram. It's not the CPU that is the bottleneck per say but the entire system that has to come with it.

You will notice a huge difference in even basic operation between a Q6600 system and a modern Z87 system running a 4670K, even if the clock speeds and ram quantity are identical.

As a rule of thumb Photoshop likes high clock speeds (not necessarily lots of cores or HT), and lots of fast ram. SSD for the OS + programs, and a separate drive for the scratch disk.

*Disclaimer: Seems obvious but differences noticed will be greater the larger the files you deal with. If you only ever deal with 100mb PSDs a Galaxy Note could manage that, but good systems will start to stretch their legs the larger you go. Really depends just how into Photoshop you are, and how bad your layer structure is

TLDR: i5 will be absolutely fine.

abbotsmike · 15 Apr 2014 at 18:03

As an extension, a family friend is getting into photography, and their current desktop is creaking. I will probably end up building them a new one! Is a haswell i3 (3.4ghz) likely to have enough grunt?
It will be used for retouching of photos rather than any heavy editing or design work, might also be GIMP or photoshop CS2 until they decide what they want to do with it.
It will be getting a SSD and 8gb of ram regardless!

Adrianr · 15 Apr 2014 at 18:08

Photoshop really will run on anything, it's just a case of how snappy you want the interface to be and how long you're willing to wait for any larger tasks. It's not really like games where you need a minimum FPS to be playable.

colinuk · 15 Apr 2014 at 18:35

True, my last pc was an athlon 2400, then I upgraded 4-5 years ago with an i7 and PS flew. It ran ok on the athlon, but I guess I want things to be done quickly.

I think I will get an i5 and boost the ram up to help PS, along with a good intel SSD.

Thanks for the answers.