Best CPU for photoshop

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qwerty_31

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Jul 25, 2012
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I am looking to build a computer with the aim of running photoshop CS5, and possibly in the future CS6. No games. No overclocking. What CPU would be best?
Price is a big factor. I am prepared to shell out up to $350, but for that money, it had better be a lot faster than the lower priced competition.
 
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mafisometal


I would say for the performance would be Intel Xeon but since the budget is $350 i would go for the AMD FX-8150. I know i'll probably get a bunch of bad remarks for saying that. The AMD processor is extremely underrated because of benchmark testing. The fact of the matter is that a benchmark test is flawed because a benchmark is naturally fixed from real world use. I have personally used both chips for game development projects...
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you will always do better in adobe products with more threads and higher speed. i7-3960x 6-core for desktop. if you can maintain the liquid cooling every 3 months and afford the machine, get a 3DBOXX workstation from http://boxxtech.com those are overclocked and are the fastest workstations in the world. they have mobile versions as well. you probably don't need more than 1 GPU for ps, and you can use either a quadro 3800, 4800, 5800, or gtx 680.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

you WILL want all the RAM you can stuff in the machine though. ps uses it ALL when working with gigapixel panoramas, layers, content-aware-fill (eliminating telephone lines and telephone poles), and there are more operations which use up RAM. I haven't seen scratch disk used for hardly anything. maybe it's because I like editing panos. 4GB will not do it. try about 64GB. if you can manage, stuff the box with RAM. Adobe will use it. have 2 processors in your workstation, it will only make your work faster.

if you can't afford a workstation, purchase a custom i7-3960x box (you can only have 1 proc). I suggest the asus p9x79 deluxe motherboard,maybe the p9x79 ws motherboard. that proc and mobo combo will take 64GB of ram using ddr3-1600 8GB sticks. the ram alone will cost about $400-500.
no need to overclock. but I do recommend one of 2 coolers:
zalman cnps12x

ThermalRight True Spirit 140 http://thermalright.com/products/index.php?act=data&cat_id=27&id=182
this looks very easily maintainable with a removable fan retaining latch.

maintainability is key, you clean the cpu cooler every 6 mo to 1 year.
with those systems you are looking at $3800-$4800.

for $350 you will have an ultra-low-end machine equivalent to a 2004-era single-core pentium 4.

if you start looking at used desktops on http://craigslist.org good luck if it gets a virus (don't get an xp machine, can't get recovery media for it).
the lowest end new acer desktop costs about $299 I think (not including shipping). laptop is $350 minimum new on http://newegg.com

do you need a monitor? ps/2 keyboard? mouse? mousepad? power strip? antivirus software? wireless card? network cable? think about your purchase and budget some more.
 
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by the way, I am using a pentium 4 HT to do ps work. it's 1-core 2-thread so it looks to windows like 2 cpus because of hyperhthreading. even an old 32-bit box like this can do ps cs5, but it has some limits with editing panos.

so if you can find such a box, and you are really in a crunch,this or a dual-core may work for you as a minimum. you can get such a box from a computer recycler in your town for $80 or so (they might argue it's dual-core, but it's not, it just looks like it to windows).

be sure to ask the computer recycler if the machine has an OS. it might not. you can probably buy windows 7 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116717&Tpk=windows%207 to put on it and if it's a 64-bit box,(try to get one that is!) you will be set and won't have memory problems if you have a big enough Hard Disk.

 
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For that price, I would think it would be the best! But look, it might be the best for photoshop, but it is not the best for my wallet! I was hopeing for somthing a little bit cheaper than four grand . . .

I am also in to editing huge panoramas! And makeing huge focus stacks as well. My little 6yo laptop with its 1gb of RAM and a dual core 1.66GHz processor just crashes when I start to do larger stitches and stacks.
 
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Some points:
- Beyond the i5-3570K, the actual real-world performance gains by more expensive CPU's rapidly dwindles and the performance-to-price gets significantly higher

- RAM is also a factor. You'll probably want 16GB. If you need more than that then you'll have to buy Windows PRO version, not the Premium and also ensure the MOTHERBOARD supports enough RAM.

- GRAPHICS support is quite minor even in CS6. Only a few features are accelerated. CS7 (not out for a couple years) will have a huge jump in OpenCL and CS8 will have a LOT of support for it.

SSD:
It probably isn't that important. If you have enough RAM all the work should be done there once the file is initially loaded. I do recommend putting Windows and your apps on an SSD though and use a Hard Drive if you need it for other files, backups etc.

The Samsung 830 128GB is my recommend currently for hard drives. 60GB is not enough, FYI.

SUMMARY:
- i5-3570K or i7-3770K depending on budget
- 16GB of DDR3 1600MHz probably
- 32GB probably overkill. Need both a motherboard and Windows PRO to support that.
 
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As Adobe software makes use of hyperthreading, there are advantages in the use of i7, in terms of speed with complex editing processes. i5, however, is perfectly adequate for still work. If you can afford it, in the first place, I would say, go with the fastest Ivybridge option, in either.

Provided you use a reasonable graphics card, I don't think exactly which makes much difference for stills. If you want, however, to do high quality HD video work, the choice of both CPU and GPU becomes more critical. All this assumes, as you say, you don't want to overclock, or game.
 
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first, Nvidia throttles their compute performance on desktop cards. AMD is the one working with Adobe on CS6 for openCL support.

Since your budget is $350, let the flame war begin

photoshop.png
 
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what? you have someone requesting the best option with a $350 budget and people are suggesting a $1000 cpu or $350 on the cpu alone. Just saying he can get nearly an entire system for $350 and be better off on his one specific use.
 
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you know its going to happen because someone suggested AMD of all things. EVERYONE hates AMD, even WHEN the specific program in question runs better.

watch and see, I won't even have to post anything else.

For photoshop, the 8150 is the better option, and only $190
 
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http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-benchmark-core-i7-3770k,3181-15.html

The 8150 handles photoshop better than the 3770k. If you are simply building the computer for JUST photoshop and nothing more, then the cheapest and best option is the FX8150.

If you want it for more things like Premiere, or After Effects or something else, that's when the roles switch and you find yourself looking for a better option.

And from what I gathered in your original post, you said $350 tops for the CPU right?
 
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if you need a whole system i am sorry but i cannot find it for under $450 and this is a bare minimum suggestion:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar H61MLC Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital RE2 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.75 @ Compuvest)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $445.65
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-26 16:24 EDT-0400)

it will scream compared to your lap top but i do hope your $350 budget is just the cpu, motherboard and RAM.
 
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That is correct. The $350 is just for the CPU. But like I said before, if I am going to pay $350, it had better be a tangible amount faster than the $200 AMD alternative. The whole system will probably cost somthing close to $1000.

Yes I am building this computer for JUST photoshop. No premiere.

I like to shoot really huge panoramas with wide angle lenses, so lots of distortion. Photoshop takes a very long time to put them together.
I also like to shoot 60 and 80 shot focus stacks. They can take a while as well.
 
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just calculated my biggest image, I do work on images close to 100MP (may get bigger if I have the time & battery power), have been limited to 3G-4GB RAM, and have read on adobe forums where most said that 8-12GB would do for most work, but this one guy (who I can side with) is saying that 64GB with ps is more like what he wants.

"As someone who is contemplating 64GB or ram in my workstation coming from 8GB, I would hope that this investment will see me better off."
this is only 1 person. probably a person who is using the machine like it's meant to be used and is bumping into limitations like memory errors in ps...

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/09/how-to-set-up-a-great-photoshop-machine.html
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3303455#3303455

if you want to just do web graphics or people's photos, then 8-12GB should be enough for you. but if you want to work with ginornmous original nasa/hubble photos, or you are working with near-GP panos, then you need more RAM. adobe ONLY works off of RAM,the scratch disk feature is totally ignored. I am not even sure why adobe has it.

I also suggest that if you are doing panos that you shop around for a different pano program.
this one looks pretty good with its algorithms and such.
http://www.autopano.net/en/

I hope the blog article clears up a lot for you.
 
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after doing a little research and from my personal experience:
the i7-3770K is the best, cost effective choice for your budget.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/build-your-own-ultimate-adobe-photoshop-cs6-pc/19985
http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2012/06/photoshop-cs6-the-need-for-speed.html
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/software/35677-cpu-photoshop-cs6-new-build.html
getting a sandy bridge-E setup would be better but out of your price range.

as far as any intel vs. AMD; intel had the luxury of a partnership with adobe and any optimizations would be for an intel processor; even adobe recommends intel specifically.
Optimize performance | Photoshop CS4, CS5, CS6
The speed of the computer’s central processing unit, or CPU, limits the processing speed of Photoshop. Photoshop CS4 requires a PowerPC G5 or multicore Intel processor (Mac OS) or a 1.8 GHz or faster processor (Windows). Photoshop CS5 and CS6 require a multicore Intel processor (Mac OS) or a 2 GHz or faster processor (Windows).
Click to expand...

i would like to suggest that last link as the best resource to use for building the rest of your rig.
 
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That adobe page that recomends intel doesn't seem to be saying that photoshop runs better on intel. It only says that you need an intel if you are using a mac OS, it says if you are using windoes, you only need a 2GHz or faster processor, no brand specified.

As far as I can make out, it is nothing to do with photoshop running faster on intel, but to do with apple OS not running on AMD processors.

http://www.macbreaker.com/2012/01/look-at-state-of-amd-hackintoshing.html

There are no macintoshes that run on AMD processor, although there are a few "hackintoshes" that do.
 
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i understand what you are saying. again intel had a partnership with adobe. any multi core AMD that can come close to an intel chip is the FX8150 because of having 8 "cores" (which relies on developer optimizations) and if you do further research you will see that adobe does not benefit past 6 cores.
it can get sliced and diced in a dozen different ways but the most consistent fact is the best processor for photoshop is an i7.
44748.png

of course you don't need to take my word for it, just cruise the PS forums and see what is the most common chip . .
http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop/
 
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