Best CPU for photoshop

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Q

qwerty_31

Honorable
Jul 25, 2012
14
0
10,510
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.
 
Solution
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...
Sort by date Sort by votes


just how huge? I just wrote this set of Linear Projections up. I was hoping to try to remember to test with no virtual memory on a real x64 box later to actually put some push-to-the-limit PS test results in the document.

http://jesusnjim.com/using-computers/photoshop-memory-how-much.html
 
Upvote 0 Downvote



For the actual stitches, the finished product is rarely more than 100mp in size, but some of them, due to heavy overlap necessitated by conditions, I am looking at more like nearly 1000mp of data to process.
Some of my stacks are up and over the 1000mp of data mark. The finished products aren't that big, but there is a lot of data to be processed.
I am also looking at a proper pano head so I won't have to use such heavy overlap when shooting panos . . .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So having looked at all these tests, I conclude that
a) the i5-2500K is almost as good as the i7s, and a lot cheaper
b) the FX-8150 is roughly the same as the i5-2500K
c) the i7s aren't very much better than these two, some tests actually have them worse than these two.

The i5 and the fx cost roughly the same. I will probably end up with one of these.

I have looked at the tests, and I don't think that the extra performance you get from an i7 is worth $100 - $150. Given the number of people who told me I needed lots of RAM, and that this is a thread about CPUs, I really think an extra $100-150 would be better spent on RAM.

Which one should I go with?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


So are motherboards made for one brand cheaper? What are the differences? Which one is better value?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
you will have to compare features. Number of pci-e slots, Sata ports, usb ports, ect.

For AMD id recommend this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

$69.99
its the 970 chipset, ie the newer one. This is a basic but high end board, 2 pci-e graphics card slots, 2 pci-e x1 (network, io card), and 2 pci. 5 sata 6gb ports and 2 usb3.0. (along with 4 usb 2.0)

Cheapest semi-comparable motherboard from intel,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157301

$89.99
one pci-e 3.0, or 2 pci-e 2.0 (run at x1 & x4), 1 pci-e x1, 0 - pci, 4 sata 6gb, same usb setup. Note that pci-e 3.0 is only with ivy bridge cpus (they don't really specify that on the motherboard)

Most of the AMD boards sata ports on the 900 boards are all 6gb, the 800s are 3gb ports, Intels are usually mixed with 6 and 3gb.

Avoid the cheap 760 AMD boards, some of them don't support the 8150, even though they are $50.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
For so much low budget and for photoshop using I would recommend you to buy :

CPU : AMD FX-8120 for ony 160$
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FX-8120-8-Core-Edition-Processor/dp/B005UBNKZG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343647094&sr=8-2&keywords=fx+8150

RAM : Corsair Veagence 8 GB (4 GB x 2) @ 1600 MHz for 45$
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-12800-1600mHz-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B/dp/B004QBUL1C/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343647197&sr=1-2&keywords=ram+8gb

Graphics Card : Zotac Nvidia GT440 1GB DDR5 for 54 $
http://www.amazon.com/GeForce-Express-Displayport-Graphics-ZT-40702-10L/dp/B004LRO9AA/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343648132&sr=1-5&keywords=nvidia+gt+440+ddr5

MOBO : Gigabyte AM3+ Geforce/nforce for 54$
http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GeForce-Chipset-Motherboard-GA-M68MT-S2/dp/B005X64M4G/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343648322&sr=1-4&keywords=motherboard+am3%2B

Case with PSU : Ark technology PA-08 for 35$
http://www.amazon.com/Ark-Technology-PA-08-Computer-Supply/dp/B003YDZIB6/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343648561&sr=1-4&keywords=case+with+power+supply

All these cost 348$ but without the HDD. If dont have one its very hard not to exeed your budget. Furtheremore if you dont have a monitor and keyboard + mouse there is NO WAY to build a goog PC with 350$.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


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 and the Xeon is by far the ultimate chip for the job. So i'm not picking sides. For actual use and not theoretical use. I have had minimal problems with AMD FX-8150. Especially using it for rendering tasks while needing to use Photoshop, Maya, and the Unity Engine to work out texturing for my High-Poly Models. This is quite a load on the RAM, GPU, and CPU. Both the Intel and AMD system ran very similar Graphic Cards and Ram type. While using both CPU's, the outcome became so similar that at most delay would be 2-3 seconds. This difference doesn't justify the crazy price for the "BEST CHIP". The fact of the matter is that when you encounter these two chip companies, Intel smokes AMD. Also the reality is that the difference is great but that doesn't mean the tested statistics will impact as hard on actual use. Remember most benchmarking is a fixed test that targets specific functions of the chips, but it doesn't mean that is the only way that function may be accessed.

Long story short, Get the most cores and higher clock for the price. Currently the AMD FX-8150 is about $200 in the market, and on newegg I've seen it $170 a while back. This is by far the best value per core and clock you'll find of any chip currently.

-EDIT-
Without any forced OC, and just automated OCing i got 3.9-4.0ghz out of the box and not touching anything in the BIOS. I have CPU-Z Validations to prove it. The clock speed was very efficient comparing it's voltage and bus clock in stock settings of 5200mt/s(2600Mhz FSB). On a CPU, a high FSB is what matters most to get the most optimal performance out of programs like Photoshop or any Adobe CS Collection.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution


$350 was not the price for the whole PC, but the maximum I was prepared to pay for a CPU in any circumstance
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

The problem with some of these suggestions, they don't check to see if it will even work.

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3967

Falls in the same category as the 760 boards, doesn't support the 8150 and only the 95W version of the 8120. The 8120 is normally a 125W part, I think there was initially going to be a 95W revision, but it never happened. just like the 8100 and 8140, it didn't happen.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


It will probably end up around $1000.
I was thinking
processor - fx8150 or i5 - $200
32gb of RAM
half decent graphics card (remember I am not doing games)
win 7 pro
USB 3.0
120gb SSD
1tb HDD
DVD burner

Is 32gb of RAM an overkill for photoshop?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


And it wasn't $350 for the CPU, but $350 was the absolute maximum I was prepared to pay for a CPU in any circumstance. I don't want to spend $350 on just the CPU.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM Item #: N82E16827151244 $16.99


G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10Q-32GBXL Item #: N82E16820231490 $189.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM Item #: N82E16832116992 $139.99

OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Item #: N82E16820227706 -$55.00 Instant $94.99 + $15.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

• AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8150FRGUBOX Item #: N82E16819103960 Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy

• ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard Item #: N82E16813157280 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$25.00 Instant
-$15.00 Combo
$254.98


• Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822148844 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


• CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ... Item #: N82E16817139020 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$60.00 Instant
-$20.00 Combo
$219.98
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card



Subtotal:

$916.92
Click to expand...

This is from newegg. they don't allow combo deals in their "wishlist", combos reduced the price by $35, add promo codes and another $20 off.

This just leaves the graphics card and a computer case. A lot of times its cheaper to buy a computer case local due to shipping charges.

This is a question I am not sure of, but does photoshop work better with a workstation card such as this one. With cs5, it may not matter much, but CS6 being open cl.

You could get by with a cheap $50 graphics card, but a workstation card may be the way to go if someone can answer that, I never really paid much attention to the workstation cards.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
good to know for future reference - thanks. the nvidia cards are faster, and now they have CUDA 5, if that makes any difference. it's a whole new architecture of cards with the 600 series. so now I guess Adobe does both CUDA and OpenCL? I will have to lookat the nvidia site and see if there is mention of CUDA any more. I was going to buy an nvidia card.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/licensing_for_hobbyists.aspx#fbid=EavGAGjgiMv

buy the parts, have your unrelated friend build it, use the oem version. There is nothing preventing a non liscenced business owner from installing it. The only thing is the System builder that preinstalled the software must provide support for the software.

All the eula is for is to scare people into spending an extra $150 for microsoft support.

OEM versions do not offer any free Microsoft direct support from Microsoft support personnel

- OEM licenses are tied to the very first computer you install and activate it on

- OEM versions allow all hardware upgrades except for an upgrade to a different model motherboard

- OEM versions cannot be used to directly upgrade from an older Windows operating system

If you are afraid to install windows, then you might consider the non-oem version that way you can call microsoft.

Microsofts term of system builder:

To distribute the Software or Hardware in this Pack, you must be a System Builder
and accept this license. “System Builder” means an original equipment manufacturer, an assembler,a refurbisher, or a software
pre-installer that sells the Customer System(s) to a third party.
http://oem.microsoft.com/public/sblicense/2008_sb_licenses/fy08_sb_license_english.pdf
 
Upvote 0 Downvote



so, just as you quoted, are you selling the system to somebody? usually microsoft requires that OEMs support the product they sell to folks as part of the "OEM Program".
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom