Is this build good for photoshop and lightroom

[andycal]

Currently building a new photo editing only computer for around a AMD FX-8350 with a Hyper 212 Evo clocked at 4.5Ghz. Using a Gigabyte 990FXA UD3 board with 16GB of ram. Would a Sapphire R9 280 Dual X be a good card for Photoshop and lightroom?

 

[iamacow]

Sure depending on what your doing... it's hard to say if its good or not if you don't say what in photoshop you are doing and what version. If your doing simple photo edits basically any modern computer is good enough. if your digital drawing, there are other better software for that.

16GB of ram should be enough for the average user, only when you are editing very large files or working on 32bit files will you run into memory issues. the video card is supported in CS6 (with updates) and above. though last I checked nvidia cards ran much better for adobe.

I personally have been just using lightroom since version 4 and stop using photoshop almost completely or than merging HDR files.

 

[andycal]

The build is actually for my sister in law. She wants to change careers and become a professional photographer. She went all out and bought a Canon 5D Mark III camera, backdrops, etc.. She'll be running 2 24" 1080p monitors while she's editing. My brother and I are trying to get her setup with what she will need to get her business started. Personally, I have never used Photoshop or Lightroom, so that's why I'm turning to the experts for guidance.

 

[iamacow]

Funny enough I use the same camera and 2 24" monitors. So I'm guessing shes working in RAW files. This guide might help http://forums.overclockersclub.com/topic/194870-workstation-build-guide-and-tips/ . If you didn't buy the parts already I would get a Intel CPU is better for video and photo work. think of AMD having more "weak" cores rather than less "strong" cores. What happens is the i5 in benchmarks is the same or faster in many things (work related). AMD at this point is only good for gaming (start AMD fanboys). As for a video card. its a toss up, because unless shes is doing 3d work in photoshop or minor things like digitally painting, the CPU is still doing all the work. only minor things are offloaded. Lightroom 6 (which just came out) is the only version that supports video card acceleration. Photoshop CS6 and CC supports GPU acceleration, but like it said its really minor and generally not noticed unless working with massive files.

Personally I would just buy an old Quadro card on ebay and call it good. Im still rocking a Quadro FX 4800 that I bought for $100 2 years ago. It's basically a GTX 280 with Pro drivers and 10bit color support. I would suggest asking what she actually is planning on doing and her workflow. this way you can save money and gets parts that benefit her as an artist.