Question laptop or desktop or both for Win 10 Pro with graphics intensive requirements occasionally, and running more programs. 16 gig of DDR ram a must I th

[thxdougoffers]

Old Window 7 user looking for answers. Actually, I use Win 10 pro at work on a beater Dell Optiplex. Performs very well overall, but not put under intense graphics demands. I have a Win 7 desktop (HP) and Win 7 laptop (lenovo) before merge with old IBM name, what Think Tank or something. I want to beat Jan 14 Microsoft cutoff of Win 7 support, so I am looking at both desktops and laptops.

My needs?

1. Photo intensive files and softare, ,old school photoshop on my PC (version 6), also lightroom. I load up some pretty good size images sometimes.
2. I also will be loading audio files recorded on SD card, then loaded to Studio One for processing.

When you get the two items in 1 running at same time, big memory hog.

Recommendations budget minded? I am also confused about the 1.8 ghz speed of I7 processors, small SSD drives, and where I will put my big data storage. Some pc's come with 1 Terrabyte drives in addition to SSD .

Open to suggestions for best affordable system. I have liked my HP desktop, and my Lenovo laptop. But I picked up a cheaper HP laptop a while ago, ,disasterous!

Thanks for recommendations.

Doug

 

[tennis2]

What country are you in?
What is your budget?

What you're asking for is definitely achievable in a laptop (you'd probably want a larger external monitor with better color reproduction to do real work on) but you can get the same performance for less on a desktop. Desktops don't have to be large if space is a concern either. They can be the size of a cereal box.
You seem to already have a "casual use laptop" but going with a laptop for your serious use may be helpful if you need to do work on the go. If you're doing your work in one place though, the cost premium of laptops may not make sense. It all depends.

Either way you choose, we need to know what we should be recommending (desktop, small form factor, laptop)

If you can, it would also be nice for us to know the system specs of your current machine that you're using for these tasks.

Also. If a desktop, do you (or someone you know) have the knowledge to build a computer yourself, or would you prefer a pre-built PC?

 

[thxdougoffers]

I come from a world of towers and not so small size wise laptops, my laptop still runs Photoshop and Lightroom (Lenovo) Likely, not going to be on the go that much with this, but I am keeping my current desktop, but offline. I am also keeping my Lenovo laptop with blu-Ray drive built in, but offline come Jan 14. I don't plan to be at the machine all day, but I have a suitable monitor already with DVI input, actually 2. Budget, I do not believe I will spend more than 1K or there abouts. 2 and 3K machines are out of budget. I just don't think it will be necessary. In USA. I Just don't have faith in small form factor so much for desktops. Notebooks/laptops, sure, they have gotten thin too. I am not on the cloud with Adobe, I have Photoshop 6 and Lightroom 5 and 6, and intend to use those. I hope. I thought about upgrading the OS on my HP desktop, if it would support it. I can get educational rates on the OS. Then a new laptop, and hopefully, I am back for my needs. My needs will be declining, as honestly, after being in IT for almost 30 years. Sitting at a computer all day is not my retirement plan. Thanks I am looking at a Lenovo laptop around 1K price point with 16 gig of ram, 1 T storage, not a bad value... I have a Terrabyte small drive SSD as well. So, storage is not so much a factor, I also have some other drives (external).

I think a laptop makes more sense, since I am not getting rid of my HP desktop. I can do photography and use my software on it, without it being online. Actually, I have 2 HPs, one is Vista (offline) and 1 is W7.

One question I have, are you better off with an I5 processor with faster speed, or a I7 processor with slower speed, but it seems they can gear up when needed too, right?

processor in Lenovo I am considering is Intel 8th Generation Core i7-8550U Quad-Core (1.8 GHz up to 4.0GHz, 8 MB Cache) For 1K price point, ,seems like a good buy.

Really, the fact I can sit the laptop next to my desktop monitor on my relatively small workspace is reason 1 to get a laptop or take it elsewhere in the house or out is real benefit. I have to much setup on my old desktop just abandon it completely at this point, maybe slowly over time. I will be backing up some stuff on it in case drive crashes, but I can compute with photo and music offline.

I am hopeful, that my HP desktop will upgrade to W10. That would be nice. But I have not researched it as yet, and the drive is getting aged. Whether to trust it, no SSD, is a factor.

 

[tennis2]

Ideally you'd want a CPU with an "H" suffix (such as i7-8750H with 6 cores & 12 threads! ) since that implies a 35-45W TDP instead of 15W with the "U" series.
What that means is an H series CPU will not only have a higher base clock, but it will be able to maintain its turbo clock for a longer period of time. I can explain about base and turbo clocks further if you want.

When looking at laptops these days, it's important to keep in mind that some thin models have soldered on RAM (meaning you can't upgrade it). MOST of the time, you can upgrade a SSD (could be M.2 form factor) but there may not be a 2.5" bay.

This Lenovo Y530 = $660
i7-8750H
GTX1050 4GB (perfectly capable for what you need)
8GB RAM (upgrade this to 16GB yourself for $40)
1TB HDD (swap out for the 1TB SSD you already own)
1080p IPS 144Hz screen (93% sRGB)

$700 total! That's actually REALLY good!
Laptop review here

 

[thxdougoffers]

. I'll go have a look at that system you pointed me too, and I appreciate the tip on the U vs H. Back in the day, I was well in tune with hardware knowledge. But I have slipped way behind the curve now, and don't really want to spend a lot of time getting back up to curve level... lol.

My 1 TB SSD (Samsung portable)I really got it for more backing up photos and files, and port over use. you know, moving stuff from one PC to another, whether desktop or laptop. Actually, my SSD 1T drive is a portable drive, so it would not be suitable for mounting. So, that is out based on drive. You know, I used to do a lot of upgrades and hardware work, but these days, I'm not so much into that. I am behind the curve, and likely will stay there... I could probably upgrade the ram, or get someone too, but I'd probably choose to use the 1TB HDD as is in that system. I'll give it a look!

I get the general idea of what you are saying about the U vs H. The real crtical thing with photoshop 6 is 16 gig of ram, at least. 8 gig you run that and a bunch of browser windows, outlook, and things get REAL slow, or Lockup.


One more thing, this guy I know refurbs older computers, and puts SSDs in and all, but they are long in the tooth, like 7-8 years like my stuff, that would be a really bad idea even if cheap, agree?

thanks,
Doug

 

[tennis2]

Hey, no problem. Here's a speedy 1TB SSD if you just want to swap out the hdd. Otherwise you could go with a 500GB (for around $70) in addition to the 1TB HDD that machine comes with. Or.. run 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD.

SX8200 Pro 1TB = $140
You'll have to reinstall windows 10 (which is simple, and I'd recommend it anyway to get rid of vendor bloatware) , but you won't need a new license since the key is tied to the mobo.

Like I said, you can easily upgrade that machine to 16GB for $40 (red words are linked products) while you're in there installing the SSD.

I wouldn't pursue a 7-8 year old laptop.