Which CPU and how much RAM for photoshop in 2018?

[FPjohn]

Better Mac?

Better Mac?

Is the new MacMini more capable than a maxed out version of the previous mini? No i7 processor option or Iris graphics options are available. So extra memory and faster ram can/will give a more capable machine?

yours
FPJ

Larry and Rich did address much of this above. The i7 processor apparently is to be available in Canada.

Yours
FPJ

 

[BillBingham2]

Memory is something where as long as it's upgrade-able go with a little bit more that what you need or exactly. When you say it's running slow look at the new prices of RAM (it's a commodity and prices 98% of the time go one way (over a two month period)) and get yourself more.

I'd look to get some Thunderbolt 3 External SSDs for storage and use your boot drive for your app and perhaps working storage. In a perfect world I'd get a small TB3 external for working storage, keep the boot drive for booting and paging, and get a fast external drive for available storage, and a cloud space for archival.

I haven't been deep enough into the applications to speak to using GPUs and storage beyond just what the OS can take advantage of.

B2 (;->

 

[Dan Daniel]

Best thing I've done is use an SSD as main drive.

Second best thing is to put the Photoshop page file on another SSD dedicated to just this and working source files for video rendering.

For most standard Photoshop work, 16gb of RAM, i7 processor is fine. It's the read/write times that can slow things down.

 

[Fraser]

Best thing I've done is use an SSD as main drive.

Second best thing is to put the Photoshop page file on another SSD dedicated to just this and working source files for video rendering.

For most standard Photoshop work, 16gb of RAM, i7 processor is fine. It's the read/write times that can slow things down.

Same here SSD just completely transformed my 2010 (I think maybe 2012) macbook pro. I use it for work (Newspapers) and it still works great, the only annoying thing is the latest ios has slowed photomechanic a wee bit. Before the SSD photoshop took 50 seconds to open now it takes 9 seconds and its still only 8gb ram i5.

 

[maigo]

I've got an iMac early 2009 (24", Core2Duo 3Ghz, 8GB) upgraded to 128GB SSD internally and use a FW800 3TB laCie external for online image storage. 2TB of photo and video going back to 2003.

Synology 2 Drive NAS for Time Machine "real-time" backup and a 4TB USB2 drive for weekly backup using Carbon Copy. That USB drive is only connected for the weekly backup then put into storage.

Lightroom 5.6 and 158K photo and video files have pushed this system to its limit.
I can't upgrade OSX any more and this limits my ability to run new apps.
I've got a 100/100 fibre Internet service but can't take advantage of the bandwidth LOL.

Considering I've got 9+ years out of the machine, I'm very happy with this Apple hardware purchase. It will be a great machine for the kids when I get a new one.

Since Apple hasn't updated the iMac I'm considering a new base model mini+ monitor.

Waiting for the fixya/OWC tear down and upgrade options to decide on the purchase options.

I think I will get a i5 processor and third party memory upgrade to 32GB.
16GB would be enough for LR but I would like to run virtual machines too.

I'm not in a hurry but will need to research monitor choices and decide on new version of LR.

Michael.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ptpdprinter]

I am satisfied with my 2011 Mac Mini (i5, 16GB, 512GB SSD) and Thunderbolt display (2560x1440). It runs LR8/PS20 CC fine. Only problem is that it is isn't compatible with the latest Mojave update, so at some point I won't be able to update LR/PS CC, but I suspect that's a ways off.

 

[retinax]

I don't have any issues processing 16 MP raw files on a 9 year old dual-core i5 Thinkpad with 4GB RAM. I need the two seconds it takes to render an image to think about what I want to do with it.

 

[stevierose]

Best thing I've done is use an SSD as main drive.

Second best thing is to put the Photoshop page file on another SSD dedicated to just this and working source files for video rendering.

HI Dan
What's a Photoshop Page file. Is that the same as the PS Scratch disk?

Thanks

Steve

 

[Dan Daniel]

Best thing I've done is use an SSD as main drive.

Second best thing is to put the Photoshop page file on another SSD dedicated to just this and working source files for video rendering.

HI Dan
What's a Photoshop Page file. Is that the same as the PS Scratch disk?

Thanks

Steve

Yes, sorry, old Windows language. Photoshop does call it a scratch disk.

Every time you make a change, it is recorded on disk for the history system. Not that it's a full rendering or such. Next time you have a file or two or three open in Photoshop, go look at the scratch disk file (it is cleared out on exiting PS).

This isn't a very new SSD I use for this. I think the one I am using now was an original boot disk from a laptop that I upgraded. For its time it was slow, and now it is a dinosaur. Except compared to a hard disk, it is still very very fast. I have it in an external drive box on a USB3 port, which would probably be needed to get real results over a USB2 port.

 

[willie_901]

KM-25

Now, that is an awesome setup.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I just spent over $4,000 on a new Mini and Thunderbolt3 RAID array because I "needed" it due to the specific way I approach digital photography. This thread affords ample evidence that there are those who invest even more.
I did it, and don't regret it, but I can certainly see the validity of the point he was making, as "photography" can be done much more cheaply.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I just spent over $4,000 on a new Mini and Thunderbolt3 RAID array because I "needed" it due to the specific way I approach digital photography. This thread affords ample evidence that there are those who invest even more.
I did it, and don't regret it, but I can certainly see the validity of the point he was making, as "photography" can be done much more cheaply.

You spend what you have to spend to do photography the way you want to. My biggest cost last year had nothing to do with cameras and computers. It was for platinum/palladium chemicals.

 

[intheviewfinder]

My new computer is just a few months old (Intel 3.6ghz, 16gb ram, 1tb SSD OS, 2tb HD, 4tb HD, and a GPU /w 4gb

Thom Hogan thinks... memory first, dedicated GPU second, and CPU clock speed third. But I find that the solid state drive is a serious speed boost. The entire Windows OS is on it, as well as Lightroom. All of the previews get stored there as well as the catalog. I just make sure the catalog and previews get backed up whenever LR is closed. I also set the LR cache (Preferences/Performance/Cache) to the OS drive and made it larger (20gb).

The 2tb hard drive came out of the previous system. I use this mainly for documents and other miscellaneous files. The 4tb hard drive is exclusively for unarchived photo storage (backups occur nightly to the NSA (network storage system).

 

[FPjohn]

Has a teardown of the new 2018 Mac mini been done or do we wait post nov 7th?

We did have to wait.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+mini+Late+2018+Teardown/115210

Yours
FPJ

 

[FPjohn]

Teardown occurred today.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+mini+Late+2018+Teardown/115210

 

[Godfrey]

My 2012 Mac mini has been rolling along just fine, but I'll likely order one of these new ones soon. It's a perfect machine for my uses.

G

 

[Archlich]

Photoshop cannot utilize more than 6 cores. Clock speed is essential in this case, so 8th generation Intel i5 8500/8600K fits the bill very well.

Max out your RAM. Give it at least 16 gigs. 32 or 64 if you can afford them at current going price.

Use a SSD. Maybe two, since they've hit the bottom now. Make sure you have enough scratch disk spaces.

Dedicated video card makes a difference, but not much. No need for the good ones as photoshop don't need that much 3D power, the very basic GT1030 would be sufficient.

That pretty much is it. I'm a digital painter so fast data transmission isn't as crucial as pro photographers (I produce only 1 gig of data with 10+ hours of hard work!), therefore not much need for the Thunderbolt. I built a tiny Asrock DeskMini 310 earlier this year for occasional travel assignments. It's as powerful (if not more so than) and almost as small as the new Mac Mini, more flexible and much cheaper, so you could invest more into monitors and calibration solutions. Highly recommended.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Dedicated video card makes a difference, but not much. No need for the good ones as photoshop don't need that much 3D power, the very basic GT1030 would be sufficient.

Make sure your video card supports the resolution of the monitor you aspire to (4K or 5K) so you won't have to replace it when you upgrade your monitor.

 

[blue4130]

Make sure your video card supports the resolution of the monitor you aspire to (4K or 5K) so you won't have to replace it when you upgrade your monitor.

Even the cheapest gt1030 will do 8k resolution @ 60hz. Modern graphics cards have gotten really good, albeit very expensive.