Please forgive me if has been covered. Would a 4th generation i5 processor handle Lightroom and Elements? I want a new desktop but do not want to shell out the cash for the i7 processor if I do not have too. I would rather spend the difference on a hard drive or ram. Thanks.
Computer question...
- Thread starter richnmib
- Start date
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Consider the fact my work computer (a Dell OptiPlex) with its 3.0Ghz Core2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and ATI Radeon 2600XT runs Photoshop decently well. Blur filters are slow as molasses but basic tasks are not bad. My home computer runs an Intel i5 with 16GB of RAM and 1GB of VRAM, however, and Photoshop is my b---h on that machine. So yes, in my experience an i5 would be fine. The i7 is better, technically speaking, but the i5 is a serious workhorse of a processor.
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RocketCowboy
Senior Member
Just adding to what HF said (and basically agreeing with him) ... I'll run LR/PS/Aperture on all three of my daily compute devices, i5 MacBook Air with 8GB DRAM, i7 MacBook Pro with 16GB of DRAM, and my 6-core Xeon E5 Mac Pro with 32GB of DRAM.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
Are you talking about Windows or a Mac platform... ??? :concern:
Not sure if this answers your question but I have a Dell Dimension with 2.8 GHz and 10 GB of RAM and it runs both PH and LR at the same time with no problems. Before I upgraded to Win 7 64 bit so I could take advantage of the extra RAM I could not save my Hasselblad scans as anything but baseline standard because PS told me I did not have enough RAM. Switching to 64 bit made all the difference in the world for me.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
No matter what processor you get be sure to get all the RAM you can. I run 24GB on my desktop and it really made a big difference from the 8GB it came with.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
richnmib.... the best thing you can do with ANY windows computer is put the MAXIMUM RAM the motherboard allows...
Tools like PS and LR etc rely heavily on all the CPU processing power you can chuck at it.
Following that it will use as much RAM as you can chuck at it too, and finally a good drive to store all your hard work on.
My opinion - spend your money on a 3rd gen i7 quad core if you can and add as much memory as you can afford too.
Keep in mind that as your funds increase later you can always add more memory, but replacing a CPU is not as cost effective.
Following that it will use as much RAM as you can chuck at it too, and finally a good drive to store all your hard work on.
My opinion - spend your money on a 3rd gen i7 quad core if you can and add as much memory as you can afford too.
Keep in mind that as your funds increase later you can always add more memory, but replacing a CPU is not as cost effective.