Low budget build for Photoshop, expecting 5+ years, possibly with upgrades down the road.

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koishkim

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Hi all,

My brother is into photo editing, and I'd like to build a new PC for him. His PC is 7-8 years old, and he's been complaining about it being too slow.

I've been doing some research, and with around $600, I find out that I can buy:
i3, H81 mobo, 8gb ram, 1tb 7200rpm hdd (already got 120gb ssd), IPS 24" monitor, no gpu, 400w psu, etc.

My major concern is, now that Skylake is out, I wonder if I should go for a skylake i3 with ddr4 ram. The price isn't different much. I'm expecting to let him use this build for more than 5 years. I'm thinking of spending a few extra to upgrade some parts down the road, and not sure if it's a good idea to either (1) buy a haswell i3 with ddr3 ram, and see if some used parts, an i5 or i7, out in the market at cheaper prices in 4~5 years, or (2) buy a skylake i3 with ddr4 ram. So the point is, I'd like to know how many years it usually takes for people to buy latest cpus and then sell those parts. What's the usual cycle?

Thanks.
 
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_Blink
That all seems very good, is he getting on alright without a GPU?
Because it might be worthwhile looking into a GPU, for photo editing it helps out a lot.

The RAM is also very important, but I see you're going for 8GB, which is plenty.

Take a look here as to why you should rather go for DDR3 instead of DDR4.
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-differences-between-ddr3-and-ddr4-ram/

As far as upgrading the pc, and how often, it really depends. I think you could get away with ~5 years. You might have to buy some parts along the way, but it's not a big deal :)
Accidents could happen too, so just gotta consider that.

The i3 should be fine for now, might have to upgrade that before 5 years ends. But the pc will run very quickly with...
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_Blink

_Blink

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That all seems very good, is he getting on alright without a GPU?
Because it might be worthwhile looking into a GPU, for photo editing it helps out a lot.

The RAM is also very important, but I see you're going for 8GB, which is plenty.

Take a look here as to why you should rather go for DDR3 instead of DDR4.
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-differences-between-ddr3-and-ddr4-ram/

As far as upgrading the pc, and how often, it really depends. I think you could get away with ~5 years. You might have to buy some parts along the way, but it's not a big deal :)
Accidents could happen too, so just gotta consider that.

The i3 should be fine for now, might have to upgrade that before 5 years ends. But the pc will run very quickly with the SSD and 8GB ram.
 
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koishkim

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He won't do any *heavy* photo editing, so I think he will be just fine. If it's going to be important for him to have a GPU for better performance at some point, then we can just chip in a few extra bucks to buy it. For now, he doesn't seem to care.

Regarding upgrades, I think a CPU and RAM will most likely need replacing, so that's why I asked. In 5 years, I hope used Haswell i5 or i7 to be available, but have no idea if there's going to be enough available in the used parts market.

 
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koishkim

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Is my brother going to need 650W much power in the future with a GPU? That big?
 
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_Blink

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I'm sure in 5 years time you'll be able to find very good second hand stuff for cheap. Regardless, I don't think it's a good idea to get the i5 now unless you really want to, especially since it seems like you're trying to keep the cost low :) i3 will perform great for now
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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There isn't a set upgrade cycle with PC components; you upgrade when you need to.

If your brother will have multiple RAW files open simultaneously then he'd benefit from more RAM. If he'll be batch-converting photos from RAW and JEPG (or any other format) then he'll benefit from more CPU power. A GPU is only required if the software can actually use it. Adobe Photoshop Elements can't utilise a GPU at all and Lightroom can only utilise a GPU for specific tasks.

If you can afford a Skylake i3 and DDR4 RAM then that's what you should go for, on account of the faster speed. I'd only buy Haswell if the price was considerably cheaper than Skylake.
 
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koishkim

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Thanks. Maybe I will find an i5 (or i7) in 5 years and replace the i3 with it. Maybe I could add another RAM chip to bump it up to 16GB, if needed. :)
 
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Bearmann

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I think you are on the right track. I would really try to step up to a Skylake quadcore i5 since he keeps his computer for a long time. In addition to the increase in speed (over the i3) , it will also provide better onboard graphics (over most Haswell's) since he won't be using a separate GPU. A quality 400 watt PSU will allow him to add a modest GPU at a later date if he decides that he wants one. Leave some slots open to add additional RAM at a later date.
 
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koishkim

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I also would like to buy a Skylake i5, but I'm on a tight budget. It costs around $100 more, and I can't simply afford it for now. Do you think it's still better to go for a Skylake *i3*, due to better onboard graphics?
 
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koishkim

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This may sound funny. He has been using an Athlon 64 X2 for this long. I put a SSD into his machine, so it went from almost not working to slow. It's not upgradable. Then maybe I should go for a Skylake i3? The onboard graphics makes that much of a difference? Or, is it the number of cores?
 
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Chayan4400

Chayan4400

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Photoshop needs lots of RAM, but will perform well on even an iGPU. I do light to moderately heavy editing with multiple files open on my i3 4130 easily. Only when I create really big (Think 5' by 10' banners) does the 8GB RAM become a problem. Here's my recommendation:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($183.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus B150M-A D3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ Directron)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell S2415H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($194.95 @ Adorama)
Total: $626.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 10:00 EST-0500

Skylake i5 + 16GB RAM so that you won't face slow downs when editing larger files even later on, a high quality 350W PSU so that you can add a GTX 950 or equivalent later (Nothing more powerful is needed for photo-editing) and a slighty more expensive monitor that's rated as one of the best budget monitors in terms of colour reproduction and image quality. It's about ~$45 more expensive than your build, but will last considerably longer.
 
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Chayan4400

Chayan4400

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Ivy-bridge is too outdated now, parts will be difficult to source and expensive where available.
 
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koishkim

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Thank you very much for the info! But I'd have to add something. I don't live in the US, and given the currency rate, my budget is actually $500 max... I should've specified this early on. I should find some components which I can expect some cuts from.
 
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koishkim

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I live in South Korea. $500 should include a monitor, not Windows. So, to clarify: cpu, mobo, ram, case, power, hdd (have ssd, but low capacity), and monitor. I think I can place an order from eBay, but I think I may have to pay taxes + shipping.
 
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Chayan4400

Chayan4400

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koishkim

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I have a genuine Windows 7 production key and a SSD that I can install it on. So the suggested link doesn't interest me much I'm afraid, although I appreciate your help much. Keeping some upgrades in mind down the road, maybe in 3 years, I suppose having a Skylake i3 and 8G RAM is a good choice? Man, it's hard to make a final choice.
 
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Chayan4400

Chayan4400

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Fair enough. That was what I half expected anyway. Yup, looking at it upgrade-wise a Skylake i3 + 8GB RAM is the best. Personally I'd pick up an old workstation; much better value for the price and generally powerful enough to keep doing comparatively light work like photo-editing for 4-5 years easily. I still have an HP Elite 8000 series from around 2009 that still handles photoshop quite well, even though it's got a substancially weaker iGPU and 4GB of RAM.
 
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koishkim

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Bearmann

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The cores are more important than the onboard graphics. However, Photoshop is primarily single threaded, so the extra cores may not be very helpful:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/

Lightroom however, can be lightly threaded or multithreaded depending on what functions are accessed:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Lightroom-CC-6-Multi-Core-Performance-649/

He may use other software such as Nik plugins, and I don't have information on these other programs. It's nice to have a 4 core processor for some" future proofing."

A desktop i3 is nice though, and generally equivalent to a laptop i7.

So a Skylake i3 would get you less performance now, but a modern MB with USB 3.1, etc. and the chance to upgrade to an i5 later and have the most current system.

A Haswell i5 would get you better performance now, but with a generation older MB, and less need in the near future for an upgrade. Some of the advantages of the modern MB could be added, such as front or rear mounted USB 3.1 ports.
 
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koishkim

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Thanks for all your help! One last question: Adding additional RAM will be easy, as it's very cheap these days so buying a new one doesn't cost much. When it comes to upgrading the CPU, when do you think is the best timing-wise? Due to the chipset compatibility, I assume upgrading should involve the same Skylake line, provided that I don't change the motherboard.
 
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