Originally posted by dsmithhfx First of all you do not absolutely need an SSD. Consider that a nice to have, but not essential. SSDs are still quite expensive compared to regular hard disk drives. Focus on processor, RAM and display.
I disagree with that. The SSD is critical for image processing. Single best upgrade I ever made and practically the only upgrade I've ever made that showed instant and dramatic improvement.
To the OP, it does depend somewhat on your needs and what software you are going to use. For example Lightroom still makes only minimal use of a graphics card and that poorly. So if you are using LR, save your money from the graphics card and get a faster processor or more memory. You can always add a graphics card later.
Here is one site that has done some real world research:
Recommended Hardware for Adobe Lightroom - Puget Systems They build systems for graphics professionals and have the only real world info I have come across specific to Adobe software. If you are going to run some other software then only general recommendations can be made:
- Fast i7 processor, number of cores depends on the software used. i7 8700K is a good start. For Lightroom processor speed is more important than cores but other software might be different.
- Minimum of 16gb of RAM, 32gb if possible if you plan on doing anything else at the same time. I usually have multiple browser tabs open and find 32gb useful, but for Lightroom or Photoshop alone 16gb is fine.
- 256 or 512gb SSD for the boot drive, or larger depending on your budget.
- fast 2 to 4 tb 7200rpm HD for image storage
- Dell Ultrasharp monitor or equivalent. Unless you plan on using a 4k monitor which is likely overkill but again depends on your software and needs
- My workstation is an intel i7 3770 @3.4ghz, 32gb RAM, 512gb SSD for the boot drive, a 4tb drive for image storage and a pair of 27" Dell Ultrasharps. I find it works well with Lightroom and Photoshop. YMMV of course.