Spec'ing a system -- where to direct the $$ ??

Question

Greetings -
I'm spec'ing a new system for, among other things, running Lightroom, and was wondering, all other things being equal (which they never are),
where the typical bottlenecks will lay.  Or lie.
Typically, I'll be cataloging/editing RAW images that are 10-15MB in size.  And this is a hobby, not a business.
My goal is to get a computer that's fast enough, without spending more than I have to.
And let's assume that, for now, I'm only going to have one monitor, but an upgrade
path for two monitors would be nice (and what does that entail, anyway -- a second graphics card? --
simultaneous use of onboard graphics and graphics card?).
First question -- any reason I might need more than 4GB of RAM and, if so, under what circumstances?
Second question -- do I need a video card, or are onboard graphics likely sufficient? -- And if I do need a graphics card,
what's 'good enough'?(My research suggests that killer video cards are really for gaming and/or 3D rendering.)
Third question -- do I need anything faster than a recent generation dual-core (be it AMD or Intel) processor?
Fourth questions -- any suggestions/caveats as far as hard drive optimization?
(i.e. - how hardcore does it get? -- OS on one drive, app on a second, images on a third, scratch file on a fourth ... ?)
Seasoned wisdom welcome.
Thanks kindly.
- Richard
oldWithoutMoney.com

Answer 1

I have an dual-core AMD Athlon X2 2.6GHz on a previous generation motherboard with 8 GB RAM (no difference to 4GB for me) and a single 250GB hard drive. Built-in graphics. I built it myself with some 450$ two years ago.
Everything work just fine with a single catalog with some 17K images.
My goal is to get a computer that's fast enough, without spending more than I have to.
Then just by a low-to-medium-end modern system. Any modern computer is faster than my system and is good enough for LR.
And let's assume that, for now, I'm only going to have one monitor, but an upgrade
path for two monitors would be nice (and what does that entail, anyway -- a second graphics card? --
simultaneous use of onboard graphics and graphics card?).
My advice is to use the built-in for now and add a descrete card later when you ger the monitor. Most modern motherboard with built-in graphics has a DVI and/or VGA port.
First question -- any reason I might need more than 4GB of RAM and, if so, under what circumstances?
I had 4GB with Vista 64 for some time and never seen Lightroom reach that limit. Even on large exports and preview rebuilding. I added 4 more because it's dirt cheap and wanted to stay safe running with the page file off.
Second question -- do I need a video card, or are onboard graphics likely sufficient? -- And if I do need a graphics card,
what's 'good enough'?(My research suggests that killer video cards are really for gaming and/or 3D rendering.)
On-board graphics, as above. But in case you end up buying a decrete card (e.g. MB without on-board video), today the low-end Radeons - 4350, 4550 are best for a non-gaming machine. They are passive cooled - no noise from fans, running cool, usually have two digital ports, cost 30-50$ and have more than enough power for desktop grapchis.
Third question -- do I need anything faster than a recent generation dual-core (be it AMD or Intel) processor?
If your goal is "a computer that's fast enough, without spending more than I have to" - then, certainly, no.
Fourth questions -- any suggestions/caveats as far as hard drive optimization?
If we are talking about a cheap machine, then in a typical two hard-drive configuration:
1. OS, Apps, Catalog/previews
2. images.
Let me explain. If you computer is optimized and clean, i.e. no anti-virus fooling around scanning your Lightroom cache, or search indexer/prefetcher/defender messing with your hard-drive, then the first drive during normal operation is almost totally dedicated to Lightroom. The second, naturally, too, since it only has the image files.
If you want to go more upper-end with your disk subsystem, then:
1. OS, apps - there's definitely no reason for splitting these.
2. Catalog/previews only. - get the fastest drive here: a small fast SSD, such as OCZ Vertex or Intel X25-M.
3. Images. A big reasonably fast HDD.