# Reasonable Laptop required to run Lightroom and Photoshop CC



## Hector1970 (May 22, 2015)

Hi All,
I'm in a photography club and we want to get members using Lightroom and Photoshop CC.
The problem is you need a reasonably modern laptop / pc to run them.
For myself I went for overkill so I bought a 16GB ram machine I7 processor with a high end graphics card.
It was a Dell Alienware PC so quite expensive for a casual user.
Lightroom and Photoshop have a minimum spec but really they don't work very well alone or together at minimum spec.
It's very hard to find this simple piece of information. 
Could any PC guru here give me an idea what to recommend to members in terms of the minimum amount of RAM for it to run smoothly. Acceptable graphic card and recommended Processor and anything else you would recommend.
I'm surprised the Laptop companies don't make it easier to decide. Alot of laptops sold in this country (Ireland) in shops have 2GB and 4GB RAM which I don't think are enough.

Your input/insight would be appreciated.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 22, 2015)

Lightroom and Photoshop work well on my several years old Lenovo with 8GB, it sounds like a issue with your laptop or configuration to me.

Your laptop is way more powerful than what is needed. The display on a laptop is the limiting factor more than the processor, most modern ones work fine as far as computing power.


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## Hector1970 (May 22, 2015)

I've found Lightroom quite RAM hungry. Seemed to get worse with updates but that might be my imagination.

Thanks for the advice 8GB you are saying should be enough.

I'm not going to recommend an Apple as it wouldn't be the cheapest option.
I am thinking Windows 8.1
But if members have the cash I'm sure they'd like Apple.

Any advice on Processor and Graphics Card?
Not sure how used the Graphics Card is.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 22, 2015)

Hector1970 said:


> I've found Lightroom quite RAM hungry. Seemed to get worse with updates but that might be my imagination.
> 
> Thanks for the advice 8GB you are saying should be enough.
> 
> ...



You never have enough RAM, but my old Lenovo had a maximum of 8GB. I did trade out the hard drive for a SSD. That makes a big difference, since spinning hard drives in laptops can be slow.


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## Hector1970 (May 22, 2015)

Thanks Mt Spokane,
SSD would be ideal (still relatively expensive and they complicate machines if you have an SSD and Hard Drive).
Any one tell me about Intel Processors is an I5 sufficient
Anything about Graphic Cards and their influence.


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## Jim Saunders (May 23, 2015)

Hector1970 said:


> Thanks Mt Spokane,
> *SSD would be ideal* (still relatively expensive and they complicate machines if you have an SSD and Hard Drive).
> Any one tell me about Intel Processors is an I5 sufficient
> Anything about Graphic Cards and their influence.



My emphasis; I have a fairly pedestrian i3-driven Asus with 4GB RAM in it, but is has a fast SSD and that seems to help a lot. Building HDRs and pans is painfully slow but single-image manipulation is usable.

Jim


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 23, 2015)

Hector1970 said:


> Thanks Mt Spokane,
> SSD would be ideal (still relatively expensive and they complicate machines if you have an SSD and Hard Drive).
> Any one tell me about Intel Processors is an I5 sufficient
> Anything about Graphic Cards and their influence.



Graphic cards don't help much editing stills. Lightroom 6 now uses them, but speed increase is not noticible for me. 

SSD's are getting cheap, a 500GB SSD runs about $200 depending on the type. I use a MSATA from Samsung something like this one. 

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-mSATA-2-Inch-MZ-M5E500BW/dp/B00TGIVVKU/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1432353578&sr=1-5&keywords=ssd+msata

The question is can you install it yourself? I'm not sure if the current model can be upgraded like this one could.

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/593-imac-ssd-do-it-yourself.html


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## Jim Saunders (May 23, 2015)

Processor speed isn't so big an influence as it appears that LR is not able to use more than one core at a time, although I could be wrong on that one. Fast storage and fast memory matter more.

Jim


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## Hector1970 (May 24, 2015)

Thanks everyone for the guidance.
It looks like Ram and SSD are most important.

My only concern with recommending users SSDS is that you usually have an SSD and still have a hard drive. 
All software seems to default to the Crive. The SSD is likely to be the smaller drive and you don't want your photos storing there. 
I find in myself that Lightroom is erratic on importing as to which drive it loads the picture too.
It sometimes stays on the D: Drive and other times reverts back to the C Drive.
Windows also doesn't seem to be clever or set up with dual drives in mind.
It should be seemless and intelligent and manage the disks for you to the optimum level.
Maybe in Windows 9.


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## Berowne (May 24, 2015)

Hi Hector, 
i guess your system should be fast enough for every application. 
* How long does your computer take to start/reboot? (it should start within about max. 10 seconds)
* Is your windows 64-bit? (32-bit Windows can address only 4 GB RAM)
* Do you have a Antivirus-System? (always run only *one* Virus-Scanner)
* Can you reinstall your Windows completely? 
* Did you install all the necessary drivers for your Laptop? 
* etc. etc. 
Greetings Andy


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## weixing (May 25, 2015)

Hector1970 said:


> Thanks everyone for the guidance.
> It looks like Ram and SSD are most important.
> 
> My only concern with recommending users SSDS is that you usually have an SSD and still have a hard drive.
> ...


Hi,
Most portable notebook still come with only one HDD and user who want fast speed will either get a notebook with SSD or get one with HDD replace with SSD... I think most people go for notebook with HDD and replace with SSD route as there are more choice available.

Anyway, if you want to get a notebook with HDD and replace with SSD route, get a notebook that come with recovery DVDs and a brand that allow you to replace your own hard disk "without void" the warranty.

By the way, lightroom always use your last import location unless it's not available... at least that how my lighroom 4 work. Also, the next Windows will be Windows 10 and it's a free upgrade for most Windows 7 and 8.1 users if they upgrade within a year of it's release.

Have a nice day.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 25, 2015)

Hector1970 said:


> Thanks Mt Spokane,
> SSD would be ideal (still relatively expensive and they complicate machines if you have an SSD and Hard Drive).
> Any one tell me about Intel Processors is an I5 sufficient
> Anything about Graphic Cards and their influence.



A i5 is fine, you really don't need more.

Here are some benchmarks for photoshop cc using desktop processors. The fastest are at the bottom, its time to perform the specified task.

Note that the i5 and i7 turn in identical scores. The very fast processors at the bottom are extremely expensive. Those turning in 73 or 71 are the standard processors.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/cpu-charts-2015/-29-Adobe-Photoshop-CC,3720.html

Hector, a 500MB SSD is under $200. It can easily hold all your software and your lightroom catalog and have more than 1/2 empty. If you need several TB of space for images, a portable external drive can do it.

You concerns are not necessary. For $400, you can get 1TB. There are three SSD types, A new Laptop will likely have MSATA or M2, but if it has a 2.5 in drive, they all cost about the same,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3FA3249851


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## weixing (May 25, 2015)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Hector1970 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Mt Spokane,
> ...


Hi,
May be you just need to take note that notebook usually use a mobile processor which consume lower power, but also had lesser processing power. For example, base on PassMark benchmark, an entry desktop i3-4150 processor score higher than a mobile i7-4600U processor.

Anyway, with SSD, loading will be very fast compare to HDD.

Have a nice day.


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