Advice please on buying a PC?

[Richard]

MJ, I have never trusted any shop to give me reliable specialist advice, they will try to sell you what they can to make money.
But basic computers are very cheap and the only reason for more RAM than, say 16 GB, would be if a motherboard could support it, which it doesn't normally.
Having said that if you need to run many programs simultaneously or use graphic programs such as Photoshop you may need up to 8 GB of RAM.
More important than memory is an OS that can use it: choose a 64bit system, otherwise each application is limited to about 2GB irrespective of available memory.

You may need a large Hard Disk capacity, but unless you are going in for video editing then 16 GB of Ram should be quite sufficient.
Other hand that make sure you can expand the RAM on the motherboard if you think it can handle it - but you need to know how much RAM it can support.
There are utilities for telling you what a motherboard can handle and it may be better to google for one than to trust a shop.

I think Geoff has more knowledge on RAM and motherboards and the requirements of stuff like 'Photoshop' than most of us, but other factors are probably more of an issue.
nowadays than the biggest RAM alone, is what I mean to say.

[moonjiver]

Thanks Richard. I'm not sure what you mean by "cheap" for basic computers - since I'm not in a position to put together a system from different components, I'm reliant on what is on offer in the shops and no PCs I have looked at in Currys/PC World or places like KC Computers are under about £300! Many much more. 16 GB of RAM seems very generous, the affordable PCs usually seem to offer 4GB/8GB, with 1 TB hard drive, surely enough for my needs for quite a while. I won't be doing anything highly professional with images or videos but I do need to install a decent photo-editing program at a later stage.

I did read something about looking for a 64-bit system preferably, trouble is I am finding that salesmen often don't know much about the technicalities of what they are selling! In mobile phone shops, I find that I usually know far more about the different phones than most of the comletely untrained staff and already know which ones to avoid before I walk in.

[Richard]

I meant 2nd hand (refurbished) on eBay are cheap and just as good as brand-new imho.
I agree the average sales person knows little.
64 bit OS is available in all the recent versions of windows if your CPU supports it:

http://www.howtogeek.com/228042/how-to- ... indows-10/

[Geoff]

Photoshop eats RAM for breakfast so the more you have the better. I would go 8gb minimum for this, preferably 12+. Other image editing programs are available. Gimp for example is free and able to produce the same results at the end of the day. I only choose photoshop as it's industry standard in my profession.

If you intending to run dual monitors then a decent graphics card will be essential to stop everything slowing down to a snails pace and the inevitable crashes when the system runs out of resources.

Hard disk space is cheep so look for 1tb at least in a new box. If you want a super fast system then go for an SSD (the single best upgrade I ever made on my current computer). But they come at a price for relatively low GB. I run windows and my software files from the SSD and all other file storage is on a conventional drive.

If you are going for a second hand system or a real budget new one then don't expect to run the latest incarnations of software at any great speed. But saying that, I'm sure a 5 year old version of photoshop will be more than adequate for your needs at the moment and requires far less resources.

[Richard]

SSD sounds a good move, but would you use that for a swap/page file for programs like Photoshop? It seems logical that since SSD is so fast the page file should reside there.
Disabling scheduled defragmentation seems sensible?

Presumably you would need to install SSD as a separate drive and then learn how to migrate any software over to it from the HDD (rather than re-installing windows)?
The SSD will typically be smaller than the HDD and you will have to clone the HDD (after pruning or storing excess personal data) and backing up the data externally.
Then erase the HDD and transfer personal files and storage files back from the SDD (and backup).

Just going through the motions here before I decide to take the plunge!!

[Geoff]

Totally right, adding an SSD is a bit of a nerve racking experience, but luckily there is drive cloning software and the like to assist. If you do it while the machine is new then there wont be much to move anyway.

It makes sense to use the fastest disk for the photoshop swap-file, but the more RAM you have the less you will be relying on the swap-file anyway.

[Richard]

Geoff Thanks a lot!!

[moonjiver]

Thanks very much to Geoff and others, quite a little workshop on PCs there. Gives me a lot of basic info to arm myself with.

The trouble with salesmen is that they are so eager to impress you that they come out with a highly technical spiel which is not necessarily comprehensible! I try to waylay the older ones, they are more honest and no longer so bothered about chalking up another customer ..

Alternatives to Photoshop sound a good idea but also what about Photoshop Elements - is it still called that? used to be priced just over £100. I can't see what use I'd have for the full version.

[Derek Jempson]

Photoshop Elements would provide all you need for general photo processing. The latest version (14) sells for around £70. You might also consider PhotoScape, which is a very capable photo-editor, and it's free. http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

[Geoff]

Agreed, Elements would be more than enough for your needs. Or try the free alternatives such as Gimp or Photoscape as a starting point.

Unfortunately I have to agree with your statement about salesmen. Although I find a proper computer shop such as KC to be much more knowledgeable (and less pushy) than a certain big name at Ravenside.