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Home → PC / Mac / Tablet Hardware

Recommended Computer Specifications & Parts for Photo Editing

By Alex Coleman 40 Comments
Published On January 13, 2023

Choosing the components for your photo editing computer can be tricky. In this guide, I’ll look at each computer component that affects your editing speed and examine where to get the best editing performance per dollar. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your computer for Photoshop, or want to get the fastest previews in Lightroom, choosing the right computer parts is crucial.

Table of Contents

  • Laptop or Desktop for Photo Editing?
  • Processor
    • x64 vs ARM For Photo Editing
    • Single Threaded Performance
    • My Processor Recommendations for Photo Editing
  • RAM
    • How Much RAM Do I Need for Photo Editing?
    • Does RAM Speed Matter for Photo Editing?
    • RAM for Photo Editing Recommendations
  • GPU
    • Do I Need a GPU for Photo Editing?
    • Impact of Machine Learning for Photo Editing
    • GPU Recommendations for Photo Editing
  • Best Storage for Photo Editing
    • NVME
    • Hard Drives
    • CMR vs SMR
    • My NVME SSD Recommendations
    • My Hard Drive Recommendations
  • Conclusion

Laptop or Desktop for Photo Editing?

The first choice you need to make when you’re getting a new photo editing setup is the type of computer itself: a laptop, or a desktop.

There are a number of great laptops to choose from as a photographer. Laptops in general offer far more portability than a desktop, and they’re usually “ready-built,” at least to a greater degree than a typical desktop. They also already include a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad. I particularly like the MacBook Pro (see my guide to buying the right one as a photographer) as the most recent model offers great performance, tons of battery life, and a high-quality screen.

That said, the MacBook Pro is also an example of the drawbacks of a laptop for photographers: They’re usually much harder to upgrade. Even Windows laptops that are easier to upgrade are often limited just to RAM or storage. Meanwhile, on a typical desktop computer, there is no shortage of upgrades you can make in the future. For this reason, desktops can be more future-proof than a laptop.

Beyond that, desktops are generally less expensive (for a given amount of performance), and often more powerful than an equivalent laptop. There is more room to customize a desktop and tailor it to your needs as they change over time. Of course, this is all a generalization, and you can find laptops that are exceptions to some of these points, but that’s the general situation of laptops vs desktops.

Throughout the rest of the guide, I’ll dive into the exact computer components – processor, RAM, GPU, and storage – that matter the most as a photographer. These components apply both to laptops and to desktops, although my specific product recommendations below are generally for desktops.

Apple_MacBook-Pro_16-inch-Photoshop_10182021

1. Processor

The processor is often referred to as the brain of your computer. Processors are broadly a case of paying more for more performance. Higher-end chips will have more cores – plus, the individual cores are often faster or can boost to a higher speed.

On top of that, newer chips tend to have meaningful design improvements. As a result, for the same speed, they can get more work done. I’d recommend only considering the latest generation of chips.

Motherboard

1.1. x64 vs ARM For Photo Editing

The processor market presents two choices: x64 or ARM. x64 underlies all the typical consumer chips from Intel and AMD. It’s the processor type found in basically all laptops and desktops from every manufacturer except Apple.

Meanwhile, Apple’s most recent Macs – the ones powered by Apple Silicon chips – are the only practical choices for ARM-powered computers for photo editing. While I go into more detail about this choice in my Apple Macbook Buying Guide, the bottom line is simple: If you want to choose a non-Apple computer, you’ll be looking at an x64 processor as your starting point.

1.2. Single Threaded Performance

The most important aspect of choosing a processor – at least for photo editing software like Photoshop and Lightroom – is evaluating the single threaded performance. On one hand, Photoshop is very lightly threaded, meaning the work it does can’t be easily broken up among many cores. This means the performance gap between expensive chips with many cores and cheaper chips with fewer cores isn’t very large. For instance, in testing with Photoshop, the Core i5-13600K (see my recommendations below) performs about the same as the Ryzen 9 7950X, which costs about twice as much.

As for Lightroom, some functions can make better use of multiple cores, but these tasks are limited to passive activities like generating previews or exporting files. The difference you’ll feel when actively editing a photo is much smaller. So, again, single threaded performance is more important.

1.3. My Processor Recommendations for Photo Editing

Upgrading your processor can be an expensive proposition, often requiring a new motherboard and potentially new RAM. The latest processors are no longer compatible with DDR3, and DDR4 support is dropping away. As such, make sure to consider those additional costs when looking at a new processor.

The following are the two best x64 processors for photo editing with Photoshop and Lightroom: Intel Core i9 13900K and Intel Core i5 13600K. The i9 is the performance king for Photoshop and Lightroom, while the i5 punches above its price. If you often edit video, consider spending extra for the i9, as the extra cores widen the gap in video editing software. Otherwise, it’s probably best to get the i5 and put your money elsewhere, like RAM or storage.

2. RAM

Files that your computer is actively working on are stored in your computer’s RAM. Basically, more RAM lets you keep more things open at once before your computer has to swap (shuffle files between RAM and your slower SSD or hard drive). Faster RAM can help you get the most performance from your processor.

2.1. How Much RAM Do I Need for Photo Editing?

Huge amounts of RAM aren’t particularly necessary for most photo editing purposes, with one major exception: stitching panoramas. If you’re editing panoramas, 32GB or even 64GB of RAM can come in handy, allowing you to work on massive 250+ megapixel files in Photoshop without issue.

For more general photo editing uses, 16GB should suffice. That said, 32GB DDR4 kits are so cheap that it’s worth a few extra dollars, if your budget allows.

HardwareSampleImages-3
Stitching panoramas can require a lot of RAM for best results

2.2. Does RAM Speed Matter for Photo Editing?

Faster RAM kits – denoted by higher clock speeds, like 3600 vs 2833MHz for DDR4 RAM – can have a small but meaningful impact on processor performance. This is particularly notable on AMD’s latest chips, thanks to the interaction of RAM speeds and the clock speeds of other parts of the processor.

While there’s a huge variety of clock speeds and latency values for RAM, finding a kit from a reputable vendor at 3600Mhz for DDR4 or 6000Mhz for DDR5 should be the sweet spot between price and performance gains.

2.3. RAM for Photo Editing Recommendations

RAM prices are always fluctuating, making a single SKU tough to recommend. So instead of recommending a specific product this time, I’ll recommend that you look for a 16, 32, or 64GB kit with 3600MHz or 6000MHz timings from a brand like Corsair or G.Skill.

3. GPU

With the latest developments in GPU acceleration, GPUs are an increasingly important part of a photo editing setup. Both Photoshop and Lightroom have a number of GPU-accelerated features, while a number of other photo editing programs make varying use of your GPU.

3.1. Do I Need a GPU for Photo Editing?

For both Photoshop and Lightroom, a GPU can make a significant difference in speed and usability when editing photos, particularly when working with high resolution monitors. Specific features, like Photoshop’s Neural Filters or Lightroom’s Enhance Details mode are entirely reliant on your local GPU.

While high-end GPUs with large amounts of VRAM aren’t necessary right now for photo editing, that statement could change before long. In the following section, I’ll be taking a look at the role of a GPU in machine learning applications, which are only becoming more prevalent in photo editing software.

3.2. Impact of Machine Learning for Photo Editing

One of the biggest developments in photo editing software over the last couple years has been the significant increase in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) features. While Photoshop and Lightroom do have some ML-based features, offerings like Gigapixel AI from Topaz Labs are entirely based on ML – and by extension, highly reliant on the performance of your GPU.

If you’re looking at upgrading your computer for photo editing, strongly consider getting a decent GPU now, or at least budgeting for a future upgrade. I expect AI / ML features to take an increasingly large role in photo editing in the future.

HardwareSampleImages-1
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 40mm, ISO 64, 1/160, f/5.6

3.3. GPU Recommendations for Photo Editing

If you’re purely editing images and not using AI / ML features, any entry-level GPU will be sufficient. According to Adobe, even cards as low as the NVIDIA’s 1050 Ti are sufficient. Still, for the best driver support and greatest range of features, I’d suggest that you look at more recent models.

NVIDIA’s 1650 is available at a reasonable price, but if you’re looking to get more performance, the 3060 can be a great option. The 3060 supports HDMI 2.1 for high resolution monitors, and is on a significantly more recent chip architecture. It would by my choice if you intend to use machine-learning software with any regularity when editing your photos.

GPU

4. Best Storage for Photo Editing

To edit photos, you need a place to store your files. Storage capacity and storage speed are equally important here; your choice of storage has a big impact on your computer’s speed, especially for processes that read or write large amounts of data at a time (like transferring a high volume of files).

I’m a big proponent of using NVME SSDs for storing your programs, Lightroom catalog, and a number of recent or active files. Meanwhile, you can keep the bulk of your images on HDDs for the far better price per GB that they offer.

4.1. NVME

NVME SSDs are a specific form-factor and communication protocol for solid state drives that offers the best performance and latency. You’ll need a more recent computer to take advantage of them, however, with the need for a motherboard that supports M.2 NVME drives. Lots of recent motherboards support multiple NVME drives, and they’re common among laptops these days, too.

With many NVME SSDs offering over 3,000MB/s – and more recent Gen 4 drives supporting speeds over 7,000MB/s – these drives can be anywhere from 15 to 35x faster than HDDs. This doesn’t even bring the faster latencies into the picture. Put simply, these drives are very fast compared to hard drives or older SATA SSDs, so I’d definitely recommend one. (My specific recommendations are in a moment.)

4.2. Hard Drives

The slower but bigger counterpart to SSDs, hard disk drives (HDDs) still have a place for the sheer amount of storage they offer at cheap prices.

With cameras pushing 100MB raw files, that 1TB SSD can fill up quickly. If you have a desktop computer, adding a few extra internal hard drives can be a great call, from both a storage and redundancy perspective, all at a pretty low cost.

For laptop users, or just those with computers that don’t have additional drive bays, external hard drives are a good option for the same reason. That said, don’t forget to budget for two drives – losing thousands of images to a drive failure would be awful.

HardwareSampleImages-2
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14mm, ISO 64, 1/60, f/8.0

4.3. CMR vs SMR

One niche consideration when shopping for drives is to avoid SMR models. SMR, or shingled magnetic recording, refers to how the drive actually lays down the data on the disk. Long story short, it’s a huge hit to performance, particularly for active workloads. While SMR drives can be slightly cheaper, I would recommend avoiding them in any application.

Seagate and Western Digital list their CMR and SMR models at the links I just provided, but these lists may be change. If you’re in doubt, consider searching the model you’re looking at, along with the keywords SMR or CMR, and see what the community has to say about the drive.

4.4. My NVME SSD Recommendations

I’ve had great results with both Samsung and Hynix NVME SSDs. Western Digital is also well regarded in this space. As a more budget option that doesn’t give up performance, consider Samsung’s EVO 970. This NVME drive is perfect for upgrading systems that support Gen 3 speeds. For the newest systems, consider bumping up to a Gen 4 drive like the 980 Pro or even faster 990 Pro.

If you’ve got limited drive space, like in a laptop, consider going for a larger capacity drive in the laptop. A number of 4TB models are now available at pretty reasonable prices. I believe they’re worth it for many applications. Photographers who have high throughput, like wedding photographers, would be especially good candidates for high capacities like this.

As a caveat, don’t expect the highest-end drives to offer much of a noticeable difference in day-to-day use, as programs like Lightroom can’t take full advantage of the speed. Instead, for sustained transfers or burst use, like scrubbing through video, the faster drives will set themselves apart.

4.5. My Hard Drive Recommendations

I like WD’s Red Plus line. While they’re nominally for NAS use, they work great in regular desktop use, and don’t use SMR technology. Seagate’s drives are also good, with some models sitting at a significant discount to WD’s lineup. Choosing a drive really comes down to understanding your own storage needs: 2TB or 16TB could both be reasonable choices for different photographers.

As previously mentioned, I highly recommend picking up more than one drive, so that you can back up or mirror to the second drive. While this is only part of an effective backup strategy, having a single disk as a point of failure is very risky.

Conclusion

Whether you use a laptop or a desktop, your choice of computer makes a huge difference in the speed and reliability of your photo editing workflow. Lightroom, Photoshop, and any other photography software can be sped up dramatically if you chose the right computer components to upgrade. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, as I’m happy to make a custom recommendation!

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Filed Under: PC / Mac / Tablet Hardware Tagged With: Computer, MacBook, PC, PC Hardware, Post-Processing, Software

About Alex Coleman

I'm Alex Coleman, a commercial and travel photographer in Arizona. As an educator, I enjoy sharing my appreciation for photography with audiences both online and in person. You can see more of my work on my website.

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JohnR
JohnR
January 19, 2023 10:26 pm

Pointless if you only have a low resolution screen/monitor

0
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Bernard Escaich
Bernard Escaich
January 19, 2023 11:03 am

Hi,
Your comparison x64 vs ARM is a little short.
I made some comparative tests with DxO and my MacBook Pro M1 is as fast as the biggest PC units ; the base of the comparison is with noise reduction DeepPrime XD, wich is a very loud process.
Example : 11s with DeepPrime, 42 s with DeepPrime XD for a 62 Mpix picture.
Silence and low energy consumption !
FYI, DxO uses neural engine, so I am not sure it is useful to have M1 Max rather than M1 Pro.

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Reply
Brian
Brian
January 16, 2023 4:35 pm

Speed is king. It starts with getting data from memory card. You want a motherboard that has the appropriate connections to take full advantage of those expensive cfexpress cards as well as a storage drive that won’t bottle neck. Once on your storage drive it is about accessing your data to manipulate in your program of choice. Nvme 4th gen is capable of 7000 mb/s, based the board and cpu architechture and pcie 5 compnents are now spring up. I shoot and edit thousands of images each week as a high school yearbook advisor, lots of sports, and i can tell you that speed is king.

1
Reply
Fabrice
Fabrice
January 16, 2023 9:12 am

I enjoyed the article but it is mainly about PC’s. A title (and leading picture) reflecting this would be in sync with the overall wonderful quality of this website.

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Reply
Luke
Luke
January 15, 2023 12:22 pm

Intel’s 13 generation suck soooo much power compared the 65W TDP Ryzen and are hardly better

0
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Luke
Luke
Reply to  Luke
January 15, 2023 12:38 pm

oh, and when you recommend those processors, probably worth mentioning effective coolers, too. Otherwise these CPU are at risk of slowing down due to their heat

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Claus
Claus
January 15, 2023 11:38 am

64 GB RAM is not much, when you must work with huge PS files, for example the rendering of GB panoramas. PS is not optimized to work with “many” cores, more 128 GB RAM is better than 24 cores, and more.

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Amit
Amit
January 15, 2023 9:11 am

Nice article. Could you please provide more info on display/monitor?

1
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Anders
Anders
January 14, 2023 2:36 pm

x64 versus ARM. That is nonsense 🙂
x64 stands for 64 bit (Intel) and x86 stands for 32 bit (Intel) CPU.

-1
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Alex Coleman
Alex Coleman
Author
Reply to  Anders
January 14, 2023 6:16 pm

What? I’m drawing a distinction between the two different architectures – curious to hear what’s nonsense about that.

0
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Filip
Filip
Reply to  Anders
January 14, 2023 11:13 pm

x64 (correctly x86-64) was created by AMD in 2000 as an extension to x86 and is currently used by AMD and Intel processors

64 says that the addressable space and instructions use 64bit and both x86 and ARM support this for a very long time

-1
Reply
Alex Coleman
Alex Coleman
Author
Reply to  Filip
January 14, 2023 11:56 pm

ARM doesn’t support the x64 (x86-64) ISA, instead requiring emulation.

If I had just said 64 bit vs ARM, for instance, my phrasing would be unclear, but as written, I’m drawing a distinction between the two common processor architectures available to photo editors: x64 (Intel/AMD) and ARM (Apple Silicon and some niche Windows-on-ARM offerings that weren’t worth mentioning).

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Filip
Filip
Reply to  Alex Coleman
January 15, 2023 3:06 am

I never wrote that ARM supported x86(-64) instructions, only that it supported 64bit memory address space and 64bit instructions (own instruction set)!

1
Reply
Ircut
Ircut
Reply to  Alex Coleman
January 15, 2023 5:46 pm

It’s a bit pedantic (and I personally think you were perfectly clear) but there is ARM and ARM64, along with (as you say) x86 and x86-64 (often shortened to x64). We don’t like to talk about Itanium. Apple mobile devices and as of the M1 laptops and their ilk use a slightly customized version of ARM64.

It’s all pretty damn pedantic though and not really relevant to your average photographer beyond did you choose the Windows ecosystem or the Apple ecosystem. It has some relevance if you’re running older and newer Macs since the older ones are x64 (unless you go REALLY old in which case it’s not going to run any of the modern software and who cares).

1
Reply
yandoodan
yandoodan
January 14, 2023 9:31 am

A laptop is an absolute necessity for field editing and backup. That said, for photo editing I don’t see how the monitor problem can be overcome. I see the minimum as two large HD monitors, one for the image full screen, the other for all those little panels that PS requires — say nothing of secondary programs like email and a browser to look up obscure PS methods. I also like one of them to have no color correction, to get a feel for what a normal user might see in a browser.

I also like the multiple internal HDs, fast and large. And don’t get me started on the keyboard.

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Reply
Red
Red
Reply to  yandoodan
January 14, 2023 11:49 am

“I see the minimum as two large HD monitors, one for the image full screen, the other for all those little panels that PS requires”
Not all of us have THAT bad sight that we need 2 monitors. If you need to see full size picture while editing then maybe it’s something wrong with the operator since like 99% of photographers use mainly ONE screen and yet somehow they manage….

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Alex Coleman
Alex Coleman
Author
Reply to  yandoodan
January 14, 2023 6:18 pm

I definitely think a single monitor is viable, particularly with high DPI/Retina laptop displays, or 4K+ desktop displays. While extra monitors are nice, I think it’s more of a nice to have, rather than necessary.

As for color correction, I’m curious how you approach not having a color corrected display. Since displays can be “wrong” in many more ways than “right (warm, cool, over/undersaturated), how do you choose what to have as representing the uncorrected option?

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yandoodan
yandoodan
Reply to  Alex Coleman
January 15, 2023 10:13 am

I have a color-corrected graphics monitor right in front of me, for the purpose of photo-editing. I have a very cheap, low-end monitor to my left, for simultaneous email, browsing, writing, PS panels — and seeing what my color corrected image might look like when someone views my website on a very cheap, low-end monitor.

Considering how little a low-end monitor costs, and that even old desktops have multiple monitor plugs, I see dual monitors being limited only by the size of your desk. I use a hollow core door placed on file cabinets, so space isn’t a problem.

1
Reply
yandoodan
yandoodan
Reply to  Alex Coleman
January 15, 2023 1:48 pm

The colors on the crummy monitor do not, of course, predict what an ordinary user will see. It will (I think) predict if your carefully corrected image will look like a complete mess on your client’s business computer. You can’t rely on the image looking somewhat goodish, but maybe a low-end monitor will predict where your problems are worse than usual, and give you what you need to ameliorate them.

1
Reply
William Jones
William Jones
January 14, 2023 9:15 am

I use a 2021 Dell with 64GB, and twin 32-inch monitors. Currently using DxO PL 4. It works great for my needs.

0
Reply

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