Question Please suggest parts for non-gaming setup for Photoshop?

[thatsright]

Hi All. My 8 year old PC has hit its end and will build a rig for photoshop and web browsing/office apps. I'll be building my next PC and It’s really hard to find guides/recommendations that are NOT for gaming. And I do NOT DO ANY GAMING or video editing. Sorry to yell, but the costs would rise dramatically if folks thought I did. I’ve settled on the i7-13700k CPU and all else, not so sure.

I will be reusing my 3x 7200RPM spindle SATA HDs, 1 SATA DVD-RW drive, ATX case & 4k monitor. I do have my ancient 8+ year old M2 SSD that would be nice to reuse.

My general idea so far on parts and my budget would be:

SSD: 512GB-1TB M2 SSD. I was thinking Samsung 980 Pro 1TB. (~$100-150)

RAM: 64 GB RAM (32GBx2) DDR5 (~$150-200)

Power Supply: 650-750W (~$120?)

Graphics: Nvidia 4GB video card. Anything higher spec will be a waste of money. (~$150) I’d be willing to get a refurb unit.

CPU cooler? I really don’t want to resort to watercooling. I’m not overclocking. (~$? Not sure on cost)

Mobo is the wild card here. As I don’t intend on overclocking CPU or RAM, that should be easier right? I’d like onboard LAN and WiFi and more than 1 USB-C connection. Budget is around $200.

Thoughts? Thanks so much as it’s hard to find guides/suggestions for people who don’t game.

 

[In2Photos]

Puget Systems has some pretty good stuff on what to get for a Photoshop PC. You seem to be on the right track with your selections.

Hardware Recommendations for Adobe Photoshop

Our Workstations for Adobe Photoshop are tested and optimized to give you the best performance and reliability. View our hardware recommendations.

www.pugetsystems.com

You can also use PCpartpicker.com to "build" your system and check for compatibility issues, as well as part selection.

For the CPU cooler look at the Thermalright Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit. The Phantom Spirit is new and tested extremely well.

Article - Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO Review: This isn’t a competition. This is a massacre.

Thermalright keeps knocking it right out of the park. https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/air-cooling/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-evo-review

forums.anandtech.com

For the GPU you could go with an RTX3050 if buying new, or use something like a RTX2060 if buying used.

 

[Tech Junky]

13700k

Look into the AMD AM5 stuff s the prices are dropping like rocks with the new stuff on the way. Use PCP to find them and then look at the prices / core counts.

WC is for gamers that think they need it but as @In2Photos mentioned the PA120 ($35) is sufficient. I'm using one on a 7900X with a graphite pad between the two and it's normally idle at mid 40's which is normal for AMD. Intel runs a bit cooler but, you have to contend with other things.

The AMD board I'm using was $160 off Amazon as a "used" but, there' plenty of options "new" for slightly higher now.

If you wanna save more on the GPU the A380 / 6GB would be sufficient for $100. I'm using one just for Plex but, it's a stable card and low power draw as well. With things tweaked it's silent most of the time and barely breaks a sweat converting media files for Plex.

 

[thatsright]

Look into the AMD AM5 stuff s the prices are dropping like rocks with the new stuff on the way. Use PCP to find them and then look at the prices / core counts.

WC is for gamers that think they need it but as @In2Photos mentioned the PA120 ($35) is sufficient. I'm using one on a 7900X with a graphite pad between the two and it's normally idle at mid 40's which is normal for AMD. Intel runs a bit cooler but, you have to contend with other things.

The AMD board I'm using was $160 off Amazon as a "used" but, there' plenty of options "new" for slightly higher now.

If you wanna save more on the GPU the A380 / 6GB would be sufficient for $100. I'm using one just for Plex but, it's a stable card and low power draw as well. With things tweaked it's silent most of the time and barely breaks a sweat converting media files for Plex.

I ended up with the 13700k/64GB DDR5/MSI Z790 Mobo/Geforce 1660 GTX 6GB GDDR6 Ram. The video card I bought used on ebay for $120. All in all, the whole setup is a massive upgrade from my 8 year old system. I was worried about temps, but it's actually turned out to be a non-issue. If anything, the Phantom Spirit 120SE is giving me somewhat cooler temps than my old rig. Average idle temp is about 32C. Of course cinebench tests got it up to about 96C.

 

[Tech Junky]

$120.

That's an amazing deal.