Laptop Config

[John W]

I apologise for bringing this up again, I have read some of the earlier discussions but I continue to struggle with my decision.

My laptop has just bitten the dust (fan bearings seized and the cpu burnt out) and needs to be replaced. I use LR and PS and want to do a little video editing (my LR catalogue currently contains about 50,000 photos taking up ~400 Gb, I mostly take photos in the RAW format). During the expected lifetime of the replacement machine I will need (I estimate) at least 1.5 Tb of disc storage.

My selected "base" configuration is

Intel Core i5 8300H
16 Gb RAM
2 Tb Firecuba hybrid drive (a sufficiently large SSD would be too expensive).

If I can be convinced that it would make a reasonable improvement to the performance, my budget could be stretched to include one of the following:

1. Upgrade the i5 to an i7 8750H
2. Add a 250 Gb SSD
3. Increase the RAM size to 32 Gb.

Do you think it would be worthwhile to do any of the above and, if so, which one of the three would be best? Is there a better config at about the same overall price?

 

[MarkNicholas]

If it was me then yes to all 3. If you only go for only one of these then add the SSD, if only two then the SSD and the RAM.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

SSD for boot drive and ideally the catalog would get my vote too. Documents/images can easily be on the other spinning drive.

 

[Philippe Coudé du Foresto]

I agree, too. If one, the SSD, if two, SSD and RAM.
I second Victoria'scomment. The bigger performance improvement will be by putting OS, LR Catalog and LR cache on a SSD. Photos can be on a spinning drive without really impacting performance.

 

[LouieSherwin]

For Lightroom performance get sufficient RAM and the fastest processor you can get. This will have a direct impact on editing performance.

-louie

 

[John W]

Thank you for your input, very helpful.

John.

 

[mariah1902]

You can use ssd instead of hdd. I am using one and it is super fast. Boot up is now very fast and even now I can do all of my work with ease and with speed. You rest of the config is also nice. If you work with video editing then your chosen config is fine and perfect.