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SecretSqirel
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Help on optimising and upgrading my PC for CS 5.5

Apr 7, 2012 8:59 AM

Tags: #cs5.5 #cs #creative #5.5 #upgrade

Hi all, really need some help here.

I'm about to purchase CS 5.5 Master Suite and would like to increase the performance of my PC a little at the same time.

I dont need my PC totally optimised for Premiere as I will only use it to edit short YouTube video's and not that often (only make a few vid's a month).

The software I use all the time is: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, Bridge, Illustrator and the Flash programs.

My current PC has this spec:

Asus P6T SE mobo
i7 920 2.67 CPU
2 x Radeon HD 4890 Graphics cards (use 3 monitors)
12 GB Ram
2 x WD Black 500GB (not in Raid)
Mackie Firewire Audio Card
Windows 7 Pro 64

What I would like to do is increase the performance of my PC without spending a fortune (woudn't we all).
My thoughts are add an SDD boot drive and put the 2 hard drives I have in Raid 0, then increase my ram from 12GB to 24GB (I would buy all the ram new so matched 1600).

What I would like is your views on these upgrades.
Do you think these would be good upgrades?
Would you do anything different? etc.

I have spent the past few days searching this forum and the net and the only thing I have achieved is a headache.
Thanks in advance.

875 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: SecretSqirel, Apr 8, 2012 3:04 PM
 
Replies
  • Bob Levine
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    1. Bob Levine,
    Feb 21, 2013 9:56 AM   in reply to SecretSqirel
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    Depending upon what you want to do (are you planning on getting into high end video) it should be real nice. Make sure the SSD for boot has enough room for programs and O/S. I would suggest nothing less than 256 gigs.

     

    You might want to pop over to the Premiere Pro and After Effects  forums for more advice on the video card.

     

    BTW, if you by CS5.5 now, you'll a free upgrade to CS6 when it ships.

     

    Bob

     
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  • SecretSqirel
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    2. SecretSqirel,
    Apr 7, 2012 10:22 AM   in reply to Bob Levine
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    Thanks Bob, you suggest nothing less than 256 gb for the SSD, could you tell my why?

    I will only run win7 and cs 5.5 from the ssd, do you think a 128gb (something like a Crucial M4) would be adequate? (trying to keep costs to a minimum)

    Thanks.

     
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  • Bob Levine
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    3. Bob Levine,
    Apr 7, 2012 11:19 AM   in reply to SecretSqirel
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    The cost difference isn't that great. What happens when you start adding other programs?

     

    You asked for advice...I gave it to you...and I'm sticking with it.

     

    Bob

     
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  • SecretSqirel
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    4. SecretSqirel,
    Apr 8, 2012 7:29 AM   in reply to Bob Levine
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    Thanks for the answer Bob, I'll spend the extra and go for the 256gb option. Any opinion on the Crucial M4 SDD's?

     
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  • Bob Levine
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    5. Bob Levine,
    Apr 8, 2012 7:36 AM   in reply to SecretSqirel
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    I am a fan of all things Crucial.

     

    Bob

     
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  • SecretSqirel
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    6. SecretSqirel,
    Apr 8, 2012 2:53 PM   in reply to Bob Levine
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    One more question Bob (last one!)

     

    I took your advise and read the Premiere forum and one thing that stood out was the need for a seperate scratch drive (for photoshop as well)

     

    With this in mind I am now thinking of upping my hard drive setup to:

    256gb Crucial M4 - Boot drive

    2 x WD Caviar Black 750gb in Raid 0 - Data

    2 existing 500gb WD Caviar Black in Raid 0 - Scratch

    Do you think this would make sense?

    Thanks for all your help.

     
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  • Bob Levine
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    7. Bob Levine,
    Apr 8, 2012 2:58 PM   in reply to SecretSqirel
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    With a SSD and 24 gigs of RAM, I wouldn’t be all that worried about it.

     

     

     

    Bob

     
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  • SecretSqirel
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    8. SecretSqirel,
    Apr 8, 2012 3:04 PM   in reply to Bob Levine
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    Thanks for all your help Bob, time to get ordering!

     
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