I’ve been getting a few messages from buyers of the satrtrails tutorial who have noticed a significant speed difference between their PC and mine. I’ll go over the specs of my machine and the other parts of my editing setup.

The PC

I also use this for gaming so there’s some things that you wouldn’t use in a Photoshop only build - such as the custom watercooling loop, high end GPU and soundcard. I built this before the latest generation of processors was released, so the CPU and motherboard are last gen. The side cover is removed for the photos due to reflections in the glass panel.

System specs:

CPU: Intel i7 8700k overclocked to 5.1ghz (overclocking does increase Photshop performance but don’t try it unless you know what you’re doing, and don’t ever use an auto overclocking utility on your CPU)

RAM: 32GB G.Skill 3200mhz cl15 (the RAM speed and latency increases Photoshop performance, I find 3200 cl15 to be the sweet spot for price vs performance)

Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus X Code (this is a high end motherboard intended for overclocking)

GPU: Nvidia RTX2080ti (this is overkill for photoshop work, but comes in handy for rendering timelapse video)

Soundcard: SoundblasterX AE-5 (gaming)

Storage: Samsung 970evo 500gb (OS) and 1tb (image files), 3 xSamsung 860evo 1tb (finished images, games and other files).

PSU: Corsair AX1200i (overkill but I already had it from a previous build)

Case: Corasir 780t

Cooling system: EKWB and XSPC blocks, Ek radiators, Corsair LL120 fans

Monitors

Main monitor is an Acer X34 ultrawide with a resolution of 3440x1440, the two monitors to the left are Viewsonic VP-2768 (2560x1440). The X34 is a gaming monitor but once calibrated I can’t pick and difference from the Viewsonics or my older Dell Ultrasharps. The ultrawide aspect gives plenty of room in photoshop for all the panels while still having lots of room for the images.
The three monitors come in very handy for timelapse video work, I have the Davinci Resolve main window on the primary monitor, the media pool and other windows on the second, and Adobe bridge on the 3rd.
The monitors are calibrated with an Xrite i1 DisaplyPro.

Audio

Massdrop Airist R2R DAC, Massdrop THX 789 Amp,

I like to listen to music while editing images, and I like having good quality sound. (This can easily turn into an expensive hobby). I suggest you don’t go down this rabbit hole.

Rode NT-USB mic, Rode SMR shockmount, Rode PSA-1 boom arm.

This is used for voice recording in my video tutorials. Acoustic tiles on the wall help cut down sound reflections giving clearer voice recordings.

Lighting

I have 3 LIFX Mini Colour globes, one on the ceiling, and two more in lamps in the front corners, and 3 led strips running along the back edge of the desk and the back of the main monitor.
Color temp and brightness can be controlled from a smartphone app, for editing I’ll set to 6500k/32lux. There’s also party mode, but it does my head in after a few minutes.

Other Bits and Pieces

These are great for Photoshop, the pen is pressure sensitive so you don’t need to constantly adjust brush opacity like you do when using a mouse.

The desk is made up of 4 Ikea Alex drawer units and a custom top I have made at a kitchen fabricator. The chair mat is a sheet of pool fencing glass, once you’ve tried on of these you’ll never use one of the plastic mats again.

The monitors are supported on Ergotech Freedom Arms to allow the stacking of the 2 on the side. Hidden behind the PC case are HDD docks for backing up images, and some networking hardware.

For anyone planning a new PC, Puget systems have a collection of articles comparing the performance of different hardware configurations across a range of programs.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/

My Workstation