GTX 1650/1660 or RX 5500XT/5600XT for Photoshop

[-rascal-]

EDIT: I guess this *may* have been in posted the New Builds and Planning sub-category instead as well 

 

A co-worker of mine asked me to spec out a new system for his mother (or mother in-law).

She mainly uses the PC for day-to-day tasks, editing photos she takes with her cameras in Photoshop, and digital painting.

 

Budget of around $1000 CAD (under $1000 if possible).

He pointed out that he wanted 16GB of RAM -- I tried to work 32GB within the $1000 budget, but seems to be hard to do for now.

 

I've got most of the parts worked out, but I'm just on the GPU.

I don't know how advanced she is with Photoshop, but from what I can find, Photoshop tends to favour nVidia GPUs.

Since I'm not a Photoshop user, I'm kind of stuck with these questions now:

1. For her use case, will a nVidia or AMD GPU matter?
2. If yes, would there be much performance difference between the  GTX 1650 (SUPER) or GTX 1660 (SUPER)?
3. If no, nVidia GPU or AMD GPU?

 

The GTX 1650 (Super) only comes with 4GB of VRAM, so I'm leaning towards the GTX 1660 (Super) or the RX 5500XT / 5600XT due to the extra VRAM.

GTX 1660 6GB, RX 5500XT and 5600XT both 8GB.

 

The build sheet so far...and some things I'd like to point out:

• WD SN750 NVMe SSD, over something like the Crucial P1/P2 or Intel 660p, because of QLC NAND and their slow speeds with large files
• The extra cost on a 970 Evo Plus, or 970 Pro is kind of hard to swallow with the budget limit
• Considering an inexpensive CPU (air) cooler as well, depend on what is remaining of the budget
• P400A case for better airflow, and already included 3x fans -- good out-of-the-box
• Still deciding on the PSU, whether or not to go with non-modular (cheaper) or semi-modular route (easier cabling, keeping the system tidy looking)
• Try to keep the merchants between Amazon / MemoryExpress / NewEgg ... if possible

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($259.99 @ Memory Express) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Memory Express) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A ATX Mid Tower Case  ($106.55 @ Amazon Canada) 
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power U9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($69.98 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $741.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-29 19:06 EDT-0400

[Mateyyy]

IIRC the few filters that can take advantage of the GPU in Photoshop use OpenCL (could be wrong so don't quote me on that though), so an AMD card might be the better choice, but honestly I wouldn't expect too notable of a difference. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$256.95 @ Vuugo
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$115.50 @ Vuugo
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$179.99 @ Newegg Canada
Storage	Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ Memory Express
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB Challenger D OC Video Card	$238.50 @ Vuugo
Case	Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case	$77.68 @ Vuugo
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$998.61
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$978.61
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-29 19:26 EDT-0400

 

[badkitty]

Wouldn't a CPU with integrated graphics be enough for Photoshop ? That and 8 or 16gb of RAM would be plenty (and much cheaper!) for just editing pictures. I'd use the leftover money to get a really nice display instead.

 

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, -rascal- said:

• For her use case, will a nVidia or AMD GPU matter?
• If yes, would there be much performance difference between the  GTX 1650 (SUPER) or GTX 1660 (SUPER)?
• If no, nVidia GPU or AMD GPU?

GFX acceleration under Photoshop is slight (source: I'm a photographer) and is only used on a few select parts of PS. Unless she is doing the work professionally with huge RAW files and tons of layers, a simple nVidia 660GTX or better will do just fine.

[BTGbullseye]

8 hours ago, badkitty said:

Wouldn't a CPU with integrated graphics be enough for Photoshop ? That and 8 or 16gb of RAM would be plenty (and much cheaper!) for just editing pictures. I'd use the leftover money to get a really nice display instead.

 

I have experience with integrated, and as long as it's at least Vega 11 performance, it should be fine. MUST BE PAIRED WITH 16GB OF HIGH QUALITY RAM, AND A MOTHERBOARD WITH DECENT SUPPORT!!!

[-rascal-]

22 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

IIRC the few filters that can take advantage of the GPU in Photoshop use OpenCL (could be wrong so don't quote me on that though), so an AMD card might be the better choice, but honestly I wouldn't expect too notable of a difference. 

Thanks for the suggestion.

I was looking at 2018 / 2019 tests with Photoshop from Puget Systems, and it looks like nVidia GPUs are favored.

Then again, only a few tasks takes advantage of GPU acceleration.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-CC-2018-NVIDIA-GeForce-GPU-Performance-1139/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-GPU-Roundup-NVIDIA-SUPER-vs-AMD-RX-5700-XT-1552/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-CC-2019-NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-Performance-1269/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-CC-2018-NVIDIA-GeForce-vs-AMD-Radeon-Vega-1197/

 

 

22 hours ago, badkitty said:

Wouldn't a CPU with integrated graphics be enough for Photoshop ? That and 8 or 16gb of RAM would be plenty (and much cheaper!) for just editing pictures. I'd use the leftover money to get a really nice display instead.

 

It was requested that 16GB of one of the requirements.

From what I can see, it will depend on the number of files you are working with, and file format.

For, I'm assuming high resolution or RAW files, 16GB is recommended for 500MB files, 32GB for 500MB ~ 1GB files, and 64GB+ for anything higher.

The more layers, the larger the file size.

Quote

 

While the exact amount of RAM you need is going to depend on the size and number of images you will be working with, we generally recommend a minimum of 16GB for all our systems. Memory usage in Photoshop can quickly shoot up, however, so it is important that you ensure you have enough system RAM available.

How much RAM does Photoshop need?

 

The exact amount you need will depend on exactly what you are doing, but based on your document size we recommend a minimum of 16GB of RAM for 500MB documents or smaller, 32GB for 500MB-1GB, and 64GB+ for even larger documents.

 

 

Plus, the plan is to go with something like a Ryzen 3600, i5-9600KF, or something along those lines...no iGPU anyways.

 

I don't know whether or not they already have a decent enough quality monitor; was only given the request for the PC / system itself.

 

 

21 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

GFX acceleration under Photoshop is slight (source: I'm a photographer) and is only used on a few select parts of PS. Unless she is doing the work professionally with huge RAW files and tons of layers, a simple nVidia 660GTX or better will do just fine.

Alright, thanks.

I could cut back a little bit on the GPU side, and allocate more to the storage (e.g. larger NVMe drive), PSU, chassis, and look into getting a quieter / better CPU cooler.

 

14 hours ago, BTGbullseye said:

I have experience with integrated, and as long as it's at least Vega 11 performance, it should be fine. MUST BE PAIRED WITH 16GB OF HIGH QUALITY RAM, AND A MOTHERBOARD WITH DECENT SUPPORT!!!

I probably would not go for the iGPU route -- non-APU Ryzen wouldn't have iGPU anyways.

Thanks!