Best CPU for Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop?

[arbfm]

Hi!

 

I'm helping a friend of mine with building a PC for mostly Adobe Illustrator. He also wants to use it for a bit of Photoshop, but wants the build to focus mainly on Illustrator. He wants a PC he can use for professional work. So now I'm reaching out for help, because I'm not quite sure what kind of processor, would be the best. Should I go with Ryzen or Intel? Should I go with an i7? Help..

[AskTJ]

For rendering, I suggest Ryzen. What is his budget?

[Jurrunio]

Illustrator is single-core heavy and very few operations use multiple cores (tops at 8 cores), so I prefer the 8700k. If that's too expensive, get the 8600k. Locked 8700 and unlocked 2700x comes behind.

[arbfm]

6 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

For rendering, I suggest Ryzen. What is his budget?

He says it depends, can you give me suggestions?

[arbfm]

3 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Illustrator is single-core heavy and very few operations use multiple cores (tops at 8 cores), so I prefer the 8700k. If that's too expensive, get the 8600k. Locked 8700 and unlocked 2700x comes behind.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Radium_Angel]

I thought by now the Adobe CC aaplications were all GPU accelerated.

Am I wrong?

[AskTJ]

2 minutes ago, arbfm said:

He says it depends, can you give me suggestions?

Well, I need a budget so I know what I can suggest him to buy. $500? $1000? $6969?

[arbfm]

3 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

I thought by now the Adobe CC aaplications were all GPU accelerated.

Am I wrong?

They are.

 

[arbfm]

2 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

Well, I need a budget so I know what I can suggest him to buy. $500? $1000? $6969?

lets say about 1000-1500

 

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, arbfm said:

They are.

 

Btw while having a graphics card is important, it doesnt have to be a high end one. A 1050ti or 1060 already gives most of the performance improvements a 1080ti will ever get you.

[arbfm]

4 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Btw while having a graphics card is important, it doesnt have to be a high end one. A 1050ti or 1060 already gives most of the performance improvements a 1080ti will ever get you.

Yes! I was/am also going to go with a 1060 3gb - will that be too low, or should I go for the 1060 6gb

 

[AskTJ]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor  ($309.90 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($53.87 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.87 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card  ($459.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($71.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1264.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-29 08:53 EDT-0400

 

He can pick a better case if he wants to.

[homeap5]

I work with vector graphics and using Photoshop for long time and I must disagree.

 

8700k is overpriced for that type of work. I work on many computers (home, few remotes) and I barely see difference between old Core2Duo and modern i5 processor. Even Pentium and GeForce 1050 will be enough for Photoshop and Illustrator. Buy more memory and fast SSD instead of better processor, cheapest motherboard with 4 ram slots (for later expansion) and some bugdet Pentium Gold. You may not even buy GFX card at the beginning and everything will work as fast as possible.

 

I start thinking that no matter what do you want to do on your computer, everyone recommend you Threadripper or i7-8700k in worst case.

[AskTJ]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor  ($309.90 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($53.87 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.87 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card  ($459.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($71.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1419.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-29 08:57 EDT-0400

 

32GB of ram, while staying under $1500.

[Jurrunio]

9 minutes ago, arbfm said:

Yes! I was/am also going to go with a 1060 3gb - will that be too low, or should I go for the 1060 6gb

 

it's enough. Neither Illustrator nor Photoshop use much VRAM (and 6gb is like 25% more expensive than 3gb)

[arbfm]

5 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor  ($309.90 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($53.87 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.87 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card  ($459.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($71.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1419.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-29 08:57 EDT-0400

 

32GB of ram, while staying under $1500.

Thanks a lot! But what is the best you can do for 1000-1250-ish

 

[arbfm]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

it's enough. Neither Illustrator nor Photoshop use much VRAM (and 6gb is like 25% more expensive than 3gb)

Ok, thanks

[Princess Luna]

You should also say your budget as that is one of the most meaningful things when advising what you should get, to make the best build that fits your budget.

 

Either ways for the mentioned workloads and software he desires to use there is no rocket science in here the "best cpu" as the title asks is as @Jurrunio already said the i7 8700K then followed by the i5 8600K on the overclocking side of things, if overclocking is not desired then the i7 8700.

[AskTJ]

3 minutes ago, arbfm said:

Thanks a lot! But what is the best you can do for 1000-1250-ish

 

He can choose the 16GB variant.

[arbfm]

2 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

You should also say your budget as that is one of the most meaningful things when advising what you should get, to make the best build that fits your budget.

 

Either ways for the mentioned workloads and software he desires to use there is no rocket science in here the "best cpu" as the title asks is as @Jurrunio already said the i7 8700K then followed by the i5 8600K on the overclocking side of things, if overclocking is not desired then the i7 8700.

Alright, thanks

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, arbfm said:

Alright, thanks

This is an extremely great cost effective build for instance:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.79 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($68.09 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($82.88 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($82.88 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.48 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GT OCV1 Video Card  ($275.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1083.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-29 09:06 EDT-0400

[homeap5]

mainboard: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6NgzK8/msi-b360m-pro-vdh-micro-atx-lga1151-motherboard-b360m-pro-vdh - 70$
processor: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/YqKhP6/intel-core-i3-8100-36ghz-6-core-processor-bx80684i38100 - 120$
ram: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/89rcCJ/geil-memory-gpr416gb2400c15dc - 150$
psu: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/GMYWGX/be-quiet-pure-power-10-cm-600w-80-silver-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-bn278 - 80$
ssd: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam - 115$
pc case: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PNTrxr/be-quiet-pure-base-600-atx-mid-tower-case-bg021 - 90$
cpu cooler: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Zr2kcf/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk010 - 50$
=675$

 

And if you want GFX card

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jW98TW/msi-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-6gb-armor-ocv1-video-card-geforce-gtx-1060-armor-6g-ocv1 - 365$
= 1040$ (with all other parts)

 

And believe me - it will be more than enough for Illustrator and Photoshop.

Even that graphics card is overpriced for that type of work (you may choose 1050 instead, but maybe this person will want to play some games too).

 

I take not lowest prices in this calculation, so you probably can buy it lower.

[arbfm]

2 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

This is an extremely great cost effective build for instance:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.79 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($68.09 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($82.88 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($82.88 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.48 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GT OCV1 Video Card  ($275.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1083.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-29 09:06 EDT-0400

Thanks a lot. This was also my thought, after all of the nice comments on this thread.

[Jurrunio]

4 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

 

I take not lowest prices in this calculation, so you probably can buy it lower.

You have to make it lower, because it's more attractive to spend extra $40 for 6 cores, 12 threads and a 1060 6gb

[homeap5]

Hmmm, the same video card as in my case and that huge difference on the same site? I see 330$ in Newegg.

Arbfm asks for Illustrator and Photoshop and you recommend him the same parts as for someone who asks for gaming computer (ok, cheap gaming computer, but still). So if it's no difference what someone asks for - why just don't ask "I want ANY computer, what do you recommend"?

 

i using the same website as you, but see different prices btw?