What's VERY important, the CPU, SDRAM, or GPU, for easier use of STUDIO HD15, and Photoshop?

[rivrbyte]

What speeds up STUDIO HD 15, and Photoshop, CPU, SDRAM, or GPU?

Would getting a newer 1GB,700+ Core Clock Speed GPU be better than my existing 8600GT 512MB, 540MHz make Video editing easier and less taxing on Studio?
Pinnacle Studio 14HD Ultimate. (Always have to free up resources when Importing analog video) need to upgrade from XP to Win7 64Bit. I'm finding stidio files all over my drives and hard to locate files for re-burn to DVD. I have three drives, My boot drive is a 74GB WD Raptor for O.S., WD500GB Storage drive, and a 2TB WD Caviar green for Storage.
Even though the 74GB Raptor would be faster for apps and the O.S, would having the 500GB used for the O.S., and applications be better to use with studio14 or does it matter? Here, on Pinnacle Forum, someone said all the studio files should be on one drive. I just want to capture, edit and burn to DVD, OR save as video files on the External HDD for future burns.
What I presently have >
GPU –
Nvidia Geforce 8600GT 512 MB, Core clock speed 540MHz, GDDR2, 128 bit, Memory Speed 700 GHz.
CPU > INTEL Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (4 cpu's)
MOTHERBOARD> MSI P-35 (MS-7345) Platinum
OPERATING SYSTEM> Windows XP 32 Bit, soon to upgrade to Windows7 Pro 64, with a total 8GB DDR2 SDRAM (8GB DDR2 PC6400/800MHz)
MEMORY> At present, 4GB DDR2 / PC6400/800MHz.

I exhaustively use Photoshop CS3, and Pinnacle Studio 15 HD Ultimate. I would like to get the MOST of what I have and wanted to know a few things.

I talked to an IT guy at Staples who told me he does CAD, 3-D rendering, Photoshop, and told me it is the GPU with a fast CORE CLOCK SPEED that makes Photoshop and Video Editing work much faster.
Then I went to FRYS and a few (gamer) guys told me it's the combination of both the CPU and the SDRAM System memory that makes it work faster.
I almost bought one of the (below listed) ASUS GPU's, when yet another guy told me I would be fine with what I have. Please tell me whose right.

When I startup Photoshop, it takes maybe three to four minutes to finish loading Preferences, which is ridiculous, I think. What would speed that up, memory or CPU, or GPU? And would that also benefit my Studio video editing?

I will most definitely be upgrading my motherboard in a few years…More ram, faster CPU, a new MOBO, etc., so I don't want to waste any money now.

ASUS ENGTS450/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core Clock: 810MHz
Stream Processors: 192 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock: 3608MHz
Model #: ENGTS450/DI/1GD5
Item #: N82E16814121423





_______________________________________

ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core Clock: 700MHz
Shader Clock: 1400MHz
Stream Processors: 336 Processor Cores
Model #: ENGTX460 DirectCU T7
Item #: N82E16814121390
________________________________
ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

 

[Oreo]

It's hard to say, historically faster cpu's and more as well as faster ram have improved performance. But GPU acceleration is being used more and more these days.

A safe bet would be 8gb DDR3 and an i7 or i5 sandy bridge processor. But you might want to research Photoshop GPU acceleration and look at the results, because your GPU in gaming aspects is definitely the weakest link of your system, there are cards out there for $200 and less that are several times quicker these days, and if GPU acceleration has a large impact on performance ( i can't tell you accurately as i don't use Photoshop/HD15 often, if at all) then that would be a good thing to upgrade.

In all honestly CPU, GPU, and RAM all need upgrading if you want to be up to date.

Oh, and the general consensus is "IT Specialists" in large retail stores are usually clueless. I am sure one or two know what they are on about, but the vast majority feed you a load of **** - so ignore them guys. You can not properly compare gpu's in core clock. Sure, if one GTX460 has a higher clock than another GTX460 then it is faster. But you can't compare different cards like that, architectural differences have a much larger impact. In 5 years time the latest GPU down clocked to 200mhz will almost certainly be quicker than today's fastest clocked at 800mhz. That's just how it works.

 

[rivrbyte]

Thanks!
Technology is forever changing, nothing we can do about that. I will, for instance will have to upgrade to get a ATX Tower with USB 3.0, ( I have a 2.0,whether I can depend on backward compatibility or not), i7, Or by the time I upgrade, it will no doubt be a newer/faster CPU, DDR+ anyway.

Also, I am not a over-clocker or gamer type of guy, only want to do Photoshop and Studio Video editing, so I mainly want something to work better,faster, than what I have at the present. I don't want to throw away good money for something I don't need. Today's Fry's, has a EVGA GTX 560, 2GB,DDR5,850 Core speed,superclocked, with a MEM clock speed of 4104 MHz......$250.00 msrp,on sale for $210.00. Now is this something I can use to better what I'm doing, or should I wait until I upgrade in a few years?

Also, I'm jumping from WinXP (32bit) with 3.3GB DDR2 PC6400/800MHz, to WIN7 64 Bit,8GB DDR2, PC6400/800MHz.....I've been told I will definitely notice some increase in performance....true, or not? Thanks! Have a good weekend!

 

[Oreo]

Thanks!
Technology is forever changing, nothing we can do about that. I will, for instance will have to upgrade to get a ATX Tower with USB 3.0, ( I have a 2.0,whether I can depend on backward compatibility or not), i7, Or by the time I upgrade, it will no doubt be a newer/faster CPU, DDR+ anyway.

Also, I am not a over-clocker or gamer type of guy, only want to do Photoshop and Studio Video editing, so I mainly want something to work better,faster, than what I have at the present. I don't want to throw away good money for something I don't need. Today's Fry's, has a EVGA GTX 560, 2GB,DDR5,850 Core speed,superclocked, with a MEM clock speed of 4104 MHz......$250.00 msrp,on sale for $210.00. Now is this something I can use to better what I'm doing, or should I wait until I upgrade in a few years?

Also, I'm jumping from WinXP (32bit) with 3.3GB DDR2 PC6400/800MHz, to WIN7 64 Bit,8GB DDR2, PC6400/800MHz.....I've been told I will definitely notice some increase in performance....true, or not? Thanks! Have a good weekend!

Hmm. Hard to say. Win7 is definitely better than Win Vista.. but whether it will feel faster than XP im not sure. Better hardware will make it feel faster though for sure.

If you are constantly saving, moving, opening and editing large files (Which i imagine you are if your editing video) then i would recommend an SSD. They have a huge impact on responsiveness, and the new ones are seriously quick. Sequential read writes are much quicker, seek time is massively improved, and random read writes are much better too.

I really would advise against getting DDR2 ram. These days it is a waste of money when DDR3 can be got cheap too. DDR4 won't be making a making a big move anytime soon so don't worry about that. It would just be stupid to stick with an old mobo and use DDR2 ram. The more you upgrade now, the faster your PC will be, and the longer it will be till you have to upgrade again.

What version Photoshop do you have by the way ?
Also, here is a video of GPU acceleration: Everyday Timesavers: Photography - PS - GPU Acceleration in Photoshop CS4 | Adobe TV

That GTX560 is a fast card by anyone's standard, by the way.

 

[rivrbyte]

Hello, Thanks for the reply!

Currently, I have Photoshop CS3. I am NOT a gamer (yet) only video capture,editing, and burning DVD's, using Pinnacle Studio 14HD,& 15HD. I was thinking in terms of a new GPU only for the graphics aspects, not for gaming, if it is a major prerequisite, or make any difference at all. I've been told it's the CPU, and maybe the memory may play a small part for the majority of the video capture,editing,burning performance....not the GPU.

My MS-7345 P-35 Platinum supports only DDR2, so given that this board and Intel Q6600 CPU, is about four years old, I can not upgrade Ram, until I upgrade the MoBo, and CPU. Thinking about an Intel i7. DDR3, and EVGA GTX 560, for example, if they are around by then, but for sure, there will be always faster, better, but now it's not financially doable for me.

I would like to upgrade the GPU. My GeForce 8600GT does not support SLI, only Cross-Fire, but I only have that one GPU. Can't do much with my four year old Cpu,and newer matched 8GB DDR2 Corsair memory I just bought, so Win7 could see all 8GB, and just not the 3.3 GB XP sees on my board.

Bottom line? Wait until I could afford the newer i7's or later, newer DDR3,4,or 5, by the time I'm ready,then a faster GPU.

 

[Oreo]

You have slightly confused me.

Sure if you can't afford a new PC now, 8GB of fast DDR2 is better than 4gb. And yes, i would reccomend getting the GTX560. A faster CPU probably does have a greater impact, but like i have previously said, new software is becoming increasingly GPU dependent (especially playback of HD video files) and a 560 is much faster than a 8600GT in that regard. And if you watched the video i linked you can see the benefit a GPU can bring to photoshop.