Upgrading into Photographer's Rig

[RaphaelemArchangelum]

Specs
- Class: Desktop
- CPU: Core i7 920 @ 2.66 ghz
- RAM: 18gb DD3 1333 (triple channel HD) (3 x 4GB + 3 x 2 GB )
- GPU: Dual ATI Radeon 4850
- HD: (1) Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB (2) Western Digital 750GB
- MOBO: x58 Xtreme

Setup
- Desktop
+ Dual Monitor (Catleap 27" and Dell 23")
- Catleap on GPU 1 DVI
- Dell on GPU 1 VGA

Problems
- Photo editing in Lightroom is a bit slow. Especially after I apply a change in settings (like clarity, contrast right click developer settings > paste settings). I could probably use an extra .5-1 second during this rendering.
- DVI from Dell to GPU2 doesn't work (screen is blank). The Dell must be connected via vga on GPU1. I.e. Dell cannot be connected using DVI on GPU2. Crossfire is off.

Questions
- I upgraded my PC's memory to 18gb. The average RAM usage during my photo editing is ~10GB+. Is there a way to streamline the process? Of maybe processing?
+ What should I buy to increase the speed of this photo editing?
- Do I need a new GPU, CPU or Harddrive?
- My budget could be as high as $800
- I'm planning on buying the Adobe CS6 collection for $800 for photoshop and indesign. I could sacrifice that and focus on Adobe Lightroom editing if the increase in speed is justifiable. What do you think? Should I purchase the software or upgrade the hardware? If I upgrade the hardware how much increase in speed should I expect?

Thanks!

 

[jasonalwaysready]

Photo editing is almost entirely cpu driven on lightroom. you might be able to improve performance by using an ssd or a high speed flashcard for your cache.

the only 1366 cpu on newegg is a thousand dollars and out of stock.

so youre probably better off buying photoshop which does use gpu acceleration. then your next upgrade should be to upgrade your gpu's to a more powerful single card solution.

i guess, i dont use that software.

 

[Oreo]

Above post pretty much says it all. The faster the CPU the better, an SSD might help a little in places such as importing and exporting photos stored on your PC.

If you upgraded to Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge CPU, you could probably half your render times especially with some overclocking.