My 6 years old Lenovo SL400 is struggling with LR4 and PS5 + NIK filters and processing of RAW files from my 6D. Opening a filter takes several minutes, adjustments can be checked / seen after 1-2 minutes. Applying the filter takes other several minutes. To top it the Dell 24' screen I'm using is displaying some odd lines (this is a replacement of the first monitor that had the same issues). Need to add that the motherboard power jack and battery pack have some issues so I can not use the battery and the build in card reader is busted.
Questions:
1) Any way to improve the existing configuration. Add RAM? Change to SSD? (I will list the config at the end of the post). Note that C: is running low on memory
2) Build a desktop
3) Buy a desktop
4) Stick with laptops and try buy a decent one - (This option might generate a whole new thread on which laptop)
Money is an issue so the lowest the budget the better.
My Asus NX90jq is a hell of a machine, but I don't think they make it now. Incredible 18.4" screen for editing... Incredible sound, though that doesn't matter to me. Beautiful as all get-out. In general, I'm a fan of Asus products.
To answer your question more directly, a new purchase seems preferable to trying to rejuvenate the clunker, if only because screens have gotten a lot better in laptops. I'm a fan of using a fast laptop as a primary computer: you can always dock to a screen if you need a bigger display.
A new purchase is high on the list. I also prefer laptops and the Lenovo has been really good. The only thing that makes me think of a desktop is the price. A more powerful desktop machine is a lot cheaper then a laptop.
Without a doubt, you need to start from scratch. I was, until earlier this year, running a work laptop that had similar specs to yours, and it was a dog on Lr and Ps (in fact I think I just insulted the dog). I am now running a Dell Latitude E6530 laptop with a "hybrid" drive (combination of a small SSD with a rotating drive) and the thing runs Lr 4.X wonderfully. It is Intel i7 based (3720QM @ 2.6Gz), has a full HD screen (1920x1080), discrete graphics (nVidia NVS 5200M), 8GB of RAM (my only dig, I'd love 16), and compatibility with a reasonably-priced ($119) dock. It's a high-performance, well-built machine. The downside is the price, about $1600 at the time it was purchased.
A desktop may be cheaper, but not all that much, especially if you customize. I'm honestly not sure that I will build another desktop when I decommission my current one. I'm kind on the fence right now, we'll see in perhaps a year or two when I really start to think about it. I can definitely see the beauty of going with a laptop. Heck, I would never go back to having a desktop here at work, and arguably I do more intense computing here than at home.
I have an Asus K53S laptop with i7 2670QM and 8GB of Ram, and a 640 GB HD. It runs LR 4 perfectly and other editing tools. To be honest I only use it to do sproofs when I'm at venues. I then edit everything at my deskto.
My desktop is a personalized Asus workstation with i7 3370K processor, 16 gb of ram, 120 GB SSD for OS and programs (should have been 240) and a few 1.5 and 2 TB hard drives. and it is super fast.
For the same specs, laptop vs desktop, you always get a bit more juice out of the desktop, even if it is cheaper than the laptop.
If you don't want or can't afford both I would sugest that you take a look at the Asus ROG gamimg laptos, and they pack a lot of performance and a tough casing. There are top of the line laptops with acording prices, but you get up to 32GB of ram (most of them have 16 built in), two hard drive slots (two traidional or 1 traditional and one SSD). This will be my next laptop for shure.
I think I will go for the E531... The difference in price is about USD600 that goes for the toughness and other military specs that sincerely I do not need ( but I would like them...)
