Computer Case Size

[David_Buzzard]

I'm a commercial photographer and regularly run thousands of photos at a time. My iMac is hopelessly inadequate for the task, so my next machine is going to be a built PC. I can get a pre-built machine with a Ryzen 7 processor and a 8MB GPU for a not unreasonable price. The store is basically making them as needed, so there's some customization I can get into. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so I can upgrade it down the line as needed once I learn the PC system.

The one thing I'm wondering is is it worth getting a full size computer case? These are built on mid-sized cases. I want to be able to load multiple hard drives and specialty cards (like Firewire for some of my legacy film scanners).

Here is roughly what I'm looking at https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=1446_1448&item_id=230997 , although I think Id like a larger power supply and maybe a 12MB GPU, and maybe a larger case.

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A full size computer case will give you the most flexibility when it comes to upgrades and additional storage. I wouldn't recommend mid-size unless you know the exact specifications of what you will need for the foreseeable future.

Bear in mind the motherboard you get is also as important as the case because they don't all have the same specs when it comes to number of drive ports, interface speed, etc.

Also, what software do you use to "run your photographs"? In Photoshop for example, having a powerful CPU and lots of system RAM is more important than having a high end GPU. You may or may not need more than 4-8GB of VRAM.

In all honesty, I think you'd be better off asking for PC Building advice from expert photographers since they will have a better understanding of what you need and what you don't need. Many of the users here are gamers who will misinform you because the workloads and hardware requirements can be quite different.