For the best upgradability, consider building your own computer. You can probably replace the RAM with a higher capacity set of sticks if it isn’t soldered in or add a GPU via an external enclosure. If you have a prebuilt computer from a manufacturer like Dell or a laptop, some of these upgrades may not be possible. When you’re looking at upgrading your computer for a photography workflow, there are a few key things to consider. It was finally that time: time for a hardware upgrade. I spent a bit of time refining all the software settings I could, cleaning up drivers and nudging my overclock just a little higher, but it just wasn’t enough. Everything from importing and rendering previews, to editing, to exporting the finished files was chugging along at a miserable pace. Altogether, this meant heavier files and more of them.
It was partly because I’d just gotten an even higher-resolution camera and partly because I had some new client needs that meant shooting HDR brackets and more panoramas. A few months ago, I was dealing with all the usual software slowdowns in my photo editing workflow.