Professional Photography PC V2

Core Ultra 9 Professional Photography PC – Built in the UK

The Professional Photography PC V2 is a high-end photo editing PC for RAW processing in Photoshop, Lightroom, On1 and Topaz AI, with the capacity to handle video editing too.

 
This Core Ultra 9 professional photography PC is built for photographers who spend their working day in Photoshop, Lightroom, On1 and Topaz AI and need the workstation to keep pace with the shoot. It is tuned for those applications but is equally capable of video editing and the wider range of productivity and content creation tasks a busy studio throws at it. Every component has been chosen for sustained performance with large image files, large libraries and long editing sessions.

 
The Professional Photography PC V2 is built on an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor with 24 cores and 24 threads, fitted to an MSI MPG Z890 CARBON WIFI motherboard. It has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 16GB of GDDR7 memory, 64GB of DDR5 6000MHz memory, a 1TB and a 2TB WD Black SN7100 NVMe SSD and a 10TB Seagate IronWolf Pro hard drive. It is cooled by a Corsair NAUTILUS 360 RS 360mm AIO, powered by a Contour 1000W ATX 3.1 PSU, housed in a Fractal Design Define 7 Solid Black case, and supplied with Microsoft Windows 11 Home (genuine, pre-installed) and a 3-year parts and labour warranty.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor for fast, responsive editing

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has 24 cores, made up of 8 performance cores and 16 efficient cores, with a 3.7GHz P-core base clock and a 5.7GHz maximum turbo. The high turbo speed suits the interactive work that dominates a photography day, such as opening large files, applying adjustments and moving through layers in Photoshop and Lightroom. The wide core count gives headroom for batch exports, background tasks and multi-tasking, and it carries over into video editing. The processor has 36MB of L3 cache and sits on an Intel Z890 platform, with Intel Arrow Lake processors running one thread per core, so the 24 cores give 24 threads.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics with 16GB of video memory

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has 8960 cores and 16GB of GDDR7 video memory. That gives plenty of room for large images and for the growing number of effects that use GPU acceleration, and it is particularly well suited to AI-assisted tools such as Topaz AI. The card supports 10-bit colour, so pairing it with a 10-bit capable photography monitor gives the colour precision and fine detail that critical editing and print work depend on. The graphics card provides 3 x DisplayPort 2.1b and 1 x HDMI 2.1b outputs (the layout may vary by card brand) and drives up to four monitors.

64GB of DDR5 memory and three tiers of storage

The system has 64GB of Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 6000MHz CL30 memory, fitted as two 32GB modules in dual channel. The motherboard has four DIMM slots with two used and supports up to 256GB, so there is scope to grow with your catalogue.

 
Storage is organised the way a photographer works. The 1TB WD Black SN7100 M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD holds the operating system and applications. The 2TB WD Black SN7100 is the drive for work in progress, where fast access to current shoots matters most. Both are rated at up to 7250MB/s read and 6900MB/s write. For the archive there is a 10TB Seagate IronWolf Pro 3.5in SATA hard drive running at 7200rpm, which holds a large library of finished work. A Kingwin 5.25in bay multi card reader with USB 3.0 and eSATA is built into the front of the case, so memory cards can be offloaded without extra hardware. There are three free M.2 slots on the motherboard, three free SATA ports, and case mounts for 6 x 3.5in and 2 x 2.5in drives, so capacity can keep growing.

Fractal Design Define 7 case with 360mm AIO cooling

The Fractal Design Define 7 Solid Black is a solid steel mid tower with a clean, uncluttered look that suits a professional studio. The inside of the side panels is lined with noise-isolating material to reduce noise and vibration. The case comes with two Dynamic X2 GP-14 fans at the front and one at the rear, and we add 2 x Be Quiet! Silent Wings 4 PWM 140mm fans, which keep the components cooled while staying quiet. The processor is cooled by a Corsair NAUTILUS 360 RS 360mm AIO liquid cooler, and a Contour 1000W fully modular ATX 3.1 power supply gives plenty of headroom for the components and future upgrades. The case measures 547mm (D) x 240mm (W) x 475mm (H).

Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7 and 5GbE connectivity

The MSI MPG Z890 CARBON WIFI provides Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 Type-C and a 1 x Type-C 20Gbps port on the rear panel, alongside a 5GbE LAN port, built-in Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Thunderbolt 4 suits fast external storage for photographers who record large volumes of data on location, and it makes it easy to move content between camera, Mac and PC. The front panel adds a USB Type-C 20Gbps port, 2 x USB Type-A 5Gbps ports, 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, and audio and microphone jacks. Audio is 7.1 channel High Definition Audio with S/PDIF. No keyboard or mouse is included.

Ideal for

• Professional photographers editing RAW files and layered images in Photoshop and Lightroom
• Studios that use On1 and Topaz AI as part of a daily workflow
• Photographers who build up large archives and need fast working storage plus 10TB of bulk capacity
• Location shooters who offload cards and use Thunderbolt 4 external storage
• Photographers who also edit video and want one system for both

For photographers who want a Core Ultra 9 professional photography PC with room to grow, the Professional Photography PC V2 combines a 24 core processor, 64GB of memory, 16GB of graphics memory and a three-tier storage layout in a quiet, well-cooled case. Because it is built to order, you can change any part in the configurator to suit your workflow.

Built to order and tested in the UK by Punch Technology, every system comes with a 3-year parts and labour warranty, backed by over 30 years of PC building experience. The estimated lead time for your configuration is shown when you order.

What is the Professional Photography PC V2 best for?

The Professional Photography PC V2 is primarily a stills-first editing workstation for professionals who handle large RAW libraries, layered Photoshop files and heavy batch processing. The fast Core Ultra 9 285K and 64GB of memory keep the interface responsive when many files and applications are open at once, while the NVMe working drive keeps current shoots quick to open and save.

Day to day, that means Photoshop and Lightroom for editing and cataloguing, On1 for processing and Topaz AI for AI-assisted sharpening and noise reduction, where the RTX 5070 Ti and its 16GB of video memory help. The same hardware handles 4K video editing in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve for photographers who also shoot video. Work built around 8K or multi-stream production is better served by the dedicated video editing range.

Where does the Professional Photography PC V2 sit in the range?

Two neighbouring systems sit below it. The V-Ray / 3ds Max Workstation – Ryzen 7 9700X / RTX 5070 Ti shares the RTX 5070 Ti and 64GB of memory but is built around an 8 core Ryzen processor and 3D rendering. The Intel Core Ultra 7 with RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC pairs the same graphics card and memory capacity with a 20 core Core Ultra 7 265KF. Both centre on a single 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. The Professional Photography PC V2 steps up to the 24 core Core Ultra 9 285K, a separate 1TB system drive and 2TB working drive, a 10TB archive drive, Thunderbolt 4 and a built-in card reader, which makes it the better fit for a photographer’s workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Professional Photography PC V2 good for Photoshop and Lightroom?

Yes, Photoshop and Lightroom are the main applications this system is tuned for. The Core Ultra 9 285K has a 5.7GHz maximum turbo for responsive editing, and 64GB of DDR5 memory leaves room for large layered files and big catalogues. On1 and Topaz AI run well here too, and the RTX 5070 Ti with 16GB of video memory handles GPU-accelerated effects and AI tools. It also copes with video editing in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.

Does the Professional Photography PC V2 have Thunderbolt 4 and a card reader?

Yes, the MSI MPG Z890 CARBON WIFI motherboard provides Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 Type-C, and there is a front USB Type-C 20Gbps port as well. A Kingwin 5.25in bay multi card reader with USB 3.0 and eSATA is fitted at the front of the case. Together they make it simple to offload cards and connect fast external storage after a shoot.

How much storage does the Professional Photography PC V2 have, and can I add more?

It has 13TB in total: a 1TB and a 2TB WD Black SN7100 NVMe SSD plus a 10TB Seagate IronWolf Pro hard drive. There are three free M.2 slots and three free SATA ports on the motherboard, and the case has mounts for 6 x 3.5in and 2 x 2.5in drives. Extra capacity can be added later or specified when you order.

Is the Professional Photography PC V2 quiet?

It is designed to run quietly. The Fractal Design Define 7 Solid has noise-isolating material lining the side panels, and cooling comes from Dynamic X2 GP-14 fans plus 2 x Be Quiet! Silent Wings 4 PWM 140mm fans. The processor is cooled by a 360mm Corsair NAUTILUS 360 RS AIO, which spreads the heat across a large radiator.

Who is this PC best suited for?

The Professional Photography PC V2 is best suited to professional and serious enthusiast photographers who work with large RAW files and layered images in Photoshop, Lightroom, On1 and Topaz AI. It also suits photography studios and hybrid shooters who edit video alongside stills and need large working and archive storage on one system.

Can I change the parts on the Professional Photography PC V2?

Yes, the PC is built to order, so you can change parts in the configurator, and the estimated lead time for your configuration is shown when you order. No keyboard or mouse is included, and a colour-accurate monitor is not part of the default build. Monitors, keyboards and cables are available from the accessories section.