To make sure the hardware in your computer system will work with their software, most "system requirements" lists simply address the bare minimum of hardware needed to run the software—not what will truly perform at its peak. Furthermore, these lists occasionally include terrible hardware on them, are out of date, or display obsolete hardware versions.

ACDSee has existed since the early days of digital photography, much like Adobe. There are supporters of the company's Photo Studio Ultimate photo workflow and editing software who think it's better than Lightroom, even though it has a relatively unknown name. The app's 2024 edition has layer editing capabilities equal to Photoshop, and some of its features—like its Light EQ adjusters—are extremely useful. However, it is not as good as its top rivals when it comes to the quality of the initial conversion of raw camera files, generative AI capabilities, the efficacy of some fixes, and interface usability.

Although ACDSee has been working to make better use of CPUs with more cores, you will currently only see a slight performance boost if the CPU has more than about six cores. Generally speaking, the CPU's architecture is frequently more significant than its actual core count.

The size and quantity of photos you will be dealing with will determine how much RAM you actually need; however, for all of our systems, we normally advise at least 16 GB of RAM. 32GB of RAM ought to be sufficient for the majority of users' operations. However, you could want 64GB or more system RAM if you deal with particularly huge photos/catalogs or utilize the computer for additional tasks like editing large photographs.

ACDSee frequently lists two sizes, for example, 20.3M and 60.2M. The number on the right represents the real size of the Photoshop document with all of the layers, while the number on the left is the flat file size.When determining the RAM requirements for your system, the correct number that takes into account all of the layers is usually the most important factor.

While the exact amount of RAM you need is going to depend on the size and number of images you will be working with, we generally recommend a minimum of 16 GB for all our systems. Memory usage in ACDSee can quickly shoot up, however, so it is important that you ensure you have enough system RAM available.

Since most operations in ACDSee don't really require an upgraded video card, we usually advise getting a mid-range GPU to handle the demands of ACDSee and other related apps that do require a GPU. Since ACDSee does not heavily use the GPU, VRAM is typically not a concern. If you have a 1080p display, we recommend having at least 4GB to 6GB of VRAM, although all the video cards we currently offer for all photo editing software have at least 8GB of VRAM.

Primary Drive: OS/Software (SSD/NVMe): This includes your operating system and the base ACDSee. An SSD is highly recommended as it will greatly improve how fast the OS and programs startup, but you can also upgrade to a faster NVMe drive for a small performance benefit. The recommended storage for installation of software is not more than 10 GB.
 
Since the primary drive will primarily be used to store Windows and software, including all software (except large games), it doesn't need to be that large for the majority of users; a 500GB SSD will be enough.

Secondary Drive: Project Files (Platter/SSD/NVMe) If possible, it is a good idea to keep your photos and catalogs on a secondary drive. For most users, even a platter drive should be more than fast enough, although an SSD tends to be snappier and will often smooth out your workflow.