Looking to upgrade my PC to improve Lightroom CC performance, especially for AI Denoise feature. Help appreciated!

Hi all,

I'm doing most of my Lightroom CC (not Classic) editing on my desktop gaming PC. It was a solid rig when I built it years ago, but it's definitely showing its age now.

Along with wanting better general performance for everyday tasks and gaming, I'm really hoping I can optimize my new motherboard + CPU + GPU for Lightroom - especially to speed up the "AI Denoise" feature. A lot of my photography (twilight wildlife and indoor corporate pics) benefits from the AI Denoise feature, but each pic takes 5-10 seconds to show the preview and then another 30-45 seconds to actually perform the denoising. For one or two pics it's not a big deal, but when I have dozens of pictures to edit, it really bogs me down.

Other than just going for the highest gaming specs I can afford, are there any specific things I should be looking for (or avoiding) when I buy the parts to upgrade my PC? Appreciate any guidance you can offer!

• New build or upgrade?

  • Upgrade - looking to buy a new motherboard + CPU + GPU for both gaming and to speed up Lightroom CC editing (especially the "AI Denoise" feature)

• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)

  • Fractal Design tower case, 1000-watt PSU, big Acer screen from Costco)

• PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)

  • Lightroom CC photo editing, along with general purpose PC stuff and occasional gaming

• Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If you're not in a country supported by PCPartPicker, please list some local vendors)

  • USA (California)

• Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)

  • N/A

• Budget range? (Include tax considerations)

  • ~$1,000

• WiFi or wired connection?

  • Wired

• Size/noise constraints?

  • N/A

• Color/lighting preferences?

  • N/A

• Any other specific needs?

Just for reference, here are my current specs:

• CPU: Intel i7 8700K
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz
• GPU: Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX Vega64 (8GB VRAM)
• Motherboard: Asrock Z370 Gaming K6