Storing large collections of photos and videos demands a desktop PC that blends high-capacity drives with reliability, data security, and fast access speeds. This guide is for photographers, videographers, content creators, archivists, and hobbyists who need a central hub to store, organize, and access their media libraries without constant worries about running out of space or losing files.
Photos and videos, especially in RAW or high-bitrate formats, can consume terabytes of storage in a short time. The challenge is that a storage-heavy desktop must do more than simply hold data, it needs to retrieve files quickly, protect them from accidental loss, and manage large libraries efficiently. Sluggish drives, limited ports, or lack of redundancy can slow your workflow and put years of creative work at risk.
The solution is to choose a desktop that pairs ample capacity with fast read/write performance and robust data protection features. We assess these PCs based on storage configuration, processor performance, memory capacity, connectivity options, cooling efficiency, expandability, and data backup support. For serious media storage, the system should include multiple drives, ideally both SSD and HDD, to balance speed and space.
For long-term and reliable photo/video storage, we recommend at least a 1 TB NVMe SSD for active projects, paired with 4 TB or larger HDD storage for archiving. A quad-core or higher Intel Core i5, i7, or AMD Ryzen 5/7 CPU ensures smooth file transfers and media previews. At least 16 GB of RAM helps when working with large image sets or video catalogs in software like Lightroom, Capture One, or Premiere Pro.
Storage configuration is the foundation. An NVMe SSD for your working library means instant project loading and fast file writes, while large HDDs provide cost-effective space for long-term archives. Using multiple drives also allows you to separate active work from backups, reducing risk and keeping performance high.
Processor performance supports file indexing, batch renaming, preview generation, and export processes. A capable CPU ensures these operations happen quickly, even when managing thousands of files.
Memory capacity impacts how efficiently you can browse, filter, and edit large collections. More RAM means less waiting for thumbnails to load and smoother multitasking between your editing and cataloging software.
Connectivity options are essential for attaching external drives, card readers, RAID arrays, or high-resolution monitors. USB-C, USB 3.2, Thunderbolt, and multiple display outputs expand your flexibility in handling large media transfers.
Cooling efficiency keeps drives and components at stable temperatures during heavy data transfers or long cataloging sessions, protecting both performance and lifespan.
Expandability ensures you can add more storage drives as your library grows. A desktop with multiple internal bays and M.2 slots lets you increase capacity without replacing your main machine.
Data backup support is crucial for professionals and enthusiasts alike. Systems that can integrate easily with RAID configurations or network-attached storage (NAS) help protect your work from drive failures.
Also take a look at the Best Desktop Computers for Internet and Web Browsing in addition to the Best Desktop Computers for Family Home Use.
These are the Best Desktop Computers for Storing Photos and Videos – Backup:
Contents
- Lenovo Legion T5 Gen 8 Gaming Tower Desktop, AMD Ryzen 7 7700, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 64GB DDR5 RAM, 2TB
- Lenovo Legion Tower T5 Gaming Desktop, Intel Core i7-11700F Processor, GeForce RTX 3060, 32GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD + 2TB HDD
- HP 2023 Newest Desktop, AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (6-core), 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 2TB HDD, AMD Radeon Graphics
- CyberPowerPC Gamer Supreme Liquid Cool Gaming PC, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2GHz, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB, 32GB DDR5, 2TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- iBUYPOWER Y40 Black Gaming PC Computer Desktop Y40BI7N47S01 (Intel Core i7 14700F, RTX 4070 Super 12GB, 32GB
- HP 2023 Newest Desktop, AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (6-core), 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 2TB HDD, AMD Radeon Graphics
- MSI Aegis RS Gaming Desktop Intel Core i7-13700KF, RTX 4070, 32GB DDR5, 2TB
- Skytech Legacy Gaming PC, Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz, RTX 4080 Super, 2TB NVME Gen4, 32GB DDR5
- MSI Codex R Gaming Desktop Intel Core i5-13400F, RTX 4060, 32GB DDR5, 2TB
- HP Victus Gaming Desktop, AMD Ryzen 7-5700G Processor, Radeon RX 6600XT 8GB Graphics(Outperforms RTX 3060), 32GB RAM, 2TB PCIe SSD
- Corsair Vengeance a8100 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU
Lenovo Legion T5 Gen 8 Gaming Tower Desktop, AMD Ryzen 7 7700, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 64GB DDR5 RAM, 2TB |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7700 |
| Processor Speed | 5.3 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12GB |
| RAM | 64GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB WD_Black SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 16.77 x 15.62 x 8.07 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Very good performance, Great price |
| Disadvantages | None |
Lenovo Legion Tower T5 Gaming Desktop, Intel Core i7-11700F Processor, GeForce RTX 3060, 32GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD + 2TB HDD |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-11700F Processor |
| Processor Speed | 2.5 GHz |
| GPU | Nvidia Ge Force Rtx 3060 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12 GB |
| RAM | 32GB |
| Storage Space | 1TB PCIe SSD + 2TB HDD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 21.65 x 19.09 x 14.57 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value for Money, Very good performance, Large storage |
| Disadvantages | N/A |
HP 2023 Newest Desktop, AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (6-core), 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 2TB HDD, AMD Radeon Graphics |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600G |
| Processor Speed | 3.9GHz |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| Graphics Card Memory | Radeon |
| RAM | 32GB |
| Storage Space | 2TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 29 x 29 x 29 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value for money, Storage, Performance |
| Disadvantages | Na |
CyberPowerPC Gamer Supreme Liquid Cool Gaming PC, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2GHz, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB, 32GB DDR5, 2TB PCIe Gen4 SSD |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
| Processor Speed | 4.2GHz |
| GPU | GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super |
| Graphics Card Memory | 16GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB PCIe Gen4 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 23.2 x 22 x 13 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Design, Build quality, Performance |
| Disadvantages | N.A |
iBUYPOWER Y40 Black Gaming PC Computer Desktop Y40BI7N47S01 (Intel Core i7 14700F, RTX 4070 Super 12GB, 32GB |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i7 14700F |
| Processor Speed | 2.1 GHz |
| GPU | RTX 4070 Super |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB NVMe SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 17.28 x 9.44 x 18.58 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Design and Build, Price |
| Disadvantages | None |
HP 2023 Newest Desktop, AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (6-core), 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 2TB HDD, AMD Radeon Graphics |
|
|---|---|
See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600G |
| Processor Speed | 3.9GHz |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| Graphics Card Memory | Radeon |
| RAM | 32GB |
| Storage Space | 2TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 29 x 29 x 29 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value for money, Storage, Performance |
| Disadvantages | Na |
MSI Aegis RS Gaming Desktop Intel Core i7-13700KF, RTX 4070, 32GB DDR5, 2TB |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13700KF |
| Processor Speed | 2.5 GHz |
| GPU | RTX 4070 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12 GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB M.2 NVMe |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 25 x 23.25 x 12.4 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Price, Storage |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
Skytech Legacy Gaming PC, Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz, RTX 4080 Super, 2TB NVME Gen4, 32GB DDR5 |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
| Processor Speed | 4.2 GHz |
| GPU | RTX 4080 Super |
| Graphics Card Memory | 16 GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB NVME |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 24 x 23 x 13 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value, Performance, Storage |
| Disadvantages | N/A |
MSI Codex R Gaming Desktop Intel Core i5-13400F, RTX 4060, 32GB DDR5, 2TB |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-13400F |
| Processor Speed | 1.8 GHz base |
| GPU | RTX 4060 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 8 GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2 TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 20 x 15 x 15 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Design, Build quality |
| Disadvantages | N/A |
HP Victus Gaming Desktop, AMD Ryzen 7-5700G Processor, Radeon RX 6600XT 8GB Graphics(Outperforms RTX 3060), 32GB RAM, 2TB PCIe SSD |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7-5700G |
| Processor Speed | up to 4.6 GHz max boost clock, 16 MB L3 cache, 8 cores, 16 threads |
| GPU | Radeon RX 6600XT 8GB Graphics |
| Graphics Card Memory | 8GB |
| RAM | 32GB RAM |
| Storage Space | 2TB PCIe SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 19 x 15.5 x 12 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Good performance, Value for money |
| Disadvantages | None |
Corsair Vengeance a8100 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU |
|
|---|---|
 See This On Amazon |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
| Processor Speed | 4.5 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU |
| Graphics Card Memory | 24 GB |
| RAM | 64GB |
| Storage Space | 4TB (2X 2TB) M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 25.63 x 24.25 x 13.86 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, storage |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
MORE DESKTOP RECOMMENDATIONS:
Latest Top Desktop PCs for Personal Use
