Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving here in the states.
I just upgraded from PL 7 Essential to PL 8 Elite, primarily for the enhanced De-noising features. I am not a “power user”, I just like to improve some of my wildlife photos, primarily birds.
I was disappointed to get the “Low GPU memory detected. At least 1024 MB of free GPU memory are required for DeepPRIME or DeepPRIME XD/XD2s.” message. And those options are greyed out in the app.
My graphics card is a NVIDIA Quadro P620. It has 2 GB of memory. (It has been in my computer for years. I only got it because I thought it was needed to drive my 4K monitor, which it turned out it wasn’t.) I expected that the 2 GB of memory would be adequate, especially when I instruct the NVIDIA Control Panel to “Dedicate to graphics tasks.”
My computer specs are:
Processor Intel(R) Core™ i5-8500 CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.8 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Edition Windows 11 Pro
Finally, my question is, if I need to get a replacement graphics card, what would you recommend? I don’t want to spend any more than necessary, hopefully under $200.
That Quadro card is very obsolete, not only in terms of VRAM but also computing power.
The minimum I would suggest to you nowadays, to be safe for a good number of years, is an RTX3060 which costs new around 300 EUR. Actually, you may find a 4060 at more or less the same price, which is even better.
Or if you don’t want to spend that much, at least an RTX3050 which is around 220. Don’t waste money on less than that, if you want to be at least a bit future-proof.
Depending upon the power supply of your machine you may have additional issues. Chances are fairly high that your power supply is a lower end unit and may not have sufficient wattage or the required connectivity for an appropriate modern graphics card. There is also the possibility that your case may not provide sufficient ventilation for some cards which tend to run hotter than others.
Here are DxO’s minimum graphics card requirements for PhotoLab 8
For DeepPRIME, DeepPRIME XD and DeepPRIME XD2s:
o Nvidia RTX™ with 4GB of VRAM with latest drivers
o Nvidia GTX™ with 8GB of VRAM with latest drivers
o AMD Radeon RX6000 series with 4GB of VRAM with latest drivers
o Intel ARC with 8GB of VRAM with latest drivers
You may be able to purchase a used card of higher quality card closer to your budget on eBay, but the potential issue of the power supply remains.
Good advice. Taken that into account, of all my suggestions, the 3050 is the easiest one in terms of “power hunger”, but also the 4060 is not that hungry.
Yes, but we also don’t know if he has an appropriate power supply with enough wattage and which will connect to either of those cards. I use the MSI version of the RTX 4060 which costs around $300 USD new. Perhaps he could find a used one on eBay.
Thank you for your prompt reply. The computer is a Dell Optiplex 7060 Tower with a 260 watt power supply. The Quadro P620 is the only additional card installed in it.
Thank you for your response. And for your recommendations! I see the RTX3050 on Amazon from several manufacturers: Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, among others in the $155-$165+ range. Is one maker better than another. If this board is adequate, at my age (75) I’m not too worried about future-proofing my system.
Unfortunately it is not. Generally speaking to support even a mid level modern graphics card you would need at least a 450 watt power supply with built-in connectors to thecard. Not only is your current power supply very unpowered, I doubt very much that there is a socket to connect it to a card. These days 550 watt to 750 watt power supplies are usually recommended depending on the hardware being used.
The board is more than adequate, and generally all three major manufacturers you listed are good (I have had all of them).
But as Mark said, sorry… that power supply is not. 260 Watts is nothing nowadays, there is no headroom. You would risk instability or even damage to components (=frying something). I have a 3070, and I use a 750 W supply which is overkill, but I like to have plenty of headroom.
@jmcphee My commiserations over the so called 1GB “rule” that penalises a 2GB card.
I own an old GTX 1050 (2GB) and PL8 refuses to run with that, the GTX 1050Ti (4GB) runs but is at least 50% slower with DP XD2s(PL8) than it is with DP XD(PL7), so avoid buying a GTX card.
Both of those cards have been replaced by a new RTX 3060 (12GB)( early in 2023) and the two Ebay RTX 2060s (6GB)(mid/late 2023) . The 2060 no longer qualifies for the minimum specification for DxPL but mine work fine, the RTX 3060 is better and an RTX4060 would be better still.
Personally I feel that the RTX 3050 is outclassed a little by the 2060 (except in power usage) as shown in the following snapshot, the site uses an RTX 3060 as the 100% yardstick.
The power requirements decrease as you go from the 2060 to the 3060 to the 4060 but your current power supply is really too “small”, I believe, but a reasonable quality 550W should be more than adequate, I have a 650W and two 550W power supplies.
Sadly a new power supply is going to dent your budget and there is a presumption that a standard power supply will fit your Dell case?
In the UK a suitable power supply is going to cost around £50, which includes VAT.
$200 is currently £158 so you would only have about £100 equivalent to get the graphics card and I feel that budget is too tight. My 2060s cost me £120 and £110 and were items I bid on rather than “Buy it now”.
Thanks for your “commiserations”!! I do feel like I have been misled as far as what graphics cards are required to support Photo Lab 8 Elite! I did see the list of recommended cards, but thought I might be able to squeak through with the one I had.
Thanks for the tip about the speed of the GTX card. I’m not working in a production environment, so I’m not too worried about speed, but even so, I don’t want to sit around too long waiting for processes to complete.
I certainly concur that the 260 watt power supply is inadequate. Looks like I can get a 500 watt power supply that will replace the one in the Optiplex 7060 Tower for $160. About the same for a ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050. Not what I planned on spending after the $99 to go from PL7 Essentials to PL8 Elite! I’d thought, that’s a good deal!
I might look on eBay to see if there are any deals there, but I do worry a bit about what I’m buying. I don’t want anyone else’s headaches. I will probably go with brand new from Amazon.
The cost of a new power supply does need to be factored in to the decision.
Both my 2060s, one a two fan and the other a 1 fan, came from Ebay, as did another Dell U2515H to add to one I bought new in 2015 and two 1920 x 1200 displays and two of my Seasonic Platinum power supplies (which were essentially open box but with everything included!?).
Perhaps I have been lucky, the Dell monitor was beautifully packed for transit and was in slightly better condition (the plinth) than mine and was a bid item, as were the 2060s.
Thanks for that info. I’ve gone ahead and ordered a 500 watt power supply for just over $100 (US) and a ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 for $160. I sure hope I get some good performance from the PL8 Elite!
Since your machine is older and the card you purchased will likely run much hotter than your existing card, as will the new power supply, you might want to consider downloading a free version of HWMonitor to make sure all your components, especially the new ones, are operating at acceptable temperatures.
I added additional fans and heatsinks to my desktop when I updated the power supply from a 300 watt to a 750 watt unit, the graphics card from a GTX 1050Ti to an RTX 4060, and the SSD drive from an unknown 128GB drive to a 2TB WD Black.
Thanks for that suggestion about the HWMonitor. I just installed it. That is a lot of data! Now to spend some time learning what it all means, and which parts of it are the most significant.
The HWMonitor data is mostly similar from device to device. The temperatures are in Celsius and allows you to monitor all the components in your computer that generate heat.
You may need to do a little research online to see what the normal operating temperatures are for the various components in your machine, both at rest and when stressed. On my machine, I was mostly concerned with the heat generated by my new RTX 4060 and my new 2TB WD Black SSD.
Older computer cases may not have sufficient fans, heat sinks, and ventilation for newer components that may run significantly hotter then the case was designed for. Additionally, new components that run much hotter can even impact the ability of an older case to keep the original components running as cool as they had previously. A modern graphics card under stress can get quite hot and if the heat is not dissipated properly even components nearby it can be more difficult to keep cool
I don’t mean to scare you, but when new components are installed in a computer, especially an older computer, it is just prudent to monitor the operating temperatures of all your components which if excessive can cause their premature failure.
Thanks Mark. I used the HWMonitor option to view the temps in Fahrenheit since that is much more familiar to me. I have compressed the display so only the temps are shown and I will do occasional screen snips and retain them to establish something of a baseline. I certainly understand and appreciate your information and advice about the risks involved in putting new heat generating peripherals in an old case not designed to dissipate the additional heat. There is not much in the case right now other than the PSU, motherboard, a 250 GB SSD, a 500 GB hard drive, and the Quadro that will be replaced by the RTX 3050. And there are four card slots, and only one will be occupied, so there is lots of room for air movement in the case. I have built my own computers in the past, case, motherboard, processor, etc., so I have some experience in this area. I got this Dell Optiplex because I used to do Windows Desktop Support at a government facility near here and the Dells were our preferred systems. It just made it easier for me to use hardware at home that was similar to that at work.
