Using Deep Prime noise reduction is very slow on my old computer, so I’m looking at a new one.
I’ve narrowed it down to 2. #1 is a Dell XPS with 11th Gen INtel Core i7-11700k processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB GDDR6, 32GB 16Gx2 DDR4, 2933MHz RAM, 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD + 1TB SATA 7200 RPM HDD.
#2 is Dell XPS with 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11900 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6, 32GB 16Gx2 DDR4 2933MHz, 512GB PCI M.2 +1TB SATA 7200 RPM HDD.
I would like opinions on which would be the better choice?
The short answer: the faster the GPU, the faster your exports will be. SSD storage is also a lot faster than a HDD. So #1 is what I would choose. That said, I use a GeForce 1060 GTS 3GB card and have no complaints.
I think I would go for the first one with the large SSD drive and the better video card. Imaging software is evolving quickly especially with regard to processing using a graphic card’s GPU. As a result I think the first choice with the i7 and the much higher end RTX would give you generally faster processing results depending on the software and features you run. Certainly DeepPRIME would run a lot quicker.
One change you might consider, if you want to save a few $s (or other currency symbol?), is to reduce your memory to 16GB - - - I’ve never seen any peaking on memory use with my 16GB - and you could easily add another stick of memory in the future (should you ever encounter a problem).
I just bought an Acer ConceptD 5 Pro Creator laptop for $500 off on Amazon (I paid about $1500). It has an i7 processor and an nVidia Quadro graphics card. It comes with 32GB of RAM, but only comes with a 500GB SSD, but room for two more drives, so I added a 4TB SATA SSD for storage, which cost $380. There is still an empty NVME M.2 drive bay so I can add more storage if I need it down the road. I couldn’t be happier. I can process RAW photos using DeepPrime at the rate of 10 to 12 files per minute! I was only getting 2-3 per minute on my old laptop
I don’t see where PhotoLab uses more that 10 or so GB of memory, but I have the Topaz AI plugins, like Gigapixel and Sharpen AI, and those massive apps do indeed make use of nearly all of my 32GB of memory. I am now thinking of going to 64GBs of RAM. I read that this can really help speed up my video software, DaVinci Resolve Studio.
I have 128GB ram… Apps like DaVinci, Adobe After Effects, … can use more ram. That being said, I wouldn’t go below 32, advice 64 and 128 is just fun
Be sure to invest in NVMe drive(s) as well, those are much faster than regular SSD.
I have an HP Zbook. My wife has a now one year old Dell Inspirion 7591 (she needed a touch screen upon which she could write as if it were “paper”). Just after the warranty period, the Dell fan failed. Unlike HP, that supplies full repair manuals as well as a full parts list, Dell will supply repair manuals but will NOT supply parts lists nor any useful information (in the USA – I do not know regulations outside the USA). I had to hunt to find a replacement fan. Beware of Dell unless you purchase full OEM (factory) support (extended service contract or warranty).
I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed since I just ordered the Dell. My current computer is a Dell and I’ve had it for approximately 8 years without a problem, and it’s still working fine.
I have an “old” Dell Latitude D830 that also has been quite reliable. During that epoch, Dell allowed an ordinary person to access both the repair manuals and the parts lists, and to obtain spares using the part numbers in the list. That was Dell then; this is Dell now. In all cases, I do not purchase a “consumer” “home use” machine, but one that claims to be a “professional” workstation (as is the Dell my wife just got and that is failing just after the base warranty period). I expect a “home use” machine to fail given the “pounding” one puts on the machine when used as I (or my wife) does. You may consider purchasing the extended Dell warranty, particularly the one that provides rapid free bi-directional shipping or on-site service (in the USA – I do not know about Dell outside the USA), as Dell no longer allows the consumer to purchase (most) spares – just as with Nikon USA today even for NPS members. I have read end-user reviews of regular extended warranty Dell service (not the “premium” plan), and these have not been re-assuring. It is rather like the difference between NPS, CPS, SPS, etc., and the regular consumer service provided by the same companies. (Leica I understand is much better with the consumer end, but I do not use Leica.) I hope your new Dell proves more durable than my wife’s.
If you are going to choose the amount of RAM on the machine, more typically is better than less. If you are using Linux (say with VMware Workstation Pro), you need the RAM. If you are using MS Win, understand that MS Win 11 is soon to be released. It is quite likely that MS Win 11 will be a RAM “hog”, particularly for processes such as PL4E DeepPRIME. This depends upon how well MS Win 11 incorporates some of the memory management implementations from MS Win Server (designed for server machines, not end user workstations, unlike enterprise Linux distributions such as Canonical Ubuntu LTS that works on both). In a worst case, make certain that you can increase the RAM. The issue of the relative data rate between SSD and NVMe drives depends upon the drive controller, etc, but in general, that advice also is correct. I personally do not advise keeping all images, both in process and others, on the machine drive, but rather on external devices. Some would recommend storage on the Internet (various virtual drives from different vendors such as Google or Amazon – there are others). The issue there is intellectual property, depending upon where the physical machines that do the actual storage are located, as well as the possibility of corruption were the service to be compromised (“hacked”). The film method of keeping “strip” in physical drawer cabinets, etc, is the equivalent of local (your own, not on the Internet or “web”) storage. I have found that USB removable Tbyte (1, 2, 4, and larger) is suitable; however, indexing these is not so simple. Others I know keep a “disk farm”, with 100 Tbyte of RAID mirrored storage – this requires space, adequate environmental conditions (eg, HVAC), and substantial mains capability with UPS mains backup.
