The new ARM processors for Windows (esp. Snapdragon Elite X) are being aggressively adopted by Windows OEM’s, and Adobe is quickly adapting its software to run well on such ARM processors without the need for x86 emulation, which could slow photo-editing tasks. Is DxO gong to stay competitive here if its customers adopt the powerful new Windows ARM processors as quickly as Microsoft and the OEM’s appear to expect?
There is no official word on that from DxO but I have not done an exhaustive search.
Mark
I couldn’t find it on the web, either. I really need a cpu upgrade, and I want to consider those new Qualcomm-powered ARM PC’s now that they are being tested in the real world… but I spend a lot of time in PL7 and have to factor that in… Tx for responding.
For what it’s worth, I am still using an i7 6700 Windows 10 machine with 24 GB of RAM from 2016. The power supply has been updated, the C drive has been updated to a 2 TB SSD and the graphics card is now an Nvidia RTX 4060. Response time processing my 21 megapixel NEF files is excellent. Assuming you have a graphics card that is up to the job, in what other way is your machine not meeting your requirements?
I guess what I’m saying is that newer Windows machines even without that technology being used by DxO, should be significantly fast enough for any normal processing requirements.
Mark
Thanks for asking. My graphics card is an MX250, better than cpu graohics on a 5year old cpu, but otherwise not very powerful. Performance is mostly ok on editing, but I come to a screeching halt with each export if de-noising is involved. If I get a head of steam on editing (other than exporting) PL7 can also bog down and freeze up sometimes. I try to do exports in batch mode and either then get a meal or go to bed, but I’d like to work more interactively. I also have a huge backlog of video to edit, which is not a DxO issue, but is relevant to what I buy. I’ve heard the new ARM processors are sometimes paired with an RTX, but haven’t gotten into the details. My first priority is an adequate graphics card, even if I do it with a fixed desktop. But gee, it would be nice if I could cover all bases with a laptop with both graphics power and battery life when used without a power cord. I plan to dig in once there’s more of a track record with the new ARM processors.
As you have found out, the MX250, which as you point out is only 5 years old, was obviously not designed for graphic intense applications and it’s GPC is just not up to the task of handling DeepPRIME and DeepPRIME XD. When you are ready to purchase a new computer get back to us with the graphics card options you are considering and the raw file megapixel count of the files you will be processing. Also supply the computer’s processor specs. We can then provide you with a general idea of how long you can expect export processing of files to take with DeepPRIME or DeepPRIME XD applied .
As an example, with my current setup, DeepPRIME processing takes around 6 seconds and DeepPRIME XD takes around 9 seconds. With my older and less powerful GTX 1050 Ti card DeepPRIME processing took around 20 seconds and DeepPRIME XD processing took around 35 seconds with nothing else changed.
With no card at all selected, DeepPRIME would take between 60 and 90 seconds and DeepPRIME XD would take between 120 to 150 seconds. With no usable card available the processor’s CPU and ram does all the work. and is the limiting factor on performance.
Mark
A friend of mine has a snapdragon chip (the new arm lenovo) and we tried DXO photolab 7. It worked well but export times were a bit slow (58 seconds with Deep prime xd). We did check and the GPU was not being used for this even though we changed it in the settings to use the GPU. But if you are looking for a laptop some options would be buy the arm and wait a bit but still use it as is or maybe a Asus zephyrus g14. These go on sale frequently are a good bang for buck. They are pretty small for a laptop with dedicated gpu and weigh 3.5lbs (macbook pro weight).
How are graphics handled in in this computer? If it’s an on board Intel graphics chip with little or no memory of its own rather than an appropriate Nvidia or Radeon card, that might be the reason.
Mark