Re the graphics card, when PL9 came out a lot of people (me included) had problems with graphics cards that had less than 12GB VRAM (my 4060 has 8GB). Since PL 9.7 that problem seems to have gone away, so 8GB should be fine, but if you have budget you may want to go 12 or 16 in case a similar problem occurs on release of V10.
SSD is obvs a must have. If you only have 1 SSD, I recommend you partition it so you can have Windows on a separate partition. That way you can keep your system image backups relatively small.
Re RAM, as long as it is compatible I wouldnât worry over much. I have 32 GB, is plenty at the moment, as long as you have 2 RAM slots empty on mobo for possible future expansion.
I know nothing about AMD processors and even less about gaming but I recently bought a new PC with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, 3900 Mhz, 20 Cores, 20 Logical Processor and a RTX 5070 12GB VRAM card. It runs PL9 without any problems and I have both âEnable high quality Previewâ and âEnable DeepPRINE renderingâ options ticked.
I used that advice when building a PC, used an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, that RX 9070 (w 16G DDR6), 32G system memory and PCI5 SSDs and using PL8 it takes about 2.5 seconds to export JPEGs from my Nikon D850 (similar resolution to your camera). I havenât moved to PL9, will probably get 10 when it comes out.
As a side note, I got a BeQuiet case and AIO. I was concerned about noise, the case came with optional high airflow panels. I tried those and the PC is very quiet in whatâs now a high-airflow case.
For DxO work Iâd definitely prioritize RAM and fast SSD storage over going crazy on the GPU. A lot of photo workflows feel way smoother once you have enough memory for big RAW files and local adjustments. Quiet cooling is worth it too if you spend hours editing.
Well, you âneedâ both: sufficient RAM and fast SSD storage for editing, as well as a reasonably fast GPU for AI features and the like.
And yes, quiet cooling was the deciding factor when I opted for a truly massive tower back then â one that I still use today and which is now equipped with a Nvidia RTX 4070 to extend its lifespan.
Youâre the only person Iâve ever come across to advocate that approach. A decent GPU is far more important that fast SSD storage. Unless you donât mind waiting ages when you export your image.
That would be a terrible suggestion to follow for any user expecting to see reasonable export timings after selecting an inappropriate graphics solution based on your recommendation. When using any of the AI based features in PhotoLab including the DeepPRIME variants and AI masking, a poor GPU choice will result in extremely slow export times and a significantly greater number of export failures.
I donât know what you mean by âgoing crazy on the GPUâ but the choice of an appropriate GPU is just as critical a choice as any other component, and the more powerful the better. I would recommend something like an RTX 4060 as a starting point with the RTX 4070, or RTX 5070 as a mid range sweet spot for those wanting faster performance .
