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 wouldnāt 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 āEnable high quality Previewā and āEnable DeepPRINE renderingā 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 havenāt 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 whatās now a high-airflow case.
For DxO work Iād 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 āneedā 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 ā one that I still use today and which is now equipped with a Nvidia RTX 4070 to extend its lifespan.
Youāre the only person Iāve ever come across to advocate that approach. A decent GPU is far more important that fast SSD storage. Unless you donāt mind waiting ages when you export your image.
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mwsilvers
(Mark - New Jersey, USA, Win10, RTX 4060, PL9, FP8, VP5, Nikon Zf )
12
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 donāt know what you mean by āgoing crazy on the GPUā 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 .
As a side note to anyone building a system and watercooling for quiet (yeah, me too). The BeQuiet AIOs now have a refilling port on the radiator - so itās not a choice between using separate parts (but you donāt have to toss everything when coolant inevitably evaporates through the hoses/pipes/fittings/whatever) and all-in-ones. That was the one thing keeping me away from AIOs.
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On the advice of a friend who runs a computer shop and built this PC, I then opted for air cooling. The large, quiet fans are barely audible during normal operation and reliably keep the hardware cool ā even on these hot days.
The graphics card features its own fans that kick in when needed; the operating noise becomes clearly audible as soon as all the fans ramp up to handle substantial electrical load.
Iāll post this here and make its own thread if nobody notices (sorry that sounds like a threat heh).
Anywayā¦ a word on storage.
Iāve just about filled a 4TB drive and have another which I use as a backup. I need to expand.
Whatās the best way to go about scaleable (ideally) larger scale storage?
I could just buy a larger HDD but before I do that, Iām wondering if thereās some obvious or logical system that provides the best bang-forābuck for us photographer folk who need larger storage solutions than many.
I also know now is not a great time to be buying storage thanks to companies gobbling it all up butā¦ I need it, so thereās not much choice.
I use an SSD (internal) for working storage. I organise my photos into folders by project or year depending on what I do that year (Travel etc).
I then backup to two large spinning drives connected via USB at regular intervals and store them in a fireproof safe.
When I need more working storage I backup and then delete oldest folders from SSD and continue.
My folders have sub-folders for managing large numbers of photos and/or videos. Do whatever works for you.
For backups I use a tool on windows called FreeFileSync which is well maintained and is quick and flexible. I recommend you pay the donation price to support the author.
I actually have 4 drives in the safe, the original 2Tb drives (2 drives) which are full. I now have 2 X 4Tb drives which are almost full so will need to purchase more.
I have a USB dock that takes naked PC drives (no enclosures) which allows me to drop in drives for backups. I set FreeFileSync to Update mode so when I delete files on my working drive the delete does not carry through to my backup drives.
My current GPU is the RTX 3060 12GB VRAM and IIRC with DDR6
However, I have seen the RTX 5060 Ti OC 8GB with DDR7 for reasonable prices so the question is would it be a worthwhile GPU upgrade to get the aforementioned RTX 5060 Ti
