@SAFC01 I am sorry to hear about your dilemma although I think we should make an error report to support because the message displayed states that only 1GB is required and promptly downgrades yours 2GB card and my 2GB card!?
My additional complaint is that when I scrutinise the memory being used 2GB is actually enough for exporting. DxO should change the “overly” dramatic action they have implemented to a warning and allow users to use there own discretion @Musashi.
However, the exports using DP XD2s are taking 1.5 times as long with my (spare) i7-4790K and a 1050Ti (4GB) card.
Both the 2060’s I identified in the above post were bought second hand for about £120 each from Ebay and one was a little dusty but they are not going to be hammered hour after hour when doing exports
My other big concern is the ‘Loupe’ performance!?
@JoPoV Have I ever said that they shouldn’t be introduced.
While I realise that it can be hard to maintain an increasing set of diverse feature options we are talking about keeping two ways of presenting a similar feature, one was already there and the other has been added, one uses an existing software model that works on lower CPU specified machines and the other absolutely slays such machines!
The old should have been retained for those that have lived with that feature for so long and whose hardware is simply not up to the job of handling the loupe. But I cannot believe that the loupe requires so much CPU to get the job done!?
The problem is that the NR preview was ripped out and would now be hard to put back in place!
I think that was a very useful exercise. I am currently using an RTX 4060 graphics card, but up to several months ago my card was a GTX 1050Ti. which although a bit slow was still quite usable with PL 7. I know there are at least several posters here that were using that same card, and having foreknowledge of a potential performance hit is very helpful.
@mwsilvers The test software was installed on my 5600G which was replaced by a 5900X part way through testing.
Although it occurred to me that I could have got down on my old hands and bony knees and replaced the cards I actually did that and installed the 1050Ti (or 1050!?) alongside the 3060 in the (then) 5600G but encountered problems with both PL8 and PL7 so I abandoned the tests and removed the card and never attempted to repeat the exercise or replace the 3060 with the other cards, sorry!
@JoPoV I don’t think so, the i7 seems to be taking a disproportionately long time to get the job done, over 10 times. Is the resolution of the small loupe 10 times greater than the old NR review window?
Still more than the 3.6 seconds for the preview window but that timing covers the large loupe as well as the small loupe which offers a lot more than the preview window!
@JoPoV, @Inezant, @Lucas, @John-M I need to revise the test results somewhat because the machine I did my tests which I fitted with comparatively lightweight GPUs did not have NVidia drivers installed.
Quite what they (the 1050 and the 1050Ti) were running with I am not sure, I forgot to check before installing the latest drivers, oops.
PL8 (DP XD2s) = 19 minutes 58 seconds using 1,267 MB of GPU memory
PL7 (DP XD) = 13 minutes 9 seconds using 872MB of GPU memory
Giving a ratio of 1.518:1 for elapsed time and 1.453:1 for GPU memory usage so only a slight reduction in time over the original tests but a slight increase in memory usage.
However, the Loupe timings changed dramatically for the better and the first small loupe took 11.399 seconds to appear sharp and the large loop took 11.654 seconds on the i7 and on the 5900X it took 3.208 seconds for the small loupe and 3.433 seconds for the large loupe.
Update 1:-
But given that the ‘Loupe’ does not appear to use the GPU the driver update should have made no difference!!??
That’s because it does use GPU just as I always felt was true with NR preview window in PL7 like this
when I am moving the large Loupe around the image on the i7 with the 1050Ti card fitted.
So when PL8 restricts the GPU because of “inadequate” memory it also means that the ‘Loupe’ is next to useless for users.
Sorry because I am sure I checked the GPU-Z monitor in the past but perhaps only with the 1050 fitted (which would have been downgraded to ‘CPU only’ in spite of having 2GB of memory).
Please forgive me jumping in here, but I need some advice.
I ran a trial of PL7 in June/July of this year on my current(old) PC. I was very impressed with the workflow and the usage of my current Graphics Card. I decided to hang back for the launch of PL8 before committing to a purchase.
Well now I regret that decision, because my hardware doesn’t match the required Memory for the GPU and the workflow is painfully slow compared to what worked in PL7. And now it seems it is impossible to get a license for PL7, even if I was willing to pay full price.
My two options as I see it.
A) Buy PL8 and live with the frustratingly slow workflow, and hope DXO would remove the block on “old” GPU’s (which still work fine) in a update in the future.
A.1) Buy a new GPU to run PL8 (Very expensive upgrade IMHO)
B) Find someone with a key for PL7 and reimburse them for using their key on my machine.
I am sorry to hear about your dilemma, the standard advice to anyone about to purchase a licence close the the anticipated release date for a new version (September/October) is to delay the purchase until the new release is out!
I suspect your export timings with PL8 are at least 1.5 times that from PL7 and the Loupe will be as sluggish as a ? words fail me!
I believe the only strategy is to upgrade the GPU and you should be able to source a 2060 for about the equivalent of £120 or less which is what I paid for both the 2060s I bought some time ago.
I am afraid that is going to increase the cost of your purchase but I will move the 2060 from my 5600G later today and try it in my old i7 4790K and test it with PL7 and with a trial copy of PL8 to give you some idea of what you can expect.
In the meantime can you tell me if your 1030 with shared RAM passes the test that caused the post that started this topic and if so can you explain to me how you achieved that so that I can test my 1050 2GB in the old i7 4790 K where I conducted the above Tests.
As @John-M has suggested you could approach DxO but I feel that trying to acquire a faster GPU at the lowest price possible is a better long term solution.
PS:- I forgot that upgrading to a 2060 requires more power than your 1030 and an 8 pin power connector. I have started to remove the 2060 and recently upgraded its PSU (in an attempt to make the system quieter) but this might have implications for any upgrade plans for you.
Thanks BHAYT. I do acknowledge that upgrading my GPU is the better long-term solution, but it adds significant cost to my plan.
Going that route might actually push me to just buy a whole new laptop, as I currently run on a Desktop PC. There are some decent local specials on Laptops that meet the minimum requirements. Decisions, decisions.
I think that result takes away one option. I will not run PL8 as a CPU only option.
I raised a request to purchase"LEGACY" software, let’s see what they say. This might be a very good Medium Term solution while I save up for a NEW LAPTOP long term.
@alwynpv The laptop would provide a solution to other issues as well, struggling from one room to the next with a 2060 card is one thing trying to move one of my under desk systems is another.
The i7 4790K and 2060 card go well together and your processor is actually a bit “faster” than mine
The 3060 card was a good match for the 5600G and bottlenecks the 5900X but I will not be looking for a new graphics card any time soon.
Wait and see what DxO are prepared to do but if your power supply can handle the power connection to a 2060 (my power supplies are all 500W but good quality, but the one I just put in the remaindered i7 4790K was a £20 unit I bought from Maplin when it still existed!) then look for an Ebay purchase or lower your horizons and look at the 1650 or similar.
PL7 will cost as much as PL8 (which may be on offer for Black Friday) and there may well be features in PL8 that would be an advantage to you.
If you are set on DxPL then I would see if you can afford the 2060 upgrade (inc. power if necessary) and go with PL8 (wait for Black Friday) and delay your laptop purchase a bit.
Looking at my i7 with the 2060 card there is still some mileage in that kit with DxPL, unless playing with computers is as much a hobby as photography, as it is in my case but always well behind the curve so that I don’t feel too guilty and my wife raises just one eyebrow.
PS:- It is still running and finally finished after 1 hr 58 minutes and 9 seconds for 11 images!!!
DXO came back with the following solution:
“We no longer sell DxO PhotoLab 7 as it is no longer supported. You can purchase a license for DxO PhotoLab 8, do NOT use it, and then we can delete it and generate a license for DxO PhotoLab 7 if you wish for us to do so.”
So it makes sense that I wait for PL8 to go on Black Friday sale and then ask them to go this PL7 route. Technically I will then have a PL8 license to go back to(with a little bit of admin again) for when I do upgrade my hardware in future, if it happens to be in the next year.
In the meantime I’ll start looking out for Laptop prices to set a savings goal to build towards.
Thanks for the exchanges. They have all been informative.
