PC Topaz Sharpen AI Benchmark 2021

AdamM6 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

vett93 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

vett93 said:

Maybe you can do some quick GPU benchmarks like Geekbench 5 OpenCL and CUDA tests next? Since we have the same GPU, we should get similar performance. Geekbench offers a free version if you don't have a copy. They will give you an evaluation of your GPU under stress in the short period. (i.e., not testing the heat dissipation/cooling aspect).


CUDA test


OpenCL test

Click to expand...

This is a comparison of your results to my results. Looks like a bit of a mixed bag.

Click to expand...

These are very good scores. I think your GPU is fine.

The next thing to do is to benchmark your CPU and SSD, IMO. You may use the same Geekbench to benchmark your CPU and obtain its single-core and multi-core scores.

For SSD, I use AJA System Test. My SSD has PCIe Gen 4 interface and yours (PCIe Gen 3) is probably a bit slower. But it is good to see how fast it is:

Click to expand...

Well my results don't look good. These results are crazy different. I looked around at my bios and the slot I have my drive in and all looks ok. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Something is very wrong here, what motherboard do you have and is it running the latest version of the Bios with optimised defaults loaded?

Here is my Samsung 980 for reference:-

Click to expand...

Wow, this is strange. Using Samsung Magic, get the results below which I assume look reasonable. I am using a Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard and I check the bios and it is up to date and everything appears correct.

When I am processing the images in Topaz, the bar for each image quickly shoots to the right and pausing for an extended period of time after moving about 90% to the right. The pause seems to be related to when the images are saving to disc. Is there a pause like this when you process the images? Maybe related to anti virus software?



Wow, this is strange. Using Samsung Magic, get

--
Bill - Beverly Hills, MI
Motorsports Photography
www.billgulkerphotography.com

BillyBobSenna said:

the results below which I assume look reasonable. I am using a Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard and I check the bios and it is up to date and everything appears correct.

When I am processing the images in Topaz, the bar for each image quickly shoots to the right and pausing for an extended period of time after moving about 90% to the right. The pause seems to be related to when the images are saving to disc. Is there a pause like this when you process the images?

Click to expand...

Yes, I have pauses like that too.

BillyBobSenna said:

Maybe related to anti virus software?

Click to expand...

I use Windows Defender as my anti virus solution. I have turned it on and off for benchmarking, but have not found much difference. You may turn off your anti virus software and see if the speed improves.

BillyBobSenna said:

Wow, this is strange. Using Samsung Magic, get

Click to expand...

This looks normal to me too. The Sequential read/write speeds are in line of Gen 3 SSD speeds.

If turning off anti-virus software does not help, you may want to post a question on Samsung SSD forum.

--
"Keep calm and take photos"
Photography enthusiast, from 12mm to 600mm

BillyBobSenna said:

AdamM6 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

vett93 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

vett93 said:

Maybe you can do some quick GPU benchmarks like Geekbench 5 OpenCL and CUDA tests next? Since we have the same GPU, we should get similar performance. Geekbench offers a free version if you don't have a copy. They will give you an evaluation of your GPU under stress in the short period. (i.e., not testing the heat dissipation/cooling aspect).


CUDA test


OpenCL test

Click to expand...

This is a comparison of your results to my results. Looks like a bit of a mixed bag.

Click to expand...

These are very good scores. I think your GPU is fine.

The next thing to do is to benchmark your CPU and SSD, IMO. You may use the same Geekbench to benchmark your CPU and obtain its single-core and multi-core scores.

For SSD, I use AJA System Test. My SSD has PCIe Gen 4 interface and yours (PCIe Gen 3) is probably a bit slower. But it is good to see how fast it is:

Click to expand...

Well my results don't look good. These results are crazy different. I looked around at my bios and the slot I have my drive in and all looks ok. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Something is very wrong here, what motherboard do you have and is it running the latest version of the Bios with optimised defaults loaded?

Here is my Samsung 980 for reference:-

Click to expand...

Wow, this is strange. Using Samsung Magic, get the results below which I assume look reasonable. I am using a Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard and I check the bios and it is up to date and everything appears correct.

When I am processing the images in Topaz, the bar for each image quickly shoots to the right and pausing for an extended period of time after moving about 90% to the right. The pause seems to be related to when the images are saving to disc. Is there a pause like this when you process the images? Maybe related to anti virus software?



Wow, this is strange. Using Samsung Magic, get

Click to expand...

It looks like an OS problem or a Virus infection...

Try running this:-

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files (microsoft.com)

Also run the trial version of HitmanPro:-

HitmanPro Advanced Malware Removal Tools

Using Task manager, can you see how the CPU/Memory and Disks are used while in Topaz?

I noticed that 3.3.1 is not using the CUDA as much compared to previous version. BUT, when Masking is enabled, it now grinds to a halt.

As noted earlier, these benchmarks are now on shaky ground as Topaz releases new updates that will make comparisons more difficult.

In your specific case, can you pinpoint OTHER applications which seems to be slower writing to disk? Or is it just the Topaz's?

Best of luck in your investigation.

mangurian said:

131 seconds with 3.2

174 seconds with 3.3

Click to expand...

People noticed reduced performance with 3.3. I contacted Topaz Support and the person was surprised. He did not think that should be the case. But apparently, they did something to mess it up.

They are nice enough to send me a link to reinstall V3.2 though.

I think there are a few ways of benchmarking our computers:

1. Use general benchmark tools: Geekbench, Blender, Cinebench, etc.

2. Use PugetBench for Lightroom or Photoshop.

3. Use a common and demanding photography software, e.g., Topaz Sharpen AI.

They all have their pros and cons. My thinking is that they are useful to give us some relative performance assessment of our computers and enable us to fine tune/debug our systems for better performance.

I am not interested in heavy tweaking/boosting/overclocking to further increase the performance for the sake of benchmarking. I need a stable computer for my type of work.....

Just did the test with my 3 year old computer.

With latest Topas Sharpen A.I. version (3.3.1): 645 sec (10:45 min)

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.19 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

32 GB RAM

Test run with files saved on RAM Disc.

Holger Bargen said:

Just did the test with my 3 year old computer.

With latest Topas Sharpen A.I. version (3.3.1): 645 sec (10:45 min)

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.19 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

32 GB RAM

Test run with files saved on RAM Disc.

Click to expand...

Thank you. It looks like Topaz is not that responsive with 1060. It shines on 20 and 30 cards.

A good help for those looking for a system.

Topaz support gave me this link for it:

vett93 said:

Topaz support gave me this link for it:

https://downloads.topazlabs.com/dep...harpenAI-3.2.2-windows-x64-Full-Installer.exe

Click to expand...

2+ gig download.

I wonder whether the increased time is due to a bug, or a feature? The "motion" sharpening seems to give slightly superior results using the model in 3.3.1.

BobKnDP said:

vett93 said:

Topaz support gave me this link for it:

https://downloads.topazlabs.com/dep...harpenAI-3.2.2-windows-x64-Full-Installer.exe

Click to expand...

2+ gig download.

I wonder whether the increased time is due to a bug, or a feature? The "motion" sharpening seems to give slightly superior results using the model in 3.3.1.

Click to expand...

According to Topaz support, the new feature is not supposed to slow down. I then told him that many people on this forum reported slow down, and asked him to look into it.

Hopefully, they can figure out the bug or deficiency in their feature enhancement.

I turned on the "game mode", configured Topaz Sharpen AI as "high performance" in the graphic settings, and created the "ultimate performance" mode under the power settings. It squeezed another 2 seconds out of the benchmark.









One thing worth noting is the "Economy" mode I created. It is based on "Balanced" mode and I only changed the max processor state from 100% to 99%. It cuts down the power consumption drastically and yet hardly feel any slow down in web surfing. Now it consumes about 130 watts for the PC and the 32 inch monitor combined!



--
"Keep calm and take photos"
Photography enthusiast, from 12mm to 600mm

jboyer said:

Holger Bargen said:

Just did the test with my 3 year old computer.

With latest Topas Sharpen A.I. version (3.3.1): 645 sec (10:45 min)

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.19 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

32 GB RAM

Test run with files saved on RAM Disc.

Click to expand...

Thank you. It looks like Topaz is not that responsive with 1060. It shines on 20 and 30 cards.

A good help for those looking for a system.

Click to expand...

For me it is fast enough. I like the latest version with a much improved masking option. It look like it masks in most cases the relevant parts. This was I can star my batch and let the computer do his work - and maybe hours later I have my result. No problem for me ...

vett93 said:

I turned on the "game mode", configured Topaz Sharpen AI as "high performance" in the graphic settings, and created the "ultimate performance" mode under the power settings. It squeezed another 2 seconds out of the benchmark.





One thing worth noting is the "Economy" mode I created. It is based on "Balanced" mode and I only changed the max processor state from 100% to 99%. It cuts down the power consumption drastically and yet hardly feel any slow down in web surfing. Now it consumes about 130 watts for the PC and the 32 inch monitor combined!

Click to expand...

My 70 was with a 3080 not 3080 Ti, I think you should be faster with that Ti...

I will try those settings and post my results tomorrow

AdamM6 said:

vett93 said:

I turned on the "game mode", configured Topaz Sharpen AI as "high performance" in the graphic settings, and created the "ultimate performance" mode under the power settings. It squeezed another 2 seconds out of the benchmark.



s

One thing worth noting is the "Economy" mode I created. It is based on "Balanced" mode and I only changed the max processor state from 100% to 99%. It cuts down the power consumption drastically and yet hardly feel any slow down in web surfing. Now it consumes about 130 watts for the PC and the 32 inch monitor combined!

Click to expand...

My 70 was with a 3080 not 3080 Ti, I think you should be faster with that Ti...

I will try those settings and post my results tomorrow

Click to expand...

Right, 3080 Ti is a better card than 3080. If the benchmark is pure GPU, it will probably be faster too. It has a Geekbench CUDA score of 245,653! The average CUDA score for 3080 is 204,325 on Geekbench website.

Note that I have a mini ITX motherboard in a very small case (< 14 liters in volume). The prebuilt manufacturer reduced the power to the CPU to keep it from overheat. It is quite impressive that they can have two major powerhouse components inside such a small case though. But its Cinebench R23 multicore score is only 24,586. (The average is 28,641.)

The best thing, from my viewpoint, about this computer is that it is extremely quiet. It is as quiet as my Mac Pro 6,1 (aka Trashcan). I cannot hear it from 2-3ft away! The most demanding task for this computer is CUDA based number crunching. So it is a good choice for me, even though I would not recommend it to others.



--
"Keep calm and take photos"
Photography enthusiast, from 12mm to 600mm

Can't compete with a desktop monster but not too bad considering the form factor.



Dell Precision 7760 laptop:

CPU: Intel i7-11800H

GPU: NVidia RTX A4000

SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1tb Gen 3 PCIe

RAM: 64 gb @3200

OS: Win 11



--
"Well done is better than well said" - Benjamin Franklin
You have my express consent to edit any of my images that I post in DPR forums but not photos entered in Challenges.

Very good performance for a laptop!

Holger Bargen said:

jboyer said:

Holger Bargen said:

Just did the test with my 3 year old computer.

With latest Topas Sharpen A.I. version (3.3.1): 645 sec (10:45 min)

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.19 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

32 GB RAM

Test run with files saved on RAM Disc.

Click to expand...

Thank you. It looks like Topaz is not that responsive with 1060. It shines on 20 and 30 cards.

A good help for those looking for a system.

Click to expand...

For me it is fast enough. I like the latest version with a much improved masking option. It look like it masks in most cases the relevant parts. This was I can star my batch and let the computer do his work - and maybe hours later I have my result. No problem for me ...

Click to expand...

Dear all,

I did a little extra research with my slwo (but working) system.

I recognized that I did not set the enegrgy setting to maximum power but to a balanced system. Selecting maximum power speeded up the system a tiny bit: 10:41 minutes instead of 10:45.

However I found a way to improve speed by turning of a setting in Windows that is meant to improve communictaion of graphics card and processor: Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS).

Turn it off! After I turned this setting off, my computer needed 9:57 minutes to get ready with the workload we have defined for testing. Giving Topaz sharpen A.I. high priority via task manager gave a little extra speed with 9:53 minutes as result.

All in all I can say that the priority or high power setting had little effect on my system.

However, I found Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) to cause a slowing down of the system. The good news: this option is set "off" as default in windows.

It is meant to add some fps for gamers. I gave it a try as I thought it would be a good idea to form a "team" of CPU and GPU. However, it looks like with this tool the graphics card adds some power to the CPU. We would need the support the other way around ...

Best regards

Holger

vett93 said:

AdamM6 said:

vett93 said:

I turned on the "game mode", configured Topaz Sharpen AI as "high performance" in the graphic settings, and created the "ultimate performance" mode under the power settings. It squeezed another 2 seconds out of the benchmark.



s

One thing worth noting is the "Economy" mode I created. It is based on "Balanced" mode and I only changed the max processor state from 100% to 99%. It cuts down the power consumption drastically and yet hardly feel any slow down in web surfing. Now it consumes about 130 watts for the PC and the 32 inch monitor combined!

Click to expand...

My 70 was with a 3080 not 3080 Ti, I think you should be faster with that Ti...

I will try those settings and post my results tomorrow

Click to expand...

Right, 3080 Ti is a better card than 3080. If the benchmark is pure GPU, it will probably be faster too. It has a Geekbench CUDA score of 245,653! The average CUDA score for 3080 is 204,325 on Geekbench website.

Note that I have a mini ITX motherboard in a very small case (< 14 liters in volume). The prebuilt manufacturer reduced the power to the CPU to keep it from overheat. It is quite impressive that they can have two major powerhouse components inside such a small case though. But its Cinebench R23 multicore score is only 24,586. (The average is 28,641.)

The best thing, from my viewpoint, about this computer is that it is extremely quiet. It is as quiet as my Mac Pro 6,1 (aka Trashcan). I cannot hear it from 2-3ft away! The most demanding task for this computer is CUDA based number crunching. So it is a good choice for me, even though I would not recommend it to others.

Click to expand...

Now makes sense! What case are you running?

AdamM6 said:

vett93 said:

AdamM6 said:

vett93 said:

I turned on the "game mode", configured Topaz Sharpen AI as "high performance" in the graphic settings, and created the "ultimate performance" mode under the power settings. It squeezed another 2 seconds out of the benchmark.



s

One thing worth noting is the "Economy" mode I created. It is based on "Balanced" mode and I only changed the max processor state from 100% to 99%. It cuts down the power consumption drastically and yet hardly feel any slow down in web surfing. Now it consumes about 130 watts for the PC and the 32 inch monitor combined!

Click to expand...

My 70 was with a 3080 not 3080 Ti, I think you should be faster with that Ti...

I will try those settings and post my results tomorrow

Click to expand...

Right, 3080 Ti is a better card than 3080. If the benchmark is pure GPU, it will probably be faster too. It has a Geekbench CUDA score of 245,653! The average CUDA score for 3080 is 204,325 on Geekbench website.

Note that I have a mini ITX motherboard in a very small case (< 14 liters in volume). The prebuilt manufacturer reduced the power to the CPU to keep it from overheat. It is quite impressive that they can have two major powerhouse components inside such a small case though. But its Cinebench R23 multicore score is only 24,586. (The average is 28,641.)

The best thing, from my viewpoint, about this computer is that it is extremely quiet. It is as quiet as my Mac Pro 6,1 (aka Trashcan). I cannot hear it from 2-3ft away! The most demanding task for this computer is CUDA based number crunching. So it is a good choice for me, even though I would not recommend it to others.

Click to expand...

Now makes sense! What case are you running?

Click to expand...

It is a Corsair prebuilt. Corsair is known for computer components. But they don't sell this particular case individually. They don't individually sell the coolers used in this computer either. A review of this series of computers can be seen here: Corsair One a200 Review: Liquid-Cooled Ryzen and RTX 3080 | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

--
"Keep calm and take photos"
Photography enthusiast, from 12mm to 600mm

vett93 said:

It is a Corsair prebuilt. Corsair is known for computer components. But they don't sell this particular case individually. They don't individually sell the coolers used in this computer either. A review of this series of computers can be seen here: Corsair One a200 Review: Liquid-Cooled Ryzen and RTX 3080 | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

Click to expand...

I was examining the photos, and that is the most impressively designed small PC I've yet seen. I could see owning one myself if I were space-constrained. Nice!