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AMD/Intel for Lightroom/Photoshop

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tomasith

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Hi,

What is the real-life/visible performance difference between an Intel 11gen i5 and Ryzen 5 5600? I've seen tests showing the Ryzen is 15% or whatever "better" than the i5. But the i5 is considerably cheaper. Will you notice the difference, PC will be more laggy or what?
 
2 quick questions.

What's your current CPU?

Are there any actions in Photoshop that take an extended period of time and if so what?

I'm asking basically to see how big of an impact that 15% would have.
 
Assuming one CPU is indeed 15% faster overall than the other, it still doesn't matter since every computer is different, as so are the usage patterns.

Example, you can make your computer noticeably faster by unistalling software you don't actually use but drains resources, like antivirus and what not. Many computers run slower than they have to because of user error and no software maintenance done to them.

In conclusion, in the grand scheme of things, a theoretical 15% advantage might become a real life nothing burger.

You should buy components based on your specific needs and local prices, not benchmarks run on other people's computers, your own results might differ.

PS. An I3 from today is equivalent in performance to an I7 of 5 years ago, therefore unless your processing needs have increased 5X in that time frame you shouldn't be worried about a 11-12th gen I5 being slow- they are not.
 
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Intel is generally stronger in single core and AMD is stronger in multi-core. They'll go back and forth all day on different applications. If your use one application solely more than another, it makes sense to see what performs better. I find Photoshop never goes anywhere near taxing my 3900x, even when running actions with a lot of plugins. I typically run both Premiere pro renders and Photoshop and I don't notice much slowdown. After Effects is the only thing that really beats the crap out of my system.

My main point is that most mid-range options will do pretty well in PS and depending on what you do, the performance improvements are not big.
 
A 10-year-old i5-2400. It's laggy on all of the tasks done in LR/PS, especially exports take a long time. I did not want to buy a top-end model, but something decent to give me a boost and be OK for photo editing for the next few years. The price difference between the platforms is around 250$. I would be willing to pay the price for the AMD but don't know whether the difference will be that visible (could get a decent mouse and keyboard for that difference).
 
tomasith said:
Hi,

What is the real-life/visible performance difference between an Intel 11gen i5 and Ryzen 5 5600? I've seen tests showing the Ryzen is 15% or whatever "better" than the i5. But the i5 is considerably cheaper. Will you notice the difference, PC will be more laggy or what?
Click to expand...
You will not notice anything different between the two. Synthetic benchmarks do not equate to real world performance. You will be just fine with the i5 over the Ryzen. Plus you will have less compatability issues with the i5 as well.
 
tomasith said:
What kind of compatibility issues you have in mind?
Click to expand...
Some software and hardware does not play well with AMD processors. Depends on what it is.

If you do some more reading around you will find what works and what has issues. I ran into this with some software I had back in the days of me using AMD processors like the xp1800 and 3000 models. I switched to intel after that and never had any issues, and stayed with them since. a 5% speed advantage in synthetic benchmarks is not worth even stumbling upon these issues again.
 
tomasith said:
What kind of compatibility issues you have in mind?
Click to expand...
There were some early on with Ryzen but those have been solved, now Intel is the one with more compatibility/OS issues due to their big change in architecture. But that's 12th gen not what you're looking at which are both pretty mature by this point.

Here's a link with actual real world result in different areas of Photoshop. https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...Gen-Intel-Core-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5000-Series-2099/

The i5-11600k looks to be pretty similar to the 5600X with the AMD chip being slightly faster. Each have some things that they're faster in but with a CPU as old as your current one the difference between the 2 will be tiny compared to your leap up to either.

If it's an i5-11400 that you're looking at then that's about 10% slower than the 11600k.

Also Intel motherboards take a bit more research. Intel has a spec for how long the turbo speeds can go on (TAU) and this uses a lot more power. Some boards from the factory are set to never turn this off though which gives you more preformance but you'll need a better cooler. This won't change most things in Photoshop but if you were doing a long batch of files, or a big import/export in Lightroom it would come into play.
 
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That's what I figured- any of them will be much better than the one I have now. So I went for the budget Intel option (who would ever put together "budget" and "Intel"!).
 
tomasith said:
That's what I figured- any of them will be much better than the one I have now. So I went for the budget Intel option (who would ever put together "budget" and "Intel"!).
Click to expand...
Enjoy. One thing you should purchase is a noctua cooler for the processor. The intel stock cooler is very loud on full honk. I swapped mine out in my dell prebuilt and it's basically silent on full speed, only the GPU fans can be heard now.
 
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
tomasith said:
What kind of compatibility issues you have in mind?
Click to expand...
Some software and hardware does not play well with AMD processors. Depends on what it is.
Click to expand...
If you can't identify it, don't blow smoke and pretend it exists.
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
If you do some more reading around you will find what works and what has issues. I ran into this with some software I had back in the days of me using AMD processors like the xp1800 and 3000 models.
Click to expand...
seriously, you're talking about a cpu launched over 20 years ago. Since then, AMD took over with the introduction of 64 bit cpus while the Pentium 4 became an egg frier, then Intel stormed back with Sandy Bridge, and AMD eventually countered with Rzyen. At this point, Intel is the one relying on excess wattage/heat to keep up.

A lot has happened in 20 years. You want to talk about deathstars next?
 
tomasith said:
Hi,

What is the real-life/visible performance difference between an Intel 11gen i5 and Ryzen 5 5600? I've seen tests showing the Ryzen is 15% or whatever "better" than the i5. But the i5 is considerably cheaper. Will you notice the difference, PC will be more laggy or what?
Click to expand...
if you using these interactively on a photo at a time, like many of us non professionals, then it probably doesn't matter one bit, the cpu spends most of its time waiting on the user.

The built in graphics on the intel are unimpressive, but free. You can always add the GPU later when/if warranted and more readily available. Can't with the Ryzen - at the very least need to find an old card.

And either will be a massive improvement on your existing.

You should compare total system price, not the cpu by itself, however. Even the 5600X is less than 300. $100 more on a $1000 system is very different than 200 vs 300 on the cpu (numbers pulled out of thin air). But if you're not going to benefit from 15% more performance anyhow, then paying 10% more to get it is not pointfull.
 
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kelpdiver said:
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
tomasith said:
What kind of compatibility issues you have in mind?
Click to expand...
Some software and hardware does not play well with AMD processors. Depends on what it is.
Click to expand...
If you can't identify it, don't blow smoke and pretend it exists.
kelpdiver said:
If you do some more reading around you will find what works and what has issues. I ran into this with some software I had back in the days of me using AMD processors like the xp1800 and 3000 models.
Click to expand...
seriously, you're talking about a cpu launched over 20 years ago. Since then, AMD took over with the introduction of 64 bit cpus while the Pentium 4 became an egg frier, then Intel stormed back with Sandy Bridge, and AMD eventually countered with Rzyen. At this point, Intel is the one relying on excess wattage/heat to keep up.

A lot has happened in 20 years. You want to talk about deathstars next?
Click to expand...
I guess someone is an amd fan"person" Leave it with me, I will get back to you on the compatability issue in short order. And YES....I only use amd because Issues I had previously. I'm not the first, won't be the last.
 
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
I guess someone is an amd fan"person" Leave it with me, I will get back to you on the compatability issue in short order.(...)
Click to expand...
IT guy here and heavy Photoshop user, here AMD 5600X with zero problems.
AMD motherboards are picky about RAM type and may have some compatibility problem
with old PCIe audio stuff from UAD, but it is up to the manufacturer to update the BIOS.
The current AMD line is problem free when using compatible RAM, updated BIOS/drivers.
If AMD were problematic, Puget Systems wouldn't be selling AMD PCs.
 
Pictus said:
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
I guess someone is an amd fan"person" Leave it with me, I will get back to you on the compatability issue in short order.(...)
Click to expand...
IT guy here and heavy Photoshop user, here AMD 5600X with zero problems.
AMD motherboards are picky about RAM type and may have some compatibility problem
with old PCIe audio stuff from UAD, but it is up to the manufacturer to update the BIOS.
The current AMD line is problem free when using compatible RAM, updated BIOS/drivers.
If AMD were problematic, Puget Systems wouldn't be selling AMD PCs.
Click to expand...
Thank you for proving my point. AMD has SOME compatibility issues with hardware and also software. Yes, it's up to the manufacturer to make sure everything works, but obviously that's not happening. It's also on the software level too. There are no such issues with intel based systems.
 
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
Pictus said:
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
I guess someone is an amd fan"person" Leave it with me, I will get back to you on the compatability issue in short order.(...)
Click to expand...
IT guy here and heavy Photoshop user, here AMD 5600X with zero problems.
AMD motherboards are picky about RAM type and may have some compatibility problem
with old PCIe audio stuff from UAD, but it is up to the manufacturer to update the BIOS.
The current AMD line is problem free when using compatible RAM, updated BIOS/drivers.
If AMD were problematic, Puget Systems wouldn't be selling AMD PCs.
Click to expand...
Thank you for proving my point. AMD has SOME compatibility issues with hardware and also software. Yes, it's up to the manufacturer to make sure everything works, but obviously that's not happening.
Click to expand...
Do you know of any recent examples - say in the last 5 years?
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
It's also on the software level too.
Click to expand...
Quite right. A BIOS for an AMD motherboard won't work with an Intel Motherboard and vice versa. AMD cpu tweaking software (e.g. Ryzen Master) won't work with Intel cpus and vice versa. Other than specific cpu utilities I've not found any other.

Again, can you give any recent (last 5 years) specific examples?
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
There are no such issues with intel based systems.
Click to expand...
If you're going to make comments like that it would be helpful if you can give specific examples, or it sounds more like urban myth and hearsay.
 
Rambow said:
In conclusion, in the grand scheme of things, a theoretical 15% advantage might become a real life nothing burger.
Click to expand...
In my experience, the least noticeable speed difference is 2x, when replacing one computer with another. I doubt that a 15% increase in speed would even be noticeable when comparing the machines side-by-side, for ordinary interactive work.
 
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