New PC help (specs & brands)?

NikonNature said:

Chris Noble said:

NikonNature said:

GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060ti

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The RTX 4K series is a new processor generation. More power-efficient, better instruction set, and will be supported longer.

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I was shocked how much these video cards cost! Even upgrading to a newer series changes the overall prices by hundreds. With more AI features being added to editors these days, it's probably a worthwhile investment... if you can afford it.

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They have just recently been introduced and are still in short supply. I am waiting until the end of the year to get mine. Nvidia has stated that supply will catch up to demand by then. New technology often experiences such a high intro price and then a drop. Especially as they want to flush the remaining 3K inventory out.

* RAM: I got 32 GB (2x16Gb sticks) in my recent new PC build and I'm also using most of it. I'm keeping an eye on prices to get additional 2x16Gb. The PC goes smooth now, so absolutely no hurry, but to make it future proof. I want the same type of RAM sticks, that's the only think that "urges" me to get them. LrC likes to keep as much as possible in the RAM.

*GPU 40xx vs 30xx. In my opinion, for the average Lightroom user with no other performance needs (no gaming, no intensive very-high-load professional work), it's not worth at all to spend any extra dollar above the 3060Ti (assuming it cost less than a 4060Ti).

Performance wise: as I discussed in other posts, with the 3060Ti I don't see a really significant improvement vs the integrated GPU in my 13700K CPU, which was already very good. Only AI denoising is significantly (much) faster, but this is a feature I seldom use. I haven't checked difference with DaVinci resolve, but I'm very newbie to video. I have no need for better performance.

Long term wise: will be future AI tools require high performance GPU? will be they significant for your workflow? My answer is very likely NOT.
Intelligent masking is game changer for me, that was already a years-long awaited feature. It works equally fast with the integrated GPU. AI-Noise reduction was also long awaited, but of little use. I'm running out of "awaited tool wishes" that would require such high performing GPUs. I don't want my brain fully replaced or wired to the PC, I enjoy editing too (to some extend)... Thus, the 3060 is more than good enough for me for the years to come. Arguably, even the integrated GPU would be good.

Consume: most of the time my 3060Ti GPU is basically idle. Does that make a significant difference vs the 4060Ti in my desktop PC? I don't have the numbers, but I bet not.

*Cooling. Thanks to the user who brought up the compatibly tool in Noctua website. I really took advantage of it and saved me unexpected headaches!

Sanbai said:

Consume: most of the time my 3060Ti GPU is basically idle. Does that make a significant difference vs the 4060Ti in my desktop PC? I don't have the numbers, but I bet not.

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The main benefit of a faster GPU for me is that the Preview image responds faster to slider movements for computationally-intensive PP adjustments. That makes the PP experience (which I enjoy doing) better. Waiting a few seconds for a slider change effect before nudging it again is frustrating.

I am indifferent to the batch/continuous throughput differences. And if the GPU is idle most of the time, good. It's those intermittent spikes of GFLOPs that I care about.

Sanbai said:

Consume: most of the time my 3060Ti GPU is basically idle. Does that make a significant difference vs the 4060Ti in my desktop PC? I don't have the numbers, but I bet not.

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I meant Power Consumption. apologies for any compfusion. confusion, I mean :-D.