what computer do I need?

[karon]

My old PC , well, it's replacement time.

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

I already have (on my hard drive) 500G of photos

I could quite possibly want to try my hand at editing 4K video.

1) what are CPU requirements.

# of cores?

how much Cache memory?

Clock speed?

I'd probably go with Dell (unless someone here has an other recomendatation) , in which case, which generation Intel processor, and should I go with I-5? I-7?

2) Ram requirements?

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dj_paige]

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

Unless you can be specific about what software you are using, I doubt anyone can give you a definitive answer. If you tell us DxO and then change your mind and get other software, your may get the wrong answers. DxO may required different hardware specs than Photoshop.

--
Paige Miller

 

[BobKnDP]

DXO Photolab hardware requirements: Photolab

For PL6, they recommend (but do not require) a 6 core or more CPU, 16GB of RAM, and an nVidia RTX 2060 or AMD RX 6600 graphics card or better.

I have done essentially no video editing. The suggested hardware for Adobe Premiere Pro is rather more powerful than the photo editing systems.

Some video codecs require an integrated graphics processor. That means you shouldn't buy an Intel based system where the CPU has an F suffix (no iGPU). There isn't much of a price difference between the F models and the ones with iGPUs, at least at retail.

If you opt for the minimum requirements, you'll be able to use the software, but it may be slowish.

If you want an Intel based system, you may want to wait a short while before buying one. Their Gen13 CPUs are supposed to become available on 20 October 2022. I'm not familiar with the whole line, but the higher end models are supposed to have better performance than the Gen12 models, at about the same prices.

 

[Euell]

Software is shifting into so-called AI particularly for noise, sharpening and resizing. The CPU power is almost secondary to the GPU. You will need a powerful GPU for this software or you will not be happy. A Dell would be a poor choice, as they lack liquid cooling for the CPU, which will result in serious slowdown under load. What is required for adequate speed is gaming-computer capability and 32 megabytes of memory. In general, it is wise to spend extra today on computers to avoid premature obsolescence. DxO 5 is not demanding of computing power, but it has been supplanted by 6, which has upgraded the noise reduction. I haven’t used 6, so cannot comment, but much of the competing software with AI will bring a business-oriented computer to its knees.

Specific recommendations would be current generation upper end Intel I7 or I9 or upper end AMD processor and at least an Nvidea rtx 3070 GPU or top end AMD. Frankly, an even faster GPU would be a good investment.

This discussion, of course, pertains to Windows computing.

 

[Major Jack Reacher]

My old PC , well, it's replacement time.

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

I already have (on my hard drive) 500G of photos

I could quite possibly want to try my hand at editing 4K video.

1) what are CPU requirements.

# of cores?

how much Cache memory?

Clock speed?

I'd probably go with Dell (unless someone here has an other recomendatation) , in which case, which generation Intel processor, and should I go with I-5? I-7?

2) Ram requirements?

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what I use.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/14-inch-space-gray-10-core-cpu-16-core-gpu-1tb

I have not used a Desktop in many many years. In fact, I do not even own a desktop anymore. I use Photoshop CC, Affinity Photo, and Luminar Software on this laptop, and I have a 2 TB SSD hard drive in it also. It is not cheap, but I really enjoy it.

 

[BobKnDP]

Liquid cooling is available as an option on some Dell PCs. (Example: XPS 8950 ) Whether it functions better than their "standard" air cooling, or "advanced" air cooling, I don't know.

The liquid cooler's radiator isn't large, though. An I7-12700 is rated with a TDP of 65W, 180W in "turbo" mode. That may not require a 360 mm radiator.

I don't buy appliance PCs, personally. Not sure where I'd go if I did.

 

[Euell]

Liquid cooling is available as an option on some Dell PCs. (Example: XPS 8950 ) Whether it functions better than their "standard" air cooling, or "advanced" air cooling, I don't know.

The liquid cooler's radiator isn't large, though. An I7-12700 is rated with a TDP of 65W, 180W in "turbo" mode. That may not require a 360 mm radiator.

I don't buy appliance PCs, personally. Not sure where I'd go if I did.

Liquid cooling must be new for Dell, as I looked at their offerings this spring and didn’t see it offered, nor did I see the GPU selections they now offer. Liquid cooling will be better than air cooling. Dell’s advanced air cooling is mainly chassis design, but probably includes a fan above the processor. A 120mm liquid cooling unit should be adequate for that processor.

 

[Digital Nigel]

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

As others have pointed out, a powerful GPU is essential for modern AI-based image processing software. This is particularly true of DxO DeepPRIME, and even more so, the latest DeepPRIME XD in PL6. It's also highly recommended for the Topaz AI apps.

For the last couple of years, since PhotoLab 4, the GPU has become much more important than the CPU. A top of the range GPU will process images 10-20 times faster than 'any old graphics card'. Above a basic level, it's by far the biggest bang for the buck you can get.

 

[Digital Nigel]

DxO 5 is not demanding of computing power,

Yes it is. From DxO PL4, heavy use has been made of the GPU with DeepPRIME. Before that, the CPU was the bottleneck when using PRIME, and it was possible to max out a 12-core CPU for long periods when processing multiple images concurrently.

but it has been supplanted by 6, which has upgraded the noise reduction. I haven’t used 6, so cannot comment, but much of the competing software with AI will bring a business-oriented computer to its knees.

Yes, DeepPRIME XD is an even heavier user of the GPU than DeepPRIME. Images take 2-3 times longer to process than with DeepPRIME. So, for example, a PC with a fast GPU might process images with DeepPRIME XD in under five seconds; they take over a minute with an older GPU.

Specific recommendations would be current generation upper end Intel I7 or I9 or upper end AMD processor and at least an Nvidea rtx 3070 GPU or top end AMD. Frankly, an even faster GPU would be a good investment.

Definitely

 

[Euell]

DxO 5 is not demanding of computing power,

Yes it is. From DxO PL4, heavy use has been made of the GPU with DeepPRIME. Before that, the CPU was the bottleneck when using PRIME, and it was possible to max out a 12-core CPU for long periods when processing multiple images concurrently.

My memory failed me. I couldn't upgrade to DxO 5 until I upgraded from my former computer, so as to advance from Windows 7 to Windows 11. The newer computer includes an RTX 3070 ti, so is more than adequate to that task.

but it has been supplanted by 6, which has upgraded the noise reduction. I haven’t used 6, so cannot comment, but much of the competing software with AI will bring a business-oriented computer to its knees.

Yes, DeepPRIME XD is an even heavier user of the GPU than DeepPRIME. Images take 2-3 times longer to process than with DeepPRIME. So, for example, a PC with a fast GPU might process images with DeepPRIME XD in under five seconds; they take over a minute with an older GPU.

Not surprising. Had to build a new computer just to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 11. Some of the newer software relies on protocols built into only the most recent GPU's. This is worrisome, as the manufacturers keep adding new protocols/routines and GPU's are not cheap and demand larger and larger power supplies to accommodate the increased GPU power.

Specific recommendations would be current generation upper end Intel I7 or I9 or upper end AMD processor and at least an Nvidea rtx 3070 GPU or top end AMD. Frankly, an even faster GPU would be a good investment.

Definitely

 

[Digital Nigel]

DxO 5 is not demanding of computing power,

Yes it is. From DxO PL4, heavy use has been made of the GPU with DeepPRIME. Before that, the CPU was the bottleneck when using PRIME, and it was possible to max out a 12-core CPU for long periods when processing multiple images concurrently.

My memory failed me. I couldn't upgrade to DxO 5 until I upgraded from my former computer, so as to advance from Windows 7 to Windows 11. The newer computer includes an RTX 3070 ti, so is more than adequate to that task.

but it has been supplanted by 6, which has upgraded the noise reduction. I haven’t used 6, so cannot comment, but much of the competing software with AI will bring a business-oriented computer to its knees.

Yes, DeepPRIME XD is an even heavier user of the GPU than DeepPRIME. Images take 2-3 times longer to process than with DeepPRIME. So, for example, a PC with a fast GPU might process images with DeepPRIME XD in under five seconds; they take over a minute with an older GPU.

Not surprising. Had to build a new computer just to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 11. Some of the newer software relies on protocols built into only the most recent GPU's. This is worrisome, as the manufacturers keep adding new protocols/routines and GPU's are not cheap and demand larger and larger power supplies to accommodate the increased GPU power.

Yes, that annoyed me. PL4 introduced DeepPRIME, which was great, and it took good advantage of my GTX1060 (which was regarded as a respectable GPU in my 2018 workstation — I had no idea at the time that it would have been worth paying more for a newer, faster GPU).

With PL5, DxO proudly announced that DeepPRIME had been speeded up, but I discovered that this only applied if you had an RTX GPU. I got no performance increase with my GTX GPU. It still works well, but is much slower than the RTX GPUs.

 

[s_grins]

My old PC , well, it's replacement time.

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

I already have (on my hard drive) 500G of photos

I could quite possibly want to try my hand at editing 4K video.

1) what are CPU requirements.

# of cores?

The more is better start with 8

how much Cache memory?

More is better

Clock speed?

Does not matter. Speed comes with cores number

I'd probably go with Dell (unless someone here has an other recomendatation) , in which case, which generation Intel processor, and should I go with I-5? I-7?

I-7 is better

2) Ram requirements?

at least 16, 32 is plenty.

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

Dedicated GPU is a must, 16 mb of memory will suffice

Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

C: drive SSD with PCIe connection 500 Gbt at least, second drive for storage - do your search, start from 2 Tb.

Liquid cooling for CPU is preferred. Do not skimp on Power Supply, start from 700 Wt

After decades of building my PCs by myself, I've ordered my last one from cyberpowerpc.com. If you order from them, spend several hours to learn how to configure your rig, call customer service to consult. Be ready to spend more than $2000. They build a good stuff.

 

[Jacques Cornell]

My $1099 M1 Mac mini will outperform a PC that has a $500 graphics card when it comes to batch processing RAWs with DeepPRIME or DeepPRIME XD noise reduction applied. It cranks out a 42MP file in about 8-10 seconds. My previous upgraded $5000 cylinder Mac Pro with 8 3.3GHz CPU cores, two D500 graphics cards, a 1TB SSD and 64GB RAM took a minute.

This is thanks to inclusion of a 16-core Apple Neural Engine on the M1 chip. To do better with any Intel machine (Mac or PC), you'll need a GPU that costs almost as much as the entire Mac mini. The base M1 has the same ANE as the M1 Pro and M1 Ultra chips, which are maybe 5% and 20-30% faster, respectively, than the base M1, so you get very diminished RoI by buying a more expensive Mac.

Because DxO has leveraged the ANE, rather than leaning on the CPU or GPU, a base M1 Mac is a crazy bargain for DeepPRIME processing. The base M2 chip's ANE is reportedly 40% faster than the M1's, so the most cost-effective upgrade from a base M1 Mac would be a base M2 Mac and not the Mac Studio, which costs twice as much and has an M1 Pro or Ultra. I'm weighing whether to upgrade to an M2 mini when it finally comes around. My M1 is so capable at the only real heavy lifting I do - batch processing hundreds of high-ISO event photos - that I may just stick with what I have.

 

[Euell]

My old PC , well, it's replacement time.

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

I already have (on my hard drive) 500G of photos

I could quite possibly want to try my hand at editing 4K video.

1) what are CPU requirements.

# of cores?

The more is better start with 8

how much Cache memory?

More is better

Clock speed?

Does not matter. Speed comes with cores number

I'd probably go with Dell (unless someone here has an other recomendatation) , in which case, which generation Intel processor, and should I go with I-5? I-7?

I-7 is better

2) Ram requirements?

at least 16, 32 is plenty.

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

Dedicated GPU is a must, 16 mb of memory will suffice

Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

C: drive SSD with PCIe connection 500 Gbt at least, second drive for storage - do your search, start from 2 Tb.

Liquid cooling for CPU is preferred. Do not skimp on Power Supply, start from 700 Wt

After decades of building my PCs by myself, I've ordered my last one from cyberpowerpc.com. If you order from them, spend several hours to learn how to configure your rig, call customer service to consult. Be ready to spend more than $2000. They build a good stuff.

32 megabytes if you want to run AI programs as plugins from PS or LR.

 

[Regor250]

Just went through the same situation very recently. Got a Dell XPS 8950 to replace my old XPS 8700 (4th gen i7, 16Gb DDR2) and quite happy with my choice. i7 12th gen, 32Gb DDR5 memory, 1Tb SSD, NVidia 3080 GPU w/10Gb memory. i9 performance gain is not worth the extra cost from the tests I have seen. I was aiming for an NVidia 3060, but the package sale I got made going up to the 3080 a no brainer. Don't skip on GPU, that's where the seconds get shaved. Topaz Denoise AI processing time went from 30-60sec down to 4sec. I then transferred the 500Gb 1yre old SSD and 1Tb drive from my old XPS 8700 into the new one for a bit of extra space.

--
Roger

 

[karon]

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

Unless you can be specific about what software you are using, I doubt anyone can give you a definitive answer. If you tell us DxO and then change your mind and get other software, your may get the wrong answers. DxO may required different hardware specs than Photosho

Maybe DXO

Maybe Cannon DPP

Maybe photoshop

I'm not sure yet. Aren't there general requirments?

 

[BobKnDP]

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

Unless you can be specific about what software you are using, I doubt anyone can give you a definitive answer. If you tell us DxO and then change your mind and get other software, your may get the wrong answers. DxO may required different hardware specs than Photosho

Maybe DXO

Maybe Cannon DPP

Maybe photoshop

I'm not sure yet. Aren't there general requirments?

The most specific requirement I know of is for Canon DPP. If you want to use a graphics card for hardware acceleration (highly recommended), it must be an nVidia card. (Uses CUDA instructions, which are proprietary to nVidia.)

DXO products benefit from the most powerful graphics card you can buy.

Photoshop, in the past, didn't exploit a powerful GPU. I don't know whether that still applies with the new "neural" filters. If they're like other AI implementations I know of (Topaz), they want a good GPU.

 

[amas2]

32 megabytes if you want to run AI programs as plugins from PS or LR.

I think: 32 gigabytes will be better.

 

[Dareshooter]

32 megabytes if you want to run AI programs as plugins from PS or LR.

I think: 32 gigabytes will be better.

I agree

 

[JohnMoyer]

My old PC , well, it's replacement time.

I plan to:

edit raw files (maybe using DXO), JPGs

I already have (on my hard drive) 500G of photos

I could quite possibly want to try my hand at editing 4K video.

1) what are CPU requirements.

# of cores?

how much Cache memory?

Clock speed?

I'd probably go with Dell (unless someone here has an other recomendatation) , in which case, which generation Intel processor, and should I go with I-5? I-7?

2) Ram requirements?

3) and, since I don't do any computer animation, or play any computer games, I am assuming that any old graphics care would suffice.

Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

What computer to buy is a difficult question. I hope some of this might be helpful.

I use a Mac and have Debian Linux on two other computers. All Intel CPUs at the moment. I am retired and run what I like and can afford. Long ago I specified computers for my employer to purchase and what I know might be out of date.

If you must run windows, Windows likes to have many CPU cores and much RAM.

Intel CPU architecture is at https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark.html#@Processors

I have not looked at AMD architecture recently. AMD and intel cross-licensed many patents and so are similar. ARM is different and usually costs less for the same performance, but is not always better.

For Intel and AMD CPUs, more cores means more first level and second level cache. Since modern CPUs are so much faster than RAM, more cache is better. More cores will do more for performance than a faster CPU clock speed. Buying a slower computer with more ability to upgrade RAM might cost less for better performance, but will not be as profitable for the manufacturer. When looking at the CPU specifications, look at memory bandwidth. I bought a slower iMac and upgraded the RAM to 96GB for my own use.

RAM is much faster than disk storage, so more RAM to cache more of the files on disk is faster. Faster RAM is always better for performance than slower RAM and may make more difference than a faster CPU. More memory channels is better if all of the sockets have memory in them.

A GPU with its own RAM is sometimes better for performance than a GPU on the CPU chip. RAM is often the bottleneck. For some image processing algorithms, more GPU cores is better and for others it does not matter. A GPU on the CPU chip costs less and may be better for communication between CPU and GPU or worse for very large images.

Some Intel CPUs have more per CPU core. This adds some extra registers and resources for each CPU core and helps Windows more than any other operating system because the Windows process scheduler is not very sophisticated and fooling it into thinking there are more cores helps.

Intel Xeon processors traditionally have more paths to RAM and to other CPU cores, like more lanes on the highway. This allows more banks of RAM to be accessed in parallel and allows faster communication among CPU cores. But, that may have changed recently. For example, https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...65mle-processor-24m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz.html has 8 cores, 16 threads, 24 MB cache, and uses only 25 Watts of power, but has only two memory channels and an on chip GPU is contending for memory access. A down side to more memory channels is that one must have more sockets for memory and spend more on memory to get the performance benefit.

Since CPU cores slow down when they get hot, having more cores than needed will allow the hot cores to rest while they cool and another core to take the load. This makes the system faster. You might get a faster system by getting one with a slower CPU that uses less Watts of power and so produces less heat. It has been years since I specified purchase of computers, but at least long ago HP had better cooling than Dell at the same price level.

Someone mentioned Intel F processors. Compare https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...3600k-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-10-ghz.html and https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...600kf-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-10-ghz.html . The one with the F in the part number does not have a GPU on the CPU chip. Both use up to 180 Watts and so will produce a lot of heat. Both have "Intel® Gaussian & Neural Accelerator (GNA)" which may use less power and produce less heat . These have 14 cores, but only 6 cores run at full speed and 8 run slower to save power.

If you want to run a particular software, then go to that vendor for the hardware requirements as others have mentioned.