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seeingmind0
Participant
July 6, 2013
Question

Laptop for Photoshop - GPU (Nvidia vs AMD) + Display (IPS vs TN) questions - please help

  • July 6, 2013
  • 1 reply
  • 22825 views

Hi, I am helping someone with getting a new laptop for PhotoShop work, and am very confused about a couple of things.

Hoping that the pros on this forum can help.

1. Dedicated Graphics card - needed or not?

    If needed, AMD Radeon/FirePro (difficult to find on laptops) or Nvidia GeForce GTX 6xxM/7xxM or Quadro?

2. Suggestions on laptops with an IPS panel and wide color gamut.

Re. 1 - this is very confusing. From what I researched, the new Photoshop versions (CS6 and above) do use the GPU very effectively, and are using OpenCL rather than CUDA. Yet there are people on some forums that say that a GPU is not needed unless editing video.

My friend is not editing video - he is using Photoshop to create Digital Art. He does use all of the Photoshop features in his work. No 3D work, no video editing. The end result is Printed artwork - sometimes large prints 3 ft x 4 ft printed with geeclee on canvas/high quality paper.

Is a GPU needed, and if so is it better to get the AMD cards (Radeon most likely) that seem to completely outperform the GeForce cards in OpenCL at least?

Most of the laptops available seem to have the GTX 6xxM or 7xxM cards, and I read on one forum that the OpenCL functions are disabled on these cards. Read on another forum that it can be re-enabled with a hack. Thorougly confused. Please help.

Re. 2 - This too is confusing. Seems like an IPS panel has the best color rendition, but then they do not cover the entire color spectrum - or at least not as widely as the TN panels. If this will be the only monitor for work, is an IPS panel the best way to go or is it better to get a TN with wide gamut? Are there laptops with both - an IPS panel and a wide color gamut - without breaking the bank?

Currently the Sager/Clevo machines, and some MSI models, and ASUS models seem to be the best candidates. Had to rule out Dell Precision 6700/4700 and HP Elitebook 8770W/8570W due to price, but considering refurbished ones.

I am working with a $1200 budget with maybe some stretchability. Any advice/suggestions will be much appreciated.

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    1 reply

    A
    Anonymous
    July 7, 2013

    #1.  The GPU uses OpenGL and Open CL but the latter is not as essential and not every card can run it.  Photoshop does not use CUDA, but some video programs like Premier Pro do.  OpenGL is essential for full use of CS6 and CC.  See this link for GL and CL features.  http://forums.adobe.com/thread/979969

    Onboard GPU will work in normal situations, but the real key is the driver.   ATI and nVidia have more frequent updates.

    See this site for GPU.  Try to get score near 1000.  Over that you may pay more than you gain in speed.  http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

    Hope this helps lower the confusion index.

    S
    seeingmind0Author
    Participant
    July 7, 2013

    Thanks for the links Curt. The Adobe FAQ link confirms for me that a GPU is a very useful and needed component for Photoshop. I don't understand why people on forums are going around suggesting that you don't need a GPU unless you are doing photo editing. Seems like incorrect advice to me.

    Given that a graphics card is needed and the fact that the Mercury Graphics Engine is using OpenGL and OpenCL (and not CUDA), any thoughts on this question that I had:

         it better to get the AMD cards (Radeon most likely) that seem to completely outperform the GeForce cards in OpenCL at least?

    From looking at the results on http://clbenchmark.com/ it seems like the best thing to do is get a AMD graphics card.

    Anybody else agree/disagree? Anybody hear about the fact that OpenCL is disabled/stymied in the GTX 6xxM and 7xxM series cards? Is there a hack to enable it?

    Any thoughts on the display question - IPS vs TN?

    Thanks.

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 7, 2013

    Having said that Photoshop with its use of Open GL and its Mercury Graphics Engine, is different to Premiere Pro which uses CUDA for its Mercury Playback Engine, I'd still have a look at sites like ADK and VideoGuys where they specialise in making hardware for PremPro, including custom laptops.

    There's a spec list here

    http://www.adkvideoediting.com/laptop.asp

    And some recommendations from Videoguys HERE

    Something else I have noticed is that Scott Kelby and ‘The Photoshop Guys’ over on Kelby TV, all seem to use Mac Book Pros, and I understand that for most of them, it’s the only computer they own.

    I am looking for a laptop right now, but I want it to run most of the Creative Cloud apps, and after looking into it for a couple of weeks now, I still feel a long way off from committing dollars to a decision.

    [EDIT]  Just read the VideoGuys link again, and I see the Mac Book Pro is their number one choice.  Hmmmm...

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