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stamatisk40470127
Participant
November 12, 2016
Question

Tech specs for editing large files

  • November 12, 2016
  • 3 replies
  • 7989 views

Hello. I am using photoshop to stitch panoramas. i have a sony a7rii so the raw files are large and the resulting panoramas are even larger (files of many GBs). with my current laptop, photoshop is extremely slow at handling these files (it can take an hour to stitch one panorama- and then editing of the resulting file is extremely slow). I was thinking of upgrading to a pc. what specs would i need so that i can edit these large files with photoshop smoothly?

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      3 replies

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 6, 2018

      This is all about scratch disk capacity and bandwidth - a point I've been trying to make before without much success. With these file sizes, 32 or 128 GB RAM isn't all that important.

      Scratch disk.

      Scratch disk.

      Scratch disk.

      That's where the action is with these big files.

      BennettHall
      BennettHall
      Participating Frequently
      May 6, 2018

      HI Victoria - I am presently leaning to the 6.1 Mac Pro ( source TBD) with 64 gb of 1866 RAM and a 1T boot-program-work drive which will leave about 300 GB of scratch or more.   There are many of these out there from OWC, eBay or new from apple.  Apple refurbs are not configured well and they claim modifying them voids Applecare - I have not gotten to the bottom of that issue yet.

      Per D Fosse above, my findings concur with the importance of the scratch, though having 64gb RAM now, I think I will keep at that level in the 6.1 "can".

      Research showed that any more than 6 cores is a waste with respect to PS due how it uses the processor - suggesting the 12 color may be slower.

      What I am not yet clear on is whether this new iMac Pro is worth the extra 2K or so for a similar configuration (with friends and family). Its faster RAM seems like one advantage, maybe the i/o is faster, and nice included 27" monitor, 8gb graphics card, and I suspect other features. However, the Apple store told me specifically that this machine was really designed for the AR/VR and video applications. However, for 2K I could get a 12T RAID 5 thunderbolt box, and extra 1TSSD and have $ left over.  However, the advice from Apple has not been consistent and no one could speak to my application of large-file PS assembly.

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 6, 2018

      BennettHall  wrote

      included 27" monitor

      Apple displays are really nothing special. That's the weak link with iMacs. Panel uniformity is on level with Dell, ranging from barely acceptable to disaster. If the color changes from red on the left to cyan on the right (and it frequently does), you can't calibrate your way out of that.

      A high performance machine deserves a matching monitor, like an NEC or Eizo.

        gener7
        Community Expert
        gener7Community Expert
        Community Expert
        November 12, 2016

        This should give you an idea for what you are asking: https://www.slrlounge.com/best-computer-specs-photoshop-computer-par/

        "It can be hard to know what you need for optimal Photoshop performance given all the competing theories out there, but in reality, you can do quite well with a decent, mid-range machine. Aim for a quad-core, 3 GHz CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a small SSD, and maybe a GPU for a good computer that can handle most Photoshop needs. If you’re a heavy user, with large image files and extensive editing, consider a 3.5-4 GHz CPU, 16-32 GB RAM, and maybe even ditch the hard drives for a full SSD kit. Mac or PC, you really can’t go wrong with specs like these. If you want to save some money and don’t mind being patient with Photoshop from time to time, you might even be able to get by with a dual-core, 2.5 GHz hyper-threaded CPU, and 4 GB RAM – if you don’t deal with heavy edits or large files much, you might not even notice a difference."

          S
          stamatisk40470127Author
          Participant
          November 12, 2016

          Thanks. This was very helpful. Does anyone have personal experience with stiching large panoramas and editing large files (up to >10GB)? What specs does your computer have? How quick would photoshop be with ideal specs? For example, to stich a panorama from ten 42mp raw files, how much time would it take? are we talking minutes? seconds?

          BennettHall
          BennettHall
          Participating Frequently
          April 30, 2018

          Curious if anyone answered you or how you solved the problem

          I am presently stitching captures from a Pentax 645z medium format which will involve files in the 10 gig range - larger with layers during processing - photographs of famous WPA era murals.  (up to 30 captures each  300mb-ish range TIFF-16)

          Research so far indicates purchasing a Mac Pro 6.1 with 6 cores, and either 64 or 128 gigs of RAM is about right.

          CORES
          Q: 8 or 12 cores better or waste or $$ ??

          RE: Cores: source research: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/

          RAM:
          The 128 RAM set is only 1333ghz, DDR3 vs the 64 gig RAM which is 1866 DDR3  -- Does that Matter? 

          Q: More slower RAM(128) or Faster RAM (64) and less of it?

          The latest $$ iMacPro apparently despite faster RAM, is not upgradeable, has a screen do not need to invest in as I want to work on a 50" screen ( making murals), and is more suitable for video/AR work which is not needed.

          Any thoughts on this fork in the road?

          Thank you all in advance.

          mytaxsite
          mytaxsite
          Inspiring
          November 12, 2016

          The is the official MINIMUM systems requirement:

                         

                              Windows   

                  
          • Intel® Core 2 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor; 2 GHz or faster processor
          • Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10
          • 2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
          • 2.6 GB of available hard-disk space for 32-bit installation; 3.1 GB 
            of available hard-disk space for 64-bit installation; additional free 
            space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses
             a case-sensitive file system)
          • 1024 x 768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512 MB of dedicated VRAM; 2 GB is recommended*
          • OpenGL 2.0–capable system
          • Internet connection and registration are necessary for required 
            software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online 
            services.**
                  
                    

                              macOS  
                         

                 Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support

          • macOS version 10.12 (Sierra), Mac OS X version 10.11 (El Capitan), or Mac OS X version 10.10 (Yosemite)
          • 2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
          • 4 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free
            space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses
            a case-sensitive file system)
          • 1024 x 768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512 MB of dedicated VRAM; 2 GB is recommended*
          • OpenGL 2.0–capable system
          • Internet connection and registration are necessary for required
            software activation, membership validation, and access to online
            services.**

                 

             

             

             
             
                 
                     

          * 3D features are disabled on
          32-bit platforms and on computers having less than 512MB of VRAM. Video
          features are not supported on 32-bit Windows systems.

                 

             

             

          Source:  <Photoshop system requirements >   

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