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configuring a new laptop PC

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
July 19, 2022
7 replies
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I'm shopping a new laptop and was wondering which do's and don't's are important.

I would start with 16 GB of RAM, an Intel i7 (not sure which one) and at least 1/2 TB of SSL memory.

I'm very unsure about the benefits of a graphics card. One might assume that being a very graphical (vs. textual) application, more would help here, but I recall reading somewhere that this wasn't necessarily true..

Links to published benchmarks would be appreciated as well as personal views based on experience.

Windows

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Correct answer Michael J. Hoffman

Can you relate this advice to specific functions in LR? I'm hearing multiple votes for a dedicated GPU but no one is helping me understand the potential benefit to me.

And, generally speaking, not being a professional and currently working on a 3 year old machine, I have found the improvement of even base-configuration machines is dramatic over 3 years without having to pay much more for the current "best". In almost every area of technology, I go for last year's Best.

The dedicated GPU provides a performance benefit for Lightroom, since the algorithms within Lightroom's image handling routines are now optimized to take advantage of the architecture of GPUs, which provide a massively parallel pipeline for image manipulation tasks. The details are very complex, but the bottom line is that Lightroom will take advantage of a GPU's capability to provide significant performance increases in the Develop module and in preview generation.

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

End of story.....

purchased Dell XPS 14 Plus.

Discrete NVIDIA; 12th gen i7; gave up 1GB SSD for 512GB....will store RAW images on external drive.

Under $1,200

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

Discrete graphics card. Got it!

What about CPU?

Any difference between Intel and AMD?

Any impact on LR performance going to i9 vs i7?

And, many models of i7 with different core counts....any major impact on LR?

Remember, $ does cost me and I'm not a professional and my current laptop is 3 years old

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

Discouraging....I'm not finding many options below $1,500 with discrete graphics, light-enough, 1TB, no larger than 14", etc

In doing research, I discovered that one option I was considering didn't work with a docking station. I should have mentioned that I have invested in a dock and 2 decent monitor for my home setup and don't want to have to upgrade further.

So, I'm now going back and questioning my most basic requirements....and that is: use one laptop for desk work in LR and use when away (aka "light/small enough") and wondering (for your comments) perhaps I should get a tower/desktop and a much less costly and more portable laptop.

This would mean using an external ssd drive and swapping it between machines. [I should add that I do not travel a lot, so I wouldn't be swapping more often than 2x per month]

What do you think about this configuration from a workflow and performance perspective?

C.Cella

Inspiring

I have a MacBook M1 Pro Max laptop for my work and it's excellent.

There are good laptops form the likes of MSI or Ausus as well.

MSI offers more alternatives and better specs; is the close competitor to Mac in therms of performance.

Storing your files on an internal SSD I have found is not worth it so I would not bother with an external SSD.

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Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

"Storing your files on an internal SSD I have found is not worth it so I would not bother with an external SSD. "

Did you mean "Storing your files on an EXTERNAL SSD...." ????

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

well, I still haven't pulled the trigger, but might soon.

I have configured a Dell XPS 13" i-7-1250U; integrated Iris Xe graphics; 1TB SSD; 32 GB Ram - all for $1,200 (claiming a $300 discount)

If I instead go with a NVIDIA graphics card, I'm now looking at an Alienware 14" for $1,500

I do a fair amount of editing and am very, very excited about the new masking capabilities in the latest release.

I have no other special needs (I do not game), other than having a fair number of windows open most of the time and I often stream while I work.

My question at this point is: will the integrated Intel graphics be enough?

And, if I were to go with a dedicated graphics card, is there anything else in the configuration that I could cut back on to bring the price back to around $1,200-1,300?

dj_paige

Legend

I think the biggest mistake you can make is underestimate the importance of the CPU and GPU, and then spending too little on these, getting a relatively slow CPU and relatively slow GPU, and then Lightroom Classic appears to be slow. Whether or not the CPU you mentioned, with integrated Iris Xe graphics, will be sufficient and fast enough, is unknown, but this CPU is ranked near the middle of performers for laptops https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html. I also think instead of paying for 32GB RAM, you should go with 16GB ram and get faster CPU and GPU.

I'm not sure you mentioned what size images in pixels or megapixels, not megabytes, you are working with, and I don't feel like scrolling back through this very long thread ... please inform me.

You didn't state how big a monitor in pixels (not inches) you will have.

You don't state WHICH Nvidia graphics card you are looking at.

All of these are primary drivers of speed in Lightroom Classic.

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

When I look at my RAW images, the largest is 33 MB and pixel size is around 6000x4000

I have 2 monitors

one is 24", the other 27" but both are 1920x1040

I likely will replace one of them with 4k resolution.

josephlavine

Community Expert

As others have mentioned, this really depends on your personal needs. For me, because I work on large files, I run a minimum of 64 GB of RAM and a much higher amount of storage.

Perhaps you can share situations, and perhaps we can offer better specifics.

warmly/j

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

More specifics, then....

I am not a professional and I seldom print my images. I've got around 23k pictures in my catalog. My largest files are around 33MB (.NEF) but most are under 30MB.

So, casual amateur mostly working for my own pleasure.

C.Cella

Inspiring

@Newmarket2

Well then I think you would be good with 32gb of Ram it would give you more room for the future (16gb is really the bare minimum to survive IMO)

If you store you photos internally the go for SSD (4TB) but those are expensive.

Perhaps chose a smaller internal SSD (1tb) and then for much, much less, buy a good 4tb external HDD.

You don't want to lose your photos so in case buy 2 HDD or but and inexpensive Backblaze cloud storage license (I recommend this one to all Professional and not)

Monitor wise 4k to me is still a better choice...in case you can watch good movies on the laptop.

GPU you are looking at 6-8Gb with 4k

Brand wise Dell allows, in most cases, to customize your Laptop with your desired configuration so it it's a good choice of brand (also check Asus)

.

C.Cella

Inspiring

@Newmarket2

Much depends on your needs and your budget.

For instance I find myself now in need to upgrade but photography is my "job" so I need the best specs possible to do heavy edits, mange thousandths of photos, printing, etc...

You might be happy and satisfied to work with a "lower specs" machine than the one that I/we could suggest you.

.

dj_paige

Legend

Is this a question related to Lightroom Classic? You don't really say.

If your new laptop has a 4K monitor, then you need a good graphics card to go with it. If it has <4K monitor, probably a lower end graphics card is all you need. I would in either case go for the fastest CPU you can afford. (Note: these statements apply to Lightroom Classic only, other software may have different requirements)

What is "SSL memory"?

Newmarket2Author

Known Participant

Thanks.

I meant to say "SSL storage" - which is solid state storage instead of traditional disc storage. Loads much, much faster.

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