What graphics card for Lightroom in July 2017?

[leszek_66]

Hello,
Some important questions to Lighroom experts:
- What is the most powerful nVidia GPU?
- how many RAM on the graphics card?
- what do you think about HBM (amd) / HBM2 (nvidia) graphics memory?

So to summarize - what graphics card for Ligroom in 07.2017?

I greet all

LP66

[myCharlie]

JimHess  wrote

The last thing I will interject into this thread is to tell you DO NOT consider more than four cores in a system for Lightroom. At least at this time, doing so will only cause performance problems. This could change in future releases. But at this time four cores is all you should consider for Lightroom.

Wish I could've seen this post. I've just purchased two Intel Xeon X5690 CPU for my HP Z800 because it was having performance issues.

[dj_paige]

Jim Hess said that in July.

Since then, Lightroom has had a major new release, called Lightroom Classic CC, and should be better able to handle CPUs with more than 4 cores (and according to some reports, the performance on 6 and 8 core machines is indeed superior to what it used to be). I don't know if you get a 16 core CPU what will happen, I haven't read reports.

Dual Xeon processors also have been a problem, the performance wasn't good on some computers with dual Xeon processors. Whether or not this is fixed I don't know. This specific issue with dual Xeon processors was mentioned in the other thread you were in at How do I improve LR performance on my current computer?

[Jao vdL]

Bob those are great tests! I had not seen these before. They both very clearly show that there is basically no point in going for more than 4 cores. There is very little gain except perhaps a small gain in export performance that is probably not really noticeable. Also in the newer tests it is quite amazing that the lowest end 4 core machine is only bested by 17% or so by the very highest end which is probably not really noticeable in real-world use. Quite interesting and looks like a well done study.

[Todd Shaner · Accepted solution]

leszek_66  wrote

Thank you for your answer. However, I am looking for the optimal configuration on 07.2017 to get the best possible performance in Adobe Lightroom. Hence my question about the most powerful graphics card for the 1920x1200 monitor. I also look for the most powerful processor on 07.2017. Do you know how it is with multi-core processors? Does applying 8 cores (16 threads) instead of 4 cores (8 threads) significantly improve your computer's performance when working with Adobe Lightroom? Do you have practical knowledge on this topic?

With a 1920x1200 (2.3Mp) display the graphics card provides very little performance improvement. This is due to limitations in the current GPU implementation, which are designed to improve performance with 4K and higher resolution displays (Mac Retina).

Adobe is aware of issues with LR 6, CC 2015 performance when using processors with 6 or more cores. Please see this post:

Lightroom: Slow performance on Xeon CPUs | Photoshop Family Customer Community

Adobe is working on this issue and LR 7, CC 2017 may include fixes that allow using 6 or more core processors to improve performance. Currently the best suggestion is to use the highest performance quad core processor available until this issue is resolved.

I expect Adobe will provide a list of tested graphics cards and processor types after release of LR 7, CC 2017. At this time there is no way to effectively determine what GPU and CPU will work best with LR 7, CC 2017.

[leszek_66]

Thank you this answer is very convincing. You have to wait for a new LR version and good ADOBE messages giving you the exact capabilities of using multi-core processors and graphics processors.

[fisica3]

Thanks for you answer, there is something that I need to add in my experience.

I had a AMD 7750 card and a AMD FX8350 (8 Cores) ,16GB and Dell UltraSharp™ U2312HM, and I've had GPU acceleration enabled since it was offered, yes, no noticeable improvement by then BUT.... a few weeks ago since an update Lightroom started to crash frequently. I googled a bit and I found the suggestion about disabling GPU acceleration, I did it and...voila... no more crashes, but now the performance of the Develop module has been degraded, it takes more time to load a picture and when you move the slices is a bit slower to see the effects.

With the most recent update I tried to enable again the GPU, but I got the message that it has been disabled because errors, so yes.. now my system is more stable, but slower.

Being that situation, I've started my research about buying a new card (in the hope to recover the lost performance), only to find answers regarding 4K monitors, and the fact is that even with a non 4K monitor (at least in my case) you are losing performance without a GPU, so I'd like an advice in my situation... I was thinking about buying a RX 460, but the comments now are making me to think twice... being that currently my performance have been degraded.

Best Regards

Ernesto

[dj_paige]

I had a AMD 7750 card and a AMD FX8350 (8 Cores) ,16GB and Dell UltraSharp™ U2312HM, and I've had GPU acceleration enabled since it was offered, yes, no noticeable improvement by then BUT.... a few weeks ago since an update Lightroom started to crash frequently. I googled a bit and I found the suggestion about disabling GPU acceleration, I did it and...voila... no more crashes, but now the performance of the Develop module has been degraded, it takes more time to load a picture and when you move the slices is a bit slower to see the effects.

It might have been a bad graphics driver, and updating your driver would fix the problem while maintaining the speed improvement from the GPU. Give it a try.

[michalg49429475]

Hi All,

Sorry for jumping in here but this topic is right up my alley and perhaps someone will be able advice me. My lightroom is dead slow - anything I do lags terribly. Recently when i contacted adobe support team on two occasions they told me that i need to change my graphic card as they do not support the one I have and this is the reason of my struggle. Now I am not much of a computer guy and when comes to those things I am simply plain stupid - but reading your posts above i am getting the impression that changing graphic card will only make a difference to display on a high res screen and it wont make a difference to a speed of lightroom itself?

My graphic card is NVIDIA GeForce 210 and i use two old monitors both have res 1280 x 1024 - would the card be really a problem here?

Now if this is correct and indeed my GeForce 210 is at fault - which card should i go for?

this is the list of recommendations:

Graphics cards released in the year 2014 or afterwards that meet the minimum system requirements (listed above) should work.

• AMD: For AMD cards, consider using the Radeon R9 series of cards, such as the R9 270 through 290.
• NVIDIA: For NVIDIA cards, consider using a card from the GeForce GTX 760+ line (760, 770, 780, or later) or from the GeForce GTX 900 series.
• Intel: For Intel cards, Intel HD Graphics 4400+, 5000+, 510+, P530, P630, Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 6100+, P6300, P580 or later are required.

Would lets say GTX 760 with 4gb video ram be enough to see a difference or should i go for something higher like gtx 960? - just to mention i dont do games - plainly photography in lightroom and photoshop...

Also on the side note my processor is Intel core i7 4770K CPU@3.50GHz and i have 16gb ram

Many thanks in advance!

[dj_paige]

Youur Lightroom is slow? Please be very specific and detailed -- tell us exactly what is slow?

If your monitors are the size you said, then a new graphics card WILL NOT help.

[michalg49429475]

Hi dj_paige,

thank you for your reply!

well everything is slow. switching between modules, scrolling up or down in the library and in develop module, going through images lags, setting rating, develop module sliders can stater when moving them and slow to respond, the changes are not coming up right away - have to wait to see the results, loading presets lags, moving between images lags, preset preview lag and slideshow takes forever to export...

Thank you again for your reply!

[dj_paige]

Could you also state the exact version NUMBER of your Lightroom?

Are you doing lots of brushing and/or lots of spot healing on your photos in Lightroom?

[michalg49429475]

its the current one - 2015.12 release. Have the adobe photo cloud pack so all up to date.

not really, I tend to do that in Photoshop - one of the reasons being the lagging in lightroom...

[Todd Shaner]

The NVIDIA GeForce 210 graphics card is very low performance, but with a 1280x1024 monitor it shouldn't be an issue. Try disabling the GPU in LR menu Edit> Preferences> Performance as shown below. Also place the LR window on one monitor and don't use LR's Secondary display at all!

[michalg49429475]

Thank you trshaner for your reply.

My GPU was off. I started working only on one monitor and I can see a slight improvement. But will know more later on this eve when i get into full swing with my work.

Would better card help with second monitor I wonder?

Still baffled about adobe support team being so adamant in regards to my card being at fault...

Thank you again for your help!      

[dj_paige]

A GPU will not help with a second monitor in the case where you have a 4K or larger monitor.

In this case, where your monitor is not a 4K monitor, it will have no effect at all.

[Jao vdL]

michalg49429475  wrote

Still baffled about adobe support team being so adamant in regards to my card being at fault... 

That's unfortunately quite common for tech support in general. They tend to latch onto minor issues such as this not realizing you are using a very low resolution monitor where the GPU doesn't matter that much. I notice you have a fairly good CPU with enough memory but one factor that you haven't mentioned is what kind of storage you are using. Lightroom is very strongly impacted by the kind of hard drive you have your catalog and your camera raw cache on. This is best if they are on a SSD drive on a fast interface. If your internal HD is not SSD that would be the upgrade I'd suggest before getting a better graphics card.

[michalg49429475]

Hi @Jao vdL

thank you for your reply!

yes my catalogs and camera raw are on my main ssd hd - no sure if this could be a problem that they are on the same drive as my OS... I would assume not. Capacity is 237gb and i still have around 90gb free space... I have allocated 50gb for camera raw cache...

[Todd Shaner]

michalg49429475  wrote

My GPU was off. I started working only on one monitor and I can see a slight improvement. But will know more later on this eve when i get into full swing with my work.

Would better card help with second monitor I wonder?

The current GPU implementation is only supported on the main window (1) display when in the Develop module. The Secondary display has no GPU acceleration upport and neither does the Library module for either display.. This is why I suggested not using two displays with LR. What model camera image files are you processing. The higher the megapixels the slower LR will run. I would also suggest downloading and installing the most current graphics driver if you haven't done so already. What OS version are you running?

PassMark - Video Card Performance Comparison

[michalg49429475]

I have canon 5d mark3 and 6D and i shoot full or medium raw so they will be quite big but I would thought that this should not affect the software that is designed for prof photographers? out of frustration i tried capture one and everything works flawlessly... no idea why do i have so much trouble with LR.

drivers are up to date and my OS is WIN10... 

[Todd Shaner]

michalg49429475  wrote

I have canon 5d mark3 and 6D and i shoot full or medium raw so they will be quite big but I would thought that this should not affect the software that is designed for prof photographers?

They shouldn't be an issue with your i7 4770K CPU and 16GB of memory. The 90GB free space on your SSD shouldn't be an issue as I have the same amount of free space on my 256 GB SSD with no issues. Granted it's better to have more free space, but it shouldn't be causing problems until it gets lower.

michalg49429475  wrote

drivers are up to date and my OS is WIN10... 

OK good. The only thing I noticed is that the last update for the GeForce 210 was Dec. 14, 2016. Windows 10 has gone through two major updates affecting graphics operations. You may very well need to get a "newer model" graphics card just to keep the graphics drivers up to date and compatible. Don't know.....

Windows 10 updates also have been know to indiscriminately assign a display profile that is incompatible with LR. Try changing it to sRGB as outlined at the below link:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/how-do-i-change-my-monitor-profile-to-check-whether-its...

[michalg49429475]

Thank you trshaner! I think i will have to look into that graphic card... 

Lightroom improved a bit - sliders works better now but still i`m working on a wedding and white balance picker takes very long time to show up and then to update the changes. Loading presents was working fine at the start but after a while it got slower. And my side panels - it takes a very long time to hide or bring back. 

I just checked my task manager and just for the record - lightroom takes up 2gb ram and on cpu it reaches 8% when I for example try to crop image - not sure if this is how it should be ://

Anyway thank you again for your suggestions! Few steps forward means progress  

[Todd Shaner]

michalg49429475  wrote

Lightroom improved a bit - sliders works better now but still i`m working on a wedding and white balance picker takes very long time to show up and then to update the changes. Loading presents was working fine at the start but after a while it got slower. And my side panels - it takes a very long time to hide or bring back. 

This sounds like an issue in the display data processing by the GPU (not GPU acceleration). This is probably due to drivers that are no longer compatible with the latest Windows updates.......and the GeForce 210 is a very low-end card. Tips below on selecting a better graphics card below....this kid rocks!

The WORST Graphics Card | Nvidia Geforce 210 / GT 210 - YouTube 

No need to get a high-end card unless you do gaming–The new GeForce GTX 1050 looks good for ~$150:

PassMark - Video Card Performance Comparison

[michalg49429475]

I actually came across that youtube video yesterday! yes it is turning out that I will need an upgrade in the end... the worst! ha

Just in regards to the GTX 1050 ive noticed that this is not on the adobe list of recommended cards - would you stick to the list or this one should work just fine? Apologies in advance, i am pretty lame when comes to those things...

Adobe Lightroom GPU Troubleshooting and FAQ

Thank you again for all your advice! Much appreciated!   

[Todd Shaner]

The GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti were released in October 2016. Adobe recommended GPU list shows the GeForce GTX 900 Series, which probably hasn't been updated in a while. They both should be compatible with LR using the latest driver. If you install one of the 1050s please let us know your results.

[michalg49429475]

Will do! thanks a lot for all your help!