What determines performance of the AI remove tool?

Report · Jun 19, 2023

I've been loving the new AI remove tool in 24.5, but I do find it quite slow often.

I've tested it with Windows Task Manager running, and when I get the spinning icon telling me it's working, I do see an increasing in CPU, RAM and GPU load, but not by a big amount. Nothing is anywhere near maxing out. As it leverages cloud technology, could my internet speed be a factor?

I'm running a Core i9 13900K, with 64GB DDR5 RAM and a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB. Yes I know my GPU is old, but when using the tool, my GPU utilization % is not very high (20-50%).

Report · Jun 19, 2023

Hey, @Mark-Hazeldine. I did some light research, and the combination of GPU & CPU you have are leagues apart & some online bottleneck calculators suggest up to 80% graphics bottleneck.

The GPU is too weak to keep up with what the CPU can achieve. If possible, borrow a recent GPU from a friend or colleague before upgrading to test the difference. I am at the opposite end with a CPU weaker than the GPU.

Let me know if you notice an improvement. Thanks!
Sameer K

Report · Jun 19, 2023

I am aware it's unbalanced. I recently built a new PC, but decided to keep my old GPU for a bit to evaluate the performance and see how much I needed to spend on a GPU. A YouTube channel called Tech Notice said that photographers don't need a very powerful GPU for photo editing, as Photoshop is mainly CPU driven, but he said that before this new tool came out. I suspected that my GPU might be the bottleneck but the Windows 11 Task Manager seemed to say it isn't. Why do you think Task Manager would show a low utilisation and low memory usage if the GPU was holding things back?

Report · Jun 19, 2023

So, after a bit more testing, the speed has now increased back to what it was a few days ago, last time I used it. I then spoke to my Dad, who was in the house and watching something on his smart TV and asked me if I had experienced the internet being slow earlier. I actually had because I had a Twitch stream playing in the background and it was playing at a lower resolution automatically. So, it seems to me that internet speed can really affect the speed of the remove tool, but a LOT. When the internet is working fine, it'll remove an object in say half a second, but when the internet is going slow, it can be 5 or even 10 seconds.

Report · Jun 21, 2023

I've just done some more testing, and the tool worked fine without my wifi switched on (i.e. no internet). It was also nice and quick, even with the internet off. I then tried the Beta version of Photoshop and it started going very slowly (taking 5-10 seconds to remove even a simple object), and so I thought maybe I'd accidentally used the Beta version yesterday. I went back to the normal version (24.5) and now THAT one is running slow again! It's a bit of a mystery to me. The intermittent nature of the problem feels like an internet bandwidth issue, but if it works offline, that must point to something happening within my PC that isn't just simply an under spec'd GPU. I've made sure in my testing that I'm not opening/closing other apps or browser tabs, and my RAM is only at about 50% utilisation.

Report · Jun 19, 2023

Hi,

How slow is it on your computer. I'm on a 3-year old Surface Pro 7 Plus with integrated gpu and having no problems with it.

Adobe Community Expert
Adobe Certified Professional

Report · Jun 19, 2023

It can take sometimes 5-10 seconds. Occasionally it is only 1-2 seconds, but usually slower.

Report · Jun 19, 2023

This is one of those new AI-powered functions that rely heavily on the GPU.

Adobe officially recommend an RTX 3060 or higher/newer:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/retouching-repairing-images.html

And, as pointed out, the key to a fast system is a balanced system. A GPU to go with that i9 would be RTX 3090 and upwards.

Report · Jun 19, 2023

Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that recommendation before! I guess it's time for a GPU upgrade then.

Report · Jun 19, 2023

Mark I have an almost identical system, but with an RTX4080, so can we compare somehow? Click to expand the image below, and copy and paste into Photoshop. I used a 50 pixel fully hard preset for the Remove tool. Touched down on the left and shift dragged to the other end of the black line. You can get the time from the task bar, but I like to have it turned on in the Info panel (via its Panel Options). You can see it took my system 6.0 seconds.

I don't know if the Remove tool needs an Internet connection Generative Fill does. I suspect not, but for FWIIW I am rural NZ and have VDSL2 with 72Mbs down and 12Mbs up.

I have Image Processing options set to More Stable The above test was slightly faster with that option set to Faster

Report · Jun 19, 2023

I have tried a couple more times, and got 5.6 and 5.4 seconds.

BTW I did ask a friend to compare Gen Fill performance because she has gigabit Internet speeds.

Report · Jun 19, 2023

That was good timing. Colin Smith has juust uploaded another video on Gen Fill and the Remove Tool, and says at 3:54 that you do not need to be online to use the Remove tool. Gen Fill _does_ need an Internet connection.

[EDIT] Something I have just worked out after Watching Colin's video. I have been able to use the shift key to force horizontal and vertical strokes with the Remove tool, but when the power line, for instance, that you are trying to remove is at an inconvenient angle, I was not able to touch down at one end, and shift click at the other end to link the stroke. I have now realised that was because Remove After Each Stroke was enabled in the Options Bar (which is its default state). If you turn that off, you can connect stroke with Shift, and hit the Check icon in the Options Bar.

Report · Nov 08, 2023

I own a RTX 4090 and the problem persists for me. I also own an M1 Max Macbook with the same issues.

Report · Nov 08, 2023

My windows PC with an iNTEL I9 13900k cpu would overheat while using the remove tool and randomly turn off. I found the cpu would spike each time I used the tool. I had to go into the motherboard bios and undervolt the cpu to fix the issue. My macbook doesn't have that issue and I have an M3 Max on the way to see if that speeds anything up, i doubt it though.

Report · Nov 08, 2023

@GreggoryBurt

That's interesting Greggory. I have a water cooled i9-13900K in a Asus Rog Maximus Z790 Hero. Can you give us an idea of the area you are using the Remove tool on so I can compare?

I thought I'd do a quick test, and immediately ran into problems with a 200 pixel offset between the cursor and where the stroke was applied. Then I quickly ran into that issue a lot of people have seen with the image breaking up on its right edge. I've been running with Enable Native Canvas checked, but it got turned off for a forum answer. Turning it back on fixed both problems.

Anyway... I tried the Remove tool on a 1000 pixel square area which took it about five seconds, and CPU temps went up about 10°C. It did get pretty hot though with three cores reaching 97°C. That surprised me.

Report · Jun 20, 2023

I was fairly sure this tool doesn't need the internet, as it comes with what seems a hefty "AI download." I'll only know for sure when I update and "pull the plug"... [I see Trevor already confirmed it.]