What graphics card for AP (windows)

[pknew]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if AP was designed to work more effectively with a certain type of
Graphic card?

 

This is the case for some software like DXO, but I found nothing about AP.

 

Can you give some information?

 

Best regards

 

Pk

[Leigh]

This thread talks about the new Mac Pro but it also applies to Windows: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/4978-support-of-dual-gpu-new-mac-pro/

[pknew]

This thread talks about the new Mac Pro but it also applies to Windows: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/4978-support-of-dual-gpu-new-mac-pro/

Thanks for your answer,

 

From what I understand (I do not speak English) AP is not software that uses the graphics card as a process accelerator ( Like DXO or

https://pencilsheep.com/ )

And so the choice of the graphics card does not matter, no need to mount a card for gaming for example?

 

cordially

 

Pk

[jer]

Thanks for your answer,

 

From what I understand (I do not speak English) AP is not software that uses the graphics card as a process accelerator ( Like DXO or

https://pencilsheep.com/ )

And so the choice of the graphics card does not matter, no need to mount a card for gaming for example?

 

cordially

 

Pk

 

PK, you are right that Affinity AP & AD do not depend much on a graphics card and benefit more from a multi-core processor. However, are you buying a new Win PC or just considering whether to upgrade the graphics card in the PC you have?

 

Having lived through at least 20 PCs and all the WIN operating systems (okay, DOS before that!), my experience is that it helps to get all the hardware you can because WIN will slowly build up rust and slowwww down. In today's world, hardware is cheap. If you only run AP on your system, so be it. But my system runs a lot of different programs in addition to AD & AP, and many of them make use of a graphics card. Not to the level of gaming, but significantly. So in a new PC, I buy a very fast model because I run a lot of stuff and I want to at least be fast in the beginning because I know WIN will slowly gum up my system.  :lol:

 

I would not upgrade my PC with a new graphics card, but if I was buying a new system, I would consider a gaming model for the reasons above. In fact, I did that, and bought a Lenovo Legion Y520 laptop which is a gaming system but not a top of the line gaming model. But what I like about it is the fan control system. No loud fan unless you are actually burning up the graphics card in heavy gaming. It is nice and quiet at the duty I put on the PC. But the graphics card is well up to anything I need it for and, in short graphics bursts, the fan stays at the low level. Nice engineering! (My PC specs are below if you are interested).

[IanSG]

 I would consider a gaming model for the reasons above.

Be careful with your choice of monitor though - gamers like fast refresh rates, which aren't always compatible with colour accuracy.

[pknew]

........ are you buying a new Win PC or just considering whether to upgrade the graphics card in the PC you have?.....

 

Hi Jer,

 

Thanks you for your answer!

 

Yes, I am setting up a new pc and I hesitated to put the Nvidia Geforce GTX1080Ti card destined for the game or a card slightly less fast and especially cheaper.

 

The only software that causes me problems of slowness is AP, which is why I asked the question here.

But I think it is better to favor the ram, (32 or 64 GB?).

 

Best regards

 

Pk

[jer]

 

........ are you buying a new Win PC or just considering whether to upgrade the graphics card in the PC you have?.....

 

Hi Jer,

 

Thanks you for your answer!

 

Yes, I am setting up a new pc and I hesitated to put the Nvidia Geforce GTX1080Ti card destined for the game or a card slightly less fast and especially cheaper.

 

The only software that causes me problems of slowness is AP, which is why I asked the question here.

But I think it is better to favor the ram, (32 or 64 GB?).

 

Best regards

 

Pk

 

 

In MOST WIN cases, the more RAM (and the fastest RAM like SSD), the better.  But, for AP, once you get to the 32 vs 64 GB question, you might be thinking simultaneously about the multi-core question. In the case of Affinity, the increased number of true processor cores is likely more important. So, at 32 GB, make sure you have a quad-core PC, then if you have $$ remaining, get the 64 GB. This strategy is borne out in a processor test many of us contributed to in the forum, thanks to MbD. Here is a link to the string of contents and results. A WIN absolute is: the more memory, the better but, with Affinity, multi-core rules!

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/32907-affinity-photo-performance-comparison-data-sheet/

 

Keep in mind, AP & AD are still in version 1. As much or more development work is happening in bug resolution and feature addition as in performance issues. Increased performance will likely improve over time when more focus is placed on it. (I'm not a developer so consider this to be IMHO).

 

I thought IanSG's comment above was interesting. I was not aware of that refresh issue and simply thought some brands of display were better than others. Good to know that color accuracy might suffer at the expense of fast refresh.

[IanSG]

 

 

I thought IanSG's comment above was interesting. I was not aware of that refresh issue and simply thought some brands of display were better than others. Good to know that color accuracy might suffer at the expense of fast refresh.

I'm glad you commented on that, because I was confusing refresh rate with response time - one day I'll learn to engage my brain before typing!  To be clear, refresh rate is not an issue with photo editing but response time might be.  To get the short response times popular with gamers, some monitors use old twisted nematic (TN) technology.  TN is notorious for its poor colour fidelity.  Monitors for photo editing (ideally) will use in plane switching (IPS) with an 8 or 10 bit colour depth, but they can get very expensive!  To be fair, IPS monitors for gaming are available and the prices are coming down - just don't assume that a PC system specced for gaming will automatically be a good choice for photo editing.

[jer]

I'm glad you commented on that, because I was confusing refresh rate with response time - one day I'll learn to engage my brain before typing!  To be clear, refresh rate is not an issue with photo editing but response time might be.  To get the short response times popular with gamers, some monitors use old twisted nematic (TN) technology.  TN is notorious for its poor colour fidelity.  Monitors for photo editing (ideally) will use in plane switching (IPS) with an 8 or 10 bit colour depth, but they can get very expensive!  To be fair, IPS monitors for gaming are available and the prices are coming down - just don't assume that a PC system specced for gaming will automatically be a good choice for photo editing.

 

Thanks for the clarification.  :)

[pknew]

Thanks IanSG and Jer for your answer!

 

I thought to put:

 

Main board:

 GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 7-EK ( Intel Z170 - Socket 1151 )

Processor:

 INTEL Quad Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz up to 4.50 GHz [ LGA1151 - 8MB - 14 nm - 91 W ]

Graphic card :I'm not sure it's necessary:

 GIGABYTE GV-N108TD5X-B PCIe ( GeForce GTX1080Ti 11264MB HDMI 3xDisplay port )  

DDR4 32GB [2x16GB] 2133Mhz C14 - KINGSTON HyperX Fury [HX421C14FBK2/32]

 

and for the monitor:  eizo-cs2420

 

I will go look at the link you mentioned in the previous post

 

Intel just released an i7 to 6 cores, but, for now, few compatibles motherboards

(INTEL CoreX i7-7800X (6 Cores) 3.5GHz up to 4.00 GHz)

 

Best regards

 

Pk

[R C-R]

Regarding monitor choice, you might find this article informative. I'm not sure about all their choices -- some seem to be discontinued models or ones few vendors sell, but the info is presented clearly.

 

Also, I have no experience with any of these monitors but from some online research I did after reading the article, the BenQ SW2700PT might be a better choice than the Eizo cs2420. It is larger at 27", has a higher pixel density, similar features (except for a 14 bit 3D LUT vs. the Eizo's 16 bit one), & favorable reviews on Amazon. It is also about $250 cheaper.

[rubs]

Main board:

 GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 7-EK ( Intel Z170 - Socket 1151 )

Processor:

 INTEL Quad Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz up to 4.50 GHz [ LGA1151 - 8MB - 14 nm - 91 W ]

Graphic card :I'm not sure it's necessary:

 GIGABYTE GV-N108TD5X-B PCIe ( GeForce GTX1080Ti 11264MB HDMI 3xDisplay port )  

DDR4 32GB [2x16GB] 2133Mhz C14 - KINGSTON HyperX Fury [HX421C14FBK2/32]

 

Maybe you should consider a H270/Z270 chipset. Unless you are also going to play games on it, the Z series is not much useful. I just built a system with an identical processor and a GA-H270M-D3H mobo. I also bought a NVIDIA Quadro P600, but I regret it because the performance gain is noticeable but negligible over the on-board Intel graphics. I'd also go for 16GB RAM (at least) and an SSD.

 

Bear in mind that I use Affinity Designer, not Affinity Photo, although I believe they use the same drawing engine.

 

Hope this helps somehow.