New PC spec, quick check ref stacking...

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Beatsy
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New PC spec, quick check ref stacking...

Post by Beatsy »

I intended to get a new PC since late last year, but the volume of s/w and tools I have to move over, reconfigure or re-license made procrastination and managing with what I have a less painful proposition. Until now! The time has finally come!

Most of my needs centre around ordinary photography and efficient post processing of large quantities of images. But extreme macro and heavy-duty stacking plays a large part too. I have a couple of questions regarding that aspect.

The processor I've chosen is Intel i9-7900X (10-core, 3.3Ghz) with 32Gb of 3000Mhz DDR4 RAM initially (expanding to 256Gb at the end of the year).

Will Zerene use all 10 cores? I only have 8Gb in my existing quad-core PC, should I expect any performance improvement with 32Gb RAM?

I don't intend to get solid state drives now (or even at all) as I prioritised my current budget towards internal and network attached disk storage. I could add M.2 SSD at the end of the year but is it even worth considering? Would it make *that* much difference to Zerene rendering times if the hard drives are already bat-fast versions? I get the impression Zerene (and Helicon) are more likely to be CPU bound - but I could be wrong.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers

Justwalking
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Post by Justwalking »


Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

Justwalking wrote:It was here:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=22800

Regards
Brilliant, thanks. I was looking for that thread but couldn't find it. Cheers.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

I can confirm that that thread is still accurate. There have been no recent improvements in Zerene Stacker that would take advantage of huge memory or blazing fast I/O. Those are both pretty high on the request list, however.

--Rik

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

rjlittlefield wrote:I can confirm that that thread is still accurate. There have been no recent improvements in Zerene Stacker that would take advantage of huge memory or blazing fast I/O. Those are both pretty high on the request list, however.

--Rik
Thanks Rik. Since you indirectly alluded to it (request list), may I ask if an updated version of Zerene might be on the cards - sometime?

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

When I went from 8 to 24gb in my PC, I noticed a HUGE difference in both Zerene and CombineZP.

32gb should be more than enough.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Beatsy wrote:Since you indirectly alluded to it (request list), may I ask if an updated version of Zerene might be on the cards - sometime?
There's a new beta out right now, HERE . A long list of items, but mostly bug fixes and tweaks. Also one known bug at this moment -- the DMap preview image comes up at 1/4 size when it ought to fit to window.

--Rik

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

rjlittlefield wrote:
Beatsy wrote:Since you indirectly alluded to it (request list), may I ask if an updated version of Zerene might be on the cards - sometime?
There's a new beta out right now, HERE . A long list of items, but mostly bug fixes and tweaks. Also one known bug at this moment -- the DMap preview image comes up at 1/4 size when it ought to fit to window.
Stellar service indeed! No blind 3d-deconvolution throughout the whole stack yet though - awwww! :P

Thanks all for the comments on the PC. I juggled specs a bit more to stay in budget (or more accurately, to be less far over it). Also changed the CPU to a 14-core I9 @ 3.1Ghz instead and bumped the DDR4 RAM to 3600MHz. Just enough left in the kitty to get the Eizo monitor I want too. Order sent - only 10 days left to make room for it now. Feeling excited :lol:

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

You've ordered it, OK. I won't tell you how many milliseconds it takes a PC with an M.2 drive, to boot up, then. :twisted:
Chris R

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

ChrisR wrote:You've ordered it, OK. I won't tell you how many milliseconds it takes a PC with an M.2 drive, to boot up, then. :twisted:
Yep - fully aware of 'em, but this round of "budget bashing" didn't run to it. My PC is rarely off anyway, nearly always churning something out overnight, even if only something frivolous like a fractal or blender-3d animation, so boot time is not often an issue for me. And "enforced free time" to go make a coffee is always welcome anyway :)

I plan a second round of PC spending at the end of the year, once I know where the performance or capacity bottlenecks are in practice (if any). I could always get one then - but probably won't.

perdu34
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Post by perdu34 »

I too am looking at getting a new computer - I am using a university Mac Pro at the moment and it means I technically breaking IT policy.

This website is one I've found really useful.

Maybe there are things that can help you with your build.

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

perdu34 wrote:...Maybe there are things that can help you with your build.
Thanks, but it's all specced and ordered now. Should have it done and dusted in a couple of weeks. Not a Mac though - ick! :)

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

The Eizo monitor is a wise investment. A good color-calibrated wide-gamut monitor makes a big difference in the quality and consistency of the results.

Justwalking
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Post by Justwalking »

Lou Jost wrote:The Eizo monitor is a wise investment. A good color-calibrated wide-gamut monitor makes a big difference in the quality and consistency of the results.
Wide-gamut sounds perfect, but almost the entire digital world is built to work with sRGB. If you don’t recalibrate a wide-gamut monitor to view the internet, you can be overwhelmed at the color ranges of some websites – they will just look “off.” Additionally, photos that look perfect on wide-gamut monitor will not look the same to anyone using a monitor with an sRGB color range.

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

That is changing. Some browsers are color-management-aware. And if you are printing or publishing your images on paper, a wide-gamut color-calibrated monitor is essential if you want to display the true quality of your images.

You can always downgrade an image to sRGB when needed.

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