GPU refresh

[Pantlegz]

I know with technology it seems if you wait a couple months there's always going to be something 'game changing' but with the release of new Nvidia desktop GPU's would it be worth it to wait for their mobile variants before picking up a laptop that's going to be used for school\work and a bit of photo editing?

 

[JeffMD]

No, because you will be using the intel iGPU for everything non-3d related. The nvidia gpu only kicks in when you are playing a game. And while pascal will undoubtedly be coming to notebooks, it has not been announced yet so it will be some time.

 

[blankslate]

No, because you will be using the intel iGPU for everything non-3d related. The nvidia gpu only kicks in when you are playing a game. And while pascal will undoubtedly be coming to notebooks, it has not been announced yet so it will be some time.

This is generally true but with the Nvidia control panel you can set the discrete GPU to be called into use when a specific program is started

In the manage 3d settings section look at the Program tab instead of the Global tab. You should be able to select a program and choose either integrated or the Discrete gpu for it.


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[JeffMD]

Blank, err, what question were you answering?

 

[Pantlegz]

Well in that case, would it make sense to wait for the refresh for photoshop/lightroom or are the increases in performance from GPU minimal compared to CPU/RAM? For example if going from a 970 to a 1070 would net 10% increased performance but I can get the laptop with a 970 for 20% less it seems to make sense to buy now. But if the performance increase is closer to 40% it would make sense to wait.

 

[blankslate]

http://photo.stackexchange.com/ques...pu-more-important-for-photoshop-and-lightroom

If you have already maxed out your RAM and storage options, I would then decide which program speed and efficiency are more important to you. For example if you are a much heavier user of Lightroom, I would choose processor over GPU. If you are much heavier user of Photoshop, it is a harder decision, and really gets into the specific processor model and GPU model(which I won't go into here, and would be better suited for superuser.com). If it is a desktop model, I personally would go with the CPU over GPU since it is likely you can upgrade the GPU anyways.

To answer your secondary question, if you are using an older version of Photoshop that does not have heavy requirements on the GPU, you still need a graphics card to handle things like Windows and the actual display on your monitor, it just won't be used by Photoshop to offload the heavy tasks it does with many new features.

Additional information can be found in other questions already on this site:

According to this question and answers it seems that Lightroom does just as well with any GPU and that Photoshop CS6 (not sure with version of photoshop you plan on using) can benefit from a better GPU.

But if the performance increase is closer to 40% it would make sense to wait.

not sure how it relates to photoshop but in games the 1070 seems to have a very noticeable improvement in performance over the 970 in games.

Hope that helps

*e2a* you'd have to take care to do the research to make sure your GPU and drivers are compatible with Photoshop version you're using it appears. could be an issue with a laptop gpu or set of drivers.

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[JeffMD]

Keep in mind mobile GPUs are on a different level from their desktop counterpart. You can't just match % increases on the desktops and assume the same falls true for the mobile gpu.

Like I said, the apps you will be using aren't going to be using the nvidia gpu unless you are using a plugin that takes advantage of CUDA. Frankly if you do not KNOW what accelerates the apps you are using, you will care less with which one you wait for. -_-

 

[Pantlegz]

Keep in mind mobile GPUs are on a different level from their desktop counterpart. You can't just match % increases on the desktops and assume the same falls true for the mobile gpu.

Like I said, the apps you will be using aren't going to be using the nvidia gpu unless you are using a plugin that takes advantage of CUDA. Frankly if you do not KNOW what accelerates the apps you are using, you will care less with which one you wait for. -_-

Actually nvidia is doing away with mobile variants of gpu's with 10x0 series but will adjust clocks/voltage so the jump from m970 to a 1070 should be more profound. I'm honestly looking for my girlfriend who asked me to help I did some searching and didn't find much useful information so I asked here hoping that someone might have experience with photoshop since I don't. Maybe there's a better sub forum for this?

 

[JeffMD]

Pantl, I'll believe it when I see it. Batteries didn't suddenly get bigger, and the nvidia chips didnt suddenly stop needing secondary power hookups. They offered up desktop variants for hard core notebook users, but for the most part unless they want notebook life to be less then an hour and a half, they need to drop that voltage big time.

 

[blankslate]

Actually nvidia is doing away with mobile variants of gpu's with 10x0 series but will adjust clocks/voltage so the jump from m970 to a 1070 should be more profound. I'm honestly looking for my girlfriend who asked me to help I did some searching and didn't find much useful information so I asked here hoping that someone might have experience with photoshop since I don't. Maybe there's a better sub forum for this?

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...op-class-geforce-gtx-1080-1070-to-laptops.htm

Nvidia is said to be working on desktop-class GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 gaming GPUs for laptops.

In the past, companies like Nvidia and AMD made separate products for laptops and desktops. However, Nvidia may break the trend with the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070, which may launch on laptops with unchanged form.

Nvidia launched the GTX 1080 in early May this year and the graphics cards have been applauded in the market. Jen-Hsun Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, refers to the GTX 1080 as "the new king."

The GTX 1080 can bring high-quality gaming experience to desktop users, which will be missed by gaming laptop users. However, PC Gamer has spoken to some of its "insider contacts" during the 2016 Computex and reports that Nvidia is planning to launch desktop-grade GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 for laptops.

"According to our contacts, Nvidia is readying the release of its new 10-series chips for notebooks. The kick is, they won't be M versions of desktop GPUs. They will be the same chips used on the desktops, just operating at a lower TDP-we're told there will be the same number of shader units, etc.," says the PC Gamer report.

PC Gamer also suggests that Nvidia will no more produce M versions of its desktop graphics cards for laptops. If the rumor is correct, then gamers will be able to enjoy graphics-intense games at home as well as on the go.

^it looks like for all intensive purposes other than perhaps lower clock speeds the versions of the 1080 and 1070 nVidia in laptops might just be identical to what is in desktop versions.

Here is where I got my information on how the 1080 performs compared to the 980m in games. Granted that's entirely different from PHotoshop.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-980-Notebook.150599.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-980-Notebook.150599.0.html

However, if photoshop has even 50% of the improvements one gets in games from the upgrade maybe it may be worth it depending on your budget and need for faster processing with Photoshop.

As stated in my previous post research will have to be done to see if your version of photoshop would be compatible with the new gpus in laptops.

And lighroom is unlikely to take advantage of a discrete GPU while it's only a possibility depending on compatibility with certain gpus and the drivers that Photoshop will benefit from waiting for the 1080 or 1070 in laptops.
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