DPP on multi core CPU

[cjjthomp]

Hi

This is my first post, so may be a bit ragged:

I'm using a Canon 60D with a Microscope objective and Stackshot rail to do focus stacking. I frequently end up with 100 or more CR2 files to be converted to JPEG and this takes about 25 minutes on my current system. If I mess something up and have to repeat, it gets a bit tedious.

Task manager tells me that DPP is using all four cores of my CPU at essentially 100% for this process, so that's my bottleneck and I'm considering buying a more powerful system to speed things up, namely an Intel I7 8700K based desktop. (Current system is a 4-core I5, 4 years old)

My question is: Will DPP use all 12 threads of the 8700K? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance,

jeff

[Waddizzle]

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@cjjthomp wrote:

Hi

This is my first post, so may be a bit ragged:

I'm using a Canon 60D with a Microscope objective and Stackshot rail to do focus stacking. I frequently end up with 100 or more CR2 files to be converted to JPEG and this takes about 25 minutes on my current system. If I mess something up and have to repeat, it gets a bit tedious.

Task manager tells me that DPP is using all four cores of my CPU at essentially 100% for this process, so that's my bottleneck and I'm considering buying a more powerful system to speed things up, namely an Intel I7 8700K based desktop. (Current system is a 4-core I5, 4 years old)

My question is: Will DPP use all 12 threads of the 8700K? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance,

jeff

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I suggest that you get a system that includes an nVidia graphics card, at least 4GB.  I use a gaming computer with 500GB SSD, and a 1TB conventional drive.  It smokes through converting RAW to JPEGs at a rate of one 20-30MB RAW file every ten seconds, or about 5-6 per minute.

Having a separate graphics card, with its’ own video memory, instead of sharing system memory with video memory, is crucial to letting DPP run at its’ full potential.  I also recommend having at least 8 GB of system RAM, preferably at least 16 GB of RAM.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@cjjthomp wrote:

Hi

This is my first post, so may be a bit ragged:

I'm using a Canon 60D with a Microscope objective and Stackshot rail to do focus stacking. I frequently end up with 100 or more CR2 files to be converted to JPEG and this takes about 25 minutes on my current system. If I mess something up and have to repeat, it gets a bit tedious.

Task manager tells me that DPP is using all four cores of my CPU at essentially 100% for this process, so that's my bottleneck and I'm considering buying a more powerful system to speed things up, namely an Intel I7 8700K based desktop. (Current system is a 4-core I5, 4 years old)

My question is: Will DPP use all 12 threads of the 8700K? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance,

jeff

---

I suggest that you get a system that includes an nVidia graphics card, at least 4GB.  I use a gaming computer with 500GB SSD, and a 1TB conventional drive.  It smokes through converting RAW to JPEGs at a rate of one 20-30MB RAW file every ten seconds, or about 5-6 per minute.

Having a separate graphics card, with its’ own video memory, instead of sharing system memory with video memory, is crucial to letting DPP run at its’ full potential.  I also recommend having at least 8 GB of system RAM, preferably at least 16 GB of RAM.

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Why does the graphics card have any impact on the conversion from RAW to JPEG? The image isn't displayed during that operation.

[cjjthomp]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm getting about the same 5 to 6 raw conversons per second with my current system, so between 15 and 20 minutes for a stack of 100 raws. The thing is, that stack of 100 raws is effectively 1 final picture, not 100 finished products.

I have the "use graphics processor" option checked but I'm not sure what difference that makes. My real concern is that some programs will only use up to four cores, while I'd be paying for 6 in the 8700K. I'm also unsure whether DPP will make use of the hyper-threading technology in the 8700K. This stuff all costs hard cash dollars and I don't want to spend it for no advantage. 

[cjjthomp]

Update: To follow up on Bob's remark, I ran a test with 100 raw conversions, first with "Use graphics processor" checked, then unchecked (after a restart). No significant difference in time (about 20 minutes), Task Manager shows all 4 cores right up to the lid, the GPU idling in both cases. Memory usage is about 4GB out of my total of 8GB.

Jeff

Calgary, Canada

[RobertTheFat]

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cjjthomp wrote:

Update: To follow up on Bob's remark, I ran a test with 100 raw conversions, first with "Use graphics processor" checked, then unchecked (after a restart). No significant difference in time (about 20 minutes), Task Manager shows all 4 cores right up to the lid, the GPU idling in both cases. Memory usage is about 4GB out of my total of 8GB.

Jeff

Calgary, Canada

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As I ponder the issue, I can think of several reasons why I'd be more surprised if the program didn't use all available cores than if it did. Without going into too much gory (and entirely speculative) detail, I'll just point out that in the "Batch Process" command each conversion is, in principle, an independent (and approximately identical) task that can be queued to the operating system and handed off to any core that becomes available. These tasks will compete against each other for processor time, obviously, but they shouldn't threaten to freeze the machine, because they will be queued as background tasks. I might even hazard a guess that the reason the "Convert & Save" command can handle only one file at a time is that it operates at foreground priority. So I don't think I'd hesitate to buy the more powerful machine, with some confidence that I were getting my money's worth.

[Waddizzle]

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@cjjthomp wrote:

Update: To follow up on Bob's remark, I ran a test with 100 raw conversions, first with "Use graphics processor" checked, then unchecked (after a restart). No significant difference in time (about 20 minutes), Task Manager shows all 4 cores right up to the lid, the GPU idling in both cases. Memory usage is about 4GB out of my total of 8GB.

Jeff

Calgary, Canada

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Checking the box in DPP is almost meaningless if do not have a GPU, or enable it.

Did you also check to see if the graphics card is enabled to allow DPP to use the graphics CPU?

[Ray-uk]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Checking the box in DPP is almost meaningless if do not have a GPU, or enable it.

Did you also check to see if the graphics card is enabled to allow DPP to use the graphics CPU?

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Before I had a suitable card the enable box was greyed out and couldn't be checked.

The only place I have found to enable DPP in the NVidia control panel is on the 3D section, it seems to work but I can't see the relevance, DPP isn't 3D, at least mine isn't. Have you enabled it in some other way.

[jrhoffman75]

Use graphics card is selected in DPP Preferences; but it only affects image display.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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Why does the graphics card have any impact on the conversion from RAW to JPEG? The image isn't displayed during that operation.

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Different instruction set.  I would draw a comparison to having a CPU that can only perform binary adds to one that can perform BCD adds.