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Capture One 22 - GPU - Quadro or else

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16 comments

  • C-M-B

    No need for a Quadro or any other type of workstation GPU. A regular GPU will do fine unless you plan to use it for 3D rendering or special things that require a Quadro.

    As long as the GPU has at least 4GB of RAM it will enable hardware acceleration.

    So I'd get either the 3070 or 3080.

    Regarding Windows...depends on what kind of a user you are. If you want more control, change some system level settings etc you should get Pro. If you're a casual user then Home is sufficient.

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    Agree on the Quadro.

    But, if this is your only monitor and if color is important to you might want to consider a notebook with a screen capable of 100% sRGB (or at least nearly 100%), or maybe even a high percentage of AdobeRGB and a uniform screen.

    My advice: Check reviews of the notebook first

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  • SFA

    Have you looked at Dell?

    The Precision range of business oriented notebooks provided me with an excellent system in 2013 (windows 7) and an update to a newer version in early 2021 has provided a solid result with Windows 10. The current system has a NVidia T2000 GPU card that seems to be a good balance of cost and performance for my needs. However other cards are available if you think they will offer greater benefits.

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    I second that, I prefer Dell over Lenovo too.

    A word of caution about screen resolution: High resolution can slow down C1 significantly.

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  • Claudia Mathys

    Thanks a lot for all the quick comments!

    Currently I have a 2012 HP running with Win7. So yes I know it runs on it too. ;-) But I want to buy something I can use again for years.
    Yes, it will be my only computer and monitor. And therefore I want to have a 15" with number block.

    Both are available with 4k IPS matte panel and 100% Adobe RGB.
    I'm pretty new in photograpy - otherwise it will be a computer for everything at home (office, streaming, C1 - done)

    The T15g is more expensive with the RTX Q-Max than the Quadro A3000. The rest of both is the same. Except of the ISV certification - which I don't really need.

    Lenovo is used by Pixelcomputer who specifiy them especially for photographers. So I went to Lenovo.
    Why do you prefere Dell? 


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  • SFA

    I have never used a Lenovo so cannot comment.

    I have an old HP which was very slow even when new. I had a lot of stuff before that but all too old to be points of discussion. Mostly they were very expensive (compared to today) but short lived as technology was advancing rapidly.

    My older Dell Precision is naturally rugged. In 8 years of mostly on-the-lap use it has been mishandled and dropped and the only failures have been batteries, the original power supply (about 5 years) and 2 non-dell power supplies since then. And One of the screen hinges after about 7 years. Easily replaced.

    It is also relatively easy to upgrade/add memory and an internal disk or disks if required.

    I suspect the internal components - all of them not just the more obvious boards and cards - were selected for both performance and reliability.

    The new one seems to be built with the same principles in mind. It also has a DCIP3 screen but 4K UHD screens are available if preferred.

    If one's Locale offers access to a Dell Outlet "refurb and returns" supply it is very possible to obtain high specification systems at reasonable prices. However if one wishes for a very individually tuned specification one may have to wait and monitor what is available until something appears!

    I have a 7550. 15.4" screen and separate numeric pad. Intel i7, 10th Gen.

    I think there is now a later version (7560) that might be worth considering. If using the Outlet check the listed available specs. carefully to ensure they match your preferences and needs.

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    In order of importance:

    Firstly, 4k and C1 don't play well together, the official system recommendation says "at least double the hardware capabilities" or similar, and if you read through the forum you'll find tons of complaints about performance, smoothness of operation (when moving sliders or when using specific tools), so ask yourself if you really need 4k resolution. I can live perfectly with 1920px wide.

    Secondly, if you are new to photography, sRGB is probably all you need for years, depending on what you want to do. Images in web are always sRGB. Printing on paper (own printer or printing service): There is a slight advantage for some images imo, but there is a big increase in complexity too (file formats, color management).
    EDIT: You don't see all printer colors even on AdobeRGB monitors, but I really never had a problem originating from sending sRGB images to a printing service.

    Third, during your course into photography, you might want to add an external monitor which is bigger than 15 inch anyway, and this monitor could have 100% adobeRGB, and/or 4k (if you really want).

    Dell:
    I used to have Thinkpads before IBM sold this business to the Chinese company Lenovo, but these were not used for photography. I have then bought a Dell mobile workstation similar to SFA, 10 years ago, and was very happy with it (despite a hardware issue but the onsite support was excellent). (btw, I needed a quadro with certification for CAD software.)

    I switched to a desktop computer 5 years ago but needed a travel notebook last year and did a lot of research, and the winner was a Dell XPS which I am very happy with, the monitor is "only" sRGB but otherwise magnificent, the touchpad is the best I ever had (though nobody beats Mac touchpads I believe), the keyboard is almost perfect (only the space bar could be a tad more silent).

    I have also access to a Dell Inspirion but you feel that this is in a lower level.

    So I think Dell XPS or Dell Precision is a good choice. I did not do a more recent research, so maybe the Lenovo is also good.

    Uniformity of the screen is very important for photography, imo, so you might be able to find a review/test which covers this this aspect too.

     

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    My only real complaint about repairability of my old Dell Precicion M4500 is that some keys on the keyboard stopped working after 10 years and the spare keyboard was not available anymore... :-) However, the support hot line gave me the part number and the hint to search on amazon (8 years after my support contract ended). Unfortunately it was not available anymore either, so I retired it after another year with external keyboard. :-)

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  • SFA

    My older machine is an M4700.

    I found a local business that recovers usable components from retired or partially broken devices. That is where the lid hinges came from (a Pair, I only used one of them) and I took the opportunity to buy a used trackpad button panel, iirc, as one of the two fitted on that model was worn and started giving some functional problems just as I was arranging the replacement hinge. As I was going to dismantle things it made sense to spend a very small amount to swap the other part as well.

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    Another word on 4k. I think the C1 user interface doesn't scale well (reading forum posts) so especially on a small notebook screen 15inch/17inch, you might possibly face an issue with too small text and/or tools.

    Maybe someone with 4k can confirm...

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  • SFA

    I agree with BeO about 1920px wide. But one needs to be careful to get a higher-end screen within that size. (In my opinion). Better colours, better brightness and control of brightness and, as BeO mentioned, 

    I was also influenced by the idea of better screen uniformity from the higher specificationscreens.

    I was tempted to try a 4k screen and then drop back to 1920 if 4K proved to be a ridiculous idea for a 15" screen. Great for presentations perhaps but maybe not for working with text.

    For a large screen (probably on a desk) 4k might be great - but at a distance that in effect would suit more screen real estate and yet leave it at a readable size. I have a 22" screen that is still only 1920px wide. I can sit twice as far away from it as the 15" notebook screen on a lap and get the same relative viewing effect.  And that's fine by me. 

    To go to 4K I would be looking for the same text size within an application but with the ability to have more applications open and visible concurrently. In the case of C1 it might provide for more floating tools on-screen and usable at the same time whilst still comfortably working at an effective 1920 px wide for the image.

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    The Lenovo with this specific 1920 display compares very good (display-wise). Though not the higest color space coverage, the brighness, brightness distribution, color accuracy (deltaE2000 values) are very good compared to its peers in this review (all other compared models sport a 4k display). Flickering seems acceptable (though I prefer no PWM displays)

    https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15-Gen-2-laptop-review-Traditional-workstation-with-new-GPUs.567734.0.html 

    (scroll down to the chapter "Display - 1080p HDR 500")

    There are always compromises, choosing the right ones is difficult... :-)

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  • Claudia Mathys

    hmmm this is really interessting.

    Already a year ago there was a online presentation of P15 Gen 1 and at this time I asked exactly this question: Isn't the text too small on a 4K monitor? They assured that this is no problem.

    The latest information form C1 is the doubling of the specs otherwise. Which I would have. But if I still get problems with it and eg. office programs too, it really doesn't make sense to buy the 4K

    https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408834421137-Capture-One-21-14-4-1-release-notes

    About the flickering, which is a great hint too: I compared it with the P15s Gen 2 which has a 4K IPS in the comparison and this screens has absolutely no  PWM which would be great.
    https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15s-Gen-2-laptop-review-Ultrabook-workstation-now-with-Nvidia-T500.545889.0.html

    Obviously there are too many possibilities to get the "right" one :-D

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  • BeO
    Top Commenter

    I don't assume that the MS Office applications will have a scaling problem, but C1 might.

    You also said you would use it for "streaming". Don't know how important 4k would be for this in general, and for you specifically.

    It is not easy, I tried to research a notebook for you too, out of curiosity, but could not find one which ticks all the boxes (probably as always, so compromises would have to be made).

    Lack of, or a low level of flickering is important especially it you dial down the brightness, e.g. in case of nightly couch sessions.

    Regarding 4k and C1, even with new, maxed out Macs, some users have complaints about performance and smoothness of operation; but certainly it is hard to assess whether or not it would bother you in a similar manner. What they complain about could be totally fine for you. Maybe.

    If you ask me, 4k for photo editing is overrated, unless maybe for professional retouchers. Even today I would choose 1920px even on a 24 inch monitor, or 2560 on a 27 inch monitor, and 13-17 inch notebooks with 1920px resolution is totally fine.

    If you happen to want a good external monitor for photo editing, have a look at the Eizo CS2420, which is a bang for the buck really. I have the predecessor CS240, which is a bit bulkier than the CS2420 but a superb photo monitor for the money. The CS2420 looks nicer as it is thinner but has a similar panel. And believe me, your images will delight you much more on a 24inch monitor than on a notebook sized screen.

     

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  • Claudia Mathys

    Thanks a lot for all your hints! This is really helpful!

    I also went through the community about the 4K and I found this post

    https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360010876438-Using-a-4k-monitor-

    with the link to 
    https://jmgalleriesusa.medium.com/make-your-capture-one-pro-menu-font-look-normal-again-on-hdpi-windows-10-devices-a055d71cfb10

    But I will really re-think about it.

    Thanks

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  • Nikolai Vassiliev

    I have 4K 14" convertible Zbook (with 8th series Intel CPU and no dedicated GPU) and it's not very fast with C1 (Photoshop or Affinity Apps is fast). but 4K option is much better colorwise, 1920x1080 panels produced nowadays usually has bad color coverage, not all, but most of it. So i would go with 3K or 4K in the future - with 200% scaling and modern hardware.

     

     

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