Performance improvement: More Ram or more cores?

T

tomb18

Well-known member
I currently have an Intel based socket 2066 mother board with a 9800x (8 core) CPU and 32 Mb ram. I just got a 62 mp CMOS camera and can see that this will be kind of slow going forward. So, where will I get the best gain? Getting an 18 core CPU, i9 10980xe, (if they ever become available again) or 128Gb ram. Both are around the same cost ($1000).
I currently have a fast u.2 SSD of 1Tb as well as fast m.2 PCiE SSD.
Suggestions? (I won't change to AMD since I want a fast upgrade. This is also a visual studio development machine that I make a living on).
Thanks, Tom
 
Run through a typical photo processing session one day, and use Task Manager to monitor your computer's performance.
If the CPU is stuck at 100% (or also flat at 20% - one core working) then you need faster CPU. File compression/decompression, demosaic, deconvolution, wavelets need CPU
if the DISK usage is high and the MEMORY is also high, the machine is swapping a lot, where you need more RAM.
With 62MPixel and lots of subs probably you will need both - then you have to prioritize.
 
Hi
Good points. Just did one. The memory is maxed out (25Gb of 25 Gb in use) and the CPU is pegged at 100% as well. There is negligible disk usage. Looks like both are needed.
Thanks, Tom
 
If there is negligible disk usage then it means that the RAM somehow, probably with the partial file reads of PixInsight, manages to do its job. So memory is a second priority. Unless you plan to increase the average number of subs taken with the new camera. The two CPUs you mention though have close to 2x difference in Passmark, so you will see definitely a boost with a CPU change.
 
So, the results are in: With the CPU running at 4GHz overclocked, and a 32Gb ram disk for swap, the benchmark puts the system at 6th place overall for the Windows systems and 10th place for all. Seems to be the fastest Intel results.
It runs fine at 4.3GHz for Pixinsight but temperatures for Prime95 hit over 100C on the cores. Don't want to push it with my cooling which is already water cooled.
Should do fine for my new camera.
Tom
 
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