16 replies to this topic

[grmtgrl]

Hi-would I be correct in believing this laptop would be good for post processing? Thanks for your help!

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17.3", i7-8750H, 16GB, 256GB SSD + 1TB SSHD, GTX 1060, W10H GL703GM-DS74

https://www.adorama....gl703gmds7.html

Not sure if the above link worked. Will try again

https://www.adorama....gl703gmds7.html

Edited by grmtgrl, 23 August 2019 - 03:11 PM.

[jerahian]

I have almost the exact same setup (Acer Aspire A717-72G) with the same processor, i7-8750H, and 16G of RAM, and I think it rocks it for PixInsight.  Not sure what software you will be using mainly for post, but if it is PI, note that the graphics card will do nothing to speed things up.  It's mainly the processor and RAM, and then the storage medium, so an SSD is good.

[grmtgrl]

Thank you! I will start with Astro Pixel, DDS and see how those work.

[ericthemantis]

Going for a gamer type computer is a good bet. Big screen - check. High end processor - check. Lots of RAM (>8GB) - check. Big edit: FAST Harddrive (SSD) - check.

 

Graphics cards can speed up some software for some processing algorithms. My experience with GIMP is that it is mostly a CPU intensive program. Photoshop might have some graphics card based processing algorithms, but then again, they may not be the ones that are often used for astrophotography processing, and the ones we do use a lot, have not been programmed to use the GPU.

Edited by ericthemantis, 23 August 2019 - 03:26 PM.

[jerahian]

Thank you! I will start with Astro Pixel, DDS and see how those work.

BTW, here is the one I got: https://www.newegg.c...N82E16834316435

 

It's seems to be $410 less than the ASUS you posted, for pretty much the same thing except yours has the extra 1TB SSHD.  Just wanted to point that out...

 

GL&CS,

Ara

[grmtgrl]

Thank you both for the info. And, I’m all for saving money (more $ to put towards a mount!). Thanks for your help & suggestions.

[ericthemantis]

Yeah your big drive doesnt need to be fast, but you want your working drive (with windows and sw installed) solid state for sure. Once you are finished post processing, you can move the raw and processed files onto a larger slower (cheaper) drive.

[grmtgrl]

Thanks for more info. Sounds like 16GB Ram & 256 GB SSD are the important things to look for, correct? I like the 17inch screens, but (with exception of above), most are i5. Does that make a big difference?
Thank you.

[ericthemantis]

More RAM is better, but 16GB is good enough (much better than 8GB). 256 GB SSD is also a good size. That is enough room to install windows, lots of programs, and still have enough space to have a good size working directory. My laptop has a 16" or 17" screen, and honestly it is a little small for image processing, but it is what it is. You can also just get an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse if you still want to have a smaller laptop. i7 will be much better for post processing, but will also use more battery juice, so best to have it plugged in when doing processing (my laptop is i7 and i usually use it plugged in). When I get an actual desktop computer for post-processing (hopefully sooner rather than later), it will definitely be an i7.

[ericthemantis]

If you want a really fast drive, see if you can find a laptop with one of Intel's Optane SSD's. Those things are blazing fast for data transfer and access.

[grmtgrl]

Thanks for Optane info. Looks like, of the ones I’ve been looking at, this HP has Optane.
https://store.hp.com...p-17t-7fs92av-1
Thoughts? Thanks. It really doesn’t usually take me this long to make decisions-just that I don’t know ins/outs of computers. I don’t want to get one, only to realize I needed something additional. Thanks.

[tcchittyjr]

More RAM is better, but 16GB is good enough (much better than 8GB). 256 GB SSD is also a good size. That is enough room to install windows, lots of programs, and still have enough space to have a good size working directory. My laptop has a 16" or 17" screen, and honestly it is a little small for image processing, but it is what it is. You can also just get an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse if you still want to have a smaller laptop. i7 will be much better for post processing, but will also use more battery juice, so best to have it plugged in when doing processing (my laptop is i7 and i usually use it plugged in). When I get an actual desktop computer for post-processing (hopefully sooner rather than later), it will definitely be an i7.

There was a thread here on CN, and if you look at the PI Benchmarks, you'll see that the AMD Ryzen 7s are performing much better that the Intel I7s.

 

TomC

[grmtgrl]

Tom-interesting. Looks like the below two laptops have AMD Ryzen. Thoughts

ASUS - 17.3" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD

https://www.bestbuy....p?skuId=6359951


Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-61-R0GX Gaming Laptop, AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Desktop Processor, AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Graphics, 17.3" Full HD 144Hz Radeon FreeSync Display, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD

https://www.amazon.c...UdUnU65987YYwYg

[tcchittyjr]

I would go with the 2700 desktop. It's what I built for my PI processing machine.

 

TomC

[Dunc]

I just selected and bought a similar laptop to the one the OP mentions he is considering. ASUS - TUF FX705DY 17.3" AMD Ryzen 5 RX 560X Gaming Laptop - 1 TB HDD & 128 GB SSD, ticks all the boxes and has 3 USB3 ports which suits my setup well. Just waiting for delivery. My current astronomy laptop is a Tosh Satellite i3 with 6GB and now 2.75TB of disk space (using the DVD drive bay), but it won't run PI and the 15.6" screen gamut is truncated like most older and cheaper spec laptops. I'm looking forward a big full HD IPS display!

 

Duncan

 

 

[ChrisMoses]

If you can get one with dual SSDs it helps a lot!

I just got a Lenovo P1 with dual SSDs ad it is fast!  I don't recall the exact benchmarks between using one ssd and two, but it was very noticeable. 

[grmtgrl]

update-i just picked up the ASUS - 17.3" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 512GB Solid State Drive. Now I'm trying to figure out how to use Astro Pixel Processor!