I bought a new Dell ultrabook in 2019 while back in the States for a few months:
- i7-8565u (1.8ghz, Turbo Boost 4.6ghz)
- Nvidia Geforce MX250 2gb
- Intel UHD 620
- 32gb ram 2666MHz
- 512gb SSD + external Sandisk Extreme 2tb SSD
I wanted something small and light because I live a sort of nomad lifestyle spending time in various places in Japan, the U.S., etc. While actually traveling internationally for a few weeks I usually don't bother carrying a computer (just a tablet and/or smartphone), but for extended stays of a few months then I take a computer. Here in Japan I have 2 pretty good external monitors in different locations so I almost always have the computer connected to one of them. In the States I usually buy a new monitor to use for a few months and then give it away before returning to Japan.
All that has worked out well for the last few years with several different laptops, but for the last 20 months or so, because of the coronavirus, we have found ourselves just hanging out in the same place. I don't play games. I just use my computer for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and the 3 Topaz programs I bought in May (Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, Gigapixel AI). Those are the only programs that performance matters. The rest of my use is just internet, email, etc.
The Topaz programs could use a bit more power (CPU and GPU) in order to better handle real-time display updates. Currently, every time the screen needs to update (I have a 1920x1200 monitor) at 100% view it takes 10-20 seconds with the Nvidia GPU (much slower with the CPU). Lightroom and Photoshop performance are no problem.
I have been looking at some mini PCs that are quite small, but with, I think, more power using AMD Ryzen processors:
- Ryzen 7 4800U (Total L2 Cache 4MB, Total L3 Cache 8MB, Base Clock 1.8 GHz, up to 4.2 GHz) + Radeon Graphics (Graphics Frequency 1750 MHz)
- Ryzen 9 5900HX (Total L2 Cache 4MB, Total L3 Cache 16MB, Base Clock 3.3 GHz, up to 4.6 GHz) + Radeon Graphics (Graphics Frequency 2100 MHz)
- Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G (Total L2 Cache 4MB, Total L3 Cache 8MB, Base Clock 3.6 GHz, up to 4.4 GHz) + Radeon Vega Graphics (Graphics Frequency 2100 MHz)
+
- 32gb ram 3200MHz
- 512gb M.2 2280 PCIe3.0 SSD
These mini PCs are small enough that I could easily carry them in my carry-on rolling bag (if we ever can easily travel again!) and then I could connect it to an external monitor. For now it looks like we will be stuck here for at least several more months so having a more powerful computer while still being small and easily portable is attractive. I also have limited space for a computer.
Now to my question. Do you think I would see much of an improvement in the Topaz interactive performance with these computers? They have integrated graphics, but from a couple of youtube video reviews it seems they are pretty fast. Unfortunately, all the info I can find is focused on using them for games, not Topaz and other graphics programs which may be a bit less demanding.
I am sorry that this was rather long, but I already know that without the background many people would tell me to get a full-size desktop with fast GPU, etc. That isn't practical for me though. I am trying to find a compromise that may work enough better than my laptop for these times when I am not moving around. Thank you.
For example:
https://store.minisforum.com/products/h ... 8847128737
https://store.minisforum.com/products/m ... 0884281505
https://store.minisforum.com/collection ... 0g-mini-pc
https://youtu.be/rUkm9Pg3tqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4MOUnOsA7Q
https://youtu.be/ItdkUxZYWjA
Of course, there are lots of companies that make these mini PCs, but above is a sample of some I have looked at.