bleyton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

I recently took some nice bracketed sets that I wanted to run through an HDR process. I tried doing it in Topaz, but it kept crashing when I went to save the file. I tried using Nik Tools, and it crashed too. After looking at the Topaz website I found that the graphics processor on my PC is not supported. So I started looking at the recommended graphics cards and found that everything is in the $300 range. Not to mention that they seem to require a larger power supply in the PC, which will cost even more.

Are there any decent graphics cards that will not break the bank (I'd like to keep this in the $100 range, if possible), or am I just going to have to wait until all of the bitcoin miners go broke and flood the market with good, cheap cards?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Now that bitcoin has lost some value, hopefully video cards with GPUs (which drive cost, heat and power consumption) will come back to reality in terms of price.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

May be time to retire the PC and upgrade to something newer that will give you the performance you need. You may find that your mainboard may not support a Power Supply needed by the graphics card.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I researched before buying... Pascal code, which is required for some modern programs, is used for the Nvidia 1050 Ti. I purchased the 4 GB option. Think I paid $160. Auxiliary power is not needed.

Below is a comment by a company that builds PCs:
" At Puget Systems, we photograph the majority of the computers we build. We share these photos with our customers, as a courtesy, to show that their PC is done and ready to ship, and as a future reference for our tech support staff. We also want to make these photographs public, to help anyone who could benefit from them! Below you will find photos of the most recent builds we have completed with the EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/parts/photography/Video-Card/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-1050-Ti-4GB-11998"

1050 and 1050Ti discussed in detail [$140]:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3134528/components-graphics/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-and-gtx-1050-ti-review-the-new-budget-gaming-champions.html

If the addition of this graphics card does not solve your problem, then use it in the next computer build. Many parts can transfer to the new build... many articles out there... yesterday's UHH was a discussion.

bleyton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Thanks for your response. I started looking around and it was very confusing at first. Eventually I found the Passmark website and it started to make more sense. I zeroed in on the GTX 1050 & 1050 Ti, since they seem to give the best bang for the buck.

It's unfortunate that prices have gone up in the last year or two - the prices mentioned in the article you referenced are lower than current prices, but I suppose these models are still somewhat affordable, especially since I would not need to upgrade my power supply too.

My main concern is that I just want something that will allow me to do HDR and other types of advanced post-processing, which just are not possible with my current setup. Seems like the 1050 series will definitely do the job - do you think it's worth the extra $40 to go from the 1050 to the 1050ti? Will having 4GB of ram vs. 2GB (along with the added performance of the Ti version) make a significant difference to Topaz or Nik Tools?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

The real question is how much effect the graphics card GPU will have on the HDR operation(s) you’re trying to perform. The primary purpose of the graphic card is to render the image on the display, but the on-board GPU may, or may not be involved in the HDR processing depending on the application as opposed to the main board’s CPU. Perhaps someone on the forum who is intimately familiar with the actual HDR processing of these tools can comment on the CPU vs GPU utilization. You’re assuming that because your graphic GPU isn’t supported, that’s the problem, but it could also be CPU performance or too little main memory. What CPU are you running and how much DRAM (not VRAM) memory?

bleyton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

My machine is an 8-core AMD FX 8120 / 3.1 GHz, with 16GB of DDR3 RAM. It is several years old, and was not top of the line even when new, but it has been a very reliable machine that has performed well for me.

According to the Topaz Studio website, my graphics chipset (Radeon HD 3000) is not supported, so I assume that's why it crashes so frequently. They also state that their software relies much more on the GPU than other software, which is why I can have problems with Topaz even though Lightroom and Photoshop work well.

https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004759908-Minimum-Requirements-and-Recommended-Hardware

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Thanks for the information. OK processor (Passmark 6594) and enough memory, so back to the graphics card as a potential bottleneck.

bleyton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Yup, that's what I am thinking. I will probably wait to see if anything amazing comes up on Prime Day next week, and go from there. I think prices are edging down, so it won't hurt to wait a bit.