Fabulous1too

I posed this question a few weeks ago and the responses came back whacky, in short it did not address my real concern. I think the subject got swayed into other subjects that had nothing to do with my real concern. To be more specific, I am running PS & LR (with no problem), my problem is I cannot run the Topaz Studio and Studio 2, AI's, as a plugin or even as a standalone. My desktop computer is about 6 years old, an Asus M51BC, processor is an AMD FX (tm) 8300 eight core processor with a 500SSD and 32 gig ram, please don't say "it SHOULD WORK" with those specs because in reality it doesn't. The answer I'm looking for is what do I need in a laptop that can run (PS, LR, Affinity, Topaz Suite) Topaz Studio, Studio and all the Ai's. Thank you in advance.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You already have the industry standard processing tools from Adobe. You might stop for a moment and ask: what am I doing wrong in my shooting technique that I need artificial-intelligence based software processing to achieve my image results? Why can't I capture a sharp image out of camera with just minimal LR / PS processing? Why can't I properly exposure an image with minor adjustments in post? What is the best use of my time and money to accomplish superior results?

Your answers may still point you to Topaz and still more computer equipment. Maybe not. Maybe the issue isn't technique and maybe more pp training for either / both Adobe tools? Maybe it isn't technique, and rather, truly inferior equipment? Consider all the possibilities.

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

Very good advice.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

What graphics card are you using?... That can make a huge difference.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Have you checked with Topaz to confirm minimum required hardware? Is it a hardware issue, or perhaps a software issue with something that prevents Topaz Studio from running, like virus software?

Topazlabs may be your best choice, open a help desk ticket and they may be able to resolve your issue, or point you to the correct equipment.

Any issue I have had over the years Topaz was very responsive to.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Should we assume you have an unlimited budget since you did not mention budget as a constraint? There is a new Mac at $6K which will probably work.

kenievans Loc: Dallas

I use PS, LR and Topaz Studios. I was haveing major problems using Topaz as a plug in. It was eating up too much RAM. Rather than access Topaz through PS so that it creates a Topaz layer, I save the files as a jpg from PS then open the jpg in Topaz. If you are trying to be non-destructive this might not be the answer for you but it is a work around until you have the equipment solution. I can't afford $6000 for a new laptop so it works just fine for me. Good luck.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

Not a pc user so can't answer for you but I can tell you I use a 2011 iMac without any issues with On1 Raw 2020 (dropped Adobe after they lied about always having perpetual licenses) with Topaz Studio 2 with absolutely no issues. I don’t use their very expensive AI tools because Resize in On1 Raw 2020 works just as well and a hell of a lot faster. Plus after the crappy releases they've done lately with Topaz Studio 2 (14 version updates to get it running well and still missing major features) I don’t trust them. The AI plugins require latest graphics cards to run at all. No idea what you would use for a PC. And I love all the answers which have nothing to do with your question basically calling you an idiot for not using PhotoShop and Lightroom, which can not do what Topaz Studio 2 does.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I have ASUS with only 16G RAM. But it is 8 cores. What graphics card do you have? I can run all the AI applications.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Using JPEG files with Topaz AI tools would not be useful. Too much capture info has been thrown away.

TheStarvingArtist

My MacBook Pro and iMac are 5years old and run all of them just fine

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

It’s tough to give advice without looking at the machine so you really are on your own. I built my desktop and first fired it up on 4/21/11, so 8 1/2 years ago (Asus ROG motherboard, i7 4/8 core 2.6GHz processor running at 3.4GHz, 16GB mem and an upgraded higher end Graphics Processor running Win 10). I run the Adobe suite including LR and PS along with Topaz Studio 2 with a few of the AI apps, some of which I access through PS. So it does work.

FWIW, LR started crashing on my machine after the upgrade. Everything else ran fine. Long story short, ran a full set of diagnostics on memory (memtest86), disks and the processor. No errors. Ended up chatting with Adobe, who took over my machine and ended up fixing it. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. As far as a replacement machine, look for a gamer laptop or desktop with the most expensive processor, largest memory, solid state disks, and highest performance GP you can afford.

repleo Loc: Boston

Google 'Topaz Hardware recommendations'.
Topaz relies on the graphics card more than RAM or the CPU processor to do the heavy lifting. It says it needs a 'minimum' of 2 GB of GPU VRAM; 4GB is 'recommended' and 6GB + is 'optimal.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Topaz has a list of recommended graphics cards and I suspect you are not using one of them. There are other cards that will work and Topaz support can help you find one.

But I've had a bit of trouble with their advice on this topic so let me tell you about it. After a Topaz upgrade, Topaz Studio stopped working on my PC - that was a few years old. A little investigation told me that the problem was the graphics card which on that PC was integrated onto the motherboard. Topaz support told me that none of the recommended boards would fit in my PC; that puzzled me because my PC had a pretty large case, but on the advice from Topaz I bought a lesser board and had a devil of a time getting it to work properly. A year or two later that PC crashed and I decided it was time to get a new one.

To avoid the substantial problems I had experienced installing the graphics card earlier, I limited my search for a replacement to systems that included one of the recommended graphics cards. Those that fit the bill were mostly sold for game enthusiasts, but several were available for well under $1000. The new PC came in a much smaller case. Digging into it I realized what the Topaz recommendation years earlier had been based on - the spacing for the cards in the older PC was narrower than the graphics card - however that was not a real problem, I could have accommodated the better cards by sacrificing an adjacent spare slot and that would not have been any problem. But I met another size problem with the new PC. The new PC with the smaller case had no room for additional disk drives - those have to sit outside of the case and be served through a USB port. It works but this generates a lot of unsightly clutter around the PC.

Good luck with solving your problem. I told you my story in the hope that you might learn something from my mistakes.

Nikon1201

This biggest issue is having a graphics card that is that having OPEN GL 3.5 or higher. If you do t have this it makes no difference what computer you have.