welshgator Loc: South Carolina

Hi everybody, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

For those of you who are running Topaz Studio and AI Clear, I'm curious what the specs are for the computer you are using? Specifically, the processor, graphics card, total RAM, Windows 7, 10 or other. Everything I read says this software is very demanding about hardware, OS and graphics card minimum specs. So before I invest in a new computer I'd love to hear your thoughts first.
Thanks in advance,
AL R. (
WelshGator)

repleo Loc: Boston

I think the graphis card is the key hardware item for Topaz Studio. Topaz makes more intensive use of the graphics card than other editing software but is not terribly demanding on the CPU or memory.
See here: https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004759908-Topaz-Studio-Minimum-Requirements-and-Recommended-Hardware. Only certain certain cards re supported. Also note the warning ' If your machine hardware falls between the Minimum and Recommended performance levels, you can encounter issues..'

I believe you can download the Studio software for free and download many of the modules fre for a 30 day trial.

I haven't tried it. I doubt that my feeble integrated graphics card will be up to the task. If it going to labor and grind through processing I don't want it.

repleo Loc: Boston

I think the graphis card is the key hardware item for Topaz Studio. Topaz makes more intensive use of the graphics card than other editing software but is not terribly demanding on the CPU or memory.
See here: https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004759908-Topaz-Studio-Minimum-Requirements-and-Recommended-Hardware. Only certain certain cards re supported. Also note the warning ' If your machine hardware falls between the Minimum and Recommended performance levels, you can encounter issues..'

I believe you can download the Studio software for free and download many of the modules fre for a 30 day trial.

I haven't tried it. I doubt that my feeble integrated graphics card will be up to the task. If it going to labor and grind through processing I don't want it.

AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

I bought it, downloaded it and can't get it to work. Support is by back-and-forth email. Not the dumbest move I've made all year, but definitely in the top 10! Good luck!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Use the link given by repleo. If the software makers say you need certain specs, believe them. If the specs are too demanding financially, look for different software.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

Any well assembled 'gaming rig' should be capable. Look to using a M.2 PCIe SSD for speed. The are currently the common fast ones, several times faster than SATA. My latest rig uses an ASRock Z390, board and two 512GB, M.2s. One is used for the OS and drivers/programs, the other is used for installing applications. I use a regular 6 TB HD for storing data. 16GB of RAM is adequate. RAM speed does not have to be the fastest; it has a minor effect on overall performance. The graphics card is key and is a 2080 Ti.
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Dik

brooklyn-camera I Loc: Brooklyn, NY

I had the same problem, went on FaceBook IM and we solved the problem. When I first downloaded Topaz Studio I had a different email address. I asked if that would be part of the problem. Was told hold on for a minute, after that was told that Topaz had to merge my old and new email. Bingo, AI CLEAR works like a charm. I think that FB IM is the best way to go for assistance from Topaz Labs. Topaz customer service (tech help) was great. Thank you Topaz Labs.
quote=AZNikon]I bought it, downloaded it and can't get it to work. Support is by back-and-forth email. Not the dumbest move I've made all year, but definitely in the top 10! Good luck![/quote]

welshgator Loc: South Carolina

Thank you to all of you who replied with information! I have read all the info on the Topaz site, including the list of graphics cards supported by them, and it all sounds wonderful according to Topaz. I really like to hear from real world users for comparison, and the combined knowledge and experience to be had on this site is huge. Thanks again to everybody!!!
AL (WelshGator)

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

Here is my advice for all my fellow UHH'ers grappling with the same question. Before I became a serious photographer. I was (still am) a custom computer system builder. For my business clients the cost of the build was commensurate with the requirements of their proprietary software. Typically I used hardware that exceeded the minimum software specs by a factor of four or more. For those clients cost was secondary to performance. The situation for my individual and family customers was different. Their question was always "how much will this cost me?" I would advise them to figure how much they were willing to spend and I would build to meet that spec. Fellow photographers if your concerned about specs, that means to me that, like most of us here, you're on a (low) budget. You are thinking that you don't want to waste your money on buying more than you need. That is not how it works in the modern world of retail computer systems. You will be wasting your money if you buy only what you need (or less). There is really no such thing as buying too much computer power. For photographers the sweet spot is fairly broad. Less than $800 is a waste of your money. More than $3000 suffers from the law of diminishing returns. My advice is to buy as much computing power as you can afford. I have never heard anyone say to me, 'gee I wish I had bought a less powerful computer!'

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

scsdesphotography:

This is my third 'final build'... I'm a hopeless tekkie junkie. My son (a gamer in his spare time) helped with the hardware spec, and we assembled it last Saturday. It's very fast, specially with the M.2 drives... my ASUS laptop only has an M.2 and it's pretty quick.

Dik

Waterfall9

There is often a question of which camera to buy on this site, but I suspect that much of the value in a new camera is tied to the software interpreting what the glass has collected. I decided against the temptation to upgrade my Cannon 5D mark III because of what I noticed in Topaz AI Gigapixel. When I tried to process a camera phone image in AI Clear which is an outstanding product I observed a problem created on edges with zagged lines. I had noticed that those kinds of problems disappear when enlargements are made with AI Gigapixel which is an amazing product also. By running AI Gigapixel first, a clean image with amazing clarity came from a simple phone camera adding the use of Topaz AI Clear and software. Topaz offers regular workshops and discounts to tempt you to accumulate their products. I have found customer service to be excellent.

Maybe it is time to justify an upgrade in processing equipment to be able run one of the several amazing programs from either PS, Topaz, OnOne or others to just enjoy the potential for creativity. Good used equipment is available, but with the frequent increase in computer processing speed and sophisticated software our pocket books and minds are both going to be constantly challenged. Good enough pictures for most can come from free software so the decision to chase the latest and greatest is a choice.

Waterfall9

There is often a question of which camera to buy on this site, but I suspect that much of the value in a new camera is tied to the software interpreting what the glass has collected. I decided against the temptation to upgrade my Cannon 5D mark III because of what I noticed in Topaz AI Gigapixel. When I tried to process a camera phone image in AI Clear which is an outstanding product I observed a problem created on edges with zagged lines. I had noticed that those kinds of problems disappear when enlargements are made with AI Gigapixel which is an amazing product also. By running AI Gigapixel first, a clean image with amazing clarity came from a simple phone camera adding the use of Topaz AI Clear and software. Topaz offers regular workshops and discounts to tempt you to accumulate their products. I have found customer service to be excellent.

Maybe it is time to justify an upgrade in processing equipment to be able run one of the several amazing programs from either PS, Topaz, OnOne or others to just enjoy the potential for creativity. Good used equipment is available, but with the frequent increase in computer processing speed and sophisticated software our pocket books and minds are both going to be constantly challenged. Good enough pictures for most can come from free software so the decision to chase the latest and greatest is a choice.

tomcat

I am running a mid-2011 Mac with Sierra OS, 10.12.6. I have an AMD Radeon 6970M 1024 MB graphics card and 32GB of ram. The processor is a 3.4 GHz, Core i7. Once in a while, I might get the spinning beach ball. I have never noticed a slow down with any of the programs I run and I have LR and Topaz both opened at the same time. I never looked at the specs required to run AI Clear, but I know that the Topaz folks say it takes horsepower to run AI Gigapixel.

Wilhan

I'm a massive fan of Topaz products and have them all except AI Gigapixel. I ran a trial of AI Gigapixel and I thought that it was good, but for my purposes found that On1 Resize did everthing that I required. I also own AI Clear and find that it can be very good when used with certain photographs but with others can introduce artefacts, mainly red.