Photolab 5 Using Intel Arc A750

DxO PhotoLab
1

Good morning all,

Long time lurker, first time poster here. I just wanted to open a thread as, in my searching, I’ve found essentially no one using the new Intel Arc desktop GPUs in Photolab 5.

System: Dell XPS 8930, Intel I7 8700, 48 GB DDR-4 RAM, Intel A750 GPU, various SSDs.

I had a hell of a time with the install of the A750 on a different system. I first tried on a Dell XPS 8940 with a 11700K CPU and I could not get the system to be stable regardless of what I tried (multiple instances of driver install/removal, fresh windows install, etc). After fighting that for a full day, I threw the A750 into the older Dell and there were no hiccups whatsoever. The system has been stable since install 2 weeks ago.

I came from a Nvidia 1650 Super installed in the 11700K system. Despite the weaker CPU, Photolab DeepPrime processing times have dropped substantially with the new GPU. The following values are using the benchmarking images from the “DxO DeepPrime Processing Times” google sheet:

D850 images (5 images):
11700K system with 1650 Super: 228 seconds
8700 system with A750: 39 seconds

Egypte Image (1 image):
11700K system with 1650 Super: 23 seconds
8700 system with A750: 17 seconds

EOS R6 Images (20 images):
11700K system with 1650 Super: 599 seconds
8700 system with A750: 103 seconds

EOS 90D Images (20 images):
11700K system with 1650 Super:706 seconds
8700 system with A750: 137 seconds

Anyway, wanted to share my short term experience. Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them.

2

Interesting! I’m following Intel’s latest adventure on the GPU market closely. This A750 looks quite promising, at least in PL5 and the A770 is a bit more powerful.

My only concern is that their driver may not be up to par yet for the (casual) gaming I do. Reviews I read say that they’re improving but they still aren’t too good. Nothing unexpected though for their first serious attempt to enter the GPU market since 2009 but I think I’ll wait a bit longer :slight_smile:

3

The concern about gaming may well be a valid one. I’m at a stage in my life between my 2 year old toddler and another on the way, any level of gaming is a few years out for me.

I too have read about the improving drivers. I have no frame of reference for how bad they were at launch though. The price drop (bought it on Newegg for $229) was what finally made me pull the trigger and try it though.

Although I have a pretty small library of games, I’d be willing to test performance/compatibility for you if any of our games overlap.

4

Yes, for now, Intel has to gain market share based on price.

I actually play a variety of games. Nothing really hard on the GPU as my current RX480 is still able to handle them quite reasonably. Games I play a lot are Civilization 6, Hell let loose, DeadSide. Nothing too heavy on the GPU but if I invest in a new desktop computer I would like to be able to play some AAA games as well.