# Does LR3.2 uses GPU and graphics memory leaving CPU forces for other tasks?



## aster (Oct 4, 2010)

Does LR3.2 utilizes GPU power and graphics memory?
I'm going to replace my old PC with i5 66' CPU, DDR3 4 GB (or is 8GB a must for 64 bit Windows?)
Windows 7/64 ( It seems there i not any complaints with Windows 7 64 bit not working properly)

The guestion is, is it worth of adding a standalone graphics controller with 1Gb DDR3 or use Intel integrated HD Graphics, which seems also to be supported by Adobe.

Other graphics options are (I believe that a decent graphics controller is enough) - I rearranged order to silent ones first as superior 

EAH435' SILENT/DI/1G  ASUS HD435' SILENT PCIE 1GB DVI/VGA/HMDI -45 EUR
CGAX-54524LI  CLUB 3D HD 545' 1 GB GDDR-3 VGA+DVI+HDMI -45 EUR


CGAX-46524ZI CLUB 3D HD 465' PCIE 1GB GDDR-3 DVI/HDMI - 5' EUR
N95''GT-MD1G  MSI GF 95'' GT PCI-E 1GB DVI/VGA/HDMI - 5' EUR
GMGT22'N2E1FH-SB  PNY GT 22' PCIE 1GB DDR2 VGA+DVI-I+HDMI - 55 EUR


While I don't understand why hardware related is "off topic" when there can't be no LR without it?


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## edgley (Oct 4, 2010)

It is never a good idea to use onboard graphics if a dedicated GPU can be used.
I wouldnt be as concerned which one; if one is not gaming there shouldn't be any noticeable difference.

I personal prefer Nvida, and would go for the 95'' you listed. The 22' is a budget card and is most likely to be slower than the 95''.


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## ukbrown (Oct 4, 2010)

> Does LR3.2 utilizes GPU power and graphics memory


Not in the way that say powerdirector uses the superior facilities of a GPU like an Nvidia to offload it's processing to, mainly because we are talking about static images not moving ones, which is what graphics card were designed to deal with.


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## Victoria Bampton (Oct 5, 2010)

[quote author=aster link=topic=11227.msg75522#msg75522 date=1286221787]
While I don't understand why hardware related is "off topic" when there can't be no LR without it?
[/quote]

You're right, that probably needs rewording! But it's not specifically LR related - that was the only reasoning behind it sitting in the Off Topic section.

PS uses the GPU for fancy zooming etc., but LR doesn't at this point in time. From comments made, I wouldn't expect that to change soon, but on the other hand, if you're planning on keeping hold of the machine for a long time, more programs may start to use it over time.


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## edgley (Oct 5, 2010)

One of the new things that Snow Leopard is to bring us is the ability to use the spare power of the GPU to help the CPU.
The only benefit I got upgrading the stock pony ATI that my Pro came with was the ability to open more than 4 windows in PS and still use openGL.


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## aster (Oct 5, 2010)

But what about 1 GB additional video memory? When Win 7 system is built with 4 GB DDR3 how much real life effect provides this additional 1 GB of video memory? The price of some basic 1 GB graphics controller doesn't exceed much price of RAM.


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## edgley (Oct 6, 2010)

The video ram has nothing to do with the computer ram, when talking about a separate GPU card.
The problem is that onboard video cards are very slow, compared to a dedicated card.

The onboard also uses the computer ram, not only meaning that there is less available for the OS, but also that the video card and OS are sharing ram, which in my opinion is not a good idea.

I have been looking for a site that can explain it better than I can. However, most of the results say nothing more than don't use onboard.
This was the best I could find:
http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/8AE993E36C39AF59CA256DEE''83C76E


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