eGPU for Lightroom

[nicolas claris]

I really do need to speed-up my image PP…
Who could tell me which eGPU card I could buy (to put in an external case) to significantly accelerate Lightroom's performance?
I've searched the web, but I only found indications for gaming, which as you can imagine is not my cup of tea…

There’s no way to get in touch with an Adobe tech, I posted on different fora with no replies…
I know that most of AMD card are compatible (under OS Catalina) (I contacted them but got no magical recommendation…)
Ref.: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544 (scroll down to Supported eGPU configurations)
I work on raw files of 80 Mb which can in some cases may "go up" to 600 Mb and even more (panoramic, HDR).

Configuration:
MacBook Pro (16 inch, 2019)
Mac OS Catalina - 10.15.7
2.4 GHz Intel Core i9 8 cores
32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB
Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

External monitor DELL UP3216Q (32 inch, display: 3840 x 2160 pixels)

Adobe Lightroom Classic 9.4


Thank you for your help!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Nicolas,

Tell us what processes in Lightroom and which version, (Classic or CC), concern you most?

I understand that the most obvious benefit is with a 4K monitor to adjust RAW in ACR.

BTW, do you also have a late 2013 MacPro? That’s my model and I have just doubled the SSD to 480 GB and increased RAM from 16 to 64 GB to speed up Photoshop CC 2020.

[I don’t use Lightroom, as I use Media Pro for Catalogs and then either Capture One or more usually PS CC for editing. I have no idea why I should even open Lightroom!]

References in 2018 found little benefit for LR for an external GPU, except in RAW adjustments and few specific actions, but not overall. 2019 Adobe claimed to have improved that.

I would get an eGPU if it actually worked but so processes are reported to be slower. I am now studying that. My 3D photoprogrammetry could also benefit from an eGPU so I am well motivated.

First I am getting an SSD for scratch at either 1 or 2GB per second max if the stars are aligned, to me that means 400 MB/Sec in real life, no doubt.

I will then see to what extent I think PS is still slow.

Who did you try at Adobe?

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Asher,
Thanks for commenting asking.
The answers to your questions are in the OP…
My MacBook Pro is a 16" 2019 (the very late model)
Lightroom version is Classic 9.4 (the latest)
eGPU only works with Thunderbolt 3 and even better with OS Catalina installed.
So I am afraid that yours won't be able to use eGPU…


I have finally got a clear reply from the Sonnet support, they do not have any bundle-deals available with their Breakaway Box at this time. The graphics cards must be purchased and installed separately, but at least I have some hints about cards to chose:

Since you already have a moderately powerful Radeon 5500 built-in, you would benefit from more powerful graphics cards like the RX 5700XT, the Vega 64, or the WX9100 series.
Most graphics cards have an HDMI output. You must verify with the manufacturer for more details.
External monitors can benefit from eGPU acceleration regardless of where they are connected. They can be connected directly to the eGPU, or to the computer. Either setup will benefit from acceleration.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Asher,
Thanks for commenting asking.
The answers to your questions are in the OP…
My MacBook Pro is a 16" 2019 (the very late model)
Lightroom version is Classic 9.4 (the latest)
eGPU only works with Thunderbolt 3 and even better with OS Catalina installed.
So I am afraid that yours won't be able to use eGPU…


I have finally got a clear reply from the Sonnet support, they do not have any bundle-deals available with their Breakaway Box at this time. The graphics cards must be purchased and installed separately, but at least I have some hints about cards to chose:

Nicolas,

It appears that improvements with Photoshop Lightroom Classic are minimal under Mac OS but better adapted by Adobe on Windows.

Even then, once you have a fair NVDIA card, with a 50% speed boost in some functions,
upgrading that card to the higher end wonders does little.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Introduction:

Be aware there’s not a lot of encouragement for use on Mac, brush adjustments aren’t implemented and generally reports are using CC not Classic!

Feb 2020: I have found this for eGPU acceleration benefits for Lightroom CC version 9 Feb 2020


What Is and Isn’t GPU-Accelerated in Lightroom
GPU acceleration in Lightroom is only available within the Develop module, so no other modules, including the Library module, will be accelerated. On top of that, not all the tools within the Develop module benefit from GPU acceleration either. So if you are wondering what specific tools are accelerated, below is the full list:

Panels:

• Basic
• Tone Curve
• HSL / Color / B&W
• Split Toning
• Detail
• Lens Corrections
• Transform
• Effects
• Camera Calibration

Tools:

• Crop & Straighten
• Graduated Filter
• Radial Filter

Actions:

• Panning and Zooming

And here is the list of specific tools and actions that are NOT GPU-accelerated:

• Spot Removal
• Red Eye Correction
• Adjustment Brush
• Using Brushes with Gradient and Radial Filters
• Loading RAW Images
• Generating JPEG Previews
• HDR Preview / Generation
• Panorama Preview / Generation
• Facial Recognition

May 2020: read Adobe FAQ on eGPU use with Lightroom CC

 

[Asher Kelman]

Now to Lightroom Classic:

It appears that lens corrections slow the brush with Black Magic eGPU and check that you don’t have a heated Apple Battery problem.

 

[Asher Kelman]

The truth is, Adobe hasn’t, as yet, fully committed the resources needed to exploit the eGPUs. Right now it’s more advanced on Windows but even then it’s incomplete and not always reliable.
Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Asher,
Thanks for commenting asking.
The answers to your questions are in the OP…
My MacBook Pro is a 16" 2019 (the very late model)
Lightroom version is Classic 9.4 (the latest)
eGPU only works with Thunderbolt 3 and even better with OS Catalina installed.
So I am afraid that yours won't be able to use eGPU…

Correction, my good friend!

The late 2013 can use eGPUs with some success:


“GPU - One key reason Apple is re-thinking the Mac Pro is because of the 2013 Cylinder's achilles heel: two mid-level GPUs that were proprietary, non-user serviceable, and non-upgradeable. Even if Apple wanted to upgrade them, the Mac Pro's design created a wattage ceiling.

Even though you can't upgrade the two internal FirePro GPUs, you can now attach an external PCie expansion box (eGPU). As I write this article on our 2013 Mac Pro 8-core, I have an AKiTiO Node eGFX Boxwith a TITAN X GPU connected to one of the Thunderbolt 2 ports. There is a website (egpu.io) dedicated to telling about the eGPUs available and how to make them work with your Mac. Other eGPUs we've tested with the 2013 Mac Pro include the BizonBOXand Sonnet Breakaway (coming soon).

An eGPU is not a perfect solution with its limited bandwidth and the fact that some apps ignore it. And even when apps don't ignore it, they don't always gain from its existence if they are CPU bound. But it is a way to provide a serious boost in speed to certain CUDA capable, GPU intensive apps like Blender, Octane Render and DaVinci Resolve (Noise Reduction). And NVIDIA GPUs like the GTX 980 Ti run games like Tomb Raider much faster than the built-in AMD FirePros.”

But, of course we still need published speed tests!


Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

...and now THE BEST all the important eGPU enclosures and choices of Graphic Cards UP TO DATE buying guide!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Now for my summary opinionated opinion!

First look at this video from Photoshop Café.

Going from left to right in the above picture, this video presents a very informative speed test of Adobe software on

​

1. A new Mac Pro 2019 with a 32 GB Video Card

2. Identical but with Just an 8 GB video card

3. The 2019 Macbook Pro

​

3. Late 2013 Gey “Trash Can” Mac Pro

In summary for saving files the modest 2013 trash can did fine and in PS it was just generally 2-3 times slower than the MacBook Pro.

Otherwise the 2019 Mac Pro with 64 GB RAM was the fastest in both PS and Lightroom Classic.

Except for video where the 2019 Mac Pros took the prizes.

For Photoshop, the 2019 MacBook Pro in practical terms was as easily as good or better than the latest, far more costly dive towers!


My conclusion, so far with the extensive, (but still insufficient), reading so far, it appears just going to 64 GB in memory might be the most significant worthwhile investment to speed up Adobe software.

When Adobe updates its software to leverage the tremendous eGraphics cards potential, UNLESS you are running a 4K monitor, don’t get a eGPU right now.

The prices and capabilities of the enclosures are being evolved fast with many new Apple command line console scripts and eGPU firmware flashing routines needed to optimize performance with Mac OS.

But anyway, frankly, the Mac Book pro right now works better than the new Mac Towers with far more powerful video cards!

If I had the wonderful 2019 16” MacBook Pro AND a 4K monitor, only then would I consider the eGPU and the reference above to the buyers guide guide you with the most up to date information.

Why? Because Adobe is NOT agile and client focussed “Black Magic” for its Da Vinci acceleration. Adobe is lazy and feels no compulsion to work all night to move calculations from CPU’s to even its own graphics cards!

I hope this is helpful.

If one doesn’t already own a MacBook Pro 2019 and there’s no objection to going to “The Dark Side”, and one wants eGPU acceleration, look at Windsor machines as in that milieu, Adobe has made some progress, albeit incomplete, in getting more obvious speed increases by moving calculations to ANY graphics card!

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Thank you Asher for these infos.

I do have the wonderful 2019 16” MacBook Pro AND a 4K monitor
With 32 Gb of ram which is not bad…

Some more links for those interested:

2020 Best Value-Performance Graphics Cards - GPUCheck United States / USA

We did the research for you to find the best value to performance ratio graphics card for your gaming needs. Here are our 2020 picks.

www.gpucheck.com

GPU UserBenchmarks - 714 Graphics Cards Compared

gpu.userbenchmark.com

Linus Tech Tips

linustechtips.com

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

I have rebuilt my PC recently to make Lightroom/PS go faster. So I also know the possibilities and the limitations. Puget Systems has a lot of useful info in this area.

My experience is that doubling the GPU speed does not double the Lightroom speed. Some increase, but incremental. Also important is the CPU speed, number of threads, speed of cache disks, etc.
Ideally, you need a Ryzen threadripper (for LR, for PS go with an Intel i9) and 32GB+ memory and at least an SSD disk (M2 Nvme) for caching. Also, the pictures should be on the fastest disk you can afford for large volumes, since reading and writing 100MB or larger files is a significant part of the delays.

So if you are looking for a significant acceleration, only adding an eGPU may be a bit disappointing. It will help, definitely, but not as much as you may hope.

Take a look at the following link, perhaps it gives you some ideas about the compatibility.

https://egpu.io/state-of-egpu-for-macs-catalina-10-15-update/

 

[Asher Kelman]

I have rebuilt my PC recently to make Lightroom/PS go faster. So I also know the possibilities and the limitations. Puget Systems has a lot of useful info in this area.

My experience is that doubling the GPU speed does not double the Lightroom speed. Some increase, but incremental. Also important is the CPU speed, number of threads, speed of cache disks, etc.
Ideally, you need a Ryzen threadripper (for LR, for PS go with an Intel i9) and 32GB+ memory and at least an SSD disk (M2 Nvme) for caching. Also, the pictures should be on the fastest disk you can afford for large volumes, since reading and writing 100MB or larger files is a significant part of the delays.

So if you are looking for a significant acceleration, only adding an eGPU may be a bit disappointing. It will help, definitely, but not as much as you may hope.

Take a look at the following link, perhaps it gives you some ideas about the compatibility.

https://egpu.io/state-of-egpu-for-macs-catalina-10-15-update/

Excellent to have your reliable experience, Cem!

In 2018c I tested two new well fitted out MacBook Pros against custom built Windows machines from Puget Systems and BOXX with both the Puget Systems PS Speed Test and my own “Content Aware” Speed rest, as the latter gives a better representation of what “takes my time”. (As of 2018, Adobe told me the GPU wasn’t used for that). Windows machines appear way faster and at half the price!

Still, I do feel a little safer from Malware and Ransomware on my Mac.

Damn Adobe for not fully utilizing the power of Graphic Cards!!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thank you Asher for these infos.

I do have the wonderful 2019 16” MacBook Pro AND a 4K monitor
With 32 Gb of ram which is not bad…

Some more links for those interested:

2020 Best Value-Performance Graphics Cards - GPUCheck United States / USA

We did the research for you to find the best value to performance ratio graphics card for your gaming needs. Here are our 2020 picks.

www.gpucheck.com

GPU UserBenchmarks - 714 Graphics Cards Compared

gpu.userbenchmark.com

Linus Tech Tips

linustechtips.com

Nicolas,

Isn’t it likely that just simply putting your RAW files to be edited on one blazing fast NVME SSD and using a separate one for scratch, would be faster than any eGPU unless you just care about your 4K monitor keeping up!

What is there to love about LR Classic, that you wont simply go back to Capture One, where an eGPU might make a real speed difference?

Anyway, why “Classic” and not the latest LR CC 2020?

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

why “Classic” and not the latest LR CC 2020? ==> the newest version is called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic, no longer CC or 2020. The cloud only version is simply called Lightroom without the Classic suffix.

Nicolas,

Isn’t it likely that just simply putting your RAW files to be edited on one blazing fast NVME SSD and using a separate one for scratch, would be faster than any eGPU unless you just care about your 4K monitor keeping up!

What is there to love about LR Classic, that you wont simply go back to Capture One, where an eGPU might make a real speed difference?

Anyway, why “Classic” and not the latest LR CC 2020?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

why “Classic” and not the latest LR CC 2020? ==> the newest version is called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic, no longer CC or 2020. The cloud only version is simply called Lightroom without the Classic suffix.

I have both, LOL!

Can my existing “Classic” be updated?

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

I have both, LOL!

Can my existing “Classic” be updated?

Asher

There may be a misunderstanding here. You cannot HAVE these, it is only for subscribers. The last LR version which could be had was LR6. And it has not been updated in years.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks, Cem, I will check!

what are the advantages and limitations of using LR as a catalog instead of Media Pro or Capture One.

ACDSee I found too slow

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

What is there to love about LR Classic, that you wont simply go back to Capture One, where an eGPU might make a real speed difference?

I left Capture One in 2013 when I switched to Pentax with the 645D as Capture One does not support PEF files.
since all my catalogs are with LR…: hundreds of thousands files…

 

[Asher Kelman]

I left Capture One in 2013 when I switched to Pentax with the 645D as Capture One does not support PEF files.
since all my catalogs are with LR…: hundreds of thousands files…

This could be really helpful for me as Phase One is no longer Supporting Media Pro after Mac OS 10-1.3

For LR

1. How many per catalog with fast reapinse

2. What are the main + and - aspects compared to Media Pro?

Thanks,

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

1. How many per catalog with fast reapinse

Adobe says that you may have all your photos within a lone catalogue, but I find this risky as catalog may become corrupted (although this never happened to me)
I do prefer to have one catalog per shoot session, so it is easy to back-up together with original files when the job is finished.

2. What are the main + and - aspects compared to Media Pro?

I have no idea, I've never used Media Pro…

 

[nicolas claris]

I use LR Classic for developing raw files only, not for its file management (I do have my own process for that)

 

[Asher Kelman]

I use LR Classic for developing raw files only, not for its file management (I do have my own process for that)

Ahah!

That’s what would be interesting!

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Ahah!

That’s what would be interesting!

Asher

What?

 

[Asher Kelman]

What?

I wondered if you might wish to share your system and you have generously done that In another thread.

Thanks so much!

Asher