Agisoft Metashape
Agisoft Metashape => General => Topic started by: MichaelW on September 28, 2013, 12:46:47 PM
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Hi,
I am looking to invest in a work computer or laptop for myself that would ideally be primarily utilized for Agisoft. I am looking for some suggestions or suggested builds that will not break the bank but also would be fully capable of adding pieces at a later date or upgrading. Right now, I am shooting for something between $1500 and $2000 more or less. I know it isn't a lot but I am very much realizing that for me to pursue my professional and intellectual research goals, having a personal work computer would be an ideal situation for me.
Anyway, I look forward to your suggestions. I work in the field of cultural heritage conservation, documentation, and preservation in Israel. I am also an archaeologist by trade.
Thanks!
Michael
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Hello, I am using Acer v3-771 i7 3610qm 16gb ram and GF GT650M, it's enough for Photoscan but also make a huge problem with overheating extremely fast, so do not choose notebook.
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Hello!
You will not get a big workstation with 64GB or more RAM for that price. Notebooks are much more expensive to upgrade. Maybe an I5 or I7-CPU with 16GB RAM and a good graphic-card (all in all ~1000$) will work for you and you have enough money left buying a small Notebook. So you can work on your projects on the Notebook while the big PC is calculating. If the PC has no connection to the internet (=no firewall&antivirus) it will calculate 3D-models a way faster.
Greets
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No need for the 64 GBs of RAM at this point, but I would like to have the ability to upgrade to it when I have the finances. I might be able to push the cost up to closer to $2500 or perhaps even a little more. It all depends. In any case, I am doing fine with my Macbook Pro (9,1) with 8 GBs of RAM for now. I want to have a work computer, however, that will run Windows so I can process the models for my work in something like Rhino and or Sketchup.
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If the PC has no connection to the internet (=no firewall&antivirus) it will calculate 3D-models a way faster.
This is a bit of-topic, but I'll ask anyways; do you have any documentation to back this up? If so, how much gain are we talking about?
I do realize that a stripped back system would have more available resources, but won't PhotoScan just "take over" those resources anyways?
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I asked this question a few months back and got some useful answers, although didn't ever buy it in the end so can't make a recommendation based on personal experience!
www.agisoft.ru/forum/index.php?topic=1109 (http://www.agisoft.ru/forum/index.php?topic=1109)
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Thank you, James. That is super helpful to me to see.
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@Kjellis85:
It depends on your AV/Firewall-Software which will slow down your system differently. Also you can change the security-settings inside windows to a low level and turn off unused processes. All in all you can increase the speed 10% (and more) I figured out with other 3D-Software.
Just try it for your own system!
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Hello!
If the PC has no connection to the internet (=no firewall&antivirus) it will calculate 3D-models a way faster.
Greets
Is there any precise statistic/info regarding that? My antivirus proudly graphs of how little it takes of the cpu. Is it all bs?
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@kirk:
Test for yourself - no Internet, FW&AV. I tested it ~2 years before on win7-systems with NortonInternetSecurity. Instead of more than 60 minutes it needed ~55 minutes to render 3D-scenes.
You can get a smaller speedboost by setting the priority higher (Taskmanager>processes>Rightclick on the software-process>priority normal to high - never set it to "realtime").
Btw: Read why AV-Software is snakeoil http://rookcifer.blogspot.de/2012/10/anti-virus-software-is-snake-oil.html
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Thanks tezen. Not a big difference but worth a try. I have never dared to run Windows without antivirus actually :)
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Me too, i need a laptop to get the first looks at all my data's at field and come across of this Alienware model from Dell.
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/alienware-17.aspx
Looks like very promising even a bit at expensive side. Any thought? :)
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Hi there
Do you have any suggestions / considerations about a good combination of RAM, processor, graphic card for laptops? What about the Lenovo vs Sager hereunder? Also in consideration of how resistant they are ,as I need to use them in sheds by archeological excavations.
RAM will be at 32 GB
Lenovo W530
processor: i7-3630 or 3520 or 3740
grafic card: Nvidia K1000 or 2000
Sager NP8265-S
processor: i/-7400
grafic card: GEFORCE GTX 780M
Thank you for your help
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Hello all,
I know what I would use in normal environment, but for a rough environments and not a bottomless budget I would probably go with something like Getac S400 or Panasonic Toughbook 52.
Anyone using something like that?
Regards,
Alex
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I was just looking at that Sager and it would probably be my first choice.
As for tough conditions, how hardened do your actually need your laptop to be? Unless you plan to have it out in the rain I've found a Pelican briefcase and a little common sense goes a long way. It will certainly buy you a much faster computer for the same price..
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Yes, I agree on that. :)
Just wanted to know if someone is using something like that. I had a Toughbook before mainly because of the screen brightness as I work on the field with sun on my screen and as is time to upgrade I wondered if someone has any experience with these.
Alex
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I had a Toughbook before mainly because of the screen brightness as I work on the field with sun on my screen
Yeah, that can be tough, especially with the current craze for glossy screens. There are some nice screen shades out there though which can make even the worst screens a bit more manageable.
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I was just looking at that Sager and it would probably be my first choice.
Hi Jedfrechette. Do you know this brand? Have you used a Sager? I never heard of Sager before this reading this thread. I contacted Sager by mail to ask for some details and didn't get an answer. I feel a little uncomfortable to give them money, I admit.
In between I got to know from the university that I cannot get either Sager, Lenovo or anything else than Fujitsu. We are going for a modified H720 Fujitsu then: CPU: 3820QM, RAM - GPU - Quadro K2000M 2GB - SSD/lager - 512GB SSD. The technique thinks that 32 GB is overkill. He suggests to stay to 16 GB. What do you think about this. We need to make 3D-models, right?
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Hello all,
I know what I would use in normal environment, but for a rough environments and not a bottomless budget I would probably go with something like Getac S400 or Panasonic Toughbook 52.
Anyone using something like that?
Regards,
Alex
Actually I didn't mean too rough environments. I'd anyway produce the good, big models indoor. But a semi-rugged computer can be interesting for outdoor documentation, where I can produce simple models(?) I first thought of a Surface Pro 2 for this task, but I admit that the Surface Pro looks a little delicate for North-european weather.
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Do you know this brand? Have you used a Sager? I never heard of Sager before this reading this thread.
This will be my first Sager so I can't vouch for them personally, but I have a couple colleagues who swear by them. They also seem to have quite a good reputation in the gamer community. For me their main selling point is the customization allowed. I don't know of any other 15" laptop I can fit 4 hard drives in to.
It's not real encouraging that you didn't get a response to your email. Their laptops get resold by a lot of the boutique laptop shops so if you search for the model number you may be able to find a local reseller who can provide better service.
The technique thinks that 32 GB is overkill. He suggests to stay to 16 GB. What do you think about this. We need to make 3D-models, right?
Its been said before that you can never be to rich or have to much RAM (that goes for VRAM too). One of the things I like about the NP8265-S is the 4GB of VRAM on the 780M. There is a table on Agisoft's wiki with estimates of how much RAM you need to process a given number of photos and I don't think 32 GB is overkill at all, I would probably get a 64 GB laptop if anyone made 16 GB SODIMMs. If you need to save a little money I would probably opt for a slightly slower processor before decreasing the amount of RAM.
In between I got to know from the university that I cannot get either Sager, Lenovo or anything else than Fujitsu.
Ah the joys of single source contracts. Some places will allow you to buy from other sources if you can justify in writing why the approved vendor doesn't provide a product that meets your requirements. Doing that may not be worth the effort though.