need computer upgrade advice

[CarlFranz]

I've been asked to document the construction of a meditation center in 3D over a period of about 6 months (with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro).  I've done a test flight with Altizure and am processing 224 images in the demo version of Photoscan.  My computer is a Macbook Pro 2011.  At the rate it is going I expect it will take 24 hours to complete the model.  This is too slow as I have to travel quite a distance to the site and would like to doublecheck my work during a one-day visit.

Since I'm doing this job for free and have no other need to upgrade my computer I'd appreciate your advice.  The new Mac Mini is $800 and offers this:

3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
Intel UHD Graphics 630
128GB PCIe-based SSD storage1

I assume this would speed things up quite a bit?
I also assume a Windows machine would be cheaper but need advice on maker and model if the price is significantly less.

thanks!
Carl Franz

[CarlFranz]

"At the rate it is going I expect it will take 24 hours to complete the model.  This is too slow as I have to travel quite a distance to the site and would like to doublecheck my work during a one-day visit."

I was wildly optimistic when I posted the above yesterday -- PhotoScan is still grinding away and shows that 12% of the dense point cloud has been completed. 

I've looked at used Windows work stations on Ebay but I'm completely ignorant of such systems and would really appreciate suggestions for a low cost computer.  It doesn't need to be lightning fast but hopefully capable of producing a result in less than 8 hours.

[Alexey Pasumansky]

Hello CarlFranz,

Can you please specify, which settings you are using for each processing stage and whether you are using GPU for processing and have you checked, if the processing is using disk swap in case the amount of RAM is not sufficient?

If you are planning to upgrade, I think, you should think about the configuration with at least medium grade discrete GPU.