Question i5-3470 up grade for photos

[Jaycet]

Hello, all. I'm new here. I'm old. I'm learning new stuff-- slowly. I have older than dirt rig, i5-3470. I have limited means. I want to learn about post processing and to probably use Topaz Gigapixel. I have Photoshop CS5 which runs acceptably, Gigapixel does not. I think the processing is too complex and the files too big.Mostly, gaming is discussed here, but I don't understand the gaming needs vs what I want to do. There is probably not a simple explanation so I won't ask. Instead, to be direct, is there a meaningful upgrade w/i the limits of my old system and 1155 socket? Thanks in advance for your help. J

 

[Eximo]

Well. You left out a lot. System memory is a big deal for most photo editing. Also if you have a GPU or not.

For upgrades we would need to know the exact motherboard and everything that is plugged into it. How much do you have to spend?

Are you needing the Topaz Gigapixel Video Enhance AI, or just the Image Apps features? If the latter, your system is not really suitable and would need replacement.

Getting you up to 16GB of ram and maybe getting a light GPU may help. However, your CPU is just capable of running AVX instructions, it was the first generation of that hardware. So if you have more than a little to spend, a nice used business machine with a later model i7 in it might be worth a look.

 

[USAFRet]

Hello, all. I'm new here. I'm old. I'm learning new stuff-- slowly. I have older than dirt rig, i5-3470. I have limited means. I want to learn about post processing and to probably use Topaz Gigapixel. I have Photoshop CS5 which runs acceptably, Gigapixel does not. I think the processing is too complex and the files too big.Mostly, gaming is discussed here, but I don't understand the gaming needs vs what I want to do. There is probably not a simple explanation so I won't ask. Instead, to be direct, is there a meaningful upgrade w/i the limits of my old system and 1155 socket? Thanks in advance for your help. J

Not everyone here is game only...😉
Like me.

What are the FULL specs of this system?

 

[Eximo]

Required for Topaz Gigapixel Image Apps:
Windows 10 or 11 (7 or 8/8.1 may work, but not supported)
8GB of RAM (16GB recommended)
OpenGL 3.3 (2GB of VRAM minimum)
AVX (Intel 2nd Gen Core, AMD FX series and up)

Video Enhance AI requires AVX2 and a DX12... so Windows 10 and a newer CPU and a fairly late model GPU.

 

[Jaycet]

Well. You left out a lot. System memory is a big deal for most photo editing. Also if you have a GPU or not.

For upgrades we would need to know the exact motherboard and everything that is plugged into it. How much do you have to spend?

Are you needing the Topaz Gigapixel Video Enhance AI, or just the Image Apps features? If the latter, your system is not really suitable and would need replacement.

Getting you up to 16GB of ram and maybe getting a light GPU may help. However, your CPU is just capable of running AVX instructions, it was the first generation of that hardware. So if you have more than a little to spend, a nice used business machine with a later model i7 in it might be worth a look.

Thanks for the comeback:
I don't do video, yet----Just the image features. GPU ? Didn't jump out at me on Belarc report.
Not sure what is meaningful wrt my system, , but here goes:
Dell Optiplex 7010
Main circuit board has a letter/number stringoWR7
Windows 10
3.20 Intel-core i5-374
256 K primary cache
1024 K secondary cache
6144 tertiary
64-bit ready
Multi-core 4
Not hyper-threaded
359G usable HD capacity
260 Free
8080 MB usable installed memory
Generic Multicard
SATA AHCI controller

Any other critica info? I know it is old and underpowered, but is there anything I can do "on the cheap"? I'm not broke, but close. A couple a hundred bucks wouldn't kill me, but I wouldn't want to waste it either. That's 4 burgers, right?

How do I tell what is a "later model " i7 machine?

Thanks for reading and for your interest. Much appreciated. J

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for reading and for your interest. Much appreciated. J

Ultimately, that decade old system could do with a full replacement.

Within "a couple a hundred bucks" gets you an SSD and maybe RAM.

8GB RAM is not good for this purpose. 16GB preferably.
An SSD would do a lot.

But bottom line...it is a decade old system.
$200 into this is not a great value.

 

[Jaycet]

Thanks, Wingnut. Most helpful.
Is there a protocol for asking about specific devices?
USCGuy

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks, Wingnut. Most helpful.
Is there a protocol for asking about specific devices?
USCGuy

If applicable, start a new thread in the relevant Forum.