AMD’s Ryzen processors are currently our go-to recommendation for Lightroom Classic, but both Intel and AMD are launching some very intriguing high end desktop CPUs that may change things. On Intel’s side, the new X-series CPUs include a drastic reduction in price, while AMD has focused heavily on improving performance. Will either of these new processor lines end up taking the performance crown from Ryzen?
When AMD launched their 3rd generation Ryzen CPUs, they took a commanding lead over Intel in terms of performance in Lightroom Classic. Now, AMD has released a new CPU called the Ryzen 9 3950X which increases the number of cores available on that platform to 16 physical cores. Will this allow AMD to extend their lead even further, or is Lightroom Classic not able to utilize those additional cores?
Lightroom Classic has changed dramatically over the last few years, with improved multithreading support and the recent addition of GPU acceleration. But exactly how much of a difference is there between the latest processors from both Intel and AMD? Does the higher core count on the new Ryzen CPUs make a difference?
In the latest version of Lightroom Classic CC (8.2), Adobe has added a new featured called “Enhanced Details” which uses machine learning to improve the quality of the debayering process for RAW images. This is very GPU-intensive, so we wanted to see exactly how much faster it can be on a modern, high-end GPU.
Intel has recently released a pair of highly exclusive – and expensive – processors: the Core i9 9990XE and Xeon W-3175X. The question is: does either one make sense to use for Adobe Creative Cloud applications?
The Intel Core i9 9990XE 14-core CPU is a special, OEM-only, no warranty processor that is only available to select system manufacturers like Puget Systems. While it is very hard to get, it has terrific performance for both lightly-threaded and highly-threaded tasks making it one of the fastest CPUs currently available.
With the sheer number of choices available, choosing even just the right CPU for your Lightroom workstation can be a daunting task. In this article, we are going to be benchmarking a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen CPU lines to help you decide which model makes the most sense for your new workstation.
Lightroom Classic has been improving performance with higher core count CPUs, but interestingly enough, the new Intel Core X-series Processors do not have an increase in core count. They do have a small frequency bump and a native fix for Spectre & Meltdown, but is that enough to make them faster than the previous generation processors in Lightroom Classic?
AMD’s Threadripper 2970WX and 2990WX processors have incredibly high core counts, but often give low performance when running applications that cannot effectively use all their cores. The new “Local Dynamic Mode” is meant to help alleviate some of these issues, but will it actually help photo editing applications like Lightroom Classic and Photoshop?
Most photo editing applications prefer a higher clocked CPU over one with more cores, but Intel’s new 9th Gen Core Processors feature not only an increase in core count, but also a small bump in frequency. These improvements make these new CPUs some of the fastest currently available for photo editing.
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