topic Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

VincentLaunstorfer — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:40:43 GMT

Hi,

I was running ArcGIS Pro 2.2 with this config:

And I have now this:

I did notice some improvment in terms of speed while editing labels, but it is not the very best either. Fairly disappointed even. It looks like there is only 16Gb extra RAM on my new config, but not much more...

Is there any bottleneck in this configuration? Is the Graphic card good enough? What hardware configuration would ESRI recommend to improve overall performance?

I did use the detection tool provided by ESRI to benchmark my configuration:

It looks like the CPU speed could be faster and the video card better... Any suggestion on this?

Thanks

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

JeremyWright — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 15:45:09 GMT

The newer generation of core i7 should provide better performance, and the integrated intel graphics should actually (believe it or not) be faster than the Radeon you had before (at least looking at Passmark scores). The limiting factor with not having dedicated GPU memory is going to be situations where large amounts of data have to be passed between GPU and system memory. This is more common in 3d than in 2d.

Switching to a dedicated GPU will reduce the framerate/redraw hiccups associated with these transfers, so in general will result in better performance.

If this is a desktop machine, a dedicated GPU would be a worthwhile upgrade for sure.

If it's a laptop and has a Thunderbolt 3 port, you _may_ be able to connect an eGPU (external GPU) to boost performance when it's connected, but be aware that this is a more costly solution since it involves both a GPU and an external enclosure typically.

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 17:12:04 GMT

Surface book 2... Not my main machine, but having no issues with 2d or 3d or anything.

Lots of video and intel 7 with 1.9 but 2.1? not a significant difference, or one that I notice if drinking coffee.

I would use a desktop for any heavy lifting in any event

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

ThomasColson — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 18:14:58 GMT

You'll do fine with the processor, IMHO it's # of cores, not clock speed, that makes the difference in Pro. Before you make your next house/car payment, skip it and bump that RAM up to 64 GB! I'm learning that the "Can I run it" (Pro) app is a bit misleading. We had a TS case where the outcome was "The minimum just means that Pro will start". I had a bit of an urgent situation last week where I had to get IT do dig my new laptop out of the shipping warehouse to meet an immediate need: Pro on a 4 core I7 and 8 GB of RAM simply would not even complete the simplest of mapping tasks, even with all offline data. And again, my opinion, you're gonna hate that video card. Should have at least a 4GB dedicated NVIDIA. Even with this:

I'm finding that Pro is sluggish, ramps up to 65% CPU just trying (and failing) to open a layout, frequently bogs down, and, I'm discovering, the thermal fan vent on my new laptop is on the right side, where I drive the mouse: I'm literally being burned by Pro.

Here's running two instances of Pro: 1 is just "sitting" there, 1 I made the foolish mistake of opening 3 layouts at once.

If anything, upgrade your HDD to one of those class 40 or 50 NVRAM Doo-hickeys. Fast. Like a Kangaroo.....I got one of these for the laptop: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-sm961-ssd,4608.html. The 2.5 " form factor SSD's are so...legacy!

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

VincentLaunstorfer — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 12:50:01 GMT

Hi all,

Thanks for all these remarks.. It gives some insight on where to investigate more...

In the meantime, I "rebuild" my complete ArcGIS Pro mapping project, involving 2 map view and 1 layout (with 5 insets), by reopening each layer one by one in a brand new project, and assessing the speed of editing labels and/or features.

I was very pleased with performances as all editing were much faster. However, after working a few hours on the project, it slows again with poor performance. I can save, rebuild spatial indexes... but nothing help!

I still think that better hardware components would help with certain tasks, but in this particular situation, it looks like the more you work with a project in ArcGIS Pro, the more it gets screwed up and/or corrupted. What's happening?

Thanks

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 19:38:30 GMT

cache? what is its size and are you managing it?

How caching works—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop

And is most of your data locally stored? or located elsewhere?

I also have a habit of closing maps and layouts when I am not using them, and opening them when I do. How many of each do you have 'open' at a time and do things speed up when you focus on only what you need at any given time?

If i have 'work' to do, and using the portable, then there is no reason to have anything else open except for the odd visit to File explorer and/or Notepad++ (ie no browsers, no nothing)

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

VincentLaunstorfer — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 14:06:14 GMT

Hi Dan,

In addition to hardware investigation, cache is indeed another setting I should investigate more...

I tried to perform Editing for a while with "Don't cache any data locally" but it did not solve anything. I think the default "Keep the cache... updated" is the best. But once cache is invalidated when data are edited and thus updated, does the cache rebuild itself instantly and efficiently? I wonder... This could explain why a project get slower and slower while editing.

You other suggestion of closing down Layout and Map views to "free" up the machine did not help either.

For info, all feature classes, including annotation, are stored locally into a FGDB.

Where can I check the cache size and where to manage it? Perhaps the cache is not enough...

Thanks for helping.

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

DanPatterson_Retired — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 14:38:36 GMT

About ArcGIS Pro .... Project... Options, Display

there is a display cache which can get pretty puffy. You can clear it from there. I don't know if that affects performance, but I don't like fluff hanging around between sessions. My display needs are fairly minimal at best.

C:\Users\...YOU...\AppData\Local\ESRI\Local Caches

In the link I sent, the clearing layer caches pretty well covers other options. If appears you are editing data more than anything else. That is something that I rarely do... maybe that explains why I have few issues. I am mostly creating data from code rather than through the interface.

Maybe with the editing your gdb needs an occasion tweak

An overview of the File Geodatabase toolset—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop

Compact.... Compact—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop

sounds like it does the housecleaning for you. I would give it a try on a regular basis if you do edit on a regular basis.

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

ThomasColson — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 16:31:26 GMT

Fair warning though, regardless of how much you beef up your workstation, the simple act of opening a Pro Map with a few AGOL connections can bring even the most tricked-out of workstations to its knees, frequently. Task manager for the last 10 minutes. I had to hard-power the laptop out of fear of thermal damage.This was about 2 minutes after opening the Pro Project, copying a map in cat pane, opening the map, and zooming into a a different AOI. I can't recall, ever, in my career, being worried about GIS software bricking workstation hardware.....

Steps to Reproduce....

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(view in My Videos)

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 16:45:54 GMT

Are you saying the problem is with AGOL connections?

I never use anything from AGOL for data sources since I don't need them.

Does your report stand when you remove those?

I am curious in case we want to use agol for data in the teaching labs for data.. don't want to have that issue

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

ThomasColson — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 17:23:52 GMT

To work around, I had to:

Turn off all of the AGOL layers, including the world imagery
Hunt for, and download to my laptop, a local roads vector layer: I needed some sort of reference so I could zoom and pan to my new AOI in the new layout while in map activated mode
Turned the AGOL layers back on and removed the local vector layer
This took an hour of my life, that I'll never get back, to figure out how to keep going on this project. There is a delivery-on-time requirement......

This is not a solution though: This project will be used by multiple folks in many, very distant geographic locations and I specifically set it up so the maps and layouts we need are pulling from AGOL HFS's, so they'll work anywhere. This is with the default cache settings, and yes, I've cleared cache, I've moved the cache folder, I've rebooted, the drivers are current.

I get that one has to wait a minute or two for AGOL data to sort itself out over a 7MB internet connection. However, 10 minutes of the thermal vents baking the varnish off my kitchen table is not how GIS software should respond when I zoom and pan to a AGOL HFS.

I suspect, that based on a previous case, the size of the APRX file (12+MB) and the number of layouts using multiple map grids in each layout, is a contributor (but not the cause) to this issue. Multiple maps and layouts in a project is cool, but you should open up that APRX file and look at the quantity and size of the xml files being generated.

Speaking of using AGOL in the classroom: If you have 50 kids all hit the same HFS, and it has features with a lot of vertices...better make sure your lab PC's have Solitaire installed on them. Where possible, use Vector Tiles, but that doesn't help you if you're teaching how to use the ID or Select by Attributes Tool. Quoting you, I believe, make use of the Simplify Tool if it's just training data.....

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 18:59:08 GMT

Locally stored... it will be

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

AnuarbekIbrashev — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 09:32:19 GMT

I got the same question from my customer on providing the best workstation that they would use for ArcGIS Pro 2.2.

Summing all above up, what would you recommend from workstation specs standpoint? Proc, RAM, GPU, network bandwidth?

Does anybody deal with vGPU?

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

KoryKramer — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 14:24:41 GMT

Curious as to why you're scoping for ArcGIS Pro 2.2?

Anyways, even though Pro 2.2 is supported until 2021 (https://support.esri.com/en/Products/Desktop/arcgis-desktop/arcgis-pro/2-4#product-support) you should look at the current system requirements for Pro 2.4.

There is a good thread here: https://community.esri.com/message/847967-arcgis-pro-on-a-dell-xps-13-will-i-regret-it

And I remember Thomas Colson‌ posting some very detailed specs, but can't seem to find that now...

Re: ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

ThomasColson — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:45:42 GMT

https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-13504-sasquatchs-annual-what-computer-should-i-buy-for-pro-recommendations