topic What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 12:03:57 GMT

My trusty Lenovo ThinkPad has always been great for ArcGIS desktop, but just doesn't cut the mustard when running ArcGIS Pro.

Any suggestions for the best PC (not laptop) recommendations to run both ArcGIS desktop and ArcPro? I've been looking through the recommended and optimal system requirements, here: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/get-started/arcgis-pro-system-requirements.htm

is it feasible to get a system that works blisteringly fast with ArcPro for under £3,000? If so, any specific recommendations?

Many thanks,

Helen

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

ThomasColson — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 12:22:16 GMT

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

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

JimmyKroon — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 12:54:04 GMT

I have an Alienware 17 laptop that I bought last year.

Alienware 17 Gaming Laptop Built for Virtual Reality | Dell United States

And a Dell Precision 3630 that is a few months old and they both run Pro very well. I'm not sure I'd say 'blistering', but the tower is definitely fast. I just timed it and Pro opens in 7 seconds and it never seems to lag, even working with large map layouts. I believe key specs are a high end graphics card, a solid state drive, and plenty of RAM.

Both of these were under $2,000. That did not include monitors for the Precision.

Jimmy

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:03:23 GMT

Thanks Thomas, that's really helpful. I definitely fall into the 'You have ADHD and run 4-5 Pro projects at once...' category!

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:05:27 GMT

Thanks Jimmy, that's very helpful. Pro just took > 40 seconds to open here, without even thinking about doing anything useful with it, so that's a useful comparison!

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:13:33 GMT

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for Intel Core i7 or i9 vs. Intel Xeon or Intel Core Xeon?

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

RobertBorchert — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:37:00 GMT

In my professional and honest opinion most of what I read here is overkill for the computers being used. If your having serious issues taking that long to open Pro you should look to your HDD and system software integrity.

There are many things that can effect performance and no matter the size of you computer unit they will contribute to performance.

I do generally recommend gaming computers as GIS workstations. Xeon processors are overkill and you would not even begin to touch what they are normally designed for.

Below is a snapshot of my work computer. It is far from a gaming computer and does not have stats that make you grin. But I just opened Pro in 9 seconds. It works very well.

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 08:27:46 GMT

This is a good point, and my computer has been perfectly adequate for most things I need to do in ArcGIS Desktop (sometimes a bit slow if I need to process a lot of lidar data or similar).

The current config is:

Intel (R) Core(TM) i7-4600m CPU @ 2.90GHz

16GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics card

the system drive is an SSD which isn't massive but should be adequate (250GB with 46GB free)

but ArcGIS Pro is painfully slow (and I mean unworkably so, it can sometimes take a minute or so to just change something basic in the symbology panel).

Any suggestions to optimise it? Is there anything different I could be doing with swapfile sizes, etc.?

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions.

Helen

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

JimmyKroon — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 15:50:45 GMT

Here is another writeup I found on real-world Pro hardware.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j0XOrBmsVxsMVVGjM8v90JyV-e8mtmP2/view

The easiest and probably least upgrade to your current setup would be more RAM. If it's reading/writing to virtual memory that'll really slow it down and 16gb is on the low end of requirements. After that, consider a better video card.

I'd make sure your windows virtual memory/Pro cache locations are local drives (not on a network). I've seen that where someone is having poor performance and Arc a network folder for a cache. Not helping!!

Your CPU has 2 physical (4 virtual) cores and that doc recommends more, but not too many people are going to upgrade their processor.

Jimmy

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:12:30 GMT

Thanks Jimmy (and thanks Tom for writing the article!)

That's very helpful. I'm back to actually wondering whether ArcGIS Pro is really, actually fit for purpose for anything other than some basic map production!

I'd be really interested to know what proportion of GIS professionals have fully moved to ArcGIS Pro.

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

ThomasColson — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:28:23 GMT

https://community.esri.com/polls/2946-is-arcgis-pro-23-ready-to-replace-arcmap

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:59:53 GMT

Aha!

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

JimmyKroon — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 14:47:25 GMT

That poll needs a third option - ArcGIS Pro is ready by I am not.

I'm in the middle of a project to move all of my programs data processing and map production into Pro. It's taken some re-learning for sure, but now I am at the point where I love working in Pro and lothe opening ArcMap. Pro actually runs much faster on my current PC than ArcMap, probably because it's able to take advantage of the better hardware and 64 bit architecture. It's also reached a point where it has many new features that ArcMap never did. The symbology is better and map navigation experience is more fluid, and I can add summary statistics and formatted tables from related data to map layouts. Overall, I really enjoy working in it. (But to be fair, performance on my old PC was a drag)

These maps were created in Pro and everything about them is created dynamically from the geodatabase. All I do is pick the project's ID number.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mByFBDEFDkbvxn7osK2rsEvI_7B_saSf/view?usp=sharing

But the other side of this story - I think we have two groups emerging at work. New GIS users who, from day one, work with solutions designed for ArcGIS Pro using feature services, mobile and web tools, etc. They tend to be very happy and I've even heard some say Pro was 'intuitive'. Nobody said that about ArcMap.

The other group are 'traditional' ArcMap users who's programs have used GIS for years (decades?). It'll take a lot of time and energy to retrain them in Pro and modify their workflows. They need training and they also need to dedicate time to using Pro and working through the roadblocks they will find. I feel like this group is stuck and really needs a push. They also tend to be confused by Pro because they are expecting it to be laid out like ArcMap, which it isn't.

Jimmy

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

HelenCooper — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 08:58:46 GMT

Thanks Jimmy, the maps look good, and it's great to know that they're completely automated.

I'd be happy to invest some training time in ArcPro if at the end of the day I'm more productive and am still happy with my mapped outputs! (So far I've tried it on one major project and it took sooo long to make basic changes to the maps the computer nearly ended up out the window). Onwards and upwards - hopefully the time and ££ investment will pay off!

Thanks for all your help,

Helen

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

StephanieShaw1 — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 14:27:24 GMT

It is just about my turn for a new PC at work. I just started looking at specs for Workstations vs Gaming PCs and I can get more RAM, More Processing Cores, and a better GPU with a gaming computer for less $. I can get a processor w/ 10 cores, GDDR5 Graphics card, and 32 GB of RAM, 256 SSD + 2TB HD for around $1600 on a gaming system. On the site I was looking at, not to name names but it starts with "D", I can't even customize a workstation with those kind of specs for under $4k. On the good, better, best scale, the Best GIS Computer = Better Gaming Computer (or best gaming computer if you can afford it).

Re: What's the optimal PC configuration for ArcGIS Pro?

Mark_Hotz — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:10:40 GMT

I bought the same computer for home, and have ArcGIS Pro installed on that too. This is an awesome computer, and I have never had an issue with it either.