ArcGIS Pro 2.2 | Best configuration ?

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10-04-2018 08:40 AM
VincentLaunstorfer
Occasional Contributor III

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

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14 Replies
JeremyWright
Esri Regular Contributor

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.  

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

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

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ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

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!

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VincentLaunstorfer
Occasional Contributor III

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 

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

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)

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VincentLaunstorfer
Occasional Contributor III

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.

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

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.

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ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

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)

DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

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

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