Hopefully this post is appreciated and in the preferred location within the community. I’m putting this post here as it’s the only place I’m seeing benchmark comparisons. I have tried nearly everything I can to get an Apple computer (MacBook, Mac mini, Mac Studio) to work well with the Topaz suites. Below are some lessons learned that hopefully can help those trying to match a computer to the software while staying in the MacOS environment. First the computer specs, then the insights:
Computers Tested:
#1: Macbook M1, 8 CPU, 14 GPU, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
#2: Mac Mini M4, 10 CPU, 10 GPU, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
#3, Mac Mini M4 Pro, 12 CPU, 16 GPU, 24 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
#4: Mac Studio M1 Ultra, 20 CPU, 64 GPU, 128 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD
#5: Macbook M4 Max 14 Inch, 14 CPU, 32 GPU, 36 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
#6: Macbook M4 Max 14 Inch, 16 CPU, 40 GPU, 64 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
I also tested my brother’s laptop with a NVIDIA 3070 GPU (other specs not known). It crushed the first 3 tested and beat out the last 3 (4 through 6).
Overall:
I’ve listed the computers in order of performance with #6 being the highest performance specifically to my experience in the 3 Topaz products. Move down the line to increase performance.
Running Video AI, Generative models in Gigapixel, or Superfocus Beta in Photo AI will max out the GPUs on every computer listed.
Every computer consistently ran into issues with Topaz software. Most of the issues documented on this site were ones I experienced (force quitting, “film negative” rendering, non rendering, B&W rendering, etc.). I’ve concluded that Topaz simply isn’t a “stable” product on Macs. I regularly uninstalled and reinstalled apps, removed cached folders and files, and installed older versions of the software as temporary solutions to the consistent problems. The problems keep coming back after consistent use.
The capability of the software is phenomenal, and to me, worth the money spent even with the consistent issues had. Move to a PC if you’re not okay with the bugginess.
Computer Insights:
M1 vs M4 Chip: the M1 struggles even on the M1 Studio. However, the M1 studio did far better than M1 MacBook. If choosing between M1 Studio and M4 Pro, they were near equals. I’d recommend going with the M4 Pro over the M1 studio based on my experience. If I had to guess, I’d guess the M4 chip holding other things equal is 2x the performance of an M1 chip in Topaz.
M4 Macbook vs M4 Mac Mini: I did not notice a performance difference.
M4 vs M4 Pro vs M4 Max Chip: any differences identified had to do with the GPU based on my user experience.
CPU: Honestly, I never noticed CPU being an issue even at 8 CPU.
GPU: Other things held equal, 25% more cores will give you 25% more efficient render times. When purchasing a Mac, simply evaluate if the extra cores as a percent increase is worth the additional money and time savings. 20 to 40 cores would double your speed for example but don’t forget that the chip matters.
RAM: When working in a single Topaz program, there is very little benefit to purchase RAM above 48 GB but there were notable gains up to 48. When working in 2+ programs (I often render in Gigapixel and Video AI at the same time), 64 GB RAM is very helpful but additional RAM did nothing for performance.
SSD: you do not want your SSD near full for smooth operation, especially if you skimp on RAM. Be sure to allow for 25% free space at 512 GB or 1 TB, 15% at 2 TB to ensure this doesn’t impact performance.
Power Management: When running the two M4 Max MacBooks side-by-side, I accidentally learned that the 32 GPU 36 GB Ram option in high power mode was nearly identical to the 40 GPU 64 GP RAM option when in normal power mode. Putting the 40 GPU computer in high power mode effectively boosted performance by 20%.
Topaz Insights:
Topaz Gigapixel: When working with the Basic Models in Gigapixel, all computers tested were up to the task but most consistently had issues in the Generative Models. The M1 MacBook struggled too much for my satisfaction on even basic models.
I tested my brother’s laptop with a NVIDIA 3070 and it was faster than every Mac option I tested and by a fair margin. If you want to use Topaz in near-real-time, no Mac will give you this joy today; go the PC route.
Topaz Photo AI: With the exception of SuperFocus Beta, all computers got the job done with increasing performance as you moved from #1 through #6 computer. For Super Focus Beta, all computers are SLOW; get a NVIDIA GPU if you want image renders faster than every 10-20 minutes (based on roughly 1k x 2k photo with 2x upscaling).
Topaz Video AI: It’s all about the GPUs baby! Frame rate production appears to be a linear relationship to the number of GPUs, holding other things constant.
Topaz is a great product with poor buggy performance on Macs today when doing anything beyond the basic models. It’s worth the money to me though and I appreciate the solution Topaz has brought to the market. I’ve tested other software solutions for both photo and video rendering and find Topaz to be the best when it works.