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Andy

I have started getting gaming systems for my staff to run ArcGIS Pro. I am currently using both MSI and ASUS. Typical set up is as follows:

• i7 Quad core processor (for those that just primarily view and make maps a i5 will work)
• 16 GB RAM minimum (I am actually running 32 GB on my set up)
• 256GB SSD
• 1TB 7200 RPM SATA drive
• Gigabyte Ethernet
• NVDIA Video Cards with at least 4GB of RAM
• Typically, dual 24 or 27 in monitors. I am personally running the new Samsung 49 in wide monitor. Same area as two 27 but no line in the middle.

I get the gaming systems for two reasons. First, they are generally set up for handling a heavy graphics load. So, they come with a standalone video card which is a must for ArcGIS Pro. Avoid integrated video. I have experienced the troubles that causes. If you are not sure about the difference, integrated video shares your primary resources (CPU and RAM) to handle the graphics rendering. A standalone video card has its own graphics processing unit (GPU) and dedicated video memory. These handle your graphics load and forcing the computer to share the main resources. This means your computer runs faster, and you are not waiting for it to redraw. This is especially critical when working with 3D, raster and lidar data.

The second reason I get gaming systems, is they are typically cheap than the equivalent business systems. I run a laptop because I travel a lot. I got a ASUS ROG Laptop. The equivalent HP or Dell workstation laptop was between $500 to $1000 more expensive.

A few other observations that might be helpful. I have found that unless you are performing a lot of high level geoprocessing with large datasets, 16 GB of RAM is sufficient for most people. I started with 16GB on my laptop and just recently upgraded to 32. I only got minor improvements in performance with ArcGIS Pro. I expected more. It was not just ArcGIS Pro. All other applications including Photoshop, Camtasia, Excel and even a couple of games I have on the system were the same. When I checked the performance, I saw I was just pushing the computer enough to use all that ram most of the time. Of course, I am not one of those that leaves unused apps open. If I am not using it I close it.

Also, the SSD makes a huge difference. I strongly encourage you use those. Install your software and place your swap file on the SSD if you have one. If you don’t get them at least get 7,200 RPM drives. Avoid the 5400 RPM drives. Their seek times are just too slow for the amount of data we work with in GIS.

Lastly ArcGIS Pro is a resource hog. Even more so than ArcMap. So, I encourage my team to start each day with a freshly rebooted computer. This flushes any trash left in RAM, Swap Files, and Processors from the day before. I also try to get them to close out of ArcGIS Pro when they go to lunch. This helps to release computer resources ArcGIS Pro is not using at that moment but has not released. Doing these two things has reduced the number of lockups, crashes and just general weird behavior that happen (They will happen with ArcGIS Pro just as they do with ArcMap).

I hope this helps. This is all based on lesson learned since starting to use ArcGIS Pro when it was still in beta.

Hello all,

We are planning new desktop hardware for our Arc users. We are not yet using Pro in earnest, but I want to plan for it – and to increase drawing performance in ArcMap. I am aware of the ArcGIS Pro system requirements (https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/get-started/arcgis-pro-system-requirements.htm), particularly the need to load up on RAM.

I am curious to know which machines have worked well for you for ArcGIS Pro, whether major vendor or custom built. If you can send along the specs (disk technology/speed, CPU, cores, RAM, bus speed, video/GPU, etc), I would appreciate it! Feel free to reply directly and I will summarize for the list.

Thanks,

Andy

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