Which Computer System Would You Recommend For Drone Mapping?

[@user-dr2pg8fk2i]

Video starts at 9:20

[@SkyHorseTech]

Great video. One note from past experience, when building or buying a mapping computer be sure the processor allows for Virtualization. You won't need this for Pix4d or other off-the-shelf mapping software but if you venture off the worn path and try to use mapping software like open source OpenDroneMap (ODM) it requires virtualization. In a nutshell, this allows your CPU to whip up a virtual machine (VM) where it processes the mapping solution separately. A few years ago we bought a gaming computer just for mapping, it has an AMD Ryzen 3 without virtualization. It worked fine for Pix4d but we couldn't use it for ODM. We ended up using an EC2 instance on Amazon to create the VM for ODM to run on, that's a rabbit hole we wouldn't suggest anyone go down. Just a heads up.

[@jordanabendroth5568]

As far as I know, all ryzen processors have supported AMD-v (AMD's version of virtualization), but it's generally disabled by default in the BIOS, so you generally have to go turn it on.

[@SkyHorseTech]

@@jordanabendroth5568 AMD had a bug in their Ryzen chipsets starting mid-2017 that prevented certain VME's from running at all or would run some then hang up randomly. They eventually came out with a patch some time in 2018 I believe. There was a workaround to update the power settings but that didn't work 100% for us unfortunately. Believe if anyone goes with a newer Ryzen they should be ok but just a heads up.

[@ScottAlanAnderson]

Thanks guys! This was a big help! And yes, I'll probably build my own. Building a new computer is a fun project. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for the most bang for the buck, and an interesting challenge.

[@importjunky3106]

Gents, while taking the panel off the side of the computer is a good way to help keep it cool. Wouldn't you be a little upset if, lets say a spider crawled on there and just by pure misfortune managed to walk across something on the motherboard and turned himself into a fuse and fried your computer (speaking from experience)? with a proper cooling configuration, removing the panel isn't necessary. Key points are to remove the hot air closest to where the heat is being made. So you want to set up your fans, typically in a push-pull method. Exhausting hot air closest to the heat source while pushing in cool air. Also, look into adjusting your fan curves. This can be done in the BIO's or some setups allow you to configure that with in app inside the operating system. Lastly, Granted, my maps are typically I would guess medium size. 30-80 acres and I've only done a few of them thus far. 128gb of RAM is a little out there. Most Motherboards only have 4 slots for ram, thus you're buying 4x32gb sticks of ram. For DDR4-3600mhz you're looking at $750 just in RAM. PIx4d recommended RAM configurations for large to very large projects is 32-64gb. I'm getting by with an $1,400pc I built mainly for gaming.. Aorus Pro wifi Z390 Intel i7-9700k (8 core) 16gb DDR4 3200 Ram (admittedly I'd like to probably have 32gb total) 2x 1tb evo 860 SSD Nvidia RTX 2070 Super (faster video encoding over GTX if you need that) I could be completely wrong about this, but to my experience this works pretty well. I'll have to put my next mapping mission on a timer and see how long it takes in Pix4d.

[@timelesstruths]

Very informative as always, Great Post

[@imyourocd]

Rtx 2060 somehow I think you could just dump the rtx feature and go for a GeForce 1080....over a 2060.

[@craighermle7727]

Why not just use a company that did the computation stuff on the cloud?

[@recoveryone1]

Running twin 980 ti in SLI

[@imyourocd]

When it comes to mapping I think that you really should have 2 computers, one dedicated to mapping.

[@MrJujuthedude]

OriginPC for laptops and desktops - the end!

[@jordanabendroth5568]

Origin makes good stuff, but if you build your machine, you can get a much better deal on hardware than going with a system integrator who builds them

[@imyourocd]

It's not about who builds your pc it's the hardware inside! You can say I have origin or Alienware, Dell it doesn't matter what matters if you have a I9 I7 the razen cpu's how much ram how fast it is and the big one the graphics card!if you have a ssd and operating System in the end thats all that matters, also if you have the rtx cards get the studio drivers they are targeting Adobe type applications.

[@imyourocd]

Lol Nvidia isn't part of intel.

[@imyourocd]

Blowing dust out of a computer should be a regular thing, also backing up and formatting the system once a year is advised for file corruption is inevitable!

[@imyourocd]

Running in raid also something to think about.

[@BAW556]

So i take it my MacBook M2 pro wont handle it

[@independentdronechannel170]

;)