diff --git a/rugnux/Rugnux.cpp b/rugnux/Rugnux.cpp
index cf3b0308..f9f4a8d3 100644
--- a/rugnux/Rugnux.cpp
+++ b/rugnux/Rugnux.cpp
@@ -117,9 +117,21 @@ void Rugnux::RefineStillsGeometry(int start_image, int end_image, int images_to_
     pass_settings.indexing = true;
     pass_settings.quick_integration = false;
 
+    // A frame is worth bundling only if it indexed this many spots; the bundle then takes the
+    // refine_frames strongest of those.
+    constexpr int MIN_STRONG_SPOTS = 20;
+    // Stop sampling once there are comfortably more strong frames than the bundle will use, instead of
+    // draining the whole budget. The budget is sized for a low-hit-rate dataset (refine_frames * 50, at
+    // least 8000), so on data that indexes well it meant re-indexing the ENTIRE run to keep 200 frames -
+    // 99% of this pass was sampling. Four times the bundle leaves the "strongest N" selection a real
+    // pool to choose from; the frames are equally spaced, so an early stop still spans the run.
+    const int strong_target = refine_frames * 4;
+
     std::vector<GeomRefineFrame> frames;
     std::mutex frames_mutex;
     std::atomic<int> next_i = 0;
+    std::atomic<int> strong_found = 0;
+    std::atomic<int> examined = 0;
 
     auto worker = [&]() {
         pin_gpu();   // round-robin per worker thread; must precede engine construction
@@ -127,9 +139,10 @@ void Rugnux::RefineStillsGeometry(int start_image, int end_image, int images_to_
                                        /*enable_fused_adaptive_gpu=*/true);
         AzimuthalIntegrationProfile profile(mapping);
 
-        while (!cancelled_) {
+        while (!cancelled_ && strong_found.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) < strong_target) {
             const int idx = next_i.fetch_add(1);
             if (idx >= static_cast<int>(sample.size())) break;
+            examined.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
             const int ordinal = sample[idx];
             const int image_idx = start_image + ordinal * config_.stride;
 
@@ -164,6 +177,8 @@ void Rugnux::RefineStillsGeometry(int start_image, int end_image, int images_to_
                     f.spots.push_back(GeomRefineSpot{s.x, s.y,
                         static_cast<int32_t>(s.h), static_cast<int32_t>(s.k), static_cast<int32_t>(s.l)});
             if (f.spots.size() >= 6) {
+                if (static_cast<int>(f.spots.size()) >= MIN_STRONG_SPOTS)
+                    strong_found.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
                 const std::unique_lock ul(frames_mutex);
                 frames.push_back(std::move(f));
             }
@@ -182,7 +197,6 @@ void Rugnux::RefineStillsGeometry(int start_image, int end_image, int images_to_
 
     // Keep the strongest frames (most indexed spots) for the bundle - the true cell indexes many
     // spots per frame, and orientation diversity comes for free from independent serial stills.
-    constexpr int MIN_STRONG_SPOTS = 20;
     std::vector<GeomRefineFrame> strong;
     for (auto &f : frames)
         if (static_cast<int>(f.spots.size()) >= MIN_STRONG_SPOTS)
@@ -192,8 +206,10 @@ void Rugnux::RefineStillsGeometry(int start_image, int end_image, int images_to_
     if (static_cast<int>(strong.size()) > refine_frames)
         strong.resize(refine_frames);
 
-    logger.Info("Geometry refinement: indexed {} of {} sampled frames, bundling {} strong frames (>= {} spots)",
-                frames.size(), sample.size(), strong.size(), MIN_STRONG_SPOTS);
+    logger.Info("Geometry refinement: indexed {} of {} sampled frames (budget {}), bundling {} strong "
+                "frames (>= {} spots)",
+                frames.size(), std::min<int>(examined.load(), static_cast<int>(sample.size())),
+                sample.size(), strong.size(), MIN_STRONG_SPOTS);
 
     GeometryRefinerSettings gr_settings;
     gr_settings.crystal_system = experiment_.GetCrystalSystem();