usable ram in windows xp

P
Posted By
pshaw
Jun 30, 2005
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401
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i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

tia … steve

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Nicholas Sherlock
Jun 30, 2005
wrote:
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

You can use a maximum of 2gig of memory in normal Windows with a 32-bit CPU. Some special versions of Windows allow you to use up to 3gig, and PhotoShop CS2 supports this (I don’t know if any of the other versions do).

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
MR
Mike Russell
Jun 30, 2005
wrote in message
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

Above 2 gig you have diminishing returns. Photoshop, and other apps, cannot address more than 2 gigs, but the extra memory will help a bit for certain OS functions, including disk cache.

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com
J
Jim
Jun 30, 2005
wrote in message
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?
Photoshop has no control over its address space; it is strictly a restriction of 32 bit operating systems. There is a /3GB switch which you can place in bootini which allows any program to access up to 3GB of user space. 4GB of RAM may make a slight difference, but your money would be better spent on faster disks.
Jim
SR
Steve Reeves
Jun 30, 2005
Photoshop has no control over its address space; it is strictly a restriction of 32 bit operating systems. There is a /3GB switch which you

Indeed. The only true solution is to move to Windows x64 – this is a full 64-bit OS that will allow individual apps to address huge amounts of RAM. But you will also need the application to be written to take advantage of a 64bit OS and I don’t know if PS CS2 is such an application. I would have thought Adobe would have mentioned it if so – but it is possible I have missed it.

Steve
LI
Lorem Ipsum
Jun 30, 2005
wrote in message
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

With CS2, 3.5GB RAM is addressable with: Mac G5 OSX, or AMD Athlon 64, (or Opteron) or XP 64 on Intex Xeon with EM642.

CS2 also likes fast drives. I use three separate spindles. It makes a difference!
MR
Mike Russell
Jun 30, 2005
"Lorem Ipsum" wrote in message
wrote in message
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

With CS2, 3.5GB RAM is addressable with: Mac G5 OSX, or AMD Athlon 64, (or Opteron) or XP 64 on Intex Xeon with EM642.

CS2 also likes fast drives. I use three separate spindles. It makes a difference!

If drive speed makes a difference while editing, make sure you are topped out on memory. The best swap is no swap at all.


Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com
LI
Lorem Ipsum
Jun 30, 2005
"Mike Russell" wrote in message
"Lorem Ipsum" wrote in message
wrote in message
i’m going to get a new computer and am wondering with windows xp pro can photoshop use more than 2 gig’s of ram? would it be helpful to get say 4 gigs?

With CS2, 3.5GB RAM is addressable with: Mac G5 OSX, or AMD Athlon 64, (or Opteron) or XP 64 on Intex Xeon with EM642.

CS2 also likes fast drives. I use three separate spindles. It makes a difference!

If drive speed makes a difference while editing, make sure you are topped out on memory. The best swap is no swap at all.

Mike, I think that CS2 will ‘swap’ regardless of RAM. I hear those discs rattling. Maybe someone from Adobe could tell us just exactly what’s happening with their proprietary scratch disc swapping.
MR
Mike Russell
Jun 30, 2005
"Lorem Ipsum" wrote in message
….
Mike, I think that CS2 will ‘swap’ regardless of RAM. I hear those discs rattling. Maybe someone from Adobe could tell us just exactly what’s happening with their proprietary scratch disc swapping.

Then install 4 gig, set up a 2 gig ram disk and have PS swap on that. 🙂

Mike Russell
LI
Lorem Ipsum
Jun 30, 2005
"Mike Russell" wrote in message
"Lorem Ipsum" wrote in message

Mike, I think that CS2 will ‘swap’ regardless of RAM. I hear those discs rattling. Maybe someone from Adobe could tell us just exactly what’s happening with their proprietary scratch disc swapping.

Then install 4 gig, set up a 2 gig ram disk and have PS swap on that. 🙂

Hey, I just might to that! 8GB would be better. (he says, scratching notes for the next federal grant…)
Z
Zimphire
Jul 1, 2005
In article <da14of$bfh$1$>,
Steve Reeves wrote:

Photoshop has no control over its address space; it is strictly a restriction of 32 bit operating systems. There is a /3GB switch which you

Indeed. The only true solution is to move to Windows x64

That is if you want to use Windows.

There are other 64bit enabled OS’s that run on 64bit machines that run Photoshop. 🙂
SR
Steve Reeves
Jul 1, 2005
That is if you want to use Windows.

There are other 64bit enabled OS’s that run on 64bit machines that run Photoshop. 🙂

Ooops – fair point – sorry. 🙂

My thinking has become somewhat Windows-centric over the years – probably not a good thing!

Not that I am that fussed about Win or Linux or OSX – they are all just means to an end for me.

I am actually looking to buy a new machine in the next month or two and I probably need to open my mind beyond Windows. My 2 key apps are Lightwave and PS. I have the software for both PC/Mac – would just need to transfer the licenses – not sure how much that would cost. Most of my other s/ware would have to change though.
TS
Tim Smith
Jul 1, 2005
Steve Reeves wrote:

I am actually looking to buy a new machine in the next month or two and I probably need to open my mind beyond Windows. My 2 key apps are Lightwave and PS. I have the software for both PC/Mac – would just need to transfer the licenses – not sure how much that would cost. Most of my other s/ware would have to change though.

I believe I paid around US $125 to upgrade to CS2 (something like that, I don’t remember exactly). I’m sure UK pricing is comparable.

You might want to look at Mac/OS X (10.4, aka "Tiger"). As a long-time Windows (NT and XP) user, and before that UNIX (and before that…), I was never much enchanted with earlier Mac OSs. I got a Mac G5 and OS X 10.1, and didn’t much like that, though I do like the 22" cinema display.

But with OS X 10.4, Apple has finally got it right. Using CS2 on my Mac is a pleasure, and it’s a pain when I have to switch back to CS2 on XP on my laptop, only a bit of which is due to the slower speed of the XP laptop. I’ll probably get a Mac laptop later this year.

Just my $.02, but I do have over 30 years user experience with many different OSs.

Tim Smith

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