How much ram?

DC
Posted By
d_cole
Mar 2, 2004
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440
Replies
13
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Closed
I know that memory has cropped up quite often in posts on PS CS but having read a number of threads I’m still not quite sure whether an increase in my ram would be a good investment in my system.

My system is: Asus P4T-E; 1024mb non ECC Samsung 800 rimm rdram (in x4 256mb modules); a Samsung 1614N (160gb) hdd and a Seagate 7200.7 (60gb) hdd; P4 2.6ghz (8oo fsb); Matrox Parhelia 128; half a dozen mixed peripherals – usb 1, usb 2, firewire. I am running XP Pro.

My paging file is only on the C drive (the Samsung) and is set at 1504mb (min) – 3200mb (max) as XP Pro recommends. The scratch disk is at 50% and lives on the Seagate (D drive) – a mostly empty hdd.

So far, don’t often use image files bigger than 20mb

I am tempted to buy more rdram but it is expensive . I’d want to buy two 512mb rimm modules and this would cost £300. A lot of money unless the increase led to a noticeable speeding up of, for rxample, filter operation.

Grateful to have some thoughts on whether the investment would (a) lead to a noticeable performance improvement in anything, and (b) is it really worth the candle? It’s a lot of money.

Thanks

David

NB I undertsand (I think) that rdram is on the way out, or already through the door, so it is unlikely that I could reuse the two 256mb modules I would have to take out of my pc to make way for the 512s. I might be able to sell them but it is another element in deciding whether more ram offers good value.

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M
maroon
Mar 2, 2004
I half a HP 9680c w/ 650mhz. It’s a really horrible computer, but Adobe photoshop cs works fine with mine!
M
maroon
Mar 2, 2004
Oh, your computer stats, will run cs smoothly without any prob.
DS
Dave Simpson
Mar 2, 2004
I think you’ll get a lot of varied responses on this subject. Personally, while I always like more RAM, there are other things you can do to speed up your system.

1. Closely examine all the background processes you have running. Kill what you don’t need. That frees up memory.
2. Don’t allow Windows to manage your paging file. Set BOTH the minimum and maximum file sizes to the same number (2.5 times your base RAM is typically deemed acceptable). Why do this? because now there is no page file expansion and contraction to create file fragments on your hard drive. This will reduce the number and frequency of defrags you need to run on your hard disks.
3. Defrag your hard disks regularly.

If you’re up to the task, you can also run the Performance Monitor (Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Performance) and target your memory and hard disk paging over time (with and without Photoshop running) to see if you can identify a bottleneck). Also the
http://nerds2u.com/tips-win2k-os-tweaks-index.htm site has some nice registry hacks you can employ if you’re a brave Windows user!


Dave Simpson
RND Solutions – Creative Graphic Design

(619) 322-3385 (Local San Diego)
(888) 690-0938 (Nationwide)
http://www.rnd-solutions.com

wrote in message
I know that memory has cropped up quite often in posts on PS CS but having
read a number of threads I’m still not quite sure whether an increase in my ram would be a good investment in my system.
My system is: Asus P4T-E; 1024mb non ECC Samsung 800 rimm rdram (in x4
256mb modules); a Samsung 1614N (160gb) hdd and a Seagate 7200.7 (60gb) hdd; P4 2.6ghz (8oo fsb); Matrox Parhelia 128; half a dozen mixed peripherals – usb 1, usb 2, firewire. I am running XP Pro.
My paging file is only on the C drive (the Samsung) and is set at 1504mb
(min) – 3200mb (max) as XP Pro recommends. The scratch disk is at 50% and lives on the Seagate (D drive) – a mostly empty hdd.
So far, don’t often use image files bigger than 20mb

I am tempted to buy more rdram but it is expensive . I’d want to buy two
512mb rimm modules and this would cost
PC
Paul_Chaplo
Mar 2, 2004
David,

I believe that your "1024mb non ECC Samsung 800 rimm rdram" is adequate. Seems like ~1 GB ram is optimal. Remember, that as you add layers, your file size grows 😉 Even so, and considering the PS rule of thumb: (RAM=3x average file size), you are in good shape!

I hope this helps’

Happy PS’ing,
Paul
BL
Bill_Lamp
Mar 2, 2004
I suspect that RAM=3x average file size is a bit small.

Looking hard at the memory percent figure with CS-Trial I find that with:

3/4 Gig chip memory
10-11 Gig Photoshop swap file partition
69 Meg file
various settings of memory dedicated to PS-CS Trial (50% to 70%) XP-Home
AMD XP-1700+ overclocked to 1900 (It has run stable for several years without problems or errors.)

As soon as I open a file CS is down to 16%.

PS-7, with the same file does not show the huge drop.

In degree of memory use, this is what I saw with 256 Meg Chip with PS-6 and files around 20 meg in size and is what caused me to increase the memory to where it is now.

A recent hard drive change has made a very noticeable improvement.

Next step is to see what is running in the background, do some more memory use comparisons etc. At the moment my choices are to either accept the possible inability to have full 100% and upgrade PS or try to trade in three 256 DDR chips for 512s. Doing both is not an option.

However, thanks to the ability to download and use a trial edition, I will be able to make an informed decision. Adobe does deserve a thank you for that. (NO sarcasm)

Bill
L
LenHewitt
Mar 2, 2004
Bill see the FAQ Topic "Tuning CS" which you will find in the FAQ’s at the top of this forum’s Topic List
BL
Bill_Lamp
Mar 2, 2004
Len,

I had both seen it and printed it out to have in front of me when I have the time to tune CS. I have already put some adjustments in place.

I plan to start tonight with Windoze tuning and will break down and start by setting up a user profile for Photoshop use only. I will keep the software firewall up (ZoneAlarmPro) so CS Trial can call home safely but get rid of almost everything else that just might be hording memory and doesn’t crash the computer if it is missing. This will take some time as I chop things out of startup (MSCONFIG) with testing in between each cut.

I have to bring up two things.

First, your posting the link will guide people to it who haven’t even thought of looking in a FAQ topic. I appreciate your bringing it to my attention even if I had seen it and recognized it’s worth.

Second, even with the memory effenceny being very low, the new features in CS have resulted in a major INcrease in productivity, for what I do, over 7. Yes, even if I am unable to solve the problem with my system, I will be upgrading to it. For me, it is a major improvement as it now functions on my machine.

Well three things.

CS functions better at the 16% memory tag in the bottom left than v.6.1(.01?) did.

I was not flaming Adobe. I know I have things on MY computer that need to be tamed and that the problem is at the house, not with the product.

There is a trade off between product function (dedicated-one purpose) and system function (general multi-use/function). The computer is used by three other family members and is right now set up as a balanced machine to handle all needs on any boot. It is set with an administrator account and the general one (with administrator privliedges). Changing this is the first thing I need to do. Then, once the system is tamed, I will be better able to tune Photoshop to my individual needs.

Bill
L
LenHewitt
Mar 3, 2004
Bill,

I was not flaming Adobe. <<

I’d never even considered that you might be! If you had been, it would hardly have been considered a spark, let alone a flame <g>

Just trying to point you (and others) to a resource that might solve some of your problems.
BL
Bill_Lamp
Mar 4, 2004
Len,

The "tame Windows first" does help. But I found, on my system at least, that a restart to user Photoshop vrs switch to user Photoshop seems to be needed to get the full benefit.

At least it beats the olde DOS trick of having seperate boot floppies for different specialized tasks. (different config.sys & autoexec.bat files tweaked for the job at hand)

Bill
MM
Mick_Murphy
Mar 4, 2004
User switching can leave stuff running under the other accounts which consume memory. You could try using the Task Manager to log off the other users under the users tab.

Have you considered a multi-boot system with a second Win XP OS on another partition dedicated to PS use. Very easy to set up with XP.
BL
Bill_Lamp
Mar 4, 2004
Mick,

What I meant was a cold boot to user Photoshop rather than a switch to user Photoshop.

Does Windoze XP-Home load ALL possible users? I’ll re-locate the "fast switch" on/off toggle (I remember seeing it somewhere awhile back), turn it off, and see if that frees more of my computer from another of those "useful time saving features" of Windoze.

Bill
MM
Mick_Murphy
Mar 4, 2004
Bill

That option is in User Accounts CP. The reason I suggested multiboot is that, if you have the disk space, you could have your own minimalist system for PS apart from the OS with all the other stuff on it. And it’s always a nice safeguard if you ever run into probs with the other OS. I gave my daughter, who lives abroad, a computer recently and installed two OS on two partitions. It saved me some hassle (and the cost of spending ages on the phone at international mobile rates) last week when one of them blue screened.
BL
Bill_Lamp
Mar 7, 2004
AND a follow up:

The current "work speed" with four 69 meg files open in their own windows (not minimised down at the bottom) is faster than it was with just one open before full tuneing. There are far fewer pointer "hangs" with the four than with the pre-tune one and the few that do occur are of much shorter duration.

At this point, I’ll stop lest I over "fix" something & "break" it.

Bill, looking for the PS-7 manual with the SR# sticker inside the front cover before heading to the Adobe Store.

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