FASTER PHOTOSHOP! PLEASE!

Damian Brown

Damian Brown

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Damian Brown
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Using CS3 and Bridge and a pretty old system and it's got me thinking.. time to upgrade again as the processing times are far too slow. 10 minutes to open 10 raw files from ACR into cs3. And then some to run processes on the images. I can't take it anymore, it's killing my work time :(

I have a Athlon xp1900 system with 2gb ddr ram, programs running on a 80gb internal drive, working files on a 160gb internal, and backup and storage on a 300gb external hard drive. All three are set as scratch disks, starting with c drive. They all have ample space left on them at the moment. I run nothing else at the same time and still get slow speeds. I've applied the advice for optimising CS3, including trying percentage of ram at 55%, 65%, etc.

Before forking out for a new pc or mac (no wars here please, both are great for their purpose) what would you do? What speeds do you get in photoshop? I'm an impatient person with technology but in this case it's justified as it's eating into my time!

cheers

rant over :bonk:
 
I am on a bit of a slower spec than that and yeah its all getting a bit slow and annoying :( never really timed it, but will next time I do some processing.
 
Spent about 10 hours on it today processing a wedding from the weekend... arrrrrgh, still not a quarter through!
 
CS3 is a pretty heavy user of resources even on a fast machine so running a slower machine is going to be tedious. Upgrade time I think and go as fast as you can. ;)
 
Memory would seem OK. Graphics card? What type of drives? SATA? Faster processor would obviously help.

For info: I am using a home build machine - it's an old Pentium 4 2.8GHz (yes, just the basic old P4), 2GB RAM, All In Wonder 9600, 3 drives (Maxtor 200 Boot, Maxtor 250GB and and old IBM 8GB for mail - I get LOTS of mail!)

I currently have open: Lightroom, Photoshop, Excel, Word, Outlook, InDesign, Firefox.....and all whizzing along nicely.
 
As brains says, 2gb of mem is pretty good. Thats what I use and Photoshop & lightroom loaded together even wizzes along. Although I've got a dualcore 3ghz intel which helps loads. Faster processor will help you out here
 
Now I know why Adobe Bridge and CS3 are slow :lol:

I use :

2.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
120.02 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
RADEON 7500 Family
 
Definately upgrade.

I run :

Dell E520
Windows Vista Premium
Intel Core 2 6400 @ 2.13GHz
2046MB RAM
1 1/2 TB Hard Drives

and CS3 + Bridge run like a dream. Never ave to wait for a RAW file to open stright from plugging the CF card in the in-built card reader.
Plus Dell are always doing deals and with Quidco you can get around £20 off.
 
One forum poster on another unrelated forum recommended this as an option:

Anthony said:
You have DDR Ram you say, but DDR 3 is out now (just) so you should be able to get a cheap old mobo. You're kind of limited as it has to take DDR, rather than DDR2, but I found this one:

like this one

And a nice Core 2 Duo...

like this one

And they'll all work nicely together.
Click to expand...


I've been quoted 25 notes to get it fitted, I know the instructions to do it are on the tinternet but I don't wanna mess anything up :)

What do you think? Ok, not compared with a totally new system but I haven't got time or funds til after the wedding season to do much else. Mind you i'll have no time at all if I don't do something :)
 
That board you're looking at is a nice cross over board from old to new tech with AGP/PCI-E, DDR/DDR2 and it can take a dual/quad core. Pretty Good tbh
and lets you keep all the old stuff you've got and just upgrade the processor. As time goes on you can add more bits. Get a dual core 6400/6600 and overclock it and had 2gb of dd2 and you'll be sorted
 
Puz said:
That board you're looking at is a nice cross over board from old to new tech with AGP/PCI-E, DDR/DDR2 and it can take a dual/quad core. Pretty Good tbh
and lets you keep all the old stuff you've got and just upgrade the processor. As time goes on you can add more bits. Get a dual core 6400/6600 and overclock it and had 2gb of dd2 and you'll be sorted
Click to expand...


Nearly had me with jargon there mate ;) Is the dual core you're talking about anything like the one i've linked? I'm in the middle of a few things here so I haven't checked myself and you know a lot better than I do!
 
db247 said:
Nearly had me with jargon there mate ;) Is the dual core you're talking about anything like the one i've linked? I'm in the middle of a few things here so I haven't checked myself and you know a lot better than I do!
Click to expand...

Oops sorry !

There a lot of dual cores cpus of various speeds.
The one you've looked at is a 1.8ghz to run on a 800mhz motherboard.
The mboard you've picked runs at 1066mhz so you should really put a chip that runs the same speed into it. A board would prob drop down to match the processor but you might as well put a bit more cash into the cpu tbh

So for this motherboard you should buy one of the following

The 6320 (1.86ghz) is £97
The 6400 (2.13ghz) is £110
The 6600 (2.4ghz) is £140

I've got the 6600 but I've overclocked it from 2.4 to 3.06 so I get more power
for less cash. So even with the E6320 you might be able to eek a bit more speed out of it and save yourself a tenner. :)
 
Even with the E6320 I should see a big difference then? Yes, that was a question/ statement :)
 
db247 said:
Even with the E6320 I should see a big difference then? Yes, that was a question/ statement :)
Click to expand...

Yes you should see a good improvement. Photoshop will use both cores combined with the improved board etc should make you a little happier. :) Intels are
 
Yes but spend the extra and buy a 6600 for £43 it is the best £43 you will spend
 
:agree:

As i've said I've got my e6600(2.4) running at 3.06 on air cooling. Loverly :)
 
So you guys barely have to wait for raw files to open from ACR to CS3, for example? That's my main issue. 10 mins to open 10 raw files after adjustments in ACR just is too slow for me and i'm gonna die by september at this rate :)

I'm even considering a system ready to roll at a little more money if anyone has a recommendation, i mean 300-400, not a full on machine but just what i need.
 
My workflow is different and consists of lightroom 1.1 and CS2.
By the time I get to CS2 I'm using TIFFs or JPGs as I've done all my tweaking in lightroom. Loading and viewing Raw's in lightroom is very quick.
I can edit, apply changes across 10 RAWs and export to CS2 in a few minutes

I've upgraded only fairly recently and I spend about £300 to get what I needed, but I built it myself. So your budget seems fair.
 
It's the building it/ fitting it myself bit that worries me to be honest. The most i've done is hard drives, a psu, ram memory and dvd writers. Mobo and cpu looks like the trickiest bits and I don't wanna mess it up :(
 
Yeh although in the 12 yrs I've been building pc's I've only blown up one and thats cos I didn't check the voltage on the back of the psu properly. (Man that made one seriously loud popping sound).
There are plenty of building guides on the net and despite the cpu/mboard looking fragile, they can withstand more than you think.

The trickiest bit is getting the fan on top of the cpu and the little jumpers for the front panel of your pc case. Putting the board & chip in take 5 mins. The rest from what you say you've done yourself already.

There are small firms out there that will do it for you but they'll charge a fair bit. I laugh at the prices PC World charge for doing it but i'm sure some ppl need to use them...
 
A local store I use for bits from time to time offered:

AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4600 dual core
2 gig ddr2 ram
250gb sata hdd
dvd rewriter
card reader built in
7 usb 2.0 slots
500w psu unit

£305 all in ready to go (with windows installed)

I'm researching the processor as we speak, he's a decent chap and said he'll build it with any other bits I buy instead of what he offers. Can't remember the graphics card tho.. oops.

He also has a Phillips WXGA 19" LCD monitor for 130 which I might consider to keep this pc running as well as the other.
 
Well from what I can tell the bits that you've mentioned if they're medium quality cost more than 300 quid and that doesn't include the case or gfx card.
So either he's a nice bloke helping you out or he's putting some rubbish bits in. I would assume the gfx card is onboard vga for that price

Also make sure it's a SATA 2 drive rather than SATA and if he's installing windows for you, ask for the disk.

You can buy 19" monitors for the 100 quid mark from most places and even cheaper on the 'bay'.
 
Puz said:
Well from what I can tell the bits that you've mentioned if they're medium quality cost more than 300 quid and that doesn't include the case or gfx card.
So either he's a nice bloke helping you out or he's putting some rubbish bits in. I would assume the gfx card is onboard vga for that price

Also make sure it's a SATA 2 drive rather than SATA and if he's installing windows for you, ask for the disk.

You can buy 19" monitors for the 100 quid mark from most places and even cheaper on the 'bay'.
Click to expand...

I'll have to go in and ask if it's sata 2, and about the gfx card too (what's the minimum you guys recommend?)

The main bits are genuine and all brand new, he is pretty trustworthy to be fair but I think he ships a lot over from HK as he is from there himself. It all comes with warranty and is above board by the way.

He did say I can get the parts and he will put it together for £40 so maybe if I get the important bits and let him do the rest that could work out. That processor seems pretty good though so maybe just the gfx and sata 2 to change from his offer.
 
I use a £60 Nvidia 7600 (256mb) which does me fine for Photoshop and most games. If you want it to be a gaming machine too, you may invest in a better card.
Best to have a SATA II as it's got faster throughput. But if it is what you say I think you've got a pretty good deal !
 
This is giving me a headache ;) But it's a lot better with the advice I'm getting cheers.

I feel like just opting for a made up machine, but of course want the most bang for my buck.. without building it myself as I'm pretty busy. I also feel like getting a second system, not expensive of course but basically for this purpose, at present.

Scan have a deal on for this lot at £311.36:


Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

Intel BOXDQ965GFEKR iQ965 Express, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA I, SATA RAID, uATX, VGA

400 Gb Seagate ST3400633AS-RS Barracuda 7200.9, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 9 ms, NCQ

Of course I'd have to add gfx, say £60 as you said and monitor, £100 and bits and pieces and fitting at £40... or... this bundle for £199.74 plus hdd, mem, etc:

AMD AM2 Athlon 64 5200+ Dual Core 2.6GHz, 2x 1MB Cache, Retail

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

Foxconn N570SM2AA-8EKRS2H NF570 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX


I also spotted this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=160132764232&rd=1&rd=1

this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=200123751100&rd=1&rd=1

this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....Sell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget

and so on.... it's getting hectic in my mind :) really, i can't spend more than 500! haha... :bonk: it's already gone up! I'd love to wait til september to get something a bit more expensive but I can't... if I can upgrade bits then that's fine but I need the core asap!
 
Hehe, it sounds as though you have a plan though. Choices choices ;)

I for one would go with the E6600. I'm very happy with mine

Good luck !!
 
Puz said:
Hehe, it sounds as though you have a plan though. Choices choices ;)

I for one would go with the E6600. I'm very happy with mine

Good luck !!
Click to expand...

I think it makes sense so the E6600 is the way forward, i can't decide which package though!!! Though I like the 19" monitor on scan at the moment:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=583843

I think that's the best I'm gonna get for the cash... now for the chuffin system! I'll trade photography advice for any pushes in the right direction :)
 
Ah well it's down to personal choice in the end. So you'll have to make a decision rather than me pushing you down one ! :)
The 311 quid one from Scan sounds the best although they've given you a SATA II drive with a SATA I interface (unless the RAID does the job, not sure).

That Scan monitor looks very nice though !
 
Don't get that hung up on SATA vs. SATA-II, the actual real world difference is marginal at best. Ensure that the drive has a fast spin speed (7200rpm min), decent size cache (8mb min) and fast seek time.

Cheers,
James
 
Cheers guys, what do you think of the systems in the ebay links? (ebay buying preferences aside)
 
The Ebay machines are all around the same price as the Scan one but of course you get get a gfx card thrown in. The 7200 aint a bad card but cheap enough. So depends really. They are pretty much similar apart from the size of the HD and the case design.
So tbh any of them are fine. You save on gfx card and the 40 quid for getting it built from your local shop so way up the costs and aestheic appeal and choose ! ;)
 
FranchiseJuan said:
Are you sure you can't streach a little more to get a 20 inch LCD? The increase in resolution will be great all round.
Click to expand...

Show me your recommendation then, I'm sure it can be managed :)





git, i'm gonna be broke at this rate ;)
 
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