New D810, new big files

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My PC is a Zoostorm 2.67Ghz with Intel 2 core2 Quad processor. I have 4GB of RAM and a large drive.

I find that manipulation of my new large files from my Nikon D810 are not particularly fast anymore. Is this just something I will have to live with or is there something I can do to speed things up?
 
Come into the 21st Century and buy yourself a new computer. i5-xxxx (avoild the i5-xxxxU versions if you can as these are lower power processors aimed at Ultrabooks), 16G RAM (8G will do at a pinch) and 128+GB SSD plus HDD
 
what andy said.

i had an intel core2 quad and 8gb ram when i got my 5Dmk2 and found that struggled. new PC was the way forward.

if you are using lightroom then CPU and disk speeds are key, if photoshop then CPU and memory. (rough rule of thumb)
 
arad85 said:
Come into the 21st Century and buy yourself a new computer. i5-xxxx (avoild the i5-xxxxU versions if you can as these are lower power processors aimed at Ultrabooks), 16G RAM (8G will do at a pinch) and 128+GB SSD plus HDD
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I've just run a couple of online benchmark tests and TBH, my PC doesn't fare too badly; I'm thinking I might try a faster disk drive and a software reload to get rid of the crap.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I've just run a couple of online benchmark tests and TBH, my PC doesn't fare too badly; I'm thinking I might try a faster disk drive and a software reload to get rid of the crap.
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At least you'll be able to reuse a faster disk drive (I assume an SSD) when you buy the new computer ;)

Right click on the task bar and bring up the Task Manager. When you are doing something that appears slow, is the CPU maxed out and memory not? If so, a faster disk drive won't really help.
 
Although changing from HDD to SSD usually makes things fly, for general usage.
 
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You don't say what operating system, but if windows 7 or 8 I'd suggest a fast ssd for the operating system, and keep the data on the other drive. I'd also suggest a 64 bit os and more ram 8gb minimum, especially if you're using Lightroom or Photoshop. The more layers you use in Photoshop the more ram is better.

Crucial 550 mb read & write 500gb ssd sea now around £170 and make a huge difference, or about £85 for the 240gb.

If you're using Lightroom, check out the performance hints about where to put the cache, database etc

Lastly, if you haven't usb3, consider a USB 3 card and flash card reader to speed up,import time.

If you don't want to spend money, look at the disk system and ensure no error. Run chkdsk, check defragmentation, check what're grams and applications you have loading at startup and consuming your working memory. Things like Adobe, google updater, flash updater, office startup etc all like to add themselves to your startup. If windows 7 run msconfig and look at what your have at startup.
Also go into scheduled tasks and see what's in there, then make an intelligent decision if you need those running. You'll be amazed at how much faster your PC will seem.
 
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ShinySideUp said:
My PC is a Zoostorm 2.67Ghz with Intel 2 core2 Quad processor. I have 4GB of RAM and a large drive.

I find that manipulation of my new large files from my Nikon D810 are not particularly fast anymore. Is this just something I will have to live with or is there something I can do to speed things up?
Click to expand...


Normal for such a low amount of system RAM and such a slow processor. As others have said, a SSD drive will speed things up, but only because you're running out of RAM and having to use the hard drive as virtual memory. Adding a lot more RAM will speed things up tremendously. However... that's a very old machine.
 
Yes, partial upgrading always means you mix fast bits with slow bits from different generations. Which is unlikely to be great, and maybe problematical.
Bite the bullet and upgrade the whole lot in one go.
 
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Some points:

  • To get over 300MB/s out of an SSD, the motherboard has to support SATA 3. I think Core 2 predates SATA 3, so you'll only get SATA 2 speeds (max 300MB/s).
  • If you are still using a 32bit OS, you will only "see" 3.2G of memory, even if you have 64GB installed.
  • LR is generally conservative with memory. It rarely heads above 2.x GB of memory usage. 4GB is just enough if you are not running anything else other than the OS. 8G would be much better though
  • There were relatively big performance hikes in the first few generations of i-core processors. A Core 2 will be slow by comparison
  • You will not get much benefit from a beefy graphics card running LR - it doesn't use graphics acceleration yet. PS only uses it for some more esoteric stuff (although this will change over time). Just getting that one in!
  • A faster disk will only help you when you are browsing images, writing images if not CPU bound, and if you are swapping (i.e. out of memory) a lot.
  • If you are swapping a lot, you will see an improvement with an SSD (but not much) but you will get HUGE increases by putting more memory in. Always assuming you have a 64bit OS AND the motherboard supports more than 4G.
  • Compatibility of the motherboard and DDR3 may be an issue (Zoostorm tend to build to a price, so I wouldn't expect a top-of-the-range mobo in there). Likely it will have 2 memory slots, both filled. You may find upgrading to 8G is relatively expensive (especially if you are limited to DDR2 - 4G of DDR2 is running at £80 ATM)
  • Changing things arbitrarily without understanding the underlying problem is a surefire way to spend lots of money. Unless you are naturally lucky and guess the problem right in the first instance....
 
arad85 said:
Some points:
  • LR is generally conservative with memory. It rarely heads above 2.x GB of memory usage. 4GB is just enough if you are not running anything else other than the OS. 8G would be much better though
Click to expand...

I have Lightroom 4, 5 is similar. Minimum is 2Gb ram, more is recommended, I've often seen my ram usage fro Lightroom approx 3.5Gb (as it is at the moment whilst processing), hence why I mentioned it. However we don't know what the OP uses.

http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/system-requirements.html
http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/performance-hints.html
https://forums.adobe.com/message/4366597
 
Byker28i said:
I have Lightroom 4, 5 is similar. Minimum is 2Gb ram, more is recommended, I've often seen my ram usage fro Lightroom approx 3.5Gb (as it is at the moment whilst processing), hence why I mentioned it. However we don't know what the OP uses.
Click to expand...
What are you doing to get it to 3.5G? Neither Neil or I can get it to head much above 2.5G...
 
I'm in the same boat as the OP - a laptop that is a few years old and "packs" ;) an i3/2.4Ghz with 4Gb RAM and Win7/64bit. It worked ok with my D7000 but since moving to a D800 it seems to take me back to the days of clicking and going and make a cup of tea :mad: My answer is to find a high specced new machine in the next few weeks. Some useful advice above - thanks guys
 
it all comes down to the amount of ram you have. I use a 2.2 quad core pc. and cs6 uses about 40% of this on average but as my motherboard sucks potatoes I can only have 4gb ram. this is the real sticking point. older versions of ps couldn't utilise high ram amounts but this is no longer the case.

id personally opt for an I5 with 16gb ram, and 2 drives. OS and programs on one and the other for just your pics and such. when you spend a shed load on a camera £400 on a pc isn't exactly a stretch. on the flip side you could waste another £1000 and but the same spec computer but with an apple logo on it? :P
 
Depends on the software. Photoshop will chew up as much ram as you can throw at it. However as mentioned lightroom is much much less memory dependant and relies more on CPU and disk speed.
 
Thank you for all your replies and I think a new PC is in order now. Thinking back, I have had this PC for eight years and it was pretty top spec then but I have only 4Gb of RAM (maximum) and a slow drive and USB 2 and an old video card so I think it is time for a change.

I am looking at this: http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=cdx8717&model_id=xps-8700

...it should do I think.
 
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