Fastest Hardware for Photoshop??

[Eric]

Hello! I am looking at either a MAC G5 1.8 Ghz with 1GB MB Ram or a MAC G5
2.0 Ghz with 500 MB Ram. Either system would be about the same price. Which would be faster for Photoshop? Any advice most appreciated, I am new to this. Thanks! :confused:

[TheObiJuan]

it has been my experience that ram helps much more than a slight increase in processor speed for photoshop.
i had a 2 gig with 512, then I got a 3gig with 512mb, the speed was almost the same. after upping the ram to 1 gig, the difference was amazing.

[Eric]

Thank you, that's what I suspected but wasn't sure about. Thanks again. Eric :)

[mischivo]

I'd go with the faster processor and half the ram. Why? Well, you can always upgrade the ram for cheap, but I doubt you'll have any option to upgrade the processor if you decide that's what you'll require later on. :P

[Eric]

Good point. Do you think I would notice much of a difference between 1.8 Ghz
and 2 Ghz on Photoshop ? (All other parameters the same). Thanks, Eric

[TheObiJuan]

i have elements 3 and cs, and even with my 2gig i would not even use 20-30% when utilizing the software. however, when starting up, 55-65%, then it would drop dramatically to 5-10% until I actually do some editing.
the ram however was an issue, the more the better. ;)

[George Riehm]

Good point. Do you think I would notice much of a difference between 1.8 Ghz
and 2 Ghz on Photoshop ? (All other parameters the same). Thanks, Eric

Nope. Memory is the key in Photoshop (or any other post processing software). Especially working multiple images and layers at the same time.

[dwig]

How to speed up Photoshop:

#1: increase RAM
#2: increase RAM more
#3: faster hard drive
#4: second hard drive so the app and source file are on a different drive than PS's scratch files
#5-#9 More of #'s 1-3
#10: faster processor.

If you're not talking about a 4x or greater processor speed increase, more RAM and faster HD's will give vastly more increase in performance.

[gary_hendricks]

Hi

If you want Photoshop to go faster, I'd say choose a computer with at least 1 GB RAM. Photoshop is a real memory hogger. :cool: