Computer editing - RAM

[Pognig]

Recently i have been shooting more and more in RAW and then converting to TIFF and then ONLY converting to JPEG for those shots that are quick snaps. And only now have i been noticing my PC going a bit crazy with the files.

I have a good graph card 6600GT 128mb, and over 200Gb of storage on 2 sata2 hard drives, CPU is an AMD 64 3000+ and i have 512ram. I'd guess i have shortage of RAM......SO......... how much ram do you all have.


Sam

[Reyno]

2Gb for me and it keeps the pp fairly fast.

[AdamJL]

1gb here, speccing out a new machine with 4.

1gb is enough IMO, but to be ultra comfortable, 2gb is better.

[mdgphoto]

2gb on my laptop.. used to have 512, and it wasn't enough, and i figured why stop at 1 gig, so i went with 2

[Ronald S. Jr.]

I have 4gigs right now on my main machine, but 2 is plenty for PP. 1 would do it, but 2 would show a welcome increase in speed, as well as being able to run all of your other programs as well.

[AdamJL]

I have 4gigs right now on my main machine, but 2 is plenty for PP. 1 would do it, but 2 would show a welcome increase in speed, as well as being able to run all of your other programs as well.

Are you running XP? If so, you know it won't actually see all 4gb?

[equetefue]

2gb is enough...upgrade your processor !

[jbkalla]

I wouldn't run XP with less than 1GB.

I'm selling my laptop, so currently my desktop mac has 1.75GB. I think that's enough for this old machine. :-)

[jbkalla]

2gb is enough...upgrade your processor !

There's nothing wrong with his processor! It's not the fastest in the world, but it's still fast enough that he wouldn't notice much diff from an upgrade. A gig stick of RAM (less than $100US) would make a much larger difference.

Just my opinion! :-)

[equetefue]

dude a 3000 amd is the lowest processor you can find... with the new AM2 line that came out he can get a really good price in a 3800+ or 4000+ , and if he really wanted to see a diference get at least a 3800+ x2 for that 939 board + 2gb dual channel pc 3200.

that would set you back about $400 but's a lot better than a new computer. Also if you wait 20 days Intel's Conroe comes out and that will drop the price on the current 939 processor in the market.

[Pognig]

Thanks for all the replies and thoughts.

Im probably not in need of a new processor, it can do everything i need, play some games with medium quality, do school stuff and most importantly edit and view photos. But yer, i think i'll upgrade to 1 or maybe 2 gigs - see what the specials are ay :)

Just a question, once youve shot RAW and converted to TIFF do you usually compress to JPEG after youve edited/printed?

[Belmondo]

I have two gigs on everything, including my three PCs, and my PowerBook Pro. The only computers that have less are those that I don't do post-processing on.

[Ronald S. Jr.]

I better go ask Dell why they sold me a pc with 4gigs...that darn XPS.

[Belmondo]

I better go ask Dell why they sold me a pc with 4gigs...that darn XPS.

Because they could. There have been times when I wished I had more than two. You're not only younger than me-----you're smarter, too.

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Hey, worst comes to worst, at least I'll be able to run Vista like nothing ever! :lol:

[Belmondo]

Hey, worst comes to worst, at least I'll be able to run Vista like nothing ever! :lol:

Sure. (if it ever comes out)

[equetefue]

it's not about the Ram is about the processor... 2 gigs is more than enough, 4 gigs is just better ...

[Ronald S. Jr.]

I didn't say I would want to. Okie dokie, that's all.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Recently i have been shooting more and more in RAW and then converting to TIFF and then ONLY converting to JPEG for those shots that are quick snaps. And only now have i been noticing my PC going a bit crazy with the files.

I have a good graph card 6600GT 128mb, and over 200Gb of storage on 2 sata2 hard drives, CPU is an AMD 64 3000+ and i have 512ram. I'd guess i have shortage of RAM......SO......... how much ram do you all have.


Sam

It's definitely to your advantage to get 2GB of RAM.
512MB is about right for WinXP... on it's own.. For graohics overhead at least 1GB is really required.
2GB is near perfect.

Your CPU is actually a very fast CPU, so as others have mentioned,. don't worry about that at all. Get 2GB of the fastest RAM your board can ahndle.

[Pognig]

Thanks a lot CyberDyne, u reasured me (and my wallet, a new processor isnt exactly cheap)

[Moppie]

I have an old AMD Athalon 2600+ (only a little slower than the 3000+), and only a few months ago went from 512mb of ram to 1.5gb. Made a huge differnce, especialy to batch processing and other intensive processes.
Its far cheaper than up grading the processor.
Especialy since getting anything seriously faster would more than likely mean a new mother board, which also means all new RAM, and since AGP is less common these days, also means a new graphics card, and then i have to find something with all the IDE and SATA connectors, so that means a high end board.
All of which costs about 20 times more than adding another gig of RAM. (I know, I priced it).

[Skip Souza]

I have an old AMD Athalon 2600+ (only a little slower than the 3000+), and only a few months ago went from 512mb of ram to 1.5gb. Made a huge differnce, especialy to batch processing and other intensive processes.
Its far cheaper than up grading the processor.
Especialy since getting anything seriously faster would more than likely mean a new mother board, which also means all new RAM, and since AGP is less common these days, also means a new graphics card, and then i have to find something with all the IDE and SATA connectors, so that means a high end board.
All of which costs about 20 times more than adding another gig of RAM. (I know, I priced it).
Man, Moppie, what you are describing is essentially a new computer. :shock:

[Moppie]

Man, Moppie, what you are describing is essentially a new computer. :shock:


Yip.
All because Socket A is no longer surported, and AGP is not far from going the same way, and some of the RAM I have is only PC2700 (I will replace it with PC3200 before it to, vanishs from the market).

But what I have works very well, I really can't think of anything I need to do to upgrade it, and even though the processor is getting old, its of a speed that is comparable with a lot of new machines.
I'll wait untill dual core becomes common place, and see if BTX is going to be the new standard before I upgrade again, then I will do everything :D

[Skip Souza]

Both the wife's and mine are custom built socket A 3200+ on ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboards, as fast as they came at the time, with 1GB dual channel RAM and top line ATI video cards. Real hot rods. Now the wife's is choking up when she is doing post processing. Another gig of ram will be on order.
I'm waiting until next year to get her a dual core AMD machine with Vista OS.
Does it never end???

[Belmondo]

Does it never end???


C'mon, Skip. You know the answer to that.:lol:

What do all these computer/software companies do if everyone stops buying bigger/better/faster computers?

I guess they'd have to make electric can openers or something.

[Faolan]

XP can give apps more than 2Gb, ie 3Gb per application space.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

Photoshop can use the 3Gb with that switch:

http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/320005.html

As to see if you need more RAM keep an eye on efficiency tab, when it drops below 90%(I think) it's starting to use your hard drive extensively. 100% means that the image is totally in memory.

As for myself going to upgrade to 2Gb on the old system and 4Gb on the new. Now that DDR 2 is now fully support by both chip manufacturers we may start to see larger memory sizes being supported on Mobos.

[dan000206]

I ran my first PC that built with 512mb of ram w/windows XP performance was good but defintaly increased with 1gb. Windows XP usese alot of ram so your probally using like 400mb of ram or less in XP. Ram is a cheap and easy upgrade and I would get another 512 stick at the least, and you should be good.

[Moppie]

Both the wife's and mine are custom built socket A 3200+ on ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboards

Sounds very similar to mine, 2600XP Socket A in a gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2. On board RAID, SATA, all the goodies.
I had planned on up grading to 3200XP chip, then they stopped making them in Socket A................. :(

I think I would look at over clocking the one I have before I tried to find a good 2nd hand 3200 chip though, this machine only really has to last another 18 months, 2 years tops.

Either that or I pull out 2 of the HDD's, give it to my g/f for her games, and build myself some thing really special. :D