computer question?

[jcospolich]

I use PS CS3 for post process. I have 2 machines I work on, one at home and one at work. My work machine is a 2.8GHz P4 with 1.5GB RAM. It can open 30+ pics (about 5MB ea) fast and re-positioning them is pretty quick (and doesn't require PS to 'redraw' the pics too often). But my laptop at home is only 2Ghz P4 with 1GB RAM. Obviously PS CS3 is a little slower on my laptop.

Assuming the above machines are used, and I close out most all other apps while in CS3, how can I improve the speed/performance of CS3 when I buy a new computer at home? Obivously a ton of RAM (2-4GB) would probably not hurt. And I guess the fastest processor around at the time. What is more impt for CS3, RAM or processor speed, or both?

[In2Photos]

RAM is more important unless you are doing lots of batch editing then they are both equally important.

I was using my laptop for editing but found that it just doesn't have the same spped as a desktop so I built a new desktop. Nothing state of the art but it works pretty well for what I do.

[GilesGuthrie]

Your redraws are handled by the graphics card, which is why the desktop gives the laptop a good shoeing. Assuming you're no gamer, you will need a 256MB graphics card, minimum.

System performance is constrained by the lowest parameter. If you have a dual-core processor running a clock speed of > 2.4GHz you'll be fine as far as processors go. See if you can get one with at least 1MB per core of cache too: these are noticeably faster than 512K/core chips for the same clock speed.

Finally, if it's an XP system, 2GB should be your minimum RAM. I've seen others advocating 4GB for Vista systems, but I don't have personal experience of that. I'm not going to think about Vista for at least another quarter.

[rammy]

Bus speed (motherboard and memory) and cache size is important too.

[jcospolich]

thanks everyone. I fig'd as much, but am happy to learn about the importance too of the graphics card. I think now for $2500 or so you can get plenty of desktop horsepower from a variety of good vendors.

Now another ? or thread already on here....Mac or PC?!

[In2Photos]

thanks everyone. I fig'd as much, but am happy to learn about the importance too of the graphics card. I think now for $2500 or so you can get plenty of desktop horsepower from a variety of good vendors.

Now another ? or thread already on here....Mac or PC?!
I don't recommend starting that thread. :confused: Just do a search. ;)

[cfcRebel]

$2500? Are you trying to build a rocket launch machine? :lol:
A decent motherboard that supports Intel Quad core plus all the nice bells and whistles probably still won't cost that much. Shop wisely. ;)

[prime80]

$2500 is not necessary to spend unless you're going with one of the huge (27+") or really high quality monitors or one of the top-end gaming cards. You should easily be able to configure a system for ~$1500 + monitor that does everything you need quite well. Heck, Best Buy has some Quad-core PCs in the $1200-1400 range right now.