Any (PC) CS3 or lightroom user?

[Lorem]

I just recently bought a dell with Dual Quad-Core XP 64-bit with 8GB of ram. I'm a little upset that my CS3 only alow (via preference) me to use up to 4G and lighroom barely go over 1GB of memory usage. What's up with that!?

On top of that my processor (multi-core) barely get pegged to 90% or higher. I'm talking serious files here 24GB raw in lightroom and intensive conversion like RGB to CYMK in photoshop. Seem like these 32bit app only recognize one of the core. Oh snap!

[ryleung]

Being a 32-bit app, I think PS CS3 is unable to break the 4GB barrier. Not sure why LR would only use a littel over 1GB though.

Also, I am not sure how well XP 64-bit works. I was always under the impression that XP 64-bit is the orphan child that nobody wanted. If you are going 64-bits, why don't you go directly to Vista 64-bit, since that was designed from the ground up to provide native 64-bit functionality?

-Lik

[Lorem]

Being a 32-bit app, I think PS CS3 is unable to break the 4GB barrier. Not sure why LR would only use a littel over 1GB though.

Also, I am not sure how well XP 64-bit works. I was always under the impression that XP 64-bit is the orphan child that nobody wanted. If you are going 64-bits, why don't you go directly to Vista 64-bit, since that was designed from the ground up to provide native 64-bit functionality?

-Lik

Thanks Lik, I WILL have to switch to Vista eventually. For now all that eye candy stuff really turns me off when it come to OS.

[tim]

Software can't take advantage of all the hardware, as software gets better it'll get more fully used. Sometimes the CPU's waiting for data from RAM, or disk, or waiting to write data, or there's just general latency and inefficiency inside computers.

[Mat Fitzsimmons]

I just recently bought a dell with Dual Quad-Core XP 64-bit with 8GB of ram. I'm a little upset that my CS3 only alow (via preference) me to use up to 4G and lighroom barely go over 1GB of memory usage. What's up with that!?
Hi Lorem,

This link might shed some light:
http://prodig.org/index.php/2007/04/20/ram-can-photoshop-cs3-cope/

Essentially, your RAM above 4GB can be used as scratch space (instead of using a HDD), but it appears that CS3 can't directly address it (being a 32-bit app).


Cheers,
Mat.

[Mat Fitzsimmons]

Also - Lightroom uses all 4 cores of my quad-core machine (running Vista 64-bit) when processing RAWs to JPG (for example):

http://www.psychogoat.com/linked/LR_quad-small.jpg (http://www.psychogoat.com/linked/LR_quad.jpg)

It never seems to use a whole lot of RAM though (however, I don't do lots of edits in it, so perhaps that's why - it's not holding lots of history?)
Not sure why yours would only be using one core ... though I've never used XP 64-bit, sorry.

Cheers,
Mat.

[Lorem]

Also - Lightroom uses all 4 cores of my quad-core machine (running Vista 64-bit) when processing RAWs to JPG (for example):

It never seems to use a whole lot of RAM though (however, I don't do lots of edits in it, so perhaps that's why - it's not holding lots of history?)
Not sure why yours would only be using one core ... though I've never used XP 64-bit, sorry.

Cheers,
Mat.

Mat thanks so much for sharing your settings. I think upgrading to Vista-64 is a no brainer now. Do you know if vista ultimate contain the 64bit version in the same packaging? Everytime look to buy Vista they only talk about the 4flavors (basic, home, business, ultimate) but never mention anything about 64-bit version.

[Mat Fitzsimmons]

Hi Lorem,

The retail version of Vista Ultimate certainly does come with both 32-bit and 64-bit media in the box (that's what I bought), not sure about the other flavours of Vista - I think they normally include only the 32-bit version in the box, but you can send away to Microsoft for 64-bit media for some of them for a minimal extra cost.

I'm honestly not sure if that's the problem with your system though, I would have thought that Lightroom running under XP 64-bit should still have used all 4 cores??
Very strange indeed.


Cheers,
Mat.

[Lorem]

Hi Lorem,

The retail version of Vista Ultimate certainly does come with both 32-bit and 64-bit media in the box (that's what I bought), not sure about the other flavours of Vista - I think they normally include only the 32-bit version in the box, but you can send away to Microsoft for 64-bit media for some of them for a minimal extra cost.

I'm honestly not sure if that's the problem with your system though, I would have thought that Lightroom running under XP 64-bit should still have used all 4 cores??
Very strange indeed.


Cheers,
Mat.

I'll have to take a closer look at it. Saw your canon setup. Very good choice on lens accessories etc. ;)

[ryleung]

Hey Lorem,

When all the stuff I read, I was lead to believe that all OEM Vista installations are only 32-bit, while the retail versions of Vista contains both the 32- and 64-bit OS. However, the articles didn't mention whether all the different retails versions of Vista comes in both 32- and 64-bit flavours. As Mat was saying, the retail version of Vista Ultimate definitely comes with both OS'es.

I still believe that the 64-bit XP is somewhat crippled, and that might be the reason why you can't put all your cores and resources through its pace. Also, don't forget to apply all hardware and software drivers and patches. A long time ago when I was still using an Anthlon 800MHz on an Asus A7V133, the hard disk wouldn't transfer data at UDMA speeds until I've installed some motherboard patches.

-Lik