Major performance issues with LR 2.3 and 2009 Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 and ATI 4870

[dellplain]

I just got my new 2009 Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 Ghz, 12Gb RAM workstation with the ATI 4870 display adapter. I have a Dell 30" (via Dual-link DVI) and a Dell 24" (via Display Port to DVI adapter).

After installing a fresh copy of the OS (10.5.6) and LR 2.3, I couldn't wait to see the performance boost while editing photos. Much to my dismay, the performance is as bad, if not worse, than on my previous Mac Pro in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. The overall experience is very sluggish but the worst offender is the Adjustment Brush.

Using the AB bring my workstation to a crawl and cripple LR for up to 30 seconds at a time. Trying to delete adjustment brush edits also kills LR.

I am not sure if this is being caused by Lightroom (memory leak) or because of the ATI display driver that Apple uses.

Has anyone else with a similar config workstation? Just a bit distressed.

Thanks!

Brian

[wlescall]

I'm using the 2.8 Octo Mac Pro and LR 2.2 with almost no problems. Now I am leery of updating to LR 2.3.

[Default501x]

sounds like driver issues to me. I noticed a HUGE performance boost going from a 9800gx2 to a GTX295, but i have no experience with ATI cards.
i would check to see if other users with the same setup are having similar problems (check apple forums)

[tim]

http://www.peachpit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=lightroom&seqNum=184

[dellplain]

@Tim - Step 4 on the list that you linked to had a 100% noticeable impact on Lightroom's performance, especially with the Adjustment Brush. By increasing the cache, Lightroom felt like it had an easier time with all of the brush layers that I was throwing at it. It's still a bit sluggish at times, but I attribute that more as Adobe's problem and not Apple's.

I will also start rendering 1:1 previews on the onset of the import.

Still, the machine will need to be replaced. I have screen flickering issues, as well, as sluggish Bluetooth performance. And so, Apple will replace it because it is newer than 30 days.

Thanks for all of your help!