First steps for speed

[PrinceCorwin]

First of all, thank you all for commenting on my previous threads. Your comments have helped.

I'm self learning through books and video tutorials and I've noticed something that gets mentioned by some and not by others that I should do when first setting up PS. Scratch Disks. Is this something that I should worry about or was it maybe an issue for older versions and not necessarily relevant anymore?

Also, any advice for any other steps I should take to keep my PS as speedy as possible?

I'm currently using a new Dell laptop with 6GB RAM, 1 TB HHD and 7th gen i7 processor.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IamSam]

Boost your RAM up 16GB if possible...................or did you have a typo?

 

[PrinceCorwin]

No. It's six. Lol

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[MrToM]

[rant]

You need only worry about it if its an Adobe product....oh dear.

OK, joking aside, (not), the scratch disk(s) could become an issue....could.

Adobe software isn't written very well and as such isn't very good when it comes to efficient use of resources.

In a nut-shell, it doesn't matter what you do or what hardware you have PS will never run smoothly 100% of the time....at some point it will run out of memory, it will crash, and you will lose some hair....it goes with the territory.

In an ideal world, PS would never use all the [physical] memory allocated to it by default (70% ?), but if it does, (and unfortunately this is more than probable), then the scratch disk(s) are used as 'virtual' memory as well.

Unfortunately, again, scratch disk 'space' has to be allocated to PS when PS is launched....this is regardless of whether PS actually uses any of it. (It creates an 'empty' file of humongous size!)

When PS closes, this 'space' is unallocated, (the humongous file is deleted), and made available again as 'free space' on the scratch disk drive.

So, it could be a problem if you don't have enough room for the scratch disk allocation....more so if you use an SSD. (You should never use more than 90% of an SSD)

If you find PS using unusually high amounts of memory, (and it does occasionally), then just save your work, close PS and launch it again. PS does not release memory allocation back to the system so it can build up to a point of stupidity (25GB+)...did I mention Adobe software is badly written? :biglaff:

It took [10, yes ten!] years for Adobe to accept the fact that memory usage was a problem, (font preview), and issued a work-round which was impossible to execute....nice one Adobe!

[/rant]

Bottom line, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...and hence don't worry about it.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[Tom Mann]

[rant]

You need only worry about it if its an Adobe product ...snip...

...it doesn't matter what you do or what hardware you have PS will never run smoothly 100% of the time....at some point it will run out of memory, it will crash, and you will lose some hair....it goes with the territory....[/rant]

I don't want to come across as an Adobe apologist, but since I upgraded about 2 years ago to a computer with more than enough RAM (ie, 64 Gig), a large fast video card, large fast, separate SSDs for the program, scratch disks, and data, and I am obsessive about keeping the drivers and everything else updated, NEVER ONCE have I EVER had PS crash on me. I use my system for at least a couple of hours per day on PS, often on very large files. The system does crash maybe once every couple of months, but when I check the logs, the crashes have always been caused by some other program crashing (usually, a browser with a zillion tabs open, Adobe reader, or something else, but not PS).

Sometimes, money can buy you love, LOL.

Just saying...

Tom Mann

 

[Tom Mann]

PS - If at all possible, do what Sam suggested: Increase your RAM to 16 Gig.

FWIW, I am constantly monitoring the RAM use on my Win 10 box, and my system sits at just slightly below 4 G with no programs open, just the desktop. Fire up Photoshop and load a 1 layer, currently normal sized image (say, around 6 kpx wide at 16 bpc), and my RAM usage jumps up to a min of around 5 Gig. Add a few layers, and it's easily above 6 Gig. Right now, without PS open, but two different browsers open (each with multiple tabs), I'm chugging along at 6.83 Gig of RAM.

You might not have all the brushes and plugins that I have installed on your system, so this might mean that your PS usage might jump from 4 to 4.5 Gig (instead of up to 5 Gig), but that's a drop in the bucket as soon as you start building up your layer stack by doing manipulations and composites on modern sized photographic images.

You need more RAM. End of story.

T