Photoshop speeed!

[Architaylor]

Ok so I hope this is the right place to post this :)

So basically when I'm using photoshop I get some serious brush lag working at high resolutions and large brushes. At A4 300dpi for example any brush size much larger than 200 lags significantly. I just recently replaced my crappy old graphics card to use 3d applications but it hasnt had any affect :/ My specs are as follows:

Core 2 Duo 1.86
Nvidia GT 240 (1GB)
3GB RAM (2.75 available because of vista)
I've got a pretty fast hard drive and plenty of space but no dedicated scratch disk.

My photoshop settings are all set up ok I think, and according to this LINK (http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/general/basics/the-photoshop-computer/Page-2.html) my memory is running at 100% efficiency at all times meaning its not the RAM?

Can anyone help me out as to why I'm getting the lag? seems to me like I need a new processor but I'm not really sure?

cheers

[stoph]

new processor was my immediate thought, especially since most off the shelf PCs have Duo 2.8 to 3.2's as standard. I'm rocking a Quad 2.66, maybe its time..?

[_Mario]

My first guess would be more RAM.

A4 @ 300 DPI (~ 2480 X 3508 pixels)

size 200 brush, and how many layers?

Of course it depends on which Windows you have.Your 3 gig max limit seems to hint at the 32 bit version (not much you an do besides upgrading processor, RAM and Windows if RAM is the problem).

Only the newer versions of Photoshop can use a 3d card to take off computation work of the main CPU (so that upgrade might be of no interest at all for your Photoshop).

Also: Even the fastest hard drives are way too slow as to migrate any pain caused by lack of RAM.

To see if the Processor needs an upgrade look up its usage when running Photoshop.

[revenebo]

Raising the spacing value in the brush settings usually helps a little, but it doesn't solve the problem of course...

[newman]

probably not related, but I got a new vista machine recently and photoshop lagged appalingly. turns out i needed to change the "theme" in the control panel to Aero and that sorted it out.

[Architaylor]

Thanks for the replies everyone :)

I normally only need one or two layers, but for the most part I'm using one :)

Yep vista 32bit (basic so no Aero :O ), not sure the RAMS an issue though. Found this on the web:


Run Photoshop and open a typical file you usually edit. For example, if you edit high resolution digital images a lot, open a high resolution photo.
Make sure that your document isn't maximized. You can ensure that it isn't by choosing Window> Arrange> Cascade.
On the bottom of the window, locate the ► arrow. Click on the ► arrow and choose Show> Efficiency. The status bar beside the ► button shows the efficiency. If your computer has enough resource to display the image, the efficiency should be 100%. Anything lower means that more RAM may be beneficial.


Mine never goes below 100% so I guessed RAM wasn't the issue, not sure how reliable that test is mind. The CPU does spike greatly when it lags actually, hadn't thought of that, I'm guessing that's probably the problem then :O anyone got any suggestions for a good PS CPU?

[Portus]

What Ps version are you running? CS1 would fly on that setup.

[Architaylor]

I'm using CS3, although PS7 has a similar problem just with slightly deceased brush lag :/

[Portus]

In that case I would try other programs and see it they have a similar performance issue.

[Charmer]

my 5 pennys:
I have PS CS5, a Geforce 9500 GT 1024mb, 4 GB of ram, a fast HD and a AMD X2 2,5 GHz. Windows 7 64 bit.

I can use brushes until about 300 or 400px.
So maybe it is really the CPU. Photoshop doesn't get over 2GB ram at max on my pc and everything works fine.

May you have too much effects on your brushes? Some settings are really powersoaking, try it out. Good luck man.

Greets,
Flo

[ancientdrake]

Well, I don't know what PS you have, or I'm just blind which might be the case, but try and turn off the gfx enhancement option, under the GPU settings in performance settings in PS. disable the OpenGL or just put it on basic. Hope this helps, if not, good luck with something else ^_^

[AG.]

Hey try this. Go to services and disable desktop windows manager and try painting again. I had a photoshop freak out problem and that did the trick.

[Reedux]

This is a CPU issue. I've had it myself on my old 'core duo 2.4ghz'

Photoshop when working with 2D imagery uses mainly the CPU, people will get new graphic cards and sickening amounts of RAM because they misunderstand. Neither of this will help you.

Having 2gigs of ram is enough to work on an A4 300dpi with 20layers.
I'd recommend you get a new CPU, I bought an i7 because it was really cheap at the moment and I still get lag but its significantly lower.

Also know that the more settings a brush has the more it'll lag.
When working that large, having a 10-14% spacing on the brush really helps out and it really doesn't show that much :)

Hope it helps.

p.s I dont know how Vista works, because I've never dared touch it. But on Win7 there is a native TabletPC function that makes painting lag horribly. You need to turn this off in services.
Start -> run -> Services.msc
Look for "Tablet PC Input Service" right click, and disable.

You can do this through the Control panel but it doesn't completely turn it off.

If Vista has this function then the above solution should be accurate.