More RAM or new computer?

I'm running CS3 on a Pentium 4, 2.66 with 1GB of memory. This is quite adequate but I am tempted by something a

bit faster such as a machine with a Dual Core processor. But, would say doubling the RAM to 2 GB make a

substantial speed increase? In fact, I see there are four memory slots - I suppose I could even boost it to 4 GB?

-- "But, would say doubling the RAM to 2 GB make a substantial speed increase?"

 

If (real) memory is the bottleneck, and the system is forced to swap/page out to disk, then yes, more ram will certainly help. With applications like PS-CSx, much ram is generally an advantage. But this doesn't mean, that you feel much difference when you just edit one image. (If you edit one hundred you'll certainly notice.) If you use a 32bit version of windows, do't be too astonished, if the system only reports about 3.x gigs of usable memory when you plug in 4 gigs.

Photoshop will only recognize a maximum of 2GB of RAM in a 32-bit system. The operating system itself (e.g., Windows XP) will occupy 700-800MB of that memory. Therefore if you increase your memory to 2GB, you will effectively triple the amount of memory available to Photoshop. You should see a dramatic improvement in performance of many operations. It is also important to have a fast drive, other than the root drive, available for scratch memory. These options are relatively inexpensive.

 

Computer speed is a major factor in operations like scanning, whereas I/O speed and RAM take second place. I found that scanning medium format film on an LS-8000 takes about half the time with a dual-core computer vs a Pentium 4, with both machines running at 2.5 GHz and 2GB or RAM. Digital ICE appears to be the biggest factor in this process, requiring considerable number-crunching. Video rendering and conversion, which is nearly pure computation, runs about four times faster in the dual-core machine.

 

Photoshop is faster, but not dramatically faster. Many operations seem to be performed on the reduced image being displayed then applied to the entire file when the file is saved, which is significantly faster in the dual-core machine. The feedback you get from the display during editing appears to be affected more by RAM than computing speed.

Yes doubling the RAM from 1 Gb to 2 GB will improve performance, and will give you the best performance increase per dollar. Dual Core processor will only significantly improve the performance of certain Photoshop operations.

Doubling the RAM is the low cost solution, but not the solution I chose. I when from a P4 2Ghz 1 GB RAM to a AMD64 duel 2.8Ghz 3GB and graphics card, for about $700. I am very happy, photoshop flies. I think it's a matter of $$.

Well, thanks guys for those answers, much appreciated. I'll go for 2GB.

a Dual core will allow one core to run background services such as virus scanners, email etc, whilst allowing the other core to run PS. On top of that the Core 2 architecture is *much* more efficient than the P4 architecture. i.e. a 1.8 GHz Core 2 will out perform a 3GHz P4 by some margin.

 

I would invest in some new hardware, a memory upgrade is only a short term solution.

Thanks, Martin. I'll try to squeeze another year out of this one - having just splashed out on a new camera.

Keep in mind that you're processor's old enough the difference in cost between it's RAM and DDR2 could be significant.

In addition to boosting your RAM to the MOBO max, upgrading your processor if only to a 2.8 GIG P4 will also help.

 

*Check you MOBO manual and see if the MOBO can handle a 3.0 or 3.2 GIG P4 hyperthreading processor (likely not).

Any of the above processors sell for under $30-$40 on ebay, $60-$80 if new.