New G4 how to optimize for PSCS? Mac users/Allocation experts?

[matthewkane]

Ok I bought a dual 1.25ghz G4. It has Mac osx 10.3 panther.

Specs- 1 gig of Ram, 160 gig HD, superdrive,etc... I bought this

specifically for my photo work so this is my main concern.

How should I configure for PSCS? For ram? What about scratch disks?

How should I partition my HD? Where should I begin...

I have heard a lot about setting up scratch disks properly, which I

know little about. Should I even bother with a scratch disk initially

with my comp as it is? How do you think you would configure my comp?

Besides upgrading, what kind of upkeep is involved as far as making

sure what to do/not to do, to keep my comp running at full potential?

I'm asking you all because I just bought this comp and don't want to

shell out another $50 for a book that may or may not address my

question properly.

Thanks a million

[ray]

I would allocate 60-80% of your RAM to PS for optimal use (as long as you don't have too

many other things running). As for scratch disks, I would only bother with that if you

regularly work with large files *and* you have a second hard disk hanging off a separate

controller.

 

As you settle into your dual-processor system, you will find that even when PS is busy for

10 seconds + on a memory/cpu intensive process, the dual processor setup means that

you can multitask on a different app without taking a hit on PS performance or machine

useability.

[bob_lazzarini]

Matt,<p>

With OSX there is no longer any need to allocate memory to a program.<br> Memory management under OSX is entirely different from prior Mac OS's, since OSX allocates memory as a program requires it.<br>

If you want to use a disc as a scratch disc, do yourself a large favor and install another fast internal drive.<br>

If my memory serves me correctly, internal drives are far better for caching and as scratch discs due to the internal bus.<br>

Either another 160 GB or a 250 GB.<br>

Photoshop files have a tendancy to fill up space rapidly!<p>

BTW, IMHO, the best book for you to get would be <i><b>MacOSX Panther Edition, The Missing Manual</b> by David Pogue. </i><br>

And it's only $29.95!<p>

Sooner or later you may want to get another 1 gig of Ram.<p>

Enjoy your new toy!<br>

Cheers!

[the_macman]

With one HD you don't have the choice... that's gonna be your scratch disk. I wouldn't

partition it. If you do, you can chose one of the partitions as your scratch disk but since

they're all on the same HD it won't make it faster. I say it's perfect the way it is.

 

You can partition it as a help to organizing files. Besides this there is really no point.

 

However, in the future, if you run out of HD space buy a second one instead of replacing

it. Have the files and application/OS on a different one than the scratch disk. That's about

the only little speed improvement I can see but it doesn't matter much, you already got a

great powerhorse.

[jbq]

If you really insist on partitioning one HD, create one partition at the start of the drive for photoshop (the start of the drive is much faster), and use the same partition as your scratch disc and data storage.

 

You'll see, a dual-1.25 is plenty fast for most photoshop operations, in th eones that I use a lot the only ones that I find annoyingly slow are median filter (not a big deal) and healing brush (very big deal).

[michael_chmilar]

The most useful upgrade for Photoshop is to add RAM. If you have lots of RAM, then Photoshop doesn't need to use the scratch disk.

 

The 1G of RAM you have should be good, unless you are dealing with really large images, or lots and lots of layers.

 

If you find that Photoshop is slowing down, and using the scratch disk, then you should install the maximum amount of RAM the machine can hold.

[cooper8168]

Congratulations! I have 2 of those very machines and they are supremely reliable.

 

<p><i>The 1G of RAM you have should be good, unless you are dealing with really large

images, or lots and lots of layers.</i>

 

<p>That's 99% true, but OS X only allows a maximum of 2GB of RAM per application, so

there's no need to overdo it. I think your current RAM setup is perfect.

 

<p>I would definitely recommend either getting another internal 250GB drive with 8mb

cache (can be had for a little over $200) or partitioning, as a previous poster said, with the

scratch partition at the top. It is definitely faster that way - similar to the boost you get by

optimizing for CD-ROM mastering in Norton under 9. If you can afford it, get the extra

internal drive.

 

<p>Also, do yourself a favor and get Disk Warrior as soon as possible!

[a.d. steward]

I have the same machine but with 10.2.8 & 2 GB ram; for what its worth I've been

warned that Panther and Disk Warrior do NOT play well together. I'd definitely keep

it all clean with Aladdin Internet Clean-up and Norton SystemWorks, pass on Tech-

Tool. Also GET the AppleCare ext. warranty. Make sure you get a good monitor and

hardware (Not Software) calibration, something like Pantone Colorvision or one of

the others. Yup.

[a.d. steward]

Oh Yeah, make certain you are uploading your cards via USB 2.0 and not 1.1, the

only thing faster is FW-800.

[cooper8168]

In response to the above post - Disk Warrior 3.0 and Panther had a compatibility problem

in the first month that Panther was released, as did numerous other applications. Disk

Warrior 3.0.1 (now 3.0.2) has been out for a number of months and is 100% compatible

with Panther.

We use it on all of our G4s and G5s, all but two running Panther, with complete success.

[paulrumohr]

If you're working with higher res images, or want to work with PS and your web browser,

email app, iTunes and others running at the same time, i recommend getting an extra 1GB

of RAM.

 

I worked with a dual 1.42 for a year like this and recently upgraded to 2GB RAM. I have

noticed a definite improvement in overall system performance.

 

You SHOULD shell out $50 for Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop CS for Photographers

that WILL tell you how to optimize and maintain your system. If you take the time to read

the book and follow his suggestions, you should become a super user pretty quickly.

[._._z]

The latest version of Disk Warrior works fine with Panther, and the beta of the

upcoming release called 'Tiger.' Not only that, but it runs much faster than the old

version. It's a must-have utility.

[gv]

If you decide to use your internal hard drive as your scratch disk I recommend partitioning

it and designating the empty partition as your OS scratch disk. I neglected to do this

initially and my OS X volume was the default scratch disk; it wound up getting very

fragmented. D'Oh!

 

In fact, it was so fragmented that DiskWarrior could not guarantee a trouble-free

replacement directory since there was not 32MB of contiguous free space available! I had

to defrag the drive in order to make things right...

 

Among the Mac techies I hang with Norton SystemWorks has a less than stellar reputation.

Norton seems to have slipped to a distant third in the drive utility line-up, after

DiskWarrior and TechToolPro.

 

200-250 GB Western Digital 8MB buffer drives have been available at Circuit City for

approximately $130 after rebates, give or take $10. These specials seem to appear

regularly; I doubt that you would have to wait more than a month to snag a drive at a

bargain-basement price.

 

If you are new to Macs I second the recommendation re David Pogue's Missing Manual,

although it can be had cheaper than $29.95 new and used through Amazon. And if you

like friendly, free and knowledgeable tech support, I hope you will join us at

techsurvivors.net, a Mac-only tech support forum.

[matthewkane]

Thanks for all the info.

So what is Disk Warrior exactly? And how much is it?

[cooper8168]

It's a disk utility with the primary purpose of optimizing directories. This prolongs the life

of drives and helps them to run more efficiently while giving you a slight boost in

performance. Disk Warrior does not optimize drives (read: defragment), but this isn't as

critical under OS X because the OS performs that task as part of routine maintenance.

[gv]

DiskWarrior (available at http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/) is $79.95.

 

It does one thing, but it does it better than anything else on the market: it repairs

directory damage. As you may already know, the most serious computer problems (other

than dying hardware) are caused by a damaged directory. DiskWarrior can be used

to keep your directory in tip-top shape, or it can fix a seemingly hopeless-case directory

meltdown.

 

I have personally seen DW resurrect a Mac drive that seemed to be experiencing serious

hardware problems to the point where it would not mount and it was making some nasty

grinding sounds. Apple's DiskFirst Aid, TechToolPro and Norton could not do anything for

the drive, but DiskWarrior came to the rescue and successfully repaired the drive, which

continued operating for some years after that incident. It was still working fine when the

owner upgraded to a newer Mac.

 

Over the years I have come up with what I consider to be a bullet-proof way to prevent or

mitigate the loss of important data (is there any other kind?) and computer down-time:

regular use of DiskWarrior along with a second drive (internal or external...)

 

Using CarbonCopyCloner (donation-ware; http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html)

you can create an exact bootable copy of your OS X volume on the second drive. As long

as you regularly backup you are good to go if your primary drive should temporarily or

permanently go on vacation. It may be inconvenient to lose a drive, but it isn't the end of

the world if you have your data backed-up and a second bootable drive immediately

available so that you can keep on truckin'...