Hey guys got a question? Does anyone have solid results when switching from 2 to 4 GB ram in he new MBP's. I use CS3 and after effects and am wondering if anyone noticed a big jump in speed after the upgrade. Anyone running these apps have any feedback. How after effects run on 4 GB versus 2? thanks!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is 4 GB RAM Worth It For CS3?
- Thread starter jonG
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I use Photoshop and Dreamweaver every day, and didn't notice a huge jump in speed when I switched from 2gigs to 4 gigs on my 2.4ghz MacBook Pro. I have the rest of CS3, I just don't use it much. I thought everything was pretty gosh darn fast with 2gigs of memory, but that was after switching from a 1.5ghz Powerbook, so I am not sure what the processor and hard drive speed played in all of that, since it was all an upgrade for me. If the price is right, I think the extra memory is worth it, at least for being able to leave everything you use open all at once.
Although more ram will always be helpful, it will probably be overkill with 4 gigs, as well as very very expensive.
If you want to see a more substantial increase in adobe suite speeds buy yourself a fast external hardrive with firewire 800.
divide the drive so you get a nice chunk of it that's completely clean and clear and never put anything into that part.
Use that part of the drive as your primary scratch disk for photoshop, illustrator, etc.
Watch your computer power soar!
Seriously, I use photoshop cs on my g4 1.2 ghz ibook at 8.5 x 11 at 300 dpi with usually around 20-30 layers.
I have 1.25 gigabytes of ram, but it's the external drive that really makes things buttery fast.
I get no slowdowns at almost any brush size. (ok, the really huge ones slow down, but that's not suprising.)
If you want to see a more substantial increase in adobe suite speeds buy yourself a fast external hardrive with firewire 800.
divide the drive so you get a nice chunk of it that's completely clean and clear and never put anything into that part.
Use that part of the drive as your primary scratch disk for photoshop, illustrator, etc.
Watch your computer power soar!
Seriously, I use photoshop cs on my g4 1.2 ghz ibook at 8.5 x 11 at 300 dpi with usually around 20-30 layers.
I have 1.25 gigabytes of ram, but it's the external drive that really makes things buttery fast.
I get no slowdowns at almost any brush size. (ok, the really huge ones slow down, but that's not suprising.)
Yes it will.
Considering you can go to 4GB for under $200 if you put in it yourself.
https://shop1.outpost.com/product/5175606?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
CS3 will use up to 3072MB of RAM, so there will be some performance to gain if you are using it a lot.
If your using a lot of After Effects it will help with rendering times.
Check out the feature that allows you to render multiple frames simultaneously.
Tracer
Considering you can go to 4GB for under $200 if you put in it yourself.
https://shop1.outpost.com/product/5175606?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
CS3 will use up to 3072MB of RAM, so there will be some performance to gain if you are using it a lot.
If your using a lot of After Effects it will help with rendering times.
Check out the feature that allows you to render multiple frames simultaneously.
Tracer
I would think the more RAM the faster it would go. So if you have the money and think the speed bump is necessary, I'd say go for it.
REAL Tests.. I think you can TRUST....
I just bought 4GB KIt from OWC for $217.50 ; today down to $210.00!! ... Pretty good people always to me and Others I know... http://eshop.macsales.com/item-maillist/Other World Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/?source=hdb0718
And here's some Ram Tests for this computer up to 4GB Ram w/ CS3... Hope it helps!! Let us know here later.. Thanks; Bob
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Macbook_Pro_15_Memory_Benchmarks
I just bought 4GB KIt from OWC for $217.50 ; today down to $210.00!! ... Pretty good people always to me and Others I know... http://eshop.macsales.com/item-maillist/Other World Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/?source=hdb0718
And here's some Ram Tests for this computer up to 4GB Ram w/ CS3... Hope it helps!! Let us know here later.. Thanks; Bob
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Macbook_Pro_15_Memory_Benchmarks
Have you paid any attention to your page outs? Maybe monitor for a week or so your activity monitor and see how you're doing RAM-wise. If you're never using all of the RAM that you already have, it's probably not worth it to upgrade. If you're seeing a lot of page outs or are getting choked by your RAM, THEN you'll see a noticeable boost.
I just upgraded to 4GB and have notice a nice increase when I am using CS3. I use Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop and Dreamweaver constantly (as well as e-mail, several browsers for checking and other various apps).
What is interesting is that according to those benchmarks the increased RAM all but nullifies the increased speed of the 7200rpm drive. Interesting.
What is interesting is that according to those benchmarks the increased RAM all but nullifies the increased speed of the 7200rpm drive. Interesting.
What size photos do you work on in photoshop? When working with 22 mp hassey tiffs with a few layers and my MBP chokes on 2gb of ram, however when using it with my 10mp Nikon D80, even in with raw files it is pretty fast as long as you keep the layers down. If your working with small files I wouldn't worry too much.
Like mentioned if your not paging out to your scratch disk I wouldnt worry too much, although OS X can take up a chunk of ram leaving you with closer to 1gb with photoshop. I wish I could upgrade to 4gb, im stuck with 2 :/
Like mentioned if your not paging out to your scratch disk I wouldnt worry too much, although OS X can take up a chunk of ram leaving you with closer to 1gb with photoshop. I wish I could upgrade to 4gb, im stuck with 2 :/