Photoshop CS 2 performance on MBP

[Coheebuzz]

This is it, the wait is over, am finally picking up my MBP tomorrow!
I wanted to wait till there is a native PS out but when i heard about the release date being somewere in 2007 i decided to buy it cause am embarrassed to take my iBook G3 DV with me anymore.

As a designer my main concern was the lack of PS, so i want to hear from other users how well does PS run under Rosseta. In particular how do tools like the airbrush or filters like Gaussian Blur perform when working on a 300dpi document.
Of course i'll use the G5 when i do serious work, but if the performance is comparable to my Dual 450Mhz G4 then i think i'll be ok.
Else i'll have to consider Windows under Boot Camp which i want to avoid as much as possible.

Let me know your experiences with Photoshop so far, as well as other design apps like Freehand or Illustrator if you use them. Thanks alot!

Oh and am getting the 1.83Ghz model with 80GB HD and 1 GB RAM and i plan upgrading to 2 GB and a 7200rpm HD when i save some cash.

 

[LOZL]

I'd reccomend OCing a 2.17GHz MacBook Pro to 2.6Ghz, OCing the gpu to 450/450 and running it under Bootcamp.

 

[Fleetwood Mac]

Those two features, air brush and gaussian blur, render faster than on my mac mini core solo (only 1.5ghz / 512mb) then they do on my Toshiba M30 notebook (same processor and memory). Rosetta isn't as bad as people make it sound, if you want to do some work in photoshop on a mbp you're fine. The only thing I'd suggest is more ram, which it seems your getting anyway, so I don't see why you should wait. It seems like a great machine-whish I had one.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I'd reccomend OCing a 2.17GHz MacBook Pro to 2.6Ghz, OCing the gpu to 450/450 and running it under Bootcamp.

Yeah right. Rip your new MB open for a warranty-breaking procedure to squeeze an extra ounce of performance out of it.

Pathetic.

 

[plinden]

How about using Parallels? I did some tests with Windows in a Parallels VM - see here https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2356860#post2356860

Also, Rob Griffiths at MacWorld did some tests and found that Parallels was a little slower than Boot Camp but, unless you have a lot of photoshopping to do, using the VM would be sufficient.

 

[LOZL]

Yeah right. Rip your new MB open for a warranty-breaking procedure to squeeze an extra ounce of performance out of it.

Pathetic.

Yeah, like I'm even gonna get applecare.

If I can get extra performance, I will. To even try and question my ways...

Pathetic.

 

[indigoflowAS]

I find myself closing every application and running PS as smoothly as i can. Granted I only have 512mb of RAM. It's really not that bad, but I do occasionally find myself shaking my fists because it feels little faster than my 867mhz G4. RAM is my issue...you should be good to go w/ the extra RAM you are looking to get.

I'd reccomend OCing a 2.17GHz MacBook Pro to 2.6Ghz, OCing the gpu to 450/450 and running it under Bootcamp.

...OCing the $2500 of merchandise and flushing relatively good warranty service, now that's drastic and not worth the extra mHz. whew

 

[Coheebuzz]

I'd reccomend OCing a 2.17GHz MacBook Pro to 2.6Ghz, OCing the gpu to 450/450 and running it under Bootcamp.

Well the GPU has little to do with Photoshop, however i'll try it cause i've heard that they are under-clocked already, so bringing it back to normal speed won't do any harm.

But as far as the CPU i don't want to do that cause first it means that i'll have to cancel my order and wait 2 weeks. Also the last thing i want is an unstable computer that'll freak out during a presentation or when deadlines are closing in.

Also i don't think that the windows version of Photoshop under BootCamp will require any OC as it will run natively and PS runs faster on intel/win than PPC/OSX despite what Jobs says.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Yeah, like I'm even gonna get applecare.

If I can get extra performance, I will. To even try and question my ways...

Pathetic.

Question your ways? Hahaha!

So you'd put strain on an already limited cooling system and recommend that others obviously pirate their Mac licenses in order to run apps in Windows to run little filter routines? A complete joke.


OP?
If PS runs anything like it does on my friend's 17" Intel iMac under Rosetta, then I would say it's like a dual 733-1ghz G4.

 

[Coheebuzz]

double post sorry!

 

[Coheebuzz]

It's really not that bad, but I do occasionally find myself shaking my fists because it feels little faster than my 867mhz G4. RAM is my issue...you should be good to go w/ the extra RAM you are looking to get.

I won't have any problem then, as i said i occasionally use my G4 when my G5 is rendering something and it manages just fine. I think i'll max the ram tomorrow as soon as i get it and leave the faster HD for later.

Oh nothing beats the feeling of waiting for a new Mac!! My girlfriend is whining already!

 

[LOZL]

Question your ways? Hahaha!

So you'd put strain on an already limited cooling system and recommend that others obviously pirate their Mac licenses in order to run apps in Windows to run little filter routines? A complete joke.


OP?
If PS runs anything like it does on my friend's 17" Intel iMac under Rosetta, then I would say it's like a dual 733-1ghz G4.

If you want to play the newest games, and the essentials such as FFXI, everquest 2 and CS, OCing for enhanced performance is well worth any of your "horrible" warranty related consequences. While I, very slightly however, agree that the MCP may not be the best suited laptop to overclock, I will OC mine the farthest I can without causing major hardware malfunctions.

 

[Blue Velvet]

While I, very slightly however, agree that the MCP may not be the best suited laptop to overclock, I will OC mine the farthest I can without causing major hardware malfunctions.

Best stick to your eMac, kid.

 

[indigoflowAS]

Oh nothing beats the feeling of waiting for a new Mac!! My girlfriend is whining already!

its a damned good feeling...felt good as i walked into the Apple store knowing id walk out w/ an elegant new machine

...now lets hope that your new MBP doesnt whine like your g/f currently is

 

[LOZL]

Best stick to your eMac, kid.

Haha, I cannot believe I even still have such outdated, sluggish hardware in my Mac setup. While I do still have my Alienware, I shall be selling my eMac and putting the money towards a MCP.

eMacs are pathetic, mine just simply cannot keep up with my computational needs.

 

[Coheebuzz]

If PS runs anything like it does on my friend's 17" Intel iMac under Rosetta, then I would say it's like a dual 733-1ghz G4.

Actually this kind of answer helps me a lot better than viewing numbers.
I mean, how do you benchmark a jerky airbrush?
As long as it runs smooth and doesn't feel like emulation am ok

 

[indigoflowAS]

Haha, I cannot believe I even still have such outdated, sluggish hardware in my Mac setup. While I do still have my Alienware, I shall be selling my eMac and putting the money towards a MCP.

eMacs are pathetic, mine just simply cannot keep up with my computational needs.

my friend...leave the gaming to the PC, an alienware...must be nice, and significantly cheaper to upgrade and OC. im all about OCing PC (my PC has a 50% OC on the processor! which amazes me still), because that makes more sense to me. my PC is games only really.

...leave the MBP for your other computational needs, don't wanna regret instantly killing your warranty....i mean, voiding the warranty is voiding the warranty, even completely unrelated warranty issues as far as i can tell, like display and airport issues for example.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Actually this kind of answer helps me a lot better than viewing numbers.
I mean, how do you benchmark a jerky airbrush?
As long as it runs smooth and doesn't feel like emulation am ok

Smooth is relative. Things started bogging down with a CMYK A4 600ppi page with only 1 layer... if you need the Mac now, get it. If you don't absolutely need it right away then put it off for a few months. See if any tweaks come along.

 

[mmmcheese]

I went from an iBook G3 800MHz to a 2GHz MBP, and the performance in Rosetta is much faster than it was native on the G3. I did a few tests that they posted in the photoshop thread, and the MBP was at least 4 times faster.

Not really scientific, but I hope it helps.

 

[Benjamindaines]

Once you get PS started under Rosetta it's not too bad. It's the launch time that is brutal.

 

[BakedBeans]

on my 20inch intel imac it was usable... but annoying in a sluggish way. with 2gb i would say its about the same speed as an ibook or something about 1.33 ghz single g4.

If you are going to be bashing Photoshop (like me) you will find it very annoying, it led me to selling the imac (which was in EVERY other way as good as this powermac - and in a lot of cases much nicer) and buying this powermac.

runs PS shweet though.

 

[LOZL]

my friend...leave the gaming to the PC, an alienware...must be nice, and significantly cheaper to upgrade and OC. im all about OCing PC (my PC has a 50% OC on the processor! which amazes me still), because that makes more sense to me. my PC is games only really.

...leave the MBP for your other computational needs, don't wanna regret instantly killing your warranty....i mean, voiding the warranty is voiding the warranty, even completely unrelated warranty issues as far as i can tell, like display and airport issues for example.

While my Alienware is a decent PC, it is also a little bit dated seeing that AMD64 w/ dualcore, and many other tasty technology advancements have been made since April 2004, the date I bought my Alienware with only a MEAGER P4 2.8Ghz, 1gb ram, 120gb hd, ATI RADEON 9600 128mb etc etc.

My 17" MacBook Pro (For some reason, they are cheaper) will be spec'd as so.

Intel dual-core, OCed to 2.6Ghz, maybe higher if a revision is made before I make my purchase.
2gb ram (1 gb from newegg)
100gb 7200rpm hd
X1600 256mb OCed to 450/450 settings.

This will be dual booting between mac os x, windows, and is a good improvement over my Alienware and eMac.

 

[mmmcheese]

While my Alienware is a decent PC, it is also a little bit dated seeing that AMD64 w/ dualcore, and many other tasty technology advancements have been made since April 2004, the date I bought my Alienware with only a MEAGER P4 2.8Ghz, 1gb ram, 120gb hd, ATI RADEON 9600 128mb etc etc.

My 17" MacBook Pro (For some reason, they are cheaper) will be spec'd as so.

Intel dual-core, OCed to 2.6Ghz, maybe higher if a revision is made before I make my purchase.
2gb ram (1 gb from newegg)
100gb 7200rpm hd
X1600 256mb OCed to 450/450 settings.

This will be dual booting between mac os x, windows, and is a good improvement over my Alienware and eMac.

No offense, but you're dreaming...you'll never get it to run at those speeds. 1) how do you plan on controlling frequencies? It's not like a desktop motherboard where you can access all of the settings in the bios. 2) you're in a 1 inch thick case with limited cooling capacity, as it is...things are running very hot (at least one the 15...the 17 mostly likely won't be much lower).

 

[elbirth]

My experiences with Photoshop CS2 under Rosetta has been pretty rough... I'm runing a 2GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM and I work with large files (I'm the art designer for my dad's screen printing business). Working with files that are usually between 120-400dpi (or ppi for the people that are anal about that sort of thing), I find my MBP going quite slow when waiting for filters to apply and even altering text.

It won't bother you too much at first, but since you say you'll be using it a lot, I'm pretty sure you'll find yourself crying and begging it to speed up on a regular basis, while pulling your hair out waiting for it to finish what it's doing. For light Photoshop work, sure, it's fine... for anything more, you'll feel the hurt of it being emulated.

 

[indigoflowAS]

My experiences with Photoshop CS2 under Rosetta has been pretty rough... I'm runing a 2GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM and I work with large files (I'm the art designer for my dad's screen printing business). Working with files that are usually between 120-400dpi (or ppi for the people that are anal about that sort of thing), I find my MBP going quite slow when waiting for filters to apply and even altering text.

It won't bother you too much at first, but since you say you'll be using it a lot, I'm pretty sure you'll find yourself crying and begging it to speed up on a regular basis, while pulling your hair out waiting for it to finish what it's doing. For light Photoshop work, sure, it's fine... for anything more, you'll feel the hurt of it being emulated.

Dang, so even with that extra RAM, it still chugs along? thats not very promising considering I want RAM mainly for PS. Surely it doesnt hurt, but yeah...Looks like we bare with it, cause there is little use in getting a PB G4 anymore..in my opinion.