Options
I think I need a new computer. Which one?
Zet
Registered Users Posts: 77 Big grins
My photoshop actions are not working. I get a message that says I don't have enough RAM!!
Should I get a new computer with HUGE memory or just buy more memory?
If I do decide to get a new computer, which are some good ones for me to look into?
Thank you!
Should I get a new computer with HUGE memory or just buy more memory?
If I do decide to get a new computer, which are some good ones for me to look into?
Thank you!
0
Comments
Begin with specs on your current one if you will. That'd make it easier to suggest.
CPU: Core 2 Duo, Corei7 9**, etc.
Win7, Vist, XP, 64 bit or 32 bit
RAM: 3, 6, or more GB
Oh, and I meant to ask, is this the first time these warnings have showed up?
Yes this just started. I purchased a few more actions and uploaded them last week. I still have two more sets of actions to add!
that 65.9 GB and 15.8 GB could very well be the issue at hand. THAT is Hard drive space, not RAM. And you need plenty of HDD ( hard drive ) space to work in these programs! I'd suggest adding at least another HDD. When a Hard Drive gets loaded up, things slow way down.
Still would be better to know the other answers I asked about: 64 bit versus 32 bit. The reason is 32 bit will only let you go so high in RAM and Adobe products will only use about 3 Gb of RAM no matter how much you have.
if you use this link: http://majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=4181&file=15&evp=0da1e17dee7b6e8a3cc13fc5b7062019 you can download Everest Home edition. It will give you all the spec's of your machine.
Let me know if I can help further.
Regardless, I agree with Tom that your hard drive (HD) is getting full. If this is a laptop I highly recommend a couple of external hard drives so that you can move some of the internal hard drive's contents outside the machine and off the internal drive.
A newer machine with much better specifications would be a better solution.
For a Photoshop machine I suggest at least:
500GB HD
4 - core processor, 64 bit
4 - 8 GB RAM
Windows 7, 64 bit
That should get you decent performance and it should not be extremely expensive.
A desktop computer is still the best value in terms of initial purchase cost versus overall system speed. I am using a Cyberpower entry level gaming computer and I'm very pleased with the cost versus performance. A fairly good similar machine would be:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229270
Add to this a good monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002578
... and you have a very pleasant computer to work with Photoshop and it will even support full HD video if you need.
In a laptop, I recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220997
Even though it is a 2 - core machine, it is otherwise nicely specified. You still might want the above external monitor, in addition to the LCD display, for those long editing sessions when the better quality of the NEC monitor will show.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
That's a powerful desktop Ziggy has linked. Ugly to look at, but cheap, and will stand you in good stead for years. And after that, you could easily upgrade it piece-meal and not have to buy a full system again.
If you wanted to go cheaper, you could get something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227373. Not much prettier, but you shave off more than $200 just by switching from Intel to AMD, and for your purposes, you'd not see any difference.
As for your immediate problem, if PS was working earlier, then it should still work - maybe it just needs a reboot. It is complaining about memory, so you might just want to close all other programs too. Did anything else change on the box, like maybe a new anti-virus?
Well, you've hit the nail on the head - your computing need seems to have hit a brick-wall of the combination of Vista and insufficient memory. The newer actions need more memory than your laptop can provide currently, and Vista is notoriously poor in memory management.
Please holler if you need any further help buying a new machine.
I always recommend building your own but if you don't know how or don't have anyone around to do it for you, the links Ziggy gave you should be fine. I can't recommend newegg enough, I only purchase from there and have been for nearly 10 years now. I've tried the rest and once you know, you newegg
Getting started on DGrin? Go here first!
Contact a Support Hero: http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/emails/new
If you have a quality computer/laptop then it may be worth upgrading. If it is a laptop you may need it for onsite work. I take my laptop to most of my offsite work. While it is a 4 year old Lenovo it keeps on ticking. I replaced the hard drive last year upgrading it from a 120 gb to 500 gb internal hard drive and it runs well enough.
While a 500gb hard drive is not sufficient for a long term photo processing computer, it may be good enough to hold off buying a new desktop and it provides good space for offsite work. You can buy an external hard drive too but they are slower access.
Installing a new hard drive is not difficult in a laptop but it is time consuming because you have to reload all your software and data files.
Your current files can be maintained on the replaced hard drive which can be accessed by an external case that you can buy for it. It can then become another backup device later.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
I've also read that Sony Vaio is good for photographers. Any thoughts? (I'm leaning towards getting a laptop so I can work at other locations)
PS: I sent my current computer out to get fixed and my photoshop is working well....for now.
Well it all depends what you want to do... If you are serious about photography then a laptop or Macbook will not do. Not because of the CPU or memory but just because of the LCD screen. It is highly recommended to work on a graphical monitor such as Eizo Color Edge. That runs at 1500 Dollar just for the monitor alone. If you then add an IMAC 24 or 27 i5 with 8G mem and 1THD you are looking at another 2000+ Dollar. I assume that is not within the budget.
So one has to settle for less accurate colors . In that case I would recommend a Macbook Pro (i have one as well for location work). It exceeds by far windows and the design is ridged versus the other brands like Dell and HP's...Acer....
Yes the price is a bit higher , but is more then its money worth.
The second aspect to look at is what software you have (I assume you have all windows applications). Those will not run on the MAC (unless , see below), so you would have to buy new applications for the MAC such as CS LR etc.... You can run windows applications on a MAC with VMware, but that has an effect on the performance. There are special versions of VMware for MAC at the price of 70 Dollar.
If you decide to buy a MAC here are the recommend specs:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2,66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
To conclude:
-> MAC vs Laptop hardware (its all about quality and performance, MAC sticks really out).
-> Professional Photowork never on a MACbook or Laptop, but on a graphical monitor
-> Semi Pro work, best on a MAC (performance and ease of use once you are used to it).
-> You own a WINDOWS machine today, should you move to MAC ? Yes, if you can afford it and are willing to reinvest in MAC software. Note that not all Win programs are able to run on a MAC . The work arround is to install VMware on your MAC to host window applications.
-> Or just keep your laptop and upgrade the memory and HD. (much depending on how old the thing is, if older then 2 years just drop it and get a MAC)
I have been facing the same issue some years ago ( 2 laptops and 2 workstations in de studio all windows). I took me months before I was able to decide to move to MAC, finally I did. The only thing I regret is that I didn't do it earlier.
I've used Macintosh computers and I don't have anything bad to say about them except that the initial purchase cost was pretty steep for the performance, leading to less overall value. Indeed the Windows freeware selection is vast and there are free applications worthy of a professional workplace that are not available for Mac. I was helping a friend with his mac a couple of months ago and a little frustrated that I couldn't find equivalent applications for some of my favorites. (I'm sure the same would be true if I were a Mac person helping a Win person, perhaps to a lesser degree.)
I decided that I did need a more portable machine for presentations and so I purchased an off-lease (refurbished) dual-core Win XP Pro laptop for that purpose. I also use that machine for basic image review in the field, but the image processing is reserved for the desktop machine.
That combination of desktop and laptop is still less than an equivalent Mac desktop alone, and much, much less than a Mac "desktop replacement" laptop. Plus the 2 machines give me some redundancy that I would lack in a single machine. (I just loaned my laptop to my daughter who was using her fiance's laptop for her internship, but he needs to send it in for repairs. (Bad wireless section, confirmed with my laptop.))
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Very much agreed for Windows 7. I have a MacBook at home (and I'm very much a Mac head) but was recently (finally) given a Windows 7 laptop at work. After XP, I can happily say it really is the best Windows yet and substantially catches up with OSX when it comes to productivity. By all means go for a Mac if that's what you want but if you can't justify "Mac tax," you'll find Windows 7 a big improvement on older versions and more than good enough.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod3750897&navAction=push
It's $100 over your budget but it's worth it.