Performance Probs - Upgrade Computer or Upgrade Lightroom CC?

[CathKl]

I'm having major problems with Lightroom CC 6 slowing down and then stopping when I'm processing photos. I'm wondering which would give the most improvement, upgrading to the latest version of Lightroom CC, or buying a new computer?

My catalog size is closing in on 100,000 photos. Breaking it up into smaller catalogs would be my last option, right behind switching to a different photo processing software, like PicaJet (and I'm still cleaning up the mess from moving to LR from Apple's Photo.)

I do a lot of work with catalogs, catalog sets, and smart catalogs, but just basic photo processing. I mostly run into problems when switching between photos and catalogs.

My 'solution' at this point is to shut down LR the second it starts to slow down, then open it back up.  Which is a royal pain, as it takes about 10 minutes for it to fully open.

I store my photos on an external hard drive. I'm thinking this is probably not a  problem, because when LR is working, the time to open new photos, etc. is fine.

I turned off using the graphics card, which resulted in improved function.

I do not use RAW. Typical photo size is 3400 x 4600.

Computer: Macbook Pro (Retina, 13" screen, late 2013);

Display: 2560 x 1600

Processor: 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7;

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: Intel Iris 1536 MB

Hard Drive: 478 GB available of 1 TB

External Hard Drive: GDrive 1TB, USB3 connection

[dj_paige]

I do a lot of work with catalogs, catalog sets, and smart catalogs, but just basic photo processing. I mostly run into problems when switching between photos and catalogs.

Does this mean you have problems switching between photos in the Library Module, or in the Develop Module, or somewhere else?

Do you mean "collections, collection sets and smart collections" instead of "catalogs, catalog sets, and smart catalogs"???

What "problems" do you have?

Also please state the exact version NUMBER of your Lightroom 6. Go to Help->System Info and report the version of LR shown there.

[CathKl]

I have problems in both the Library and the Develop Module.

Yes, I mis-spoke - meant collections, collection sets and smart collections.

Problem - the software slows down. From switching almost instantaneously between photos within a collection or between collections, it will slow down to taking up to 20 minutes to switch. It's cumulative - the more photos I work on, the slower it runs.

Shutting down the program restarts the process, in that it usually goes back to working normally, before slowing down again (at times I need to restart two or three times to get it back to normal.) I can usually get in 10-20 minutes of work before needing to restart.

I'm running version 6.13.

[dj_paige]

Under Catalog Settings, click on the File Handling Tab. To increase the performance of Lightroom, you should have selected

• Standard Preview Size: I have 2048, but if your monitor is a 4K or larger monitor, you will need to select a larger number
• Preview Quality: High
• Automatically Discard 1:1 Previews: Never

In your editing, do you do lots of brushing and/or lots of spot healing?

Also, I have heard other people say that if you have a lot of smart collections, this can also slow down LR performance ... approximately how many smart collections do you have?