4 Replies Latest reply: Aug 3, 2011 1:24 AM by The Macdoctor RSS

    Will a better video card improve Photoshop CS5 performance?

    monmart Community Member

      Mac of course.

       

      I have the standard ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256 mb.

       

      Will a higher-end card or more momory improve performace?

       

       

      Thanks in advance.

        • 1. Re: Will a better video card improve Photoshop CS5 performance?
          [scott] CommunityMVP

          Yes. If there are other cards available for your Mac.

          • 2. Re: Will a better video card improve Photoshop CS5 performance?
            The Macdoctor Community Member

            Hi monmart,

             

            I take it you have a 2008-ish MacPro with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT?

             

            If so, changing the video card will help screen-draw performance, but may not improve things as much as adding more RAM. I had the optional NVDIA GeForce 8800GT in my Pro and it really flies with an Apple 30 inch Cinema Display. However, adding more RAM will usually get a bigger boost in performance in terms of value for money. I started my machine with 4Gb and then increased it to 8Gb and the difference was quite amazing. Having more than 8Gb does not really achieve much more in terms of value for money.

             

            If you change the video card, make sure that the one you buy does not exceed the capabilities of the system bus or you will be wasting your money.

             

            I have also achieved further perfomance improvements by re-formatting the HD in the machine to two partitions, leaving a 15Gb partition which is used only for Photoshop's Scratch Disk. Photoshop really wants large areas of disk to write its virtual image file to and if that space is clear of other items the performance improves. If you do not want to do that, make sure that at least 10Gb is free on the disk that Photoshop uses for its Scratch Disk.

            • 3. Re: Will a better video card improve Photoshop CS5 performance?
              monmart Community Member

              Yes exactly, it's a 2008 machine 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Zeon's. Still fast as a matter of fact!

               

              I'm running 14 GB Ram right now. I'm at a 1.6 gb bus speed at the moment.

               

              OSX Lion animations lag a bit on my 30". The performace of the Mac is not terrible. Still pretty quick.

               

              However, the biggest problem I have is when using the Transform tool on 300 dpi images. So lets say... I'm using the Distort transform, I have to wait up-to 6 -7 seconds before it shows the distortion. The wire fame moves fine, but it takes the artwork a while to cetch up. Quite anoying actually. Besides spending 3000k on a new Mac, is there anything I can do about it?

               

              Think that G-Force you got will do me any good?

               

              -Mark

              • 4. Re: Will a better video card improve Photoshop CS5 performance?
                The Macdoctor Community Member

                The GeForce might improve matters, however there are other cards available now which might suit your needs better.

                 

                I suggest you have a chat with your local Apple specialist . . .or maybe others here will chip in with their experiences.

                 

                Whatever, make sure any card you buy is compatible with the MacPro you have and has the appropriate connectors to drive a 30".