[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by dankar 

Will do as you mention, I am interested to know too. For pointer two, will run a file converting a A4 heavy image/graphic AI file to a PSD 450dpi and raw batch conversion of three 34mb raws on Light room, these two should bring most hardware to their knees.

I think we may have to do even more to seriously challenge your machine. Can you (and hopefully z0ne 81) come up with a combination even more dastardly? I thought of opening about 20 heavy Photoshop files at once and doing several video encode/decode operations.

[dankar]

Drum Rolling......

Here are the results, from running speedtest:

1 Memory State, 0 Apps
4GB: 27.5 sec 8GB: 27.8 sec

1 Memory State, Apps CS3 PS, AI, ID, LR, FH MX, DW, FL, Nikon NX and Safari
4GB: 35.1 sec 8GB: 29.5 sec

30 Memory State, Apps CS3 PS, AI, ID, LR, FH MX, DW, FL, Nikon NX and Safari
4GB: 1:17.3 sec 8GB: 1:07 sec

30 Memory State, Apps CS3 PS, AI, ID, LR, FH MX, DW, FL, Nikon NX and Safari
Simultaneously with all these running
- NX opening 7 x Nikon D2X raw (unopen size 22mb)
- CS3 AI Converting 54.2mb CMYK file (artwork size 170x66cm) to 138.1mb CMYK 200dpi PSD
4GB: 5:36.6 sec 8GB: 1:33.7 sec

Ninahagen, based on these times, I think these tests are a good indications of improvements from having more rams. Running those tests you mentioned, result would be the same with bias towards more rams.

Start-up seems fast and so does opening apps. For me, the single biggest improvement comes from having several apps open, PS 30 memory state and in the background, several apps crunching memory intensive files pertaining to photographers and graphic artists.

Hopes these helps. Cheers!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...moryScreen.jpg

[ninahagen]

Dear Dankar,

You are a small god. That is EXACTLY what I, and I believe many Photoshop junkies, needed to see. What a difference this makes to the decision making process. Clearly, if you are a hardcore CS3 user that likes to do a lot of stuff at once, more RAM rules the roost! So much for the pervasive perception that "PS only uses 3GB RAM, therefore...x, y & z." The only question now is, would 16GB go even further. Just imagine getting a result like 30 seconds for your most rigorous test (the last one). Any chance you are gonzo enough to try it?

Either way, thanks a million...

nina h.

[ninahagen]

z0ne-ster, could you run the same last test dankar did on your V8? You might have to send him a private message to find out exactly what he did.

[dankar]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

Dear Dankar,

You are a small god. That is EXACTLY what I, and I believe many Photoshop junkies, needed to see. What a difference this makes to the decision making process. Clearly, if you are a hardcore CS3 user that likes to do a lot of stuff at once, more RAM rules the roost! So much for the pervasive perception that "PS only uses 3GB RAM, therefore...x, y & z." The only question now is, would 16GB go even further. Just imagine getting a result like 30 seconds for your most rigorous test (the last one). Any chance you are gonzo enough to try it?

Either way, thanks a million...



nina h.

No problem, brotherhood of Macs...

Another 4GB in the pipeline for me after my next purchase of a 30" screen to compliment my 23". Only thing is, my total would be 12GB, due to my 4x1GBs.

[Peabo]

1 memory state 8-core 5GB = 27 sec
30 memory states 8-core 5GB = 1 min 06 sec
30 memory states several adobe apps open, itunes playing, bittorrent downloading etc) 8-core 5GB = 1 min 10 sec

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by z0ne81 

1 memory state 8-core 5GB = 27 sec
30 memory states 8-core 5GB = 1 min 06 sec
30 memory states several adobe apps open, itunes playing, bittorrent downloading etc) 8-core 5GB = 1 min 10 sec

Sweet. Ah, the multi-tasking abilities of all that muscle.

Can you raise the bar even higher? Could you do all those plus run a monster file reduction like dankar? There is a chance your machine won't bat an eyelash.

Can anybody out there think of a detailed benchmark that will really challenge these beasts?

How crazy would you have to get in image multi-tasking to get a loaded V8 to show a five minute CS3 time? It might be something like Pixar-level animation editing, with multiple frames over multiple 30-inch screens. I am guessing that 5GB would be the first bottleneck to show...long before the 8 processors were taxed, though Tiger is still pretty primitive on threading with the 8-core.

Anyway, z0nemaster, you must be one happy hardware owner. Can't wait for Leopard + 64-bit PS... then we will all have to max our macs with 8 x 4GB modules!

[dankar]

I wouldn't be surprised if the 8-core 5GB smokes my 4-core 8GB when it comes to multi-tasking...

Zonemaster, what Adobe apps are you running in the background?

[Peabo]

I had Fl, Dw, Ai, ID open, plus some other random apps like mail, safari, activity monitor

[ninahagen]

Could you pair (dankar skywalker & zone-yoda) design the most diabolically challenging set of running background apps, sychronize the test so it is exactly the same, then run them to compare? It would be ideal if zonemaster could get his machine to 8GB too (but even without it would be meaningful). Here is a list of hurdles to begin development of the test...

- 10 x 1GB Files batching a 5 layer operation in PS (reduce, rotate, gaussian blur, crop, monochrome to color (or vice versa)
- 10 x 1GB raw files undergoing a batch in Aperture (heavy back and forth GPU/CPU)
- a heavy bit torrent operation
- a video encode
- a video decode
- Open: CS3 (PS, AI, ID), Lightroom/Aperture, Dreamweaver, MS Office, Safari, Mail...???, Final Cut...???)
- ????? Any other mind-bending operations...

How about it gentlemen? How would you envision this?

nina h.

[paulinbognor]

The best thing to do would be to establish a set of programs that both (or all) testers have and then generate some psd's/RAW files for them to work of as well as some CS3 actions. Basically so the test could be standardised, that way we could build up a very clear picture of how the 2 (imac) vs. 4 vs. 8 with various memory configurations perform.

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by paulinbognor 

The best thing to do would be to establish a set of programs that both (or all) testers have and then generate some psd's/RAW files for them to work of as well as some CS3 actions. Basically so the test could be standardised, that way we could build up a very clear picture of how the 2 (imac) vs. 4 vs. 8 with various memory configurations perform.

I agree with you on the standardization. I do think we need to throw much more at it than this. We are trying to see where the V8s performance curve departs strongly from that of the V4. They certainly hum along similarly until a point... dankar & z0ne81 hit the begining of the V4s curve with their toughest efforts to date. The V8 barely blinked.

So, in addition to Photoshop & CS3 burdens, we need programs that with tax the GPU/CPU interchange as well as non-PS CPU reserves. It might be nice to develop a scale of 5 tests in ascending difficulty, so the Quadra and G3 folks can get onto the curve too.

Is anybody out there knowlegable enough to put together 5 tests, phased in difficulty with the original Photoshop speed test representing the midpoint (test 3 of 5)?

[ninahagen]

I also hope people will continue to use the Photoshop Speed Test in the first entry of this thread, following up by posting their times. It is often surprising where a clue to the puzzle or a greater understanding will pop up. If we do manage to add some more tests, that is just gravy, but the simple objective of this thread remains: to offer its viewers and contibutors a wide range of Photoshop Speed experiences to help with purchasing a Mac workstation for Photoshop & design purposes. Once again, here is the url of the original Photoshop speed test...

Retouch Artists | Photoshop Speed Test

[bellydancer]

58 sec

G5 Quad 2.5
8GB Memory
2 x 7200rpm HD
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 Vcard

1 History State
100% Ram
Test on Restart

[ninahagen]

I was 7 seconds slower with the same specs (1 min 5 sec).

From some other posts, I see that it varies a little from test to test even with the same user, same parameters, same machine. I wonder why.

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by bellydancer 

58 sec

G5 Quad 2.5
8GB Memory
2 x 7200rpm HD
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 Vcard

1 History State
100% Ram
Test on Restart

Bellydancer, could you rachet up the load gradually and retest each time?

[bellydancer]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

Bellydancer, could you rachet up the load gradually and retest each time?

OK, with 30 memory states, no other apps open — 78 seconds. I can"t believe a 30% plus slowdown... what is the reason for that?

[bellydancer]

5min 20sec (my laptop)

iBook
PowerPC G4 1.5GHz
1.25GB DDR SDRAM
5400rpm HD (80GB/38GB empty now)
GeForce FX Go5200
1 History State
100%Ram
Test on Restart

[sosumi1981]

1min 18 seconds

Octo Pro
3GB RAM
ATI x1900xt
7200 RPM

CS2 @ 1 History state; 100% RAM (1680 MB)

[mr. burns]

Originally Posted by sosumi1981 

1min 18 seconds

Octo Pro

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by sosumi1981 

1min 18 seconds

Octo Pro
3GB RAM
ATI x1900xt
7200 RPM

CS2 @ 1 History state; 100% RAM (1680 MB)

If you go to CS3, your time should be under 30 seconds.

[bellydancer]

Originally Posted by z0ne81 

1 memory state 8-core 5GB = 27 sec

You are at 78 sec... as you can see z0ne81 has 27 sec... you are almost 3 times slower... you need CS3 and a couple extra GB of RAM wouldn't hurt. You are driving a Maseratti with economy gas. It's not even mine but "Ouch!" anyway. Fill up that monster with premium!

[bellydancer]

Originally Posted by bellydancer 

58 sec

G5 Quad 2.5—8GB Memory—2 x 7200rpm HD—NVIDIA GeForce 6600 Vcard

1 History State—100% Ram —Test on Restart

Originally Posted by bellydancer 

OK, with 30 memory states, no other apps open — 78 seconds. I can"t believe a 30% plus slowdown... what is the reason for that?

1 history state, 100% RAM, literally every app I have apps open but idling — 68 sec
30 history states, 100% RAM, literally every app I have apps open but idling — 88 sec

[Simon]

Originally Posted by sosumi1981

1min 18 seconds
Octo Pro

Originally Posted by mr. burns 

Check again. He's using CS2.

[sosumi1981]

Originally Posted by bellydancer 

You are at 78 sec... as you can see z0ne81 has 27 sec... you are almost 3 times slower... you need CS3 and a couple extra GB of RAM wouldn't hurt. You are driving a Maseratti with economy gas. It's not even mine but "Ouch!" anyway. Fill up that monster with premium!

Yeah, I know, but I'm already so broke from buying the thing that I can't afford CS3 yet (I'll be living on a steady diet of Gov't cheese for a while ). Maybe in a couple of months but still for CS2, I didn't think the time was too bad. I'll throw some extra RAM in there eventually too, once my financial situation recuperates (I'm guessing in 30 years or so...I hope they still sell DDR FB RAM or I'm screwed).

[LBoogie]

I just got my new Mac Pro yesterday. I've worked in the graphic design industry for about 8 years now, in various design houses working on projects as large as 40 minute shows in super-wide format (2160x486) and I have never worked on a machine as fast as this.

Mac Pro 2.66Ghz. Quad Core. 3 Gig ram
=32 sec

Mac Mini 1.5Ghz. Duo Core. 2 Gig ram
=4:24 min

Powerbook G4 867Mhz. 768 Meg ram
=16:30 min

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz 1 Gig ram
=14:22 min

[ninahagen]

LBoogie:

Thanks for that post. You must be in heaven. A couple questions...

Are you still doing video editing? If so, you will surely beneifit from more RAM.

Are you running CS2 on the mini? It should be faster than that on CS3.

[LBoogie]

Yeah, I'm just beside myself with the performance of this machine! over the past few days I've been doing various render tests; one being a 2 minute tradeshow presentation for a software company. The render at work took a painfull 2 1/2 hours to complete on the company's "render station" which is a P4 3.2 with a gig of ram. I rendered the same project on my Mac Pro in 1 hour and 3 minutes yesterday which is huge for me. I know, it's just a P4, but typically this is generally what we all use in our department and this is what I am accustomed to at work.

To answer your question, if I do any video editing it's on a small scale where only basic cuts are involved. I work generally in layout, animation and video compositing. I think I'm gradually going to add ram in small increments until I max out. For now I want to get accustomed to the performance on 3 gigs then be able to gauge the difference in speed as I add more

I think when I ran the test on the mini, I had forgotten to adjust the cache levels, this is probably why I had such a slow result. I can't retest it now though; I sold my mini and purchased the Mac Pro

[ninahagen]

LBoogie:

If you read this thread all the way through you will see that more RAM will help you mainly when you multitask. 3GB is enough for most apps if they are running alone... notable exceptions include scientific calculations, video editing & rendering, high-level CAD applications.

So was the mini CS2 or CS3?

[LBoogie]

I completely agree with you Adding ram will be a gradual advancement from me.

The mini was running CS3. What would be the average running time of the action for that particular configuration?

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by LBoogie 

The mini was running CS3. What would be the average running time of the action for that particular configuration?

Which mini was it?

[ajprice]

White Macbook 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM, CS3. 1min 2 secs (rough count, was watching the hand on my watch, lol). Considering that I never got this test to run on my G4 867, I'm happy!

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by ajprice 

White Macbook 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM, CS3. 1min 2 secs (rough count, was watching the hand on my watch, lol). Considering that I never got this test to run on my G4 867, I'm happy!

Dude, you have to be happy with that. Damn, your white macbook is roughly as fast as my G5 Quad 2.5 w 8GB RAM! You know, if you jack your RAM to 3GB (I think the max for your machine), you will get a very significant speed bump. Photoshop needs 3GB when running alone, more when you multi task. That last GB is key. Would you do yourself and us here on the thread a favor and get that extra 1MB then retest? ... the results should be very satisfying to you and revealing/confirming for us. (and though I am secretly pissed that you laptop matches my monster, I have to say kudos , and that I will be making the switch soon (next gen).

[ajprice]

Sorry nina, got it fitted with 2 Gb when I bought it on Friday, and its staying at 2Gb.

[ninahagen]

In addition to further posts on Mac Pro & G5 times (always welcome), does anybody have a maxed MacBook Pro thay could post times for?

[LBoogie]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

Which mini was it?

Duo Core 1.5, 2 gigs

[AlbertDeschesne]

Since we were asked so nicely in the iMac forum to post here:

1 min 3 secs

24" iMac: 2.16GHz
2GB RAM
nVidia 7300 GT

I use the computer to Letter and Color Comics and so far it's plenty fast in both PS and AI CS3 versions.

Hope this helps.

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by AlbertDeschesne 

Since we were asked so nicely in the iMac forum to post here:

1 min 3 secs

24" iMac: 2.16GHz
2GB RAM
nVidia 7300 GT

I use the computer to Letter and Color Comics and so far it's plenty fast in both PS and AI CS3 versions.

Hope this helps.

Hi Albert... hey thanks! That really helps round out the speed picture.

Wow, your iMac just rips! My G5 Quad 2.5 with 8GB is about the same. Are you running CS2 or CS3? If it is CS2, you will get a big speed bump with CS3... also, you are running 2GB RAM... I think your machine will take an extra 1GB. If you add that GB you should see 10-20 seconds come off the time. (15-30% improvement). Both together would nearly cut your speed in half. Any chance you will be adding that extra GB? (would be good future proofing) If you do, would you be kind enough to post again? either way, you've got to be happy with speed like that!

Nina H.

[AlbertDeschesne]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

Hi Albert... hey thanks! That really helps round out the speed picture.

Wow, your iMac just rips! My G5 Quad 2.5 with 8GB is about the same. Are you running CS2 or CS3? If it is CS2, you will get a big speed bump with CS3... also, you are running 2GB RAM... I think your machine will take an extra 1GB. If you add that GB you should see 10-20 seconds come off the time. (15-30% improvement). Both together would nearly cut your speed in half. Any chance you will be adding that extra GB? (would be good future proofing) If you do, would you be kind enough to post again? either way, you've got to be happy with speed like that!

Nina H.

LOL I say in the text above at the end that I'm running CS3. The iMac only has 2 ram bays so for me to get 3 gig into this machine I have to buy a 2 gig chip and throw out a 1gig chip. Not gonna happen any time soon.

I'm very happy with the speed on this this machine. And from what i've seen of posts in this thread I'll probably be happy with my Modbook come late summer. (It's a modfied macbook) Glad I could help in my liittle way.

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by AlbertDeschesne 

my Modbook come late summer. (It's a modfied macbook)

What's makes a Macbook into a Modbook?

[AlbertDeschesne]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

What's makes a Macbook into a Modbook?

Well, since you asked:

Choose your ModBook at OtherWorldComputing.com

It was announced at macworld in January. There are several threads on MacNN if you want to search for them.

[ninahagen]

Hi everyone,

We still need someone with a maxed out Mac Pro to post their times.... anyone?

Nina

[vtgts500kw]

dont know if this is needed. but here it is anyway

iMac G5 core 2 duo
2.33ghz
2gb RAM
CS ( i know, i know. i like it better for some reason )

1:40 seconds

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by vtgts500kw 

dont know if this is needed. but here it is anyway

iMac G5 core 2 duo
2.33ghz
2gb RAM
CS ( i know, i know. i like it better for some reason )

1:40 seconds

That is better than I would have expected. Can your machine hold 3GB of RAM? If so that last GB is key for PS work... would probably speed you up 20 seconds on this test. Have you worked on CS3? Once you got used to it, you would never, ever go back. Plus is would save you another 20 seconds. 2 small upgrades would be 40% slashed off your already speedy machine.

[vtgts500kw]

Originally Posted by ninahagen 

That is better than I would have expected. Can your machine hold 3GB of RAM? If so that last GB is key for PS work... would probably speed you up 20 seconds on this test. Have you worked on CS3? Once you got used to it, you would never, ever go back. Plus is would save you another 20 seconds. 2 small upgrades would be 40% slashed off your already speedy machine.

can't justify the price just yet ( student ) i was more refering to CS2, when i mentioned i prefered CS.

it can hold 3gb ram, but that was hugely expensive. and i dont hardly ever do photoshop intensive work ( like the test ) so 2gb is perfect for my needs, will prob upgrade to 3gb anyway once it comes down in price.

[ninahagen]

We still need speeds for notebooks... especially the Powerbook G4 and the MacBook Pro... anyone?

[merp]

My stats:

2x2GHz Rev A.
6GB
5x500GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID 0 - startup disk

1m 12s
following a fresh reboot

Oddly enough, I get the same performance even with the following running:
Dashboard
iCal
ThermographX
Activity Monitor (w/ dock icon CPU history)
Firefox 2.0.0.3 G5 (PPC970)
Mail.app
Adium 1.04
iTunes streaming 128Kbit internet radio
Console

I even managed one run w/ all the above that hit 1m8s, and that was with several days of uptime with all the above running since startup. I was really happy with that one, given the numbers the Intel hardware's throwing down. Altho w/ 5 disks in it, my G5's not as portable as those spiffy MacBooks...

[Og Oggilby]

Mac Pro Dual Quad Core 3.0 Ghz
x1900xt
9GB ram
2 - 500 GB Apple stock hard drives
OS - Bootcamp running XP64

Photoshop CS3
1 History State
Cache Level 4
100% Memory - PS can't use all of it - 70% was same time

Time 23 seconds

I ran the test 4 times - no change. Tried with other apps running in the background - didn't seem to matter.
With 20 History levels, 6 cache 1:15

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by Og Oggilby 

Mac Pro Dual Quad Core 3.0 Ghz
x1900xt
9GB ram
2 - 500 GB Apple stock hard drives
OS - Bootcamp running XP64

Photoshop CS3
1 History State
Cache Level 4
100% Memory - PS can't use all of it - 70% was same time

Time 23 seconds

I ran the test 4 times - no change. Tried with other apps running in the background - didn't seem to matter.
With 20 History levels, 6 cache 1:15

This time is the fastest I have seen. With 9GB RAM, no surprise that other apps caused no change (they certainly do in the 2-4 GB range. I just wonder how much faster this machine would be with WD 10k rpm Raptors for system and scratch discs. Also, if they were in a software RAID 0. Any speculation out there? Or even better, how about it Og? Wouldn't you just love to give your Ferrari the ultimate Gran Prix mod? We would all be grateful!

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by merp 

My stats:

2x2GHz Rev A.
6GB
5x500GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID 0 - startup disk

1m 12s following a fresh reboot

Just to clarify this is a G5 Dual 2.0, right?

If so, that is a great time. My G5 Quad 2.5 8GB RAM is only a few seconds faster 1 min 5 sec.

Are you using CS2 or CS3?