Mac Or PC

IraParis · #1 05-07-2008, 01:35 AM

I'm posting this in both the Mac and PC forums, hoping to gather as much info as possible, so I apologize for the double posting..
I'm currently on a Dell Workstation 380, XP Pro, and 4 Gigs of ram, w/three Wide Screen LCD Monitors.
I've done everything possible to make CS3 as efficient as possible.
I have one commercial client that I regularly use 500 mb files, w/24 layers.
Not surprisingly, CS3 is extremely sluggish, prone to crash, and I receive too many "Not Enough Memory For This Task" warnings.
I speced out a new Dell Workstation w/ XP Pro 64 bit, and a Mac Pro, each configured to each other as close as possible.
The bottom line is that the Mac is about $600 more.
Will the Mac run CS3, with my large files faster than the PC?
I realize that it is difficult to compare the two, but in a general sense, similarly configured, would the Mac be faster than the PC?
Thanks

Jerry Skrocki · #2 05-07-2008, 09:13 AM

The Mac vs PC debate usually brings about a lot of hostility from those who are dedicated to each operating system.

I switched to Mac in 2006 after being a loyal PC user for 16 years. At the time I was pursuing my degree in Graphic Design and needed to learn the Mac OS. The experience changed my perception of computers in general.
The Mac is a better designed machine and the operating system is more intuitive and stable. The current version of OSX (Leopard) is a true 64bit operating system and as such can utilize up to 8 gigs of ram for Photoshop before going to the physical hard drive for scratch disk space.

The MacPro is built with the end user in mind, making hard drive and memory upgrades virtually plug and play with room to expand. I have never experienced any out of memory errors or operating system crashes. I use the entire Adobe Creative Suite (Design Premium) as well as Aperture, DPP and Lightroom.

Jerry

Edmond_Terakopian · #3 05-07-2008, 09:16 AM

I think the thing that would make the biggest difference is a large amount of ram (you don't mention how much you're planning for the new system) and also a dedicated scratch disk. When you're working on your 500Mb files, check to see how much space its actually taking up in ram, and try and get that as a minimum.
I've used both platforms for many years and have switched over fully to a Mac platform since the switch over to Intel processors and Aperture 1.5. In my experience Mac's are a lot more stable and my thoughts would be that the $600 extra is money well spent.

AndrewRodney · #4 05-07-2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Skrocki

The current version of OSX (Leopard) is a true 64bit operating system and as such can utilize up to 8 gigs of ram for Photoshop before going to the physical hard drive for scratch disk space.

It can WHEN Photoshop is a 64 bit application, which it isn't and isn't going to be for awhile. CS4 will not be a 64 bit app under Mac OS.

Lightroom Beta2 is a 64 bit application.

IraParis · #5 05-07-2008, 10:35 AM

In other words, are you saying that I would not see a difference in CS3, in my problem area, (large files, etc.), between a 64 Bit XP PC, and a Mac Pro, each w/8 gigs of ram, dedicated scratch disk, etc?

AndrewRodney · #6 05-07-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IraParis

In other words, are you saying that I would not see a difference in CS3, in my problem area, (large files, etc.), between a 64 Bit XP PC, and a Mac Pro, each w/8 gigs of ram, dedicated scratch disk, etc?

Well there's all kinds of stuff going on in terms of speed and performance. But the point is, you can have 8 gigs of ram (I have 10 in my MacPro) and the current and next version of Photoshop will only access I think 3 gigs. The rest is useful if you're using other applications. But a true 64 bit application (as CS4 under Windows will be) would use more Ram, which is always way, way faster than scratch disk (assuming you're documents are big enough to need to hit the scratch disk).

For CS3, Windows or Mac, its not accessing the additional Ram, its not a 64 bit application. And then there's the fact there will have to be TWO builds of Win Photoshop CS4 (32 and 64 bit) as will Plug-in's making this perhaps a bit messy.

Jerry Skrocki · #7 05-07-2008, 11:55 AM

Adobe Photoshop CS3 on a MacPro can utilize 8 gigs of ram as documented by the 1st linked Adobe Tech Note. Although it does not directly address the additional memory, it is utilized for Photoshop filters and scratch disk memory before the hard drive is accessed.

"When you run Photoshop CS3 on a 64-bit operating system, such as Mac OS X v10.4 and later, Photoshop can access up to 8 GB of RAM. You can see the actual amount of RAM Photoshop can use in the Let Photoshop Use number when you set the Let Photoshop Use slider in the Performance preference to 100%. The RAM above the 100% used by Photoshop, which is from approximately 3 GB to 3.7 GB, can be used directly by Photoshop plug-ins (some plug-ins need large chunks of contiguous RAM), filters, and actions. If you have more than 4 GB (to 8 GB), the RAM above 4 GB is used by the operating system as a cache for the Photoshop scratch disk data. Data that previously was written directly to the hard disk by Photoshop is now cached in this high RAM before being written to the hard disk by the operating system. If you are working with files large enough to take advantage of these extra 2 GB of RAM, the RAM cache can increase performance of Photoshop."

When run on a 64bit PC system it can utilize up to 6 gigs of ram. (see 2nd Tech note)

View Document
View Document

Pro Photo Store

Visit the B&H Pro Photo Store for the best Gear Prices and regular specials!

Brilliant Color for any Digital SLR
White Balance Cap
The Pros Agree on ColorRight
What People Are Saying