Photoshop CS, what is the optimum system

John,

From the tasks you describe, this sounds like a pretty ample system, but I’d suggest the following if you can afford the extra $$ spent:

1. Yes, I’d suggest you increase your total RAM to 1GB. PS CS reportedly peforms better if you reduce the RAM allocation from what might be used with PS7, which in turn means that for the same amount of RAM and a given image size, you may see less optimum performance with PS CS than with PS8. That’s not a fact based upon personal experience but rather just what I glean from the comments of others. Overall, I see many comments of a slow PS CS performance as well as good performance, so I’d err on the side of doing what I can to ensure the best performance possible by putting in more RAM. That said, I’ve also seen comments which I’m not sure if Adobe has confirmed or not, of PS CS not working as well if you go over 1GB of dual-channel RAM. If true, then that probably defines the limit of how much RAM is desirable until Adobe implements a fix.

Now, going back to the amount of RAM installed, it has often been recommended for optimum PS performance that you have 4-5 times the amount of RAM as the largest file size you work with. A 250MB image file readily blows that equation, but if you assume your routine "large files" are on the order of 60M, that yields 300MB RAM. Now, if you allocate half your RAM to PS CS, you’d need 600MB to be covered. But, I’ve even seen as low as a 40% allocation being recommended. So, let’s up that total RAM to 750MB. Now, add in headroom for your O/S and active applications…there ya’ go…1GB or so, if not more.

2. Add a second hard drive for use as your PS scratch disk and supplemental data storage. Moving the scratch disk to a physically separate hard drive will improve PS performance. To what degree, I’m not certain, but the recommendation is a common one.

The video card you mention should be more than adequate for PS use and any other tasks you’re likely to throw at it from what you describe.

I don’t know if the Samsung flat-panel monitor can be accurately calibrated or not. Typically that is not the case with flat panel screens until you move into the high-end market. What is high-end? I’m not even certain myself, but I think the Formac monitor is a good example, with a 20" model running about $1200. The best color-managed workflow still involves the use of a CRT monitor if you want to keep your costs in check. If you really want a flat panel monitor for some specific purpose other than Photoshop, then make sure your video card supports dual monitors and hook up a CRT as a primary monitor for Photoshop, then enjoy the luxury of full-screen editing of your images on the CRT while placing your toolbox, palettes, etc. on the secondary flat-panel monitor.

Hope that helps,

Daryl