Error in CS4 RAM detection?

K
Posted By
KyleDJ
Jan 4, 2009
Views
347
Replies
4
Status
Closed
Hello,

I’m comparing the memory settings of my new installation of CS4 with my old CS2, and note the following discrepancy (under Edit -> Preferences -> Memory/Performance):

Available RAM
CS4 2569 MB
CS2 2698 MB

CS4 is thus missing 129 MB of available RAM.

As I understand it, these values are indicators of available addressable memory space only, and have nothing to do with the RAM actually free or in use by Photoshop at that time. In that case, they should be the same for both CS4 and CS2, but they are not.

Why?

For those of you with both CS4 and any prior version of Photoshop still installed, do you see similar discrepancies?

Thanks.

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M
Mylenium
Jan 5, 2009
No, they must not be the same. What you are not considering is, that CS4 itself is much "fatter" than CS2. E.g. loading additional Camera Raw profiles or settings could already eat more RAM. Likewise, additional modules for OpenGL drawing (which simply didn’t exist in CS2) would need at least a minimum of memory. If you continue this line of thinking, you will quickly realize where those 129 MB went, even more so when you consider that whole blocks of address space may be locked away, even if they are not fully occupied…

Mylenium
BC
Bart_Cross
Jan 5, 2009
‘…missing 129 MB of available RAM’. OMG! How will you ever live without it?
K
KyleDJ
Jan 5, 2009
Mylenium,

Thanks for the info. I also got an answer from Support in similar vein to yours:

"When you start Photoshop it subtracts the amount of RAM your system needs to run its basic functions plus the amount of RAM it takes to safely run Photoshop, including whatever plug-ins you have currently installed – it is that amount that it reads at the launch of the program that will always display in the preferences. You can verify this, if you wish, by moving the Plug-ins folder out of the Program Files folder location for Photoshop and then restarting Photoshop – you will see a slight increase in the amount of available RAM displayed."

The source of my misunderstanding was the KB article here < http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb 404439>. It states the memory needed for the OS is already subtracted from the displayed Available RAM, however it didn’t state that the amount needed for the PS program had also been subtracted. Since the menu is to tune what is available for Photoshop, I took that to mean program+data, but apparently it’s for data only. FWIW, I suggested they clarify the KB article on that point.

Bart Cross,

Thanks for your contribution :\
J
JD
Jan 6, 2009
wrote:
Hello,

I’m comparing the memory settings of my new installation of CS4 with my old CS2, and note the following discrepancy (under Edit -> Preferences -> Memory/Performance):

Available RAM CS4 2569 MB CS2 2698 MB

CS4 is thus missing 129 MB of available RAM.

As I understand it, these values are indicators of available addressable memory space only, and have nothing to do with the RAM actually free or in use by Photoshop at that time. In that case, they should be the same for both CS4 and CS2, but they are not.
Why?

For those of you with both CS4 and any prior version of Photoshop still installed, do you see similar discrepancies?

Thanks.

CS4 has a larger footprint?, for lack of a better word.

I have PS 7 installed on my back up computer that has the same amount of RAM as this computer. Not exactly like your single machine but my two machines are exact duplicates. Same mobo, HD, RAM, Video card, etc..

Available RAM
CS3 1603 MB
PS7 1777 MB

174 MB missing.


JD..

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