Saturday, September 13, 2008

Photoshop maxes out at 4GB of RAM

If you're thinking about buying a new Mac Pro with more than 8GB of RAM, you might want to reconsider, because Photoshop CS3 can only use 4GB of RAM.

Unless you're doing high end video production (with 64-bit apps), then it's essentially useless to buy a Mac with more than 8GB of RAM, because it can't be used.

A 64-Bit version of Photoshop which will be able to use massive amounts of RAM, is still several years away because Apple has stopped development of the 64-Bit codebase which will allow Adobe and other software companies to release 64-bit version of their software.

Sadly, Photoshop CS4 for Windows will be 64-bit, allowing Windows Vista users to feed Photoshop as much RAM as they need.

There's a rumored workaround for Photoshop's RAM limit. If anyone tries this out, please spread the word. It's worth a shot if you work with massive files, such as 4x5 or 8x10 scans, or composites.

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6 comments:

Jackson said...

There are not many OS that can use more than 4gb effectively. Save yourself the trouble and just stick to 2 or 4 gb.

Megan Dunbar said...

I don't understand what is so wrong with having more than 4 gb. I thought the point was to have as much space as you can. does your computer not work right if you're not using all the ram? I don't know much about this stuff so any info would be benificial.

Jackson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jackson said...

Ram makes your computer run faster. It stands for Random Access Memory and your computer stores information for quick grabs, like when your work in PS. The more RAM you have the faster PS will run. The only problem is that as far as I know Windows Vista is the only OS that can run more than 2gb to there full potential. You can put 4gb in a computer but it wont know what to do with all of it and it would be a wast of money.

Camden Hardy said...

Very few, and I mean VERY few, applications out there can address more than 4gb at all. Give the OS makers a few more years and that will change.

Interesting little tidbit, 32-bit Windows will only utilize 3gb.

Megan Dunbar said...

thanks. good to know.