CS2 Quits constantly, new machine, same old problem

Question

Hello.
my g5 quad was replaced by apple with a 3.0GHz MacPro and while running certain apps hard, like CS2, Adobe Camera Raw, or Adobe Bridge, they will quit unexpectedly just as they did on the defunct g5 we had.
I have tried everything, just as i did with my Quad, to repair the situation. reseating the RAM, resetting the PRAM, deleting the cache, running DU to repair permissions/repair the disk, running AHT in loop, AND starting with a fresh OS install. none of my files aside from my music and my photos are from the g5 i had. this is not an importing anomaly.
i went to the apple store and they told me that this may be because it is running in Rosetta. i also asked them why my 2 year old PC with an single core AMD Athlon64 3500 and 4 GB of PC3200 can run CS2 so much faster than the MacPro (ridiculous to watch but the PC is actually 2 times faster than the apple if set to the same task at the same time), and they said this may also be due to Rosetta and/or leopard not yet being here. i have been assured that Leopard and CS3 will fix all this. i don't know what to do. i don't want to bring the machine back again. i feel so badly because those guys have tried so hard to help us because they know it is (was) our business machine and that we bought it to speed up our work flow. unfortunately, i don't think the machine is capable of that kind of thing, and i don't trust it to do much anymore. Apple has been very kind to us, and so have their people, but the machines we have used have not been quite so kind or helpful once our troubles began.
i'm not into fighting the holiday crowds for parking and lugging a 40 pound machine around... and frankly, i would be pretty upset if i were on the apple team and saw me back at the store with the brand new machine after all the hard work they put in to help us.
i've stopped using the apple machine as i am afraid to push it hard for my business or multi-task. as a photographer, i am certain that i am not pushing it as hard as a videographer would be. but, i can't run more than CS2 and maybe a web browser (firefox 2.0 is very slow and unresponsive on this machine) without it slowing down... or crashing a program altogether and losing all my work. CS2 is what i use...
so, i've resumed work on my windows machine, and basically use the apple as a storage device/paper weight. that was a $5000+ mistake our business has made, and it's tough to recover from that in my business with one PC based machine that works and an awfully expensive apple paperweight.
NED SNOWING wrote back to me and had this to say:
"hey said this may also be due to Rosetta and/or leopard not yet being here. i have been assured that Leopard and CS3 will fix all this.
This is correct. As all PowerPC applications, like Adobe CS2, have to run through a software "translation" layer everything is slowed down for that application. This is why CS2 apllications run no better than the G5s on the Mac Pro. However, once the like of Adobe etc release their applications as Universal or Intel binary applications you'll see the performance skyrocket forward.
Due to Apple's accelerated transition the like of Adobe have in actual fact been caught a little short in their developement timings. Be aware that the use of Rosetta for applications is only temporary.
By the way, there's no reason that you could run Windows under Boot Camp on the Mac Pro in the meantime.
Mac Pro 2.66GHz 3GB/5x300GB (see bio)/ATi X1900 XT/AE/BT ; Dell 2405FPW Mac OS X (10.4.8) MacBook Pro 15.4" C2D 2.16GHz 2GB/120GB/Glossy ; Mac mini CD 1.66GHz 2GB/80GB/SD"
My question stands at this:
still, i do not understand why the machine is so dramatically slower than my 2 year old PC with a single core AMD64 XP3500 and 4 GB of PC3200 AND 2 near full 80GB IDE hard drives.
the Quad was ridiculously fast. it was so fast that i thought there was something worng with it. i never wanted to use my windows machine again and then it failed and failed and deleted our data and failed again...
if i am understanding you correctly, you're saying that this machine SHOULD run CS2 at a rate on par at least with the Quad... well, i invite you to show me what i am doing wrong, PLEASE. The failure of the Quad crippled our business, and now this machine has put us at a $5000+ deficit without anything to show for it. It takes me more time to use the Mac than my PC… IN CS2… and your statement is that the MacPro should run at speeds equal to or at least comparable to the g5. Mine doesn’t. and I am not at all happy about having to bring a brand new machine they replaced along with my PC to the store to demonstrate how slow their stuff is when the Quad blew this heap away AND could multitask. The Apple guys at the store have been great, and this just plain stinks to have to bring back a machine that's supposed to be working and isn't, AFTER being replaced. it's pretty damned embarrassing.
no errors in AHT, Mem test is fine. 2 500GB hard drives, primary drive has 400GB free when i am not working on a project. 250GB when i am. all my stuff is backed up on Terabyte Servers. the replacement machine they gave us had 2GB of RAM (4-512 sticks) and the Apple Store installed 2 1GB sticks as the machine we turned in was equipped as such.
please, please, please help me.

Answer 1

while running certain apps hard, like CS2, Adobe Camera Raw, or Adobe Bridge, they will quit unexpectedly just as they did on the defunct g5 we had.
The I would say that you're installing some software that is problematic else you used the Migration Assistant to get your data from one to the other. Either way, I would clean install the system and install a minimum of software to ensure that the system is stable before adding to it. I find it hugely unlikely that two completely different systems to exhibit the exact same issue.
Additionally, if you have installed Adobe Version Cue 2 then that might well be your problem.
still, i do not understand why the machine is so dramatically slower than my 2 year old PC with a single core AMD64 XP3500 and 4 GB of PC3200 AND 2 near full 80GB IDE hard drives.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone with whom you did not have a common language and had to use a translator? This is the situation that Apple has with Rosetta (where Rosetta is the translator). If you take into account these mechanics you can't expect this scenario to have a conversation as quick as two people talking in a common language, even if one of the parties isn't very good at that language.
if i am understanding you correctly, you're saying that this machine SHOULD run CS2 at a rate on par at least with the Quad
No… I'm not saying that. What I said was that the Mac Pro should perform equivalently to a low end G5. I would expect a 3GHz MP to be roughly equivalent to a 2.3GHz DC PowerMac G5 in the best case. To expect more than that with Rosetta in the picture would be rather delusional.
I am not at all happy about having to bring a brand new machine they replaced along with my PC to the store to demonstrate how slow their stuff is when the Quad blew this heap away AND could multitask.
I wouldn't be best pleased about that either although I don't really know what you're expecting any of us to say. As I said earlier my best advise would be to erase the boot/application drive and then install everything new and from the original CDs/DVDs. If under the simplest setup possible you still experience crashing then I would contact Adobe or which ever software developer for the problematic application(s).
Otherwise, just return the thing, eat the restocking fee and wait until Adobe CS3 is released.