Help configuring Mac Pro for Photoshop CS3

Hi all, this will be my 1st Mac and I'm hoping to get the proper configuration for using the Mac Pro with Photoshop CS3.
Since I'm working with large photos (20" X 24" and even larger) and layers my main concern is speed. The Apple store lists five items in their suggested configuration, any suggestions for what upgrades I need to make will be greatly appreciated!
Start building your Mac Pro with our suggested configuration:
* Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processors
* 1GB memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory
* 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1
* 16x double-layer SuperDrive
thanks!!

Well, with a $US5K budget you should be able get a decent configuration. From the Apple Store I would order…
Mac Pro 2.66GHz 1GB RAM / 250GB HD
ATi Radeon X1900 XT
Apple 23" Cinema Display
Bluetooth & Airport Extreme
… which will cost $US3,726 leaving you plenty for your RAM and drives. I would add AppleCare although you can buy and activate this any time within your standard 1 year warranty period so by buy later you spread your costs.
Now, with RAM I would either buy 4 x 1GB (giving you 5GB and costing approx. $US400) from the manufacturer of your choice else 4 x 2GB (giving you 9GB and costing approx. $US850). The most cost effective is probably the 4 x 1GB as you'll most likely not want more than 8GB RAM in any case.
For your drives you have quite a bit of choice although you need to decide if you want to go RAID and what you're going to do with your backup and/or clone. Photoshop users require fast, small file, disk access which the Maxtor MaxLine Pro excels at and at $US99 each they're quite the bargain. Even though Seagate has chosen to discontinue this drive they're still the best boot/Photoshop drives in the 500GB size.
However, looking larger (750GB or more) such as the Hitachi Deskstar/UltraStar, Western Digital SE16/RE2 or Seagate Barracuda 7200.11/ES.2 You'll find better performance overall simply through their larger sizes. Not to mention you'll be buying current model drives. Be aware that you should buy drives specifically for RAID use if you wish to go that way. It's not a good idea to use desktop class drives in RAID sets hence the two model choices for each manufacturer.

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Hi,
I currently have a 2008 Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon that I am thinking of upgrading.
My questions are as follows.
Which set up would be best for photography based work, mainly Photoshops CS6 and Lightroom 4
I use a Drobo as my main working raid style hard drive.
I'm happy to spend money on a quality system but want to know it will be optimum for what I am using and dont want to just go for the 'top of the range' if it is pointless for the type of work I am doing (I never use video software at all)
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YOU can see what Intel says (said?) at the Intel Conference this fall where they lay out for their vendors and everyonne what they plan and have in the oven for the next year.
Intel fell behind last year's plans with the complexity and issues they ran into, plus changes in the landscape. So did Nvidia with their new line. Hence everyone's plans went bonkers. And any IvyBridge Xeon? doesn't look like anything until this time next year, end of 2013. 2014 does have the next tic-toc and improved chips and memory architecture. DDR4 may get out of the labs.
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See this guy's articles and advice, a heavy graphics perspective:
www.macperformanceguide.com
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IMac vs mac pro for photoshop cs 6

I am considering upgrading my computer because I am working with very large photoshop files (panoramas). Would you suggest a new iMac or the new mac pro tower? I have an NEC calibrated screen already, and an older intel-based macbook pro (13").

Well,
I use a late 2009, 27 inch screen iMac and consistently work with files that are 1-2 GBs in size.
My iMac is only a 3.06 Ghz i3 Core2Duo with 16 GBs of RAM and my files save quicker than an hour.
My Mac can save these size files anywhere between 8-15 Minutes!
Are these PSD files the working layered files or finished Flattned versions?
My working, layered PSD files are large format images that are 1-2 GBs in size and about 300-500 MBs flattened.
Tthe working file launches for me in about 3-5 minutes.
Maybe there is a problem with your MBP's hard drive? Is it too full? Do you use external drives as a scratch drive?
Do you store your finished projects onto an external drive?
iMacs have the faster 7200 RPM drives versus MBP's 5400 RPM notebook drives.
This can have an affect on write/saving speed and times.
Photoshop really needs, at least, a decent speed CPU, lots of RAM and extra, external hard drives for working scratch disc space.

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Right now I'm looking at the quad 2.66GHz MacPro. I'm uncertain about how much RAM to add, as I work with large Photoshop files (up to 1GB in size), and will typically have Photoshop CS3 and other CS3 apps running along side of Lightroom, etc. at the same time. How much memory will Photoshop CS3 be able to really utilize, and how much additional memory would the other applications need on top of that? I'm guessing 4-6 GB of RAM total, but would there be any advantage to having more RAM? I'm also unsure about which video card would be sufficient, e.g whether the Radeon X1900 XT is worth it versus the stock GeForce 7300 GT if I don't plan to use Aperture or two 30" monitors? I don't know how the new Adobe apps will respond to more GPU horsepower if at all.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
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How much memory will Photoshop CS3 be able to really utilize, and how much additional memory would the other applications need on top of that?
Presuming Photoshop CS3 utilizes system memory for caching in the same way that CS2 does then the answer is all of it. It's actually quite clever. For instance, if you have 6GB system memory and 3GB allocated specifically to PS, if PS needs more than that 3GB then it'll ask the Mac OS X memory manager to handle the caching. Mac OS X being as clever as it is will do as best it can and if it's available as RAM it'll provide that.
I'm guessing 4-6 GB of RAM total, but would there be any advantage to having more RAM?
That'll depend on how many applications and processes you like to be running at once. For Photoshop it's fine. I would probably suggest starting with 5GB (4 x 1GB + factory 2 x 512MB) and see how you go.
I'm also unsure about which video card would be sufficient, e.g whether the Radeon X1900 XT is worth it versus the stock GeForce 7300 GT if I don't plan to use Aperture or two 30" monitors?
Currently the Adobe CS3 design (as opposed to the video) applications don't make specific use of the GPU. That does not mean it'll stay like that, especially given Adobe has public said they are looking into doing so (whether it pans out is another matter). You might want to consider it as a "future proofing" although I don't believe it's necessary as of today and CS3.

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Message was edited by: JoshD

What is best Mac Pro for photoshop for the money?

I need to purchase a mac pro to use for digital retouching and photography. Which machine will i get the best performance for my money, I am on a budget.

The best would be 6-core 3.33GHz 24GB RAM and would hold up best over time.
http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?messageID=12296219&stqc=true
MHz matter, and so too does RAM.
This article, and then browse how to choose Mac Pro, benchmarks etc on site:
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2010/20100905_HallofFameShame--macpro.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-MacProWestmere-CoresExplained.html
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After much research and what seems to be chasing my tail, I though I'd ask the forum for some advice on which machine will best suit my needs. I am currently running Aperture and Photoshop CS3 and looking for a fast machine for the job. I sort through around 2500-3000 raw files per week and hope the new Intel Xeons will speed up my workflow. It's the question of "How many cores are better?" that's confusing me as I am unclear on how many Aperture and Photoshop can actually make use of.
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According to the Adobe blog the delay in offering a 64-bit suite for Mac is because the entire suite has to be rewritten in Cocoa (both previous and current offerings are written in Carbon) CS5 will be written in Cocoa and will utilise the full functionality of the Snow Leopard OS (OpenGL, GCD etc) so memory addressing will be a huge step forward on Photoshop (which I use).
I used Photoshop CS4 on a 2008 Mac Pro 2 x 2.8GHz 8 core (dual Xeon 5400 series Quad core CPUs) and just recently switched to a 2009 Mac Pro 2 x 2.26GHz 8 core (Xeon 5500 series Quad core CPUs). I used CS3 on the original Mac Pro 2 x 2.66Ghz (Dual Xeon Dual Core CPUs = 4 cores total). It's not a fair reflection as CS3 ran under Rosetta on the original Mac Pro and CS4 has better integration on the Intel based Macs, but in general, I noticed a much better rate of workflow on the 8 core machines over the 4 core machine.
More importantly, I would point out that running batch process of RAW files in CaptureOne Pro was significantly performing the batch process on the 8 core machines than on the 4 core machine. (250 RAW files {with no corrections] from a Canon EOS 1D MKII into 16-bitt TIFF files). I can't remember the exact figures but the 8 core machines were @ 23 - 25 minutes quicker than the 4 core machine.
I know it's not scientific and software versions were different which could add to the different results in part, but the 8 core machines both out performed the 4 core machine substantially.
However, the 2009 Mac Pro Quad Core is capable of running 2 threads per core (in effect a virtual 8 core machine and as many reviewers have pointed out, perform faster than the 8 core Mac Pro in certain applications (which have not been written to utilise the full multi-CPU-multi-core environment.
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Total for Quad Mac Pro with 12GB (3 x 4GB RAM) = £2670
Total for Octo Core Mac Pro with 12GB (6 x 2GB RAM) =£2731 (New price not refurb)
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The other option is to check out eBay there may be a very well spec'd 2008 Mac Pro for sale with warranty, 16GB RAM and the 8800GT graphics card for less than either of the new systems.
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kjersti fjøsne wrote:
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