scratch disc for macbook pro

[adamk]

I have a mac book pro connected with an NEC monitor that I edit off of. I'd like to set up a scratch disc for photoshop to hopefully run a little bit faster. Is it better to set up an external hard drive off of a USB/FW or to partition my hard drive.
The RAM is maxed out on the laptop, so cant gain any performance that way

Thanks

[creativeretouch]

Which version of Photoshop do you use? There is an optional plugin "disable scratch disk compression" (or similar name) which will speed up your work.

http://macperformanceguide.com/Optim...hop-Intro.html

http://macperformanceguide.com/Optim...CS5-Intro.html

[TEastman]

You can modify your scratch disk settings in Preferences. By default, PS already sets up a scratch disk for you, so I don't see any benefit to partitioning. The better way to improve your performance is by looking at transfer rates. A very fast SSD (solid state drive) would be the best way to go.

[adamk]

I am on CS5.

[creativeretouch]

so you can read this webpage and follow these instructions ...

http://macperformanceguide.com/Optim...CS5-Intro.html

[adamk]

thanks. do you think i'd see a better gain in performance if I bumped up the RAM to 8gb or got a SSD drive?

[TEastman]

RAM is more related to image size and the number of layers involved. So the larger and more complex the work you do, the more RAM you would want. If you need to run concurrent apps, RAM will definitely help. I thought you were already maxed on RAM? It's cheap, and if your system can accept it, RAM is always a good investment.

A SSD addresses file transfer rates - opening and saving files, using filters, smart objects, and of course, the scratch disk mentioned earlier. SSD's are becoming more affordable, and the capacities are increasing.

Which one would give you the best performance gain depends on how you work and what kind of work you do. In an ideal world, you would want the fastest, largest capacity and most reliable hard drive(s) available, plus the fastest and highest amount of RAM your system can accommodate.

[creativeretouch]

http://macperformanceguide.com/Storage-Intro.html

http://macperformanceguide.com/SSD-RealWorld.html

http://macperformanceguide.com/Stora...-Firewire.html

http://macperformanceguide.com/Optim...MaxMemory.html

[adamk]

I thought I was maxed out on RAM until i read the following links and saw you can add more into the MBPros.

thanks for the input. Do you think a SSD would help capture one speed when shooting tethered?

Originally Posted by TEastman

RAM is more related to image size and the number of layers involved. So the larger and more complex the work you do, the more RAM you would want. If you need to run concurrent apps, RAM will definitely help. I thought you were already maxed on RAM? It's cheap, and if your system can accept it, RAM is always a good investment.

A SSD addresses file transfer rates - opening and saving files, using filters, smart objects, and of course, the scratch disk mentioned earlier. SSD's are becoming more affordable, and the capacities are increasing.

Which one would give you the best performance gain depends on how you work and what kind of work you do. In an ideal world, you would want the fastest, largest capacity and most reliable hard drive(s) available, plus the fastest and highest amount of RAM your system can accommodate.

[creativeretouch]

The question is how are you going to connect SSD to your Mac? The best solution is eSATA or Firewire 800.

And how fast is your camera connection???

[adamk]

Ah, i was just thinking about putting in one of these: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/inter...olid_State_Pro

and just off a mkII tethered, so USB

[creativeretouch]

I would go for ExpressCard/34 slot

http://macperformanceguide.com/Storage-Interface.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Recom...Pro-eSATA.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Revie...BPCore_i7.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Recom...cPro-SATA.html

[Kraellin]

ram is the fastest, then internal harddrives, then firewire, then usb ii. and the new kid on the block, ssd's are great, comparable to ram, but expensive yet, with 60 gigs going for around $150, i think. and, if your motherboard is new enough, you might even have one of the new, new kids on the block, usb 3, though i doubt it.

SuperSpeed USB brings significant performance enhancements to the ubiquitous USB standard, while remaining compatible with the billions of USB enabled devices currently deployed in the market. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 will deliver 10x the data transfer rate of Hi-Speed USB, as well as improved power efficiency.

-SuperSpeed USB 3.0 has a 5 Gbps signaling rate offering 10x performance increase over Hi-Speed USB 2.0
-SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is a Sync-N-Go technology that minimizes wait-time.
-SuperSpeed USB 3.0 will provide Optimized Power Efficiency.
-SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1

( http://www.flash-memory-store.com/ra...FVB95QodL0JG1w )

notice on that page that they have usb 3 flash drives, which shld be configurable as work drives.

and here's where i start to lose it, but i think there's an adapter that ties in either with sata ii somehow or with with pci-e, but i'm still fuzzy on those, so do your research.

and, if you want a really low cost solution to speeding up your machine, try this site: http://www.blackviper.com . that site will show you how to trim windows fat off the pig and make your rig run faster by simply eliminating unnecessary processes that windows thinks it has to run but doesnt really.

there are other software solutions, too. defragging can help, especially if you've had your rig for a while. cleaning the registry can also help.

and, in some cases, you might be able to upgrade your cpu to a faster one, or just overclocking your current one, but be careful of that latter and read up on it before trying. and, i generally dont recommend overclocking on a laptop. it tends to heat faster than the small fans can get rid of.

so, there's lots of options there. homework shld help you find which is best for your rig.

[creativeretouch]

The trouble is that older versions of Photoshop are not able to use more than 3 GB of RAM. So if you will instal 12 GB RAM on your machine the rest will be unused. The best solution here is to have 4GB RAM - 3 GB for Photoshop and 1 GB for your system.