new system with 32gb Ram.....CS5.5 using alot of scratch disk

hi all,

 

been away these forums while.

 

ok. have built new rig (asus p9x79 pro, 32gb 1600mhz ddr3, intel 3820, old gtx285 1gb, win7 pro.....many hard drives ) working on big project producing 440x240cm200ppi digital drawings installed lightbox artworks @ same size.

 

my old system not cope demands putting on had 12gb ram. have 2 scratch disks set x1 30gb ssd (dedicated) , x1 240gb ssd ( has other stuff on 75gb free ). using photoshop cs5 extended (updated) ram usage set 80% (23976).

 

while realise ps still make use of scratch disk despite amount of ram shocked see first drive (30gb) full 5gb space left when loaded psb file x9 layers. looking @ meta data in bridge tells me file size 6.90gb pixel dimensions of 34646x18898@200ppi. windows reports using 20gb of 32gb......

 

shouldn't ps using more ram before going slower reads on a  ssd? windows task manager tells me have 8150 ram cached, 12310 ram available , 4215 ram free.  if photoshop not using 12gb wise make 9gb ramdisk addition boost...not sure if work, but, hate feeling of having ram , 1/3 not being used.

you referred answer puzzlement when typed "i realise ps still make use of scratch disk despite amount of ram" [emphasis added].

 

photoshop creates scratch disk instant open image file or create new one.  sets initial size based on size, number of layers, history states, etc., regardless of installed ram.  starts using scratch disks go, moving stuff off of scratch disk ram , viceversa photoshop sees fit.

 

when setting scratch disk, figure on @ least 100 times (or more) size of largest file, multiplied number of files keep open @ given time.

 

the total amount of scratch disk space on 2 drives (30 gb + 75 gb) not that large, per above calculation.

 

just reference, dedicated primary scratch disk 300 gb physically separate internal hard drive, , have other drives set secondary, etc., hard drives.  other users have lot more scratch disk space do.  have no more 2 files open in photoshop @ once, 3 or four.

 

also keep in mind percentage of memory allocate photoshop not percentage of total installed ram of available memory @ given time after os , other applications have running have grabbed ram need.  therefore calculation made not accurate.

 

as creating ram disk, supposed there's no harm in trying, real question whether seeing real performance problems now, rather calculating ram figures may or may not relevant in actual use.

 

conceivably, larger ssd primary scratch disk.

More discussions in Photoshop General Discussion

adobe