Does Photoshop take advantage of dual core procs?

[avi85]

My friend's sister is learning something in graphics and needs a new computer, the main purpose is to run photoshop.

My questions are as follows:
1) Does Photoshop take advantage of the second core, and if so what kind of improvement would she see?

2)Is 2GB enough for heavy graphics work? or should she look at 4GB.

3)am I correct in assuming that a cheap vid card is enough (it's all 2d, right?)

Please remember that she is a student so even a $60 price difference between single core and dual core is important...you get my drift...it's gotta be as cheap as possible.

EDIT: Would 1GB of RAM be enogh or is that just wishful thinking?

 

[Viserys]

I haven't done EXTENSIVE work with Photoshop, but from my experience the only thing that's really intensive is applying huge filters. It's not an incredibly hard to run program, and this is coming from my 1.33 GHz iBook with just over a gig of RAM and a poor onboard GPU.

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: Viserys
I haven't done EXTENSIVE work with Photoshop, but from my experience the only thing that's really intensive is applying huge filters. It's not an incredibly hard to run program, and this is coming from my 1.33 GHz iBook with just over a gig of RAM and a poor onboard GPU.

so even a 3000/3200+ with a gig of ram and a cheap (6200 or so) vid card should be enough?

 

[dakotagts]

Where you will realy see improvement is in doing multiple graphics at the same time, and yes PS will take advantage of dual core, if it is CS2. If you look at the bottom left it looks for what type of processor you have.

Where you will also see a good boost is in Premier Pro Video editing and encoding. I cant wait for my new system for that. 3 hour encode jobs on a dell 4550, lets see what I get on the ne one...

 

[dakotagts]

If I would have read the rest of your post then I would seen the exacts..

I have been doing PS on my dell with this setup

2.53Ghz Pentium 4
1gig ram PC2700
ati x700 agp vid card
160gig HD

So anything better than that will do fine. Maybe you should look at the basic conroe 6300 with a 1 gig of ram and a 7600GT card


Is there a budget in mind?

Here is a quick build

Harddrive
Motherboard
Video Card
CPU
1gig Memory

That all comes out to 563 at Zipzoomfly with free shipping and there are some rebates in there too.

Now you would need a case and PSU and you can get those for around $100 for both

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: dakotagts
If I would have read the rest of your post then I would seen the exacts..

I have been doing PS on my dell with this setup

2.53Ghz Pentium 4
1gig ram PC2700
ati x700 agp vid card
160gig HD

So anything better than that will do fine. Maybe you should look at the basic conroe 6300 with a 1 gig of ram and a 7600GT card

why would I need a 7600GT?

 

[dakotagts]

I edited the post to show you a run down of parts, can you give a budget? and maybe that will eliminate some parts. You may not really need the full 7600GT but it is a fairly low price great card incase you have some video or other more intense graphic program or dvd's

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: dakotagts
I edited the post to show you a run down of parts, can you give a budget? and maybe that will eliminate some parts. You may not really need the full 7600GT but it is a fairly low price great card incase you have some video or other more intense graphic program or dvd's

basically it is for a student on a very very tight budget, so the budget is as small as I can make it (basically no frills/extras)

 

[shamans]

my feeling is....no, photo editing doesn't require dual core and 1 gig should be enough.

Video editing on the other hand...(well...thousand of pictures a minute will take its toll on the computer...even at lower res).

Take a look at the recommended (and minimum) specifications of the photoshop cs2 software - that'll give you a good idea.

And yes, any video card will do. How hard can 2d graphics be Again, look at the specs.

From Adobe website:
Intel® Xeon?, Xeon Dual, Intel Centrino?, or Pentium® III or 4 processor
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, or Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or 2
320MB of RAM (384MB recommended)
650MB of available hard-disk space
1,024x768 monitor resolution with 16-bit video card
CD-ROM drive
Internet or phone connection required for product activation

Sounds to me like any modern (made within the last 2 years) cpu with 1 gig of ram, integrated graphics (that has higher resolutions - not sure since I haven't used integrated in a long time but I think they should have it), and a large monitor will do.

You might want to find her some learning software though if she seems to be really interested. Plenty of them around: Total Training, Lynda, etc. Also a good printer for pictures at a much later date if her interest holds up.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: avi85
why would I need a 7600GT?

You definitely wouldn't. If I were you, I'd go for a maximum of a 7600GS, which can be had for $50 less than a 7600GT, or even this 7300GT.

 

[avi85]

thanks for the help guys, I think I have a general idea of what she'll need.

 

[Vegitto]

Dual core, 2GB+ and onboard video is enough for Photoshop.

 

[River Side]

I think Photoshop does recognize multiple CPU's.. most pro's I hear about have Opteron multiprocessor setups just for the same reason.. that was before dual processors were introduced..

 

[sdemerch]

Photoshop has supported using multiple cores since version 4 (CS2 is version 9). And many of the more powerful filters will bring an A64 3000+ to its knees. Hence, if you are doing photographic work or working with extensive numbers of layers it should help. And since an A64 X-2 3800 is down to $150 it may be worthwhile and cost effective (less than double the cost of an equivalently clocked single core CPU).

 

[PascalT]

I work with photoshop all day, and in the past months I have gone from 1gb of ram to 2gb and then from a 3000+ to a 4200+x2.

If you work with big photoshop files often (500mb+ files), or many at a time, definately 2gb is worth it. 3gb if you use 1gb+ files would be good. 4gb is more for video editing/3d rendering. X2 cpus are worth it if you multitask a lot, and if you're like me it helps a lot, I often have 3 graphics program opened, with winamp/email/firefox/etc all going at once, so it helps me stay more productive and not have to wait for stuff to be completed.

 

[sdemerch]

Originally posted by: PascalT
If you work with big photoshop files often (500mb+ files), or many at a time, definately 2gb is worth it. 3gb if you use 1gb+ files would be good. 4gb is more for video editing/3d rendering. ...

4 GB is for 64-bit systems only unless you only have one or two device drivers installed as you lose most of the 4th GB to device drivers.

As to PS, 2 GB is the minumum for running complex scripts on 8 MP photos unless PS is the only open app.

 

[MetroRider]

Hi Avi85,

Photoshop DEFINITELY takes advantage of a second core. Linked up to the next two links, the benchmarks show that it does make a difference, especially when applying filters and such effects.

PS link 1

PS link 2

 

[hennethannun]

why not consider a Radeon Xpress motherboard. intergrated x1300 video should be sufficient for photoshop and it will save you a bit of money.

basically, you will have to decide where for balancing point of performance and price is. A pentium III with 256MB of RAM CAN run photoshop, but it will have serious problems with high-resolution images.

What sort of PS work will your friend's sister need to do, and how important is it that she can get the work done fast?