Powermac G5 and Photoshop CS

You can never really have too much RAM. The more you have, the more and/or larger images you'll be able to keep in memory (rather than swapping to HD).

I wouldn't consider anything less than 1Gb for serious photoshop work.

However, I'm not sure the 3D acceleration in high end video cards is going to be of any value to you, so you can probably shave some cost there.

I do think a G5 is the ultimate photoshop machine, so that setup should serve you well.

Cheers

Emerson said:

I was looking into getting a new Powermac G5 and was wondering "How much memory is enough?" The only taxing thing I use my computers for is Photoshop CS, so I guess I am really asking how much memory is just right for Photoshop CS. Also for displaying images, does the video card matter (9600 vs. 9800). Thanks in advance for any help.

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In RAM tests with the G5's, 2GB of RAM was found to be the "sweet spot" for performance. Up until 2GB, the G5 doesnt perform at nearly its potential, while above 2GB, there is little if no performance gain.

As far as the video card, it makes no difference. If you want to save $50, the Nvidia FX 5200 will perform no different than the 9600 or 9800 for 2D work.

crazzyeddie said:

In RAM tests with the G5's, 2GB of RAM was found to be the "sweet spot" for performance. Up until 2GB, the G5 doesn't perform at nearly its potential, while above 2GB, there is little if no performance gain.

As far as the video card, it makes no difference. If you want to save $50, the Nvidia FX 5200 will perform no different than the 9600 or 9800 for 2D work.

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What about a program like Poser 5. What you your recommendation be in that case?

crazzyeddie said:

In RAM tests with the G5's, 2GB of RAM was found to be the "sweet spot" for performance. Up until 2GB, the G5 doesnt perform at nearly its potential, while above 2GB, there is little if no performance gain.

As far as the video card, it makes no difference. If you want to save $50, the Nvidia FX 5200 will perform no different than the 9600 or 9800 for 2D work.

Click to expand...

Yeah I'd heard about the 2GB "sweet spot", but I also read that 4GB (in the form of 8 x 512) REALLY boosts performance, even in day-to-day activities. The theory being related to filling all 8 RAM slots, I think, and the way the computer accesses all 8 simultaneously.... of course, the article seemed linked to an ad for Crucial memory (the kind Apple uses), but it makes sense. I'll probably shoot for 3.5 myself, for pro audio work. Because of Apple's "RAM tax", I'll get whatever the minimum is (probably 512) and upgrade the rest of the slots. Does anyone know if there would be a performance difference if not all the modules were the same? i.e. will it make any difference AT ALL having 2x256 with 6x512? (as opposed to 8x512, the extra 512 notwithstanding? I'm talking architecturally...)

Edit: here's that article I mentioned.

btw the forum that follows that article I just posted is pretty funny if you have the time... not quite the level-headedness found here at macrumors, I think 😀