2009 MBP 13" Memory Issues?

[dschna]

Hi,

I've just returned from my third trip to the Genius Bar, and was turned away again and told to talk to Adobe about the problem as it is out of Apples control.

The computer is a lot slower than it used to be (opening files, browsing files, etc) and hangs and crashes programs constantly. Photoshop CS5 especially (Illustrator and InDesign seem a bit better) seems to have an absurdly large RAM footprint, escalating to beyond 1.5Gb for a 0.5mb file, sitting idle. Then when working with larger files for work (anywhere from 10Mb to 500Mb) the system will grind to a halt. The program will often be unusable, as well as the rest of the system. I cannot have anything else open while using Photoshop. The amount of "free RAM' available is often less than 300Mb, for standard system use (Safari and iTunes) and as little as 5Mb with Photoshop open.

I have noticed that standard programs like Preview will often claim to be using in excess of 1.5Gb if RAM, and sometimes even more before crashing.

I have tested a variety of machines, all with the same build of Photoshop and the same .psd files, and all seem to work fine. The two files attached demonstrate this.

I've lost faith in my computer for my work and end up relying on a friends Dell, which he finds hilarious. I'm pretty sure that there must be something wrong with my system (it used to easily handle my work), but what do I know. Any help?

I'm running a 2009 MBP 13" 4Gb, 2.26Ghz. HDD recently replaced as an Apple Care repair.

 

[SegaMark]

To be honest I'd throw more RAM in, Photoshop loves to eat RAM - the slowdown you'll be getting will be the MacBook having to use Virtual Memory which is extremely slow as it's on your hard disk.

My 24" iMac often grinds to a halt when it's swapping out memory, that's why I'm throwing more RAM in - which doesn't cost a lot these days.

Also, you say there isn't much free RAM - but you must also consider the Inactive memory which is technically available memory, as it'll be used when required. Basically when you close an Application the RAM it was using will be marked as inactive as opposed to being freed up, so the program can launch again quickly from the RAM rather than the slower HDD.

I can't really imagine there being a hardware issue.

 

[dschna]

I suppose. I repaired the disk permissions and Photoshop seems to be acting a bit better, along with the system RAM. The rest of the system still seems slow and programs crash often - I had finder crash every 3-4 minutes last night, but a restart sorted that. This is still odd as it seems to be a fairly recent performance crash.

Yes, more RAM, when I have the cash.

Thanks.