I recently got a stunning PC performance increasing without changing PCU and motherboard.
I use Win7 64bit as OS
While I don't want my enthusiasm to be seen as subjective I ran a PC performance test after every step.
For the performance test I used Performance test 7 from PassMark Software.
The original configuration: MB: Socket 775-MSI platinium / PCU: Intel Core2 Duo E6750 / memory 4Gb RAM 800 / video card: Nvidea 8500 GT
Score on the test:
Modified configuration step 1:
4GB RAM 800 replaced with 8GB RAM 1066:
Score on the test:
Modified configuration step 2:
4GB RAM 800 replaced with 8GB RAM 1066:
Nvidea 8500 GT replaced with Nvidea 460GTX
Score on the test:
Practical findings after this modification:
The difference in video applications and games is huge
The difference in PS and NX2 is hardly noticable
Modified configuration step 3:
4GB RAM 800 replaced with 8GB RAM 1066:
Nvidea 8500 GT replaced with Nvidea 460GTX
C disk replaced with SSD 285 Mb/sec read-275Mb/sec write
Score on the test:
Practical findings:
Windows startup time became much faster. From about 1 minute with the original configuration to approx 15 second with the new configuration
A complete Windows7 64 bit install took about 20 minutes
Installation of software and applications goes incredible fast
Opening from applications which are loaded in your startup open instantaneous, other applications open much faster as well.
You don't hear the SSD working
Capture NX2 and PS work much faster.
TMHO the very significant performance increase of PS and NX2 is a result of the cache memory which is now located on my (very fast)C-drive(same drive as OS and programs) whereas on my former configuration I re-located the PS and NX2 cache towards another physical drive to win some speed. After modification step 1 where I changed and upgraded my RAM there wasn't much significant real world performance increase.
Real world performance increase of my PC "feels" like more than the 76% performance increase the PassMark test indicates...
Yes, the limiting factor on most machines now is IO from the disk - which version of Photoshop are you using though - I'm surprised that the video card and RAM upgrade didn't make a big difference there if you're using a later version...
In Photoshop as well you need to tell is that it can use more RAM, I think by default it will limit itself to using about 3.5Gb.
Good post - I went there some time ago with Vista 64, now Windows 7 64.
Here a few more tricks:
1- Stuff your 64 bit machine with ram. I use 16 GB.
2- Load your startup and programs on a SSD. These are getting cheaper and cheaper!
3- Use a separate SSD drive as a PS CS6 scratch drive.
You will be amazed at the difference. As cameras like the Nikon D800e and D600 (as well as Canon and Sony models) open as larger and larger tiff files, they need more power. A 800e file with just 2 layers (and 16 bit) can be 420 mb!!!!! As PS CS6 recommends 3x the memory to make any changes, you can easily get over 1 gig. I have had some working files over 3 gig.
Working a D800e file on a laptop with only 2 gig to start with can be VERY disconcerting - if not impossible. Now the computer will be using your hard drive as a scratch disk. Talk about SLOW!