New build to solve memory mangement crash

geofflove · 27 Sep 2017

I'm currently running Win 10 on an Asus P6TD Deluxe with i7 920, 12gb (6 x 2gb) of corsair CMX6GX3M3A 1600 C9 memory and a 250gb SSD for the OS. I have the processor over clocked to about 3.6ghz

I used to primary for photo editing and am finding Adobe Lightroom on the sluggish side but also have problems with constant memory management crashes when exporting photos. These have happened for a long time, even when I was running Win 7. Since then a complete Win 10 rebuild didn't solve it so I'm assuming it's a hardware issue. I've tried various mem tests etc which all report no probs. Wanting to solve both the general speed and crashing issue I'm thinking of giving in and going for a significant upgrade.

I'm looking at a Asus prime Z270A board, with 16gb (2 x 8) of DDR4 3466 memory, and an i7 7700K. I may up the SSD to 500gb at the same time. I intend to keep the same case, power supply (550w) and graphics card (GTX760).

For my main task of editing photos, exporting them from lightroom etc, can anyone comment on how much faster this manchine is likely to be. It's obviously going to be a cost outlay but if I solve the crashing and get a performance boot then it will be worth it. If there's not noticeable performance change then I might be better just gambling on trying some new memory in the current system.

Any thoughts would be really helpful. Cheers

sygnus21 · 27 Sep 2017

As both a system builder and photographer who uses both LR and PS CC, I can say they aren't going suddenly run that much faster with a new build. Unfortunately, both LR and PS have always been criticized for their performance and the latest versions are no exception. Point is you could have the fastest machine in the world and still run into "performance" issues depending on what you're doing in LR/PS.

With that, on my current main rig running an i7-7700K on a Z270X Gigabyte board with 32gig of RAM and a 512gig SSD drive. (See My Computer). I get pretty good performance working with base files at 75mb in RAW format (I have a D800E, a 36.3-megapixel camera). My workflow however has me doing basic edits in LR (exposure, minor tweaks and corrections) and then exporting them into PS where the bulk of the work is done including the use of layers which can push files up to a gig or more. With all of that going on, plus listening to music on my PC, I get decent performance. However, performance is relative so I can't say how mine might compare to others since I not using their machines.

All that said, yeah, a newer machine over what you currently have may improve performance, but it also depends on workflow and files in use. Jpeg files are much easier to run than say RAW or tiff files of several hundred megabytes.

As for performance issues, you might try going through this - Optimize Lightroom performance

Regarding memory issues, have you run any type of memory tests such as MemTest86+ - Test RAM Windows 10 BSOD Tutorials? Or tried the Windows test such as Run Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool in Windows 10 Windows 10 Hardware Drivers Tutorials? If there's an issue one of them should find it. I'd run the Windows test first as it's easier to use and doesn't require a third party program like MemTest.

Let us know.

geofflove · 27 Sep 2017

Thanks - interesting. Have tried the memory test and it showed nothing. However, as the problem has been going on so long I'm convinced it's some issue between the motherboard and the memory. Think I'll make the upgrade anyway and see where it leads.... Cheers

sygnus21 · 27 Sep 2017

Good luck on the upgrade :)