Thread: Please help me Im at my wits end!!

A scratch disk is a small HDD (preferably SSD) that is dedicated to PS (you set this in PS) for use in processing pictures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_space

Originally Posted by dullbird

I have heard the term scratch disc what do you guys mean by this. There is a SSD in this machine but that is to run the operating system etc to make it snappy the 3TB is for file storage only

Lou, have a read here

Build a powerful PC for Photoshop and other imaging applications

The mob they recommend to build it is in Auburn. I went down this route, totally happy so far.

For photography you really need a high end monitor, plus something like a Spyder 4 to calibrate it periodically. Make sure your sitting down when you look at the price though.

Regards
Max P

Max I have spyder 4 elite calibrator and I have a Dell ultrasharp monitor that are not far behind Ezio in performance a lot of professional photographers are using them.

I cant afford more than 2 and in fact I cant afford 2 really but I'm pushed in to a corner a bit.

So I'm happy with what they have quoted me.

As for the scartch disc as i will only be using the computer for LR and PS is that not effectively what I'm doing having operating system and those two programs on the SSD?

Originally Posted by dullbird

As for the scartch disc as i will only be using the computer for LR and PS is that not effectively what I'm doing having operating system and those two programs on the SSD?

No. PS will be installed on your main SSD along with W10. The scratch disk can be a portioned part of the SSD (which does work) but the idea of it being a separate SSD is speed. The scratch SSD can being doing one thing while the main SSD is busy elsewhere.

Where I notice the difference the most is processing panoramas. No degradation in PC speed while PS is busy stitching a dozen 60MB RAW or TIF files on the scratch disk.

The scratch SSD only needs to be small, 64GB is way more than you'll use.

I can talk to them about it. I personally dont need 3TB of space i was actually considering asking for two 1TB drives so I could make two copies but then i thought its probably more expensive to do that and I could just buy a second external drive.

I already have a western digital cloud. Which i copied the 50gig worth of photos and catalogs too the other day before switching the computer off for good.

I don't actually us PS currently i only edit with LR it pretty much does everything I want. However with the new comp I'm considering the adobe photographer package.

So if I had a scratch disc put in would i only use it for PS or would I use it for LR too? As most people rarely use both programs at the same time.

Is the scratch only used to run the program? Are your catalogs and output files all kept on normal hardrive?

Otherwise i would imagine 64g would be taken up in no time with saving catalogs.

Dullbird,

Re the 3TB drive, I run two 2TB. One as a data drive and one as a local backup.

I don't use LR but I assume it would have the option for a scratch disk too, being an Adobe product.

The scratch disk is just a working drive the PS uses and which it regularly clears. The program does not run on it nor are catalogues stored on it.

Can't comment on the catalogues other than to say I would not think they'd get too big. I have a 150mb PSE7 catalogue for ~2000 family pics. Not sure if LR is different.

You can always add a scratch disk later. Takes 10 minutes.

In Lightroom catalogue settings, you can set where to keep the catalogue e.g. on another drive you've partitioned off as the scratch disk. PS, On1, Capture One all have something similar, to set the location of the scratch disk.

so let LR or PS install itself to Program files, set the scratch disk & output locations manually.

Regards
Max P

Originally Posted by dullbird

Im not willing to salvage this computer its cursed.

Starting from scratch to save my sanity is whats needed.

I have just got a quote from a local computer repair shop that build a tirade of comps from home office to serious gamers.

Its $200 cheaper than the dell and these are the specs

Custom-built Intel Performance PC
? Intel Core i7 3.4Ghz Skylake Processor
? ASUS Motherboard
? 16GB Kingston DDR4 RAM
? 250GB Samsung 850 SATA III Solid State Drive
? 3TB Western Digital SATA III Hard Drive
? DVD-RW Drive
? Integrated HD Audio
? Integrated Intel HD Video
? Gigabit On-board LAN
? Corsair 650w Power Supply Unit
? nVidia Geforce GTX 950 2GB Graphics Card
o Dual-Link DVI, HDMI, and 3x Display Port
? Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64bit
? Corsair ATX Tower
? Front mounted card reader
? In-Store Setup ? Testing of hardware, installation and configuration of
Windows, drivers and relevant software.

This is what he came up with when i told him what i was doing with it.

He said that they source parts that have good warranty.

This machine including labor will be about 2g

Looks bloody good to me . Good price too. I'd be happy with that