4GB of ram enough?

[KoukiFC3S]

How is your Pro running with 4GB of ram? I want it to be my desktop replacement and use Lightroom on it.

 

[cme4oil]

I haven't had any issues with 4GB, I even run VMware with a linux guest using 768MB and it runs just fine.

 

[stephen_az]

Lightroom 4.x had only mediocre performance on my 4GB laptop with a better I5 processor. It was even worse trying to then open a nef file in Photoshop from Lightroom. The processor load and disk thrashing were pretty ridiculous. When I pushed the RAM up to 8GB the difference was like night and day. I personally wouldn't recommend running Lightroom on anything less than on 8GB machine, particularly if you work with raw files or want to use in conjunction with PS CS6 . If you try it on a Surface Pro and are managing large NIkon, Canon, etc. raw files, I'd suggest keeping it plugged it. Otherwise, that resource hogging would probably kill the already lousy battery life.

 

[cme4oil]

I wonder... Since this is SSD and if you have a big enough paging file, it may work OK but I don't use Lightroom or mess around with big RAW files...

 

[vertigoOne]

The SSD makes the need for large amounts of RAM much less necessary. Paging to a traditional (7400rpm or less) HDD kills the performance of all Adobe and Autodesk products in my experience. If you are working with large RAW files then a USB 3.0 flash drive might also be something to consider.

 

[coolqf]

It'll feel like a compromise. I have a laptop with a 256ssd and 4gigs of ram and an i7... At the end of the day memory intense apps need memory not ssd storage.... It just doesn't compare.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[KoukiFC3S]

Typing this from my Surface Pro. Let's hope 4GB is enough.

 

[anon(5370748)]

I use Lightroom 4.3 on my Surface Pro (and also on my 17" MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM). It's surprisingly fast and crunches through my Lumix GH2 RAW files quickly. Faster, in fact, than I remember Lightroom 3.x running on my Mac. It's a perfectly serviceable companion computer for Lr to keep in your bag. I was very hesitant about the 4GB going into it, but Win 8 seems very efficient compared to 7, so it doesn't seem like it's a problem yet. I'm still going to continue using the MBP for my main 12,000+ photo catalog, so I can't speak to how the Pro runs with a dumpload of images, but it's totally fine when I offload 40 or 50 at a time. It actually even runs Photoshop CS6 faster than I would have thought. I was able to quickly open a 5000x3000 25-layer 300MB file and very quickly and smoothly pan around on it, and draw over the top (no pressure sensitivity, though, but that's a driver issue that I think Adobe is working with MS on). Rather than RAM, the main concern would be battery life if you're going to use it in the field a lot.

*edit* I just saw that you intend to use it as a desktop replacement. I'd suggest a USB3.0 RAID or external SSD to keep your main catalog on. 128 goes fast when you're dealing with RAW files.