Desperate Please for assistance with Poor Photoshop Performance on High spec Machine

[rcooper102]

Hey there, I have been having issues with Photoshop ever since I bought my new rig a few months ago. In a simple sense, I bought a high spec machine expecting to be able to work in many layers and high resolution without even the slightest sluggishness. Instead I have struggled with extremely poor performance consistently.

Examples of poor performance:
- At 24mp, after 5-10 adjustment layers there is noticable screen tearing and delay when I do anything.
- Even in an EMPTY document holding alt to sample color or when using clone stamp has a 0.5 to 3.5 second delay. (This drives me INSANE when trying to retouch skin)
- Painting in a mask for a high resolution file has brush delay. (24mp)
- Using liquify
- Generating previews in lightroom.
- Changing modules in lightroom.

This makes no sense to me. 8 years ago I used to regularly composite 36mp files on a mid spec iMac and while it did slow down as the file got huge, I never experienced any of these issues back then working on much larger files using a much older computer loading images from an HDD.

My specs are:
Windows 10 Home (latest version)
Intel Core i7-9700k @ 3.6ghz
32 gb of 2666mhz Corsair Vengeance Ram (16x2)
Nvidia GeForce 2070 RTX (I have recently updated the drivers with a clean install)
The OS, Photoshop, and the images are all on M.2 PCIE SSD drives. (Western Digital Black)
Twin 4k Acer Screens. (I have tried reducing resolution to a single screen at 1080p, no change)

Troubleshooting I have done so far:
- Complete fresh installation of windows (multiple times, fresh from microsoft.com)
- Re-installation of Photoshop
- Ram replacement
- Hard drive replacement
- BIOS update.
- I spent 3 hours on a screen share with Adobe support and they couldn't help at all.
- Tinkered with the Photoshop performance settings ad nauseum.
- Disabling Windows Ink and/or not using my tablet. (currently I am on a fresh installation where the tablet has never even been plugged into the computer)

I'd also add that I suspect that it is not something to do with Photoshop specifically as I am experiencing similar issues with other photo editing applications. (Affinity Photo, Capture One, etc). I, however, have no issues at all with any other types of app or games. For, example, I can run Fallen Order or Shadow of the Tomb Raider at max graphic settings at 60-100fps.

I was hoping that someone who is far more adept with Windows than I or someone who has encountered the same thing might have an idea. This is completely ruining my love of photography because post processing has become such an infuriating experience.

Thanks so much, I appreciate any assistance! (Apologies if I posted this in the wrong place)

 

[thebestcpu]

Hi [B]rcooper102[/B]
You probably are in the wrong web site for general computer help since this is Photoshop focused.
Here are some suggestions off the top of my head.
Use "Task Manager" to find out where all the time is being spent by the CPU and to determine if there is a memory issue going on. This can give significant clues as to the type of problem you have.
Start up your computer with only 1 monitor, no bluetooth devices (e.g. keyboard and mouse hardwired, and no peripherals plugged in to the computer (e.g. no Wacom with stylus nor extra external drives etc etc
Then start up in Safe Mode and see if you still have the problem (I suggest starting in Safe Mode without any networking).

If you still have a problem go back in to Task Manager and see where the time is being spent.

If the problem went away in safe mode, you can add peripherals one by one as well as any extra side program that was running in the background (though not in Safe Mode) to help track down the culprit.
Hope these suggestions are helpful

If it still has problems at this point it may require taking it in to an expert to give it a look over.

 

[rcooper102]

Hi [B]rcooper102[/B]
You probably are in the wrong web site for general computer help since this is Photoshop focused.
Here are some suggestions off the top of my head.
Use "Task Manager" to find out where all the time is being spent by the CPU and to determine if there is a memory issue going on. This can give significant clues as to the type of problem you have.
Start up your computer with only 1 monitor, no bluetooth devices (e.g. keyboard and mouse hardwired, and no peripherals plugged in to the computer (e.g. no Wacom with stylus nor extra external drives etc etc
Then start up in Safe Mode and see if you still have the problem (I suggest starting in Safe Mode without any networking).

If you still have a problem go back in to Task Manager and see where the time is being spent.

If the problem went away in safe mode, you can add peripherals one by one as well as any extra side program that was running in the background (though not in Safe Mode) to help track down the culprit.
Hope these suggestions are helpful

If it still has problems at this point it may require taking it in to an expert to give it a look over.

Thanks for your thoughts, though I am just desperately grasping at straws and was hoping another PS user might have encountered the same.

I have had professionals try to fix it and they haven't been able to. (Computer techs say it is a problem with Adobe because everything looks fine, Adobe had no clue what is wrong)

Also I should have mentioned above, but CPU, GPU, and RAM usage never goes high. I can have nothing open at all other than PS with an empty document that is tiny, CPUand RAM both under 1% usage but I still have that 0.5-3.5s lag.

As you can imagine, I am sort of desperate, I spent almost $4,000 on this set up expecting it to be blazing fast and after 3 months of troubleshooting, I still have the slowest Photoshop experience that I have encountered in 15 years but I cannot imagine that I am the only one who has encountered this, there must be other PS users who have seen it and hopefully overcome it.

 

[thebestcpu]

So have you tried or a tech followed the steps I suggested of bringing the system to a minimalist point both in hardware and software to verify the problem is still there. If they are saying it is an Adobe problem yet you have the problem with other non-Adobe apps, well that does not speak to highly of the tech.

I would only suggest one more item to get to a minimalist system and that is turning off all graphics accleration in PS as well and making sure that anti malware program is turned off (I assume you already had your computer totally scanned for malware as well). Going into safe mode should help stop any "helper" programs that sometimes can have a software interaction problem with other software slowing things down.

The approach I mention is a common divide and conquer technique.

Since you had the problem from day 1, it is harder to narrow down. The system may have come with the issue. The level of expertise you may need to debug may need to be escalated as well.

Yet since you are just looking to see if someone has by chance experienced the same problem that can offer the magic fix, I will leave my feedback here and hopefully another forum member with your same experience shows up to help.
Best wishes on finding a solution
John Wheeler

 

[rcooper102]

So have you tried or a tech followed the steps I suggested of bringing the system to a minimalist point both in hardware and software to verify the problem is still there. If they are saying it is an Adobe problem yet you have the problem with other non-Adobe apps, well that does not speak to highly of the tech.

I would only suggest one more item to get to a minimalist system and that is turning off all graphics accleration in PS as well and making sure that anti malware program is turned off (I assume you already had your computer totally scanned for malware as well). Going into safe mode should help stop any "helper" programs that sometimes can have a software interaction problem with other software slowing things down.

The approach I mention is a common divide and conquer technique.

Since you had the problem from day 1, it is harder to narrow down. The system may have come with the issue. The level of expertise you may need to debug may need to be escalated as well.

Yet since you are just looking to see if someone has by chance experienced the same problem that can offer the magic fix, I will leave my feedback here and hopefully another forum member with your same experience shows up to help.
Best wishes on finding a solution
John Wheeler

Thanks, yeah, its been tough. It makes no sense to me. This was the first windows machine I have ever purchased and I have regretted it every second since I made the purchase. But yeah, completely understand that it is hard to troubleshoot I am just hoping that someone else has encountered it.

Also, I have no AV software, though I know I don't have a virus. My current installation of windows was freshly installed this morning onto a completely blank drive. The only thing I installed onto it was a few things like GPU drivers, chrome, and Photoshop. The problem still persists.