Is it time for a computer upgrade?

[wmchauncey]

I tried out the stacking tool that Adobe finally got working but it runs slow. The stack of 80, 22 MP images done yesterday,
took over an hour, I do not multitask while running PS.  I do have the performance almost maxed-out in Preferences.
Am using a HP Pavilion with a intel i7-920 Processor with 23 of RAM and 64 bit Windows 7 OS.

Would appreciate any and all suggestions directed toward increasing performance as much as reasonable, including computer up-grades.

[Torbjörn Tapani]

Use a better tool. I use PTgui but there are others. See recent article: Stitching an advanced approach.

Edit. I'm sorry I read that as stitch. But it clearly says stack. Do you focus stack? Use a better tool. I use Zerene stacker but there are others.

[PeterAit]

23 what of RAM - GB? That's an odd amount of RAM, wonder if you made a typo. But anyway, open Task Manager and monitor your core performance and memory usage during the process. If RAM usage maxxes out, it means swaps to disk, which slow things down a lot. If all (or almost all) or your cores are not busy, it means the app is not efficient at multitasking.

[wmchauncey]

I was incorrect...it is 24GB of Ram and it does max out, even after making adjustments in PS CC Preferences.

Another point is, when Canon introduces a high MP FF body, I'm gonna get one. I can only assume that stacking
35MP images will be more memory intensive than the current 22MP images...right?

I have been using Zerene for about 3 weeks on my floral stuff and found that it does do a great job, except...it does introduce unacceptable noise.
Prior to that, PS CC was my weapon of choice, albeit, a lot of artifacts. Then it quit stacking at all.
But PS CC upgraded last week...the stacking works much better than before with virtually no artifacts.
As a side note, I took a stack from PP CC and Zerene and stacked them together...looked good.

[mcbroomf]

Before investing in a new PC you could buy an SSD and tell PS to use it as the scratch disk.  If it doesn't help enough it can still be transferred to a new PC (as PS scratch).
Upgrading to a 36MP camera is going to increase the file sizes proportionally from your 22MP camera.

[Torbjörn Tapani]

I forgot to mention. The single best upgrade to an old computer is an SSD. Like night and day in overall responsiveness.