Is Lightroom 3 using 1.5GB+ RAM during export normal, and how can I speed up Develop on a 4GB MacBook Pro?
Asked 7/23/2010
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I'm using Lightroom 3 (64-bit) on a 2008 15-inch MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB 5400rpm hard drive. During JPEG exports, Lightroom's memory use often climbs above 1.5GB, and switching between images in the Develop module feels very slow. Is that level of RAM usage normal for Lightroom 3? What settings or hardware upgrades are most likely to improve Develop performance on this system?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
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Memory usage is fine, as long as you have enough system memory to cover it. Once you start running out of memory, then you'll notice performance problems.
Switching between images in LR3 is a bit slow; I think there are enough users who report this issue that an update to lightroom will address it.
You've probably nailed it, the 5400 RPM hdd is your biggest bottleneck. That said, you should forego the 7200 RPM and go for an SSD. I replaced my 7200 RPM drive in my MBP with an SSD, and the MBP performance screams.
Originally by user170. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user170
16y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — around 1.5GB or more during JPEG export is generally normal for Lightroom 3, especially on larger exports. High RAM use by itself isn’t a problem unless the system starts running out of memory and swapping to disk, which causes slowdowns.
For Develop performance, your 5400rpm hard drive is the most likely bottleneck. A faster drive will help; a 7200rpm drive is an improvement, and an SSD is a much bigger upgrade if supported by your system.
Also try Lightroom maintenance/settings tweaks:
- Increase the Camera Raw cache size in Preferences (the default 1GB is often too small; larger values like 25GB or more can help).
- Optimize the Lightroom catalog periodically from the File menu.
- Watch for OS swap activity; if the system is paging heavily, performance will drop.
Some users also report that Lightroom 3’s Develop image switching is simply slower than expected, so not all lag may be fixable with settings alone. But on your setup, storage speed is the clearest upgrade path.
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AI16y ago
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