Have you experienced lag with Adobe Photoshop CC on your dual-core AMD Ryzen 3 laptop running Windows 10 4GB RAM, 64 bits? Interestingly, it runs smoothly on other dual-core i3 computers with Windows 7 2GB RAM and 32 bits. This article will explore the potential reasons for this discrepancy and provide actionable solutions to improve Photoshop CC performance.

Why Adobe Photoshop CC Lags on Your AMD Ryzen 3 Laptop

The performance differences you're experiencing can be attributed to several factors, despite your laptop's ostensibly better specifications. Here are some potential reasons for the lag:

RAM Limitations

While your laptop has 4GB of RAM compared to 2GB in the other computers, Photoshop CC is quite resource-intensive and can benefit from more RAM. If your system is using a significant amount of RAM for other processes, it can lead to slow performance. Additionally, Windows 10 itself consumes more RAM than Windows 7, which might leave less available for Photoshop.

Graphics Card

The performance of Photoshop heavily depends on the graphics card (GPU). If your laptop's integrated GPU is less powerful or not fully compatible with Photoshop's GPU acceleration features, it could lead to lag. Check if the drivers for your GPU are up to date.

Background Processes

Windows 10 tends to have more background processes running compared to Windows 7. This can consume CPU and RAM resources, affecting Photoshop's performance. Open the Task Manager to see if there are any unnecessary programs running that you can close.

Disk Speed

If your laptop has a traditional hard drive (HDD) instead of a solid-state drive (SSD), this could cause slower loading times and overall lag in performance. An SSD can significantly improve the responsiveness of applications like Photoshop.

Photoshop Settings

Check the performance settings in Photoshop. You can allocate more RAM to Photoshop and adjust other settings to optimize performance. Go to Edit Preferences Performance and tweak the settings according to your system's capabilities.

Operating System and Software Updates

Ensure that your Windows 10 and Photoshop CC are fully updated. Sometimes performance issues can be resolved with the latest updates that fix bugs or improve efficiency.

VIRTUAL Memory

If your system runs out of RAM, it may start using virtual memory (paging file) to compensate, which is significantly slower. Make sure your virtual memory settings are optimized.

Photoshop Version

Ensure you are using a version of Photoshop that is optimized for your hardware. Some updates may include performance improvements that could help.

Recommendations

Upgrade your RAM: Increasing it to at least 8GB can improve performance significantly. Consider switching to an SSD: If your laptop currently has an HDD, switching to an SSD can greatly enhance speed and responsiveness. Monitor and manage background processes: Freely up resources by closing unnecessary programs. Adjust Photoshop's performance settings: Customize settings to better suit your laptop's specifications.

By addressing these factors, you should be able to significantly improve the performance of Adobe Photoshop CC on your AMD Ryzen 3 laptop.