[FIX] Force Enabling GPU Acceleration in Photoshop CS4 with CF/SLI cards.

Many people have asked me on PMs how to enable Photoshop CS4's GPU acceleration, and they couldn't get it to work. They (And I too) have tried things like changing GPU drivers, etc. but those were dead ends and couldn't work. Some even had problems with SLI/CrossfireX GPUs and couldn't find the right remedy.

I have also faced the same problem and thus found a simple solution that many people might have not known about, and thought of sharing my experience and remedy with you guys...

The following is tested on the M1730:
X9000
8800M GTX SLI
8GB RAM
1TB 500GB 7200.4 RAID 0
Vista Ultimate x64


Many people will face the above problem as mentioned in the screenshot. The luxury of GPU acceleration is great especially dealing with large .psd files, where scrolling and panning made easier and less latency is involved as the GPU takes its job.

The trick is to navigate to this very much remote website in Adobe; you'll need to download a registry file to enable/activate GPU acceleration. Remember, close Photoshop before applying the registry patch!


The URL to download the registry tweak is here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4056

Now I wouldn't say its for "Old GPUs" but not only it may not work for some older machines but some newer desktops with CrossFireX or SLI are facing the same problem. I know of a case where some people had a desktop with 9800 GX2, 9800 GTX, HD4850, GTX 295 setup cards had the same issue; downloading this registry tweak to force enable GPU acceleration in CS4 is one of the remedy.

Open the .zip file and you should see 4 registry hacks. Choose "AllowOldGPUS_ON" as highlighted. Do not touch the rest of the other options/hacks.




Click on it, select yes, and you should see this message as above.

Then, run Photoshop CS4, navigate to Edit>Preferences>Performance


Bingo!!!!


Now, tick the box, then edit the GI settings for further enhancements.


Enjoy. You have successfully enabled GPU acceleration in Photoshop CS4 with SLI/CrossFireX cards without a change of drivers.

NOTE: This solution may not necessarily be only for SLI/CrossFire users, it may also work with older GPUs, and some who cannot enable this GPU acceleration option to try this registry hack. There may be a possibility that some integrated cards work with this registry hack too. I need someone to check with this... Thanks.

Feedbacks are appreciated; especially Photoshop CS4 users. Thanks.

 

Can a mod please move this thread to the Software forum? I highly believe it belongs to there. Thanks.

 

Thread moved.

 

Nice This allows me to use an Inel X3100 for GPU acceleration

Many thanks!!

(Don't like using my NVidia 8400GS in case it fries - oh, and my laptop runs hotter on it, and has less battery life - for everything in my life the X3100 is enough - yes, its a Sony SZ)

+ Rep

Edit:

I try to crop a picture and my graphics driver crashes - Intel X3100 - does anybody know why and how to stop it doing this?

 

Hmm, I guess the X3100 isn't more than capable of running it I guess... Thanks for the feedback, but have you tried updating its drivers?

 

Dude, you let photoshop use 100% of your RAM? Does it ever reach that point and if so, how does it affect your overall system performance?

 

Well it runs quite fine though, it uses, sometimes depending on the file type, up to 7GB with many photoshop layers etc. and nope, I've never experienced any lagginess of sorts or slowdowns. I can do other stuff at the background without any freezing or hangs.

 

I've got Intel's most recent driver.

I'm also not the only one with the problem (if I google it) - but there seems no fix for it...

I know however, that Tom once said he had it running fine with an Intel X3100...

I've got an NVidia 8400GS too - but I'd rather use that as little as possible - and it makes my laptop run warmer/hotter than the Intel.
Guess I'm stuck to the CPU...

 

Hmm, what kind of temperatures you get with your 8400M GS?

 

No idea...
When the laptop was new I thinkit was between 55-61°C idling

People have had SZs run on the 8400GS for 2 years without failure - but I hope for this lappy to last longer

And there is no need - so I'd like to refrain from using it.

(I've rediscovered Age of Empirs and play that on the Intel card - works well with current drivers too)

Also:
I'm not exactly sure how much graphics acceleration will benefit me in photoshop - its not as "extreme" as yours - I think on pnaoramas there is no use...
I did play with 3D once - on the CPU - laggy...