Hi all
I plane to buy a laptop on backpacker especially for gig (as my computer is too heavy for a easy use).
Is there anybody who have experience with pretty old conf ( for instance Intel core i3 from 2015 - ddr3)?
How many vst effects/instrument can I expect without having glitch’s on such a configuraton ?
Thanks and sorry for my English (I’m French)
Pierre
Pierre
Just as a note, Until recently, I’ve been running a 7 year old Win 7 with 8 GB Ram, and it has been very stable. Your question is hard to answer because everything is dependant on what your computer can handle, and what plugins you use. Example: on my Win 7, Omnisphere and Diva really hog my CPU. So do heavy sampled based plugs. I ran as many modeled VST’s I could with no latency or CPU spikes. The key to all this is a good CPU and plenty Ram, and glitch free setup. An SSD has really been great on my refurbs.
Again, what plugs you plan to run will determine how much CPU you use. So, it is really hard to say what that particular computer can do with various plugs. I purchased some refurbs recently with i5 and 16 GB Ram, and they are running lean with everything I throw at them.
Your configuration should be good for most things, but I will suggest a minimum of 8 GB Ram. If you are going to run many samples, it is hard to determine what performance you may get.
Thanks Corky, I understand my question is very dependant of my use. Currently I use some effects for my voice (compressor, reverb…) and different VST. Some are VST based (for instance ‘noire’ or ‘ravenscroft’ or plugs from spitfire) and sometimes I use pure synthesis plugs as Thorn or razor …
But, it is worth noting that Only two audios inputs are used in my setup, and two keyboards to control VST. I plane to buy an old Thinkpad with 8 Gb (may be more) and one ssd. However, the processor is with only 2 cores and old RAM (about generation 2015)
Thanks anew for your answer
Pierre
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Pierre
As Corky said, Your question is not so easy. I have a late 2014 quad core i7 that I use only for music, so it’s heavily optimized, with lots of windows services disabled. Using sampled instruments, pianos mainly, I can run smoothly. Using modeled intruments, things get worst. But this is not true for ANY instrument, of course.
As general rule, higher clock frequency is more important than core’s number. For the same reason, modern processors are faster than older (even if they have the same clock frequency).
I think a 2015 i3 is a cheap solution, but don’t expect to run more than two or three light instruments at the same time.
Paolo
Pierre
Are you using an external audio interface?
Just for reference, I use Noire followed by IR1 Waves reverb. This configuration rise “Time Load” in Cantabile at 12% with up to 16% peaks.
Sorry Corky, we overlapped a bit 
Not a prob Paolo. I tend to do that a lot. 
I’m asking myself about nuc intel configuration…or the latest surface pro.
Right now I’m using a surface pro 3 with 8gb ram.
What can it handle at the same time?
Well, 2 instances of omnisphere with 8 patch for each + one kontakt library + blue 3 + a rack with gate and reverb for a microphone.
After that I use a presonnus sound card at 44khz and at 256 samples.
All run without any glitches. BUT I’m at a limit. I have to really organise the effect in omnisphere too ( aux common )
Saving CPU is the most important thing. And you need to save at any point by choosing your effets in omnisphere.
Today I tried an I7 Dell inspirion 8th gen (5 years later)… it seems to be a bit powerfull than my surface i7 3rd gen… but not that very much… my gain is about 20% cpu only for the same project… I’m a bit dissapointed. I was Waiting for more.
What are your expériences? Any better killer config to share? Any infl about the nuc intel i7 10th gen?
And at last, you really need to tweak windows 10 too!!! I USED THE GLITCH FREE MANUAL FROM BRAD. It works so much more after that !
Yes I use a presonus audiobox
Thank you. I read it all!
And … still no idea of what to do.
We should all Share a same project and make comparaisons…with our own gear.
We could Share a cantabile song with few free vsti… all pre configured and put in a dropbox. Make it turn with asio4all at 44kz and 256 samples. So we could test only the processors.
We need People with different pc…
Is it possible to do? Who would be interested in?
What do you think of that. We could in this way make better choices.
Sure I am. I need to know asio4all, at now I used only the asio driver supplied. It’s a good testing way, cause the real speed of a PC is affected not only by processor. Ram, chipset, thermal management, goodness of the driver, system tweaking… lots of variables.
What a intriguing test 
I’m too
I have my desktop computer for the moment and can compare with my future refurbished laptop !
Interesting idea - but I’d recommend using the “Null Audio” driver. We won’t be able to hear anything with it, but it takes the efficiency of the respective drivers out of the equation. Even with asio4all, you still have the driver underneath asio4all in the mix, which may be different from system to system. With Null Audio, that is taken care of.
The problem is that loads are very different: softsynths (Diva etc) use tons of CPU power, but little RAM or hard disk access. Sample-based instruments stress mostly the hard disk and RAM, with far less strain on the CPU.
What would be a “fair” mix of plugins to compare systems? If we just want to run CPUs against each other, then probably softsynths. So maybe just a couple of instances of a free soft synth (Tyrell?) holding a chord via “song->onLoad” bindings?
OK, I knocked together a quick one: simply download Tyrell from here, install it and download the following song file:
Perftest.zip (11.3 KB)
Before loading the song, set the audio engine in Cantabile to “Null Audio”, 256 samples @ 44.1 kHz , then load the song “Perftest”. Let it run for a while to settle performance and report back on time load. Also report your system spec (CPU etc.).
Let’s see the results come in!
Cheers,
Torsten
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Just ran it on two of my main machines (figures from Cantabile profiler):
- Live Cube (Core i5 9600K @ 3.7 GHz) runs this at around 31.4 % average, 35% max)
- My studio PC (Core i7 7700K @4.2 GHz) is at 32.1% average, ca. 38-40% max)
Cheers,
Torsten
Torsten
Just to know, both your PCs are desktop, right? Frequencies are too high for a mobile processor. My desktop music PC is dead, so I’ll test only the laptop. I’m on my way…
Trouble: I see five Tyrrel all with unconnected midi in. In binding page i have 15 “missing target”. I connected all midi in to my keyboard, but I don’t know the trigger. A single note? A chord? I am sure there is something very important that I have not understood. @Torsten feel free to blame me, but please enlight this nightly keyboard player. It’s 3:20AM here, My brain is working 5%
Excellent!!!
I make the test! But the cantabile song you post won’t work for everyone… (different folders…) That’s not a problem. let install it the way we want.
I think we should all put 5 instances of Tyrell, prest 1, make a chord with 3 notes and hold it 10 second and see what’s going on. Note the result A
Play the same chord several for 10 seconds but hit it each second. Note it B
then stress it and play fast all the notes possible and note the result C.
We have to set the same audio parameters.
I put agressive mode beacause it really helps to see if the pc is strong or not.
Do you agree?
