Sonar X1B 255 + Intel 6-Core CPU = Quick Report = OMG !!!!!

Hi all
 
Just did a DAW upgrade:-
 
- Intel 6 Core i7 970  HEXA-Core (w) H/T
- O/C to  4.2gig on a Noctua N12 Cooler [ Air ]  Fully Stable
- Case and CPU Cooler runs a total of  3 x 120mm Noctua Fans each on a Fan Controller with each Fan running at 550rpm
- SSD Primary Drive
- Silent Cell GB Video Card
- GB X58 Board
- OCZ RAM
- Antec PSU
- FireFace UC Audio @ 48 Samples at all times
- for all intents and purposes, the DAW is effectivley silent
 
- System is  %100  Native  X64  - no  X32 apps of any kind installed
- Sonar X1B 255  X64
- Windows 7 X64 SP1
 
TEST LOAD TRACK
 
- 100 Audio Tracks
- each Track has  5 x Sonitus EFX
- all Tracks REC ON
- all Tracks Live Input Monitor ON
- System Audio Latency set to 48 Samples / 1.1ms =  4.9ms  Actual RTL
 
RESULT
 
- 100 Tracks running  500 VST EFX all with REC ON and all Live Input Monitored with everything running at 48 Samples / 1.1ms =  4.9ms Actual RTL  =  CPU Load  [ as measued with the Windows Task Manager ]  sitting  between  %68  <-> %70
 
Two concluding thoughts:-
 
=> even at this sort of ridiculous  track & efx count all running @ ultra low RTL of 4.9ms, the system still has substantial headroom
 
=> todays current DAW PC technology both from a hardware and software perspective is now such that the only limitation to what we can do is our own imagination
 
Tomg

One day that PC will seem like a pocket calculator. The march of technology...

... everything at  24 / 44.1 .....

this inspired me to do my own.  On my new system specs in sig. I got 100 audio files pro channel comp eq and saturation on all tracks and 4 instances of sonitus fx per channel. input monitoring on.  24/44.1    65% looad on cpu.  Pretty happy!

Jimbo 88


Don't worry, given some time, technology will advance enough that  plug-ins and softsynths will find a way to bog your system down.  Some young kid will come along and say "Man, how did they ever get by on that system,  can you believe it?"

I think we are already there. :-)

Tom, try the Wavearts Tubesaturator plugin. See how many of those you can run: http://wavearts.com/products/plugins/tube/

UnderTow

Congrats.  That is great news.  Enjoy it.
 
On a side note, in 1988 I bought a laptop with a 20 MEG Hard drive.  Yes just 20 mgs.  The guy who sold it to me said that I would not be able to fill it up in my lifetime!  And I think he was serious.

TomG


Hi UnderTow

Just tried the WaveArts TubeSat.

=> 100 tracks running  100 instances of WaveArts TubeSat all with REC ON and all Live Input Monitoring on and all running at  48 samples / 1.1ms / 4.9ms RTL = CPU Load of  ~%28 <-> ~%32

Thanks,
Tomg

Wow. That's a powerful machine. I can run 16 or 17 of them on my i7 920 at stock speed and the CPU shoots up to over 90%. Enjoy your new beast! :-)

UnderTow

How many simultaneous instances of Rapture can you run on this system without bogging down? DimPro? Others?

I would like to see that test.

ggg

TomG


Hi ggg

=> Windows 7 X64 SP1
=> Fireface UC

=>  100 Tracks made up of  50  unique instances of Rapture  x64  +  50 unique instances of Dimension Pro x64 all tracks REC ON and all Tracks Live Input Monitoring ON all done at 24/44  48 Samples / 1.1ms = 4.9ms Actual RTL = %27 <-> %29 CPU Load as meaured by Windows Task Manager.

Hi Tom,

Maybe it is just the way you explain it but it seems that the synths aren't actually doing anything in this setup. You need to make them play actual notes. And then, depending on the preset's layering, DSP and FX and also the polyphony, the load will vary. Especially if you get into Rapture presets that use Impulse Responses. That can get quite heavy. I would add the synths through the synth rack to an empty projet. Your test seems to show a very similar load to the TubeSat test which makes me wonder if you are not doing something wrong in that test too. (Especially considering the results you got).

And one more thing. If all 100 tracks have the same input and output, the load will be much much lower than if they have different inputs and outputs. Try setting track 1 to input 1, track 2 to input 2, etc up to track 18 and then start again. (The same with the outputs). So don't just create one track and then clone it 100 times, that won't give you a realistic load for 100 tracks.

UnderTow

+1 UnderTow... TubeSat is a hog, even the makers say so.