Dust3R_FiLeS
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What CPU for SONAR?
Hi, I have to buy new pc and I have low budget so I have to choose "slow" CPU. I don"t know, what CPU have minimal performance for comfortable work in SONAR. In Cakewalk page is written about AMD A10, but there is about i5 too. I know, that i5s have much more performance then A10s. But in Cinebench R15 I see the most powerful A10 was beaten by Pentium G4620 (same performance as i3 6100). And my question is, if that Pentium have required performance for comfortable working in SONAR. I don't want better performance for after-working processes, but mainly for quick responsing for midi devices. Up to two devices I am using at the same time. Now I have very slow AMD A8m in my laptop. If you want, you could look here to see what I planning to buy: www*czc*cz/cfncao30jajvo96788qmfo9eec/seznam (just remove this stars and replace them with dots) P.S. Sorry for my bad english if it is.
post edited by Dust3R_FiLeS - 2017/05/07 08:55:54
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Cactus Music
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 03:32:02
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☄ Helpfulby Dust3R_FiLeS 2017/05/07 08:17:32
If it's any help I have a i5 processor and have never had a problem. My biggest projects are 16 audio tracks and 5 midi VST's and I might have 12 Plug ins running. I think more important is I have 16 GB RAM. I'm using SSD drives and everything is pretty fast.
Rendering , like saving an export is where you'll see thing speed up with a faster processor.
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JonD
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 04:20:53
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Desktop or laptop?
Desktop is better since you will get more for your money and it's more flexible (adding/changing components).
Do you already have a sound card/audio interface? You don't want to rely on an onboard sound card if you can help it.
Generally speaking, I'd say a decent minimum spec would be Intel i5 (not Celeron) or AMD equivalent, with 8GB ram.
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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Dust3R_FiLeS
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 08:20:29
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JonD
Desktop or laptop?
Desktop is better since you will get more for your money and it's more flexible (adding/changing components).
Do you already have a sound card/audio interface? You don't want to rely on an onboard sound card if you can help it.
Generally speaking, I'd say a decent minimum spec would be Intel i5 (not Celeron) or AMD equivalent, with 8GB ram.
I have scarlette 6i6. And actually I have laptop then for SONAR I am going to desktop, because it's cheaper and might be more quiet for smaller budget.
post edited by Dust3R_FiLeS - 2017/05/07 11:36:50
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Dust3R_FiLeS
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 08:25:56
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Cactus Music
If it's any help I have a i5 processor and have never had a problem. My biggest projects are 16 audio tracks and 5 midi VST's and I might have 12 Plug ins running. I think more important is I have 16 GB RAM. I'm using SSD drives and everything is pretty fast.
Rendering , like saving an export is where you'll see thing speed up with a faster processor.
Thank you. I am planning to buy an SSD too. But I am planning to have 1x8 GB RAM stick then I'll buy the second one at the future.
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JonD
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 13:23:14
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☄ Helpfulby Dust3R_FiLeS 2017/05/07 13:26:47
Dust3R_FiLeS
.... I am planning to buy an SSD too. But I am planning to have 1x8 GB RAM stick then I'll buy the second one at the future.
That sounds like a good plan. And welcome to the forum!
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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Cactus Music
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 14:37:17
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http://forum.cakewalk.com/Computers-f84.aspx We have a Computer forum where this question would be more appropriate. Very knowledgeable folks hang out there. Be warned they will convince you to build your own like a lot of us do :) You save money but mostly you can build with a higher quality over off the shelf stuff. My i5 build was around $800. That included a 750 Watt PS, 16 GB RAM, 240 SSD silent case and a Mobo with good built in 3 output graphics.
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BobF
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 15:03:51
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My previous machine was an i5. CPU power didn't hold me back.
Bob -- Angels are crying because truth has died ...Illegitimi non carborundum --Studio One Pro / i7-6700@3.80GHZ, 32GB Win 10 Pro x64 Roland FA06, LX61+, Fishman Tripleplay, FaderPort, US-16x08 + ARC2.5/Event PS8s Waves Gold/IKM Max/Nomad Factory IS3/K11U
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Dust3R_FiLeS
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 15:54:09
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BobF
My previous machine was an i5. CPU power didn't hold me back.
Thank you for your answer. Could you tell me what model of i5 did you have?
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abacab
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 16:18:34
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I am very happy with my 3rd gen Intel Core i3. It runs at 3.4Ghz with two cores and 4 threads. It has never held me back from anything I have tried to do. When I built it I thought I could eventually swap in a i5 or i7 with same socket down the road, if needed. But have never needed to! It has been running great for over two years!  I would probably have more performance headroom with an i5 or i7, but I never hit 100% CPU with what I have. I mostly work with softsynth VSTi's and can load and run as many as my RAM will hold. The truth is most i3's are sold with budget systems, so everybody assumes that they are crippled. But that is mostly due to the quality of the overall components used in off-the-shelf computers. If you build your own and select quality parts, this little beauty can be a real sleeper! Plenty of bang for the buck!!! I have 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM and run Windows, Sonar, and all VSTs from an SSD.
DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ...
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Dust3R_FiLeS
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 16:57:08
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abacab
I am very happy with my 3rd gen Intel Core i3. It runs at 3.4Ghz with two cores and 4 threads. It has never held me back from anything I have tried to do. When I built it I thought I could eventually swap in a i5 or i7 with same socket down the road, if needed. But have never needed to! It has been running great for over two years!
I would probably have more performance headroom with an i5 or i7, but I never hit 100% CPU with what I have. I mostly work with softsynth VSTi's and can load and run as many as my RAM will hold.
The truth is most i3's are sold with budget systems, so everybody assumes that they are crippled. But that is mostly due to the quality of the overall components used in off-the-shelf computers. If you build your own and select quality parts, this little beauty can be a real sleeper! Plenty of bang for the buck!!!
I have 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM and run Windows, Sonar, and all VSTs from an SSD.
Thanks a lot for your answer. Tell me how much plugins your i3 can handle comfortably if it depends on it.
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abacab
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/07 20:00:10
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☼ Best Answerby Dust3R_FiLeS 2017/05/08 11:26:52
Dust3R_FiLeS
Thanks a lot for your answer. Tell me how much plugins your i3 can handle comfortably if it depends on it.
There really is not a direct way to answer "how many plugins?", as they are all different. Some are very CPU intensive (virtual analog synth), while others are heavy memory hogs (samplers), and some are a little of both. So, out of curiosity I ran a little test, creating a few fake benchmarks. I used a 4 bar MIDI pattern in a loop, copied to all of the tracks, so that all tracks played back in unison. Normally I rarely run into trouble, because I like simple projects! These examples exceed how I would actually work. Diva - https://www.u-he.com/cms/diva I know u-he Diva is very CPU demanding, so I loaded it up until Sonar's audio engine dropped out. I used the "divine" accuracy setting, which is the highest demand setting. I got 5 instances of Diva running comfortably using about 65% CPU and 2.0GB of RAM. With a 6th instance running, Sonar's audio engine dropped out intermittently, and I could tell Sonar was struggling to keep up. NI Kontakt Player 5 - https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/ This is purely a sample playback engine. I got 24 instances running at 30% CPU and 4GB of RAM. I could have added more but got bored. so I stopped. Cakewalk Rapture Session - This is a hybrid synth/sample playback engine. With 24 instances loaded, I ran at 60% CPU and 4GB RAM. I am not sure what the limit would be here, since Rapture Session uses more CPU than Kontakt, but I probably could have added a few more tracks. For an audio project with 16 tracks and FX plugs on most tracks, Sonar runs at 25-30% CPU and doesn't skip a beat. Not to shabby for the "lowly" i3. 
DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ...
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Dust3R_FiLeS
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/08 11:44:35
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Thanks to everybody who gave me an answer. Every answer is very helpful for me.
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BobF
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Re: What CPU for SONAR?
2017/05/08 12:22:56
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Dust3R_FiLeS
BobF
My previous machine was an i5. CPU power didn't hold me back.
Thank you for your answer. Could you tell me what model of i5 did you have?
i5-3350P, IIRC.
Bob -- Angels are crying because truth has died ...Illegitimi non carborundum --Studio One Pro / i7-6700@3.80GHZ, 32GB Win 10 Pro x64 Roland FA06, LX61+, Fishman Tripleplay, FaderPort, US-16x08 + ARC2.5/Event PS8s Waves Gold/IKM Max/Nomad Factory IS3/K11U
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