Better laptop
- Thread starter maxman65
- Start date
keith.rogers
Well-known member
If your CPU is maxed, then more RAM might not help. If you're looking at a system monitor and it shows CPU at 100% and free memory, then it's really a CPU issue, and those are rarely upgradeable on laptops.
I'd also make sure you've isolated the VI activity to be sure it's not something else that chewing up your CPU, or at least contributing.
I haven't looked at Wintel hardware in a while, but with CPU, it's all about cores/threads, cache and speed. With VIs, it can be a storage transfer bottleneck, so you should definitely go with M.2 storage, PCIe gen 4 or gen 5 even better.
The other thing to be concerned about is the creep in system demand OS and app updates will continually bring, because the latest software is developed on the latest hardware. If you want to get some life out of your hardware $, just stop updating anything, if you can. Turn off the internet/WiFi activity, etc. Maybe you know all that.
Just grabbing a higher end Lenovo out of the bunch, this looks pretty powerful:
(Me, I started using a Mac before retiring from HP's commercial notebook division - s/w guy, but within a few years I've moved all to a single Mac, so I could be missing the boat here, but the ideas are the same as when I started tinkering with this audio stuff a while back.)
Good luck.
I'd also make sure you've isolated the VI activity to be sure it's not something else that chewing up your CPU, or at least contributing.
I haven't looked at Wintel hardware in a while, but with CPU, it's all about cores/threads, cache and speed. With VIs, it can be a storage transfer bottleneck, so you should definitely go with M.2 storage, PCIe gen 4 or gen 5 even better.
The other thing to be concerned about is the creep in system demand OS and app updates will continually bring, because the latest software is developed on the latest hardware. If you want to get some life out of your hardware $, just stop updating anything, if you can. Turn off the internet/WiFi activity, etc. Maybe you know all that.
Just grabbing a higher end Lenovo out of the bunch, this looks pretty powerful:
(Me, I started using a Mac before retiring from HP's commercial notebook division - s/w guy, but within a few years I've moved all to a single Mac, so I could be missing the boat here, but the ideas are the same as when I started tinkering with this audio stuff a while back.)
Good luck.
Folkcafe
Well-known member
The OP doesn't even mention what CPU he has and yet states, that is his issue. The Elite line was introduced in 2008, so who knows what he has. Huge difference between a 5th gen I5 vs a 12th gen.
I'm back to the Mac for the second time around. Swapped to PC when the Intel Mac first came out and just were not keeping up. Now the reverse as Apple Silicon is just crushing it for media production. Lots of people make the PC work. The Mac just works.
rob aylestone
Moderator
The spitfire spiccato strings aren't any resource ‘special’ but they usually come with fast chords, so its worth running a disk speed test. If things are not held in memory, the machine might be trying to load the samples and play them and not making it.
Steenamaroo
...
+1 to the questions and need for clarity here.
How certain are you that CPU is what's suffering? If your sample library drive is a spinning disk it's just as likely, or more likely, to be that which is struggling.
It's easy enough to monitor real time activity stats on any modern OS and see what exactly is struggling.
How certain are you that CPU is what's suffering? If your sample library drive is a spinning disk it's just as likely, or more likely, to be that which is struggling.
It's easy enough to monitor real time activity stats on any modern OS and see what exactly is struggling.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Sorry, kinda off topic: Don't you have that 'east west' or some library VST that came with it's own hard drives?+1 to the questions and need for clarity here.
How certain are you that CPU is what's suffering? If your sample library drive is a spinning disk it's just as likely, or more likely, to be that which is struggling.
It's easy enough to monitor real time activity stats on any modern OS and see what exactly is struggling.
Steenamaroo
...
I do. I bought East West Hollywood Orchestra platinum (I think).
At that time they shipped on a 5400rpm 1TB drive but it came with the instruction that the drive should be considered a shipping medium/backup only.
I put the files on a 1TB SSD and always ran it from there.
At that time they shipped on a 5400rpm 1TB drive but it came with the instruction that the drive should be considered a shipping medium/backup only.
I put the files on a 1TB SSD and always ran it from there.
maxman65
Member
Hi just seen all this . I had an i5 laptop 2.6ghz with 16gb ram 256 SSD. Just bought a second hand Lenovo box i7 3.4ghz 32gb ram 500 SSD. I'm looking to get spitfire chamber essentials . The laptop just about handled the split down originals libraries but got crunched on fast repeats spiccato . Will this be enough . Chamber looks like a 28gb file so likely more CPU intensive overall I guess . Many thanks
Steenamaroo
...
Folkcafe
Well-known member
If you go to Windows Settings and select Systems, at the bottom of the list is an about option. Click it and it will list your device specification including the CPU model number. A modern I5 will kick the crap out of an old I7 for performance. We've been saying that generation of CPU is the important detail.
Papanate
Well-known member
You need a recently made computer in my opinion.
Just an observation from a very old duffer who has been watching for many years? Everyone's music laptop seems to run out of "juice" at some point because rarely a month goes by on this and another forum I infest without this very issue coming up.
The thought occurs...How much extra, fairly immovable **** do you have attached to the laptop? A lot I bet so maybe it is time to get a "proper" computer? Laps have come on enormously in the last decade (but a lot of 'improvements' have been in making them slimmer and more battery efficient) but you can easily build a desktop that blows even the best laptop sky high.
One thing I do not read now but was very common advice a few years ago was: Get your machine stripped down to just that stuff you need to do your music then make an image of that pristine drive. The laptop will always gather junk files over say six months but then you wipe the drive and re-install the image.
Dave.
The thought occurs...How much extra, fairly immovable **** do you have attached to the laptop? A lot I bet so maybe it is time to get a "proper" computer? Laps have come on enormously in the last decade (but a lot of 'improvements' have been in making them slimmer and more battery efficient) but you can easily build a desktop that blows even the best laptop sky high.
One thing I do not read now but was very common advice a few years ago was: Get your machine stripped down to just that stuff you need to do your music then make an image of that pristine drive. The laptop will always gather junk files over say six months but then you wipe the drive and re-install the image.
Dave.
maxman65
Member
The laptop was basically uncluttered by anything . It was dedicated to spitfire original libraries at about 3gb file size . Maybe a total of 30gb in libraries .Was never even connected to the internet with the exception of downloading a library .It was ok until fast repeats spiccato . Spec wise its 2.6ghz 16 ram i5 two core . The pc is 3.4 GHz 4 core 8 thread 32gb . I figured that should make a difference. Generation considerations aside this has a faster clock speed double the cores and more ram .
Update : both 6th gen . Worth noting though that I don't record in daw so the cpu won't be taxed by multiple playback tracks only the series of samples triggered live at any one time
Update : both 6th gen . Worth noting though that I don't record in daw so the cpu won't be taxed by multiple playback tracks only the series of samples triggered live at any one time
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Steenamaroo
...
You can't really say "generation considerations aside. They were making 3.8ghz pentium processors in the year 2000.
I don't think there is a 6th gen 2.6ghz i5 chip.
It would be better to tell us the full model numbers of both cpus.
I don't think there is a 6th gen 2.6ghz i5 chip.
It would be better to tell us the full model numbers of both cpus.
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
Run Task Manager and have it on the Performance tab while doing whatever makes the machine choke. See which graph maxes out. That should tell you what to focus on with an upgrade.
Steenamaroo
...
100% this ^