Sep 28, 2006 12:45 am From what i know about CPU's (minimal), as long as you have sufficient cooling and the CPU doesn't overheat, then it should be ok.
Just an opinion though..
What is Acceptable CPU Drain for VST plug-Ins vs. Processor Life Span
Posted on Sep 27, 2006 10:51 pm
carbonic44
Member Since: Nov 23, 2005
Oops, I really meant VST instruments, but I guess some of my plug-ins are relevent to this question. I'm running an Athlon 64 2800+ , socket 754, 1536 single layer RAM, core speed 1796 apx., 512 L2 cache. I'm using Cubase SX3 which is a bit taxing on its own. With a couple VST Instruments up and running I'm already around 50% CPU drain... Is this too much to sustain continuously, and if not or if so, How long before the CPU begins getting damaged ?
Also, one aspect to consider is; I have no audio or midi tracks recorded yet, which would normally be playing along as I audition sounds or performances. One nifty function Cubase SX3 has is a "midi freeze" that knocks down CPU drain after the midi parts are recorded. It basically sums that data and sort of renders within the program yet leaves some functionality without having to render out of the program and import. Anyways, anyone got any thoughts on this topic. Prethanks !
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Sep 28, 2006 12:45 am From what i know about CPU's (minimal), as long as you have sufficient cooling and the CPU doesn't overheat, then it should be ok.
Just an opinion though..
Sep 28, 2006 04:43 am 50% seems a might high, for Cubase and a couple plugs...what plugs are they, some use more CPU than others...
Sep 28, 2006 10:28 am Cubase SX3 running Stylus RMX and Absynth 3. Any further thoughts ?
Sep 28, 2006 10:30 am oh, absynth3...ummm, ya, that'd be a load in addition to Cubase. might not be that far off...
Sep 28, 2006 10:50 am with that in mind, do you think 50% will be detrimental to CPU life, and if so, how long would I be safe at that level ?
Sep 28, 2006 10:56 am shouldn't be a big deal to CPU life, maybe just to performance, if you start getting dropouts n' stuff ya may wanna investigate a bit more. just make sure your system is cooled well and you'll be fine.
Sep 28, 2006 11:05 am OK, good, cause this is the first time I've had consistant 50% plus drain ever, except a little video editing. Once again, thanks for the insight dB.
Sep 28, 2006 11:32 am CPU usage does not directly affect lifespan.
CPU usage increases the heat of the processor. Heat CAN ruin a processor.
Make sure in your bios you have Cool'n'Quiet off, and then stock heatsink should be fine without overclocking.
Personally I overclock my CPU so I have to watch my CPU temperatures. In your bios (if you have a nicer computer) you can also set it to shut down your computer once it reaches a certain temperature.
Sep 28, 2006 11:44 am Righto, was aware of the heat issue in that I used to overclock my old Athlon 1700+ Thanks for the reminder on the cool & quiet too.
Sep 29, 2006 08:18 pm Stylus RMX is also a huge CPU hog. The freeze function will save you huge CPU drain as well. If Cubase is like Sonar you can freeze and unfreeze when you need to edit the track. I use it frequantly as I also run some CPU heavy synths. But I do agree 50% is kind of big even for those synths.
I can run 4 instance of Dimmension Pro with huge patches loaded and dont even get near that. I am guessing that Cubase does not run the VSTi's efficiantly with that kind of drain.
As for the cooling issue, I run an MSI mobo and use its onboard utlity. I can adjust all functions right form Windows. I set the CPU temp for a reasonable alarm setting and it will actually stop processes rather then shut down. Although I have only had it do so once, it simply stopped running processes for a few mintues till it regained a proper temp and all was good, no data loss or anything.
Sep 30, 2006 12:14 pm O.K. that is sorta what I figured, thanks for the reinforcement of my suspicions. 1 more thing. I've noticed that although it rides around 50%, I can stack quite a few more VST synths on without forcing the CPU drain much higher. Now, of I start to enable VST plug-in FX as channel inserts or AUX sends, then things definately get outta hand. Is this the same on your system (Noize and others ?)
Sep 30, 2006 06:19 pm Well I dont know is Sonar just handles processing differantly or what but it takes a pretty good sized amount of FX and such to get my CPU usage higher then 60% or so. The only time I have exceeded that is running 16 instances of Dimmension and Psyn II combined. Psyn II is an analog emulation that is processor hungry no matter what.
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