Cpu performance problem

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CarmaNoir

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Cpu and HD performance problem

Well, first of all I would like to send a big hi to everyone here.

it's my first posting here so please be gentle :)
well, my problem is with the cpu. right now I own and work on a P4 2.6 with a SBlive on it. everything works fine until the meter of the CPU VST Performance passes the 45-50% and then hell turns loose. suddenly there are tons of clicks pops and breaks in the sound. now, I know for certain that it's not supposed to happen because when I work on my friend's computer which is a P4 2.4 it never happens to him even when he's getting to the 80-90+ % on the CPU VST Performance meter. can anybody help me out with that? I would really appreciate it. :) oh, and thanks in advance :)
 
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What kind of video card do you use? Sometimes they can cause havoc. If it's the same as your friends then check out the drivers and setting differences of the two soundcards.
 
Try lowering yourt buffer settings. from 256 to 512 or from 512 to 1024 etc....
 
First off, welcome to the forums. :) Well now that that's over, let's get to business ;)

Do you use your computer for other things besides audio or is it exclusively a DAW? Oftentimes other programs running in the background can cause a lot of trouble which leads me to: If your using Windows XP, make sure you go to www.musicxp.net , they have loads of tweaks that will help your system.

Do you have a dual hard drive set-up? If your just using one drive to run the program off of and trying to record to the same drive it's hard on your system.

Do you defrag your hard drive after each recording sessions?

xsatics, buffer suggestion is a good one for fine tuning.
 
well.. first of all I would like to thank you all for your time.

MorningStar: the video card that I'm using is the NVidia GeForce 2 mmx with 128MB built in. I dont think that's causing the problem.

XStatic: my buffer on the Asio setup is on 800 rightnow. the thing is that the more I lower it..(800 and upward) the more latency I get, and the thing is that I'm using a midi controler keyboard and it can get preety annoying using it with a latency of any sort :)

BassMaster: well, I cant say my computer is exclusively DAW, but taking in account that I formated the whole thing two months ago I do not have a lot installed on it. except the cubase I have the kazza, photoshop, Win XP, a small movie player and photoshop. all in all, out of 40Gigs I have 30 available.
now, I took a glance at the musicxp.com and I followed most of the tips they have over there.. but then I've returned to cubase and I'v noticed that the thing that distrupts the music is when I pass the 45-50% Cpu usage there is a FULL HD usage which interrupts the whole thing till I let go of the pressure and return to less then 45-50% CPU usage. guys.. this thing is driving me crazy. I really dont get it.
 
If you just have one hard drive, it sounds like it's overworked and is periodically spiking.

What is kazaa?
 
Kazaa is a file sharing program/network, a place where you can get mp3s and cracked software of all sorts. The free version is loaded with spy/adware that will suck the life out of your computer. They sell a spyware free version for $20, but don't bother cause someone cracked it and posted it on Kazaa. :cool:

Burn, kazaa, burn. Die, kazaa, die.
 
What does the manual say about the hard drive spikes?
 
boingoman said:
Kazaa is a file sharing program/network, a place where you can get mp3s and cracked software of all sorts. The free version is loaded with spy/adware that will suck the life out of your computer. They sell a spyware free version for $20, but don't bother cause someone cracked it and posted it on Kazaa. :cool:

Burn, kazaa, burn. Die, kazaa, die.
Click to expand...

I thought so, but for some reason I thought Kazaa was forced to disband under legal pressure.

Hey CarmaNoir, why do you need Kazaa on there? What do you use it for?
 
well... first of all let me assure you that I only use kazaa for a movie download when I'm really really bored and mostly for downloading mp3s to listen to before I buy the cd. and taking in account that I have more than 600 cds in my music collection I can also assure you that my conscience is guilty free. I do go out and buy those cds.

now. about the hard drive overworking itself. as said, 75%+ of it is totally empty. my friend is running his cubase at his home studio on a computer that's almost chocked up. we're talking about something like 60%-80% of used space. how come he's not having this stupid problem and I do? maybe it's something to do with the specification of cubase itself? maybe I did something wrong?
 
Carma - it's not the hard drive space that's the issue, it's the rate at which the drive can transfer data. A second drive (they are cheap) would help a great deal, you just keep all your audio files on it - leave Cubase on the C drive.

Also, check that Ultra DMA transfer is enabled rather than PIO on the hard drives.
 
garry...

I have 2 hard drives. 1st one- c: has 40GB in which 30GB are free. I have cubase installed on it. 2nd HD- D: has 10GB which all 10 are full with back ups from former systems before formating. the thing is that the 2nd hard drive is older than the 1st and I think that it also slower that's why I preffer not working with it. you think that if I'll add another partition on my C drive it will help?

and by the way.. my DMA is indeed enabled on both HDs.
 
Carma - a partition won't help - it's getting the bits of the disc and down the pipe (excuse my technical language:)) that matters - it's a physical hardware issue. If D drive is full then you only have one in effect - for the sake of a few tens of dollars I'd copy D's contents to C, get rid of D and replace it with a new 80 or 120 drive. Your total HD capacity anyway is very low by music standards (for example I bought Drumkit From Hell and Garritan Personal Orchestra recently - my new 80GB drive now has only 28% free space! - DFH alone is 35GB)
 
warble...
if your asking if the red light on the dongle is flickering or unstable.. then it stable and am having no problem with it... thank god :)

garry...
first of all... I think your right about the HD capacity, I really dont have enough even even when not comparing to music standards. you really think that if I'll install a new 80 GB HD it will fix the problem? hopefully.. :)
ok.. now let's say I've installed it.. should I install cubase anew onto that hard drive? how should I arrange my system? use that HD for Windows?
sorry for the stupid questions.. but as far as system management goes I'm a total know-nothing :)
an thanks again for your time and patience :)
 
If you get a new hard drive, I would keep Cubase on your existing drive, and then record the audio to the new drive. If you get a new drive, this shouldn't be an issue, but make sure to look and see that it runs at at least 7200 rpm.

Hard drive speed is a very important issue in recording. If you to to cram more information than the HD can handle, eventually it gets overloaded and will either crash or some sort of glitch will make itself known.

Can't gaurentee that is the answer to your problem, but it is my best guess from what you have said. Since it sounds like you could use a newer and bigger HD anyhow, I would start there.
 
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