HELP! CPU overload!

R

rdeboer

New member
Currently I encounter the strangest things..

Just a week ago my CPU suddenly overloads when I add fx to audio traxx.

When I monitor a track with VST Performance I see my CPU load go up in just a few seconds. This is after the song has been playing for say 2 minutes. This happens when I only have about 6 stereo audio traxx running...

I tried a different driver for my Yamaha DS2416 card. Tried it in ASIO and in DirectX mode. Nothing works. Also when I lower my audio buffer in Audio setup nothing happens.

Anyone got an idea?

I use an AMD 1,4 Ghz processor with a Gigabyte motherboard and 512 MB DDR. I use RAMIdle and Powertweak to manage and optimize my hardware...

Thank for your help!

Ryan
 
Nope, not that I know of.

Once I encountered the problem I de-installed several tweak uitilties. Did didn't work also.

Most of my VST plug-ins are freeware. There's one reverb plugin I use for my reverbs (RGC Audio reverb) which works via DirectX. I tried the DirectX driver for my card but this also doesn't work.

I plan on buying the TC/Native Bundle pack to get rid of all the freeware plugins, however if that doesn't solve my problem either I spent lots of $$ without solving the problem.

Also I wnat to buy a Pulsar II instead of the Yamaha card and take the load of my pc that way.....

But for now I can't finish my songs which I before could finish with the same plugins:confused:

Ryan
 
What's your CPU load when your computer is "idle"? Maybe it's time for a re-installation of windows, as it tends to age and get a bigger "backpack" for each day passing. Also, maybe you have a virus that's increasing CPU load.
 
When I first start Cubase the CPU load is 20%. I recently (2 months now) bought a new motherboard and re-installed Windows completely and also did a format of the hard drive.

I do have a virus checker (Norton) and it says nothing about any virus. Should I perform a complete check of my system?

I know now that when I mute the audio traxx. Nothing happens to the cpu load. When I turn on the audio traxx after say 2 minutes my cpu can handle the audio traxx. When I turn it on two audio traxx are playing.

Could it be the usage of several DIFFERENT plugins, ie. reverb, delay, flanger from different manufacturers?? I'm completely dazzled at the moment. I tried several other options like lowering my ASIO buffer, optimizing, changing the audio buffer size, etc.

Any comments?
 
Have you updated your virus definition file lately, i.e. in the last couple of weeks? If not, it's pretty much useless. You should definetly perform a complete virus scan, after having updated your virus definition file.

One setting that you may want to check is HDD DMA. If DMA is not checked, your processor has to spen lots of power on handling the HDD transfer.

How many tracks and plugins are we talking here? Many plugins equlas much CPU load although I doubt that using different manufacturers' plugins would make a difference, apart from that some are more CPU hungry than others.

When you mute a track, the computer stops processing it so it doesn't spend power on things you dont hear.
 
I had a problem that was quite a bit like this one not too long ago when I "upgraded" to DirectX 8.0a in order to play a new game. I ended up having to revert to DirectX 7. Maybe you were using DX7 before your computer upgrade?
 
Yep,

The ds216 does have onbard fx, however they're quite difficult to use. That's why I wnat to get rid of the card and by me a Pulsar.

For now I'm looking for a user friendly solution that won't eat up my CPU.
 
Eurythmic said:
I had a problem that was quite a bit like this one not too long ago when I "upgraded" to DirectX 8.0a in order to play a new game. I ended up having to revert to DirectX 7. Maybe you were using DX7 before your computer upgrade?
Click to expand...

That might be THE cause of the problem I experience. It's true I recently bought a PC game which required DX8.0a. After that my CPU overloaded.

It drove me completely crazy so I decided this weekend to completely format my HDD and re-install all tools. I also installed DX8 again. Haven't tried my system though.

Can you tell me how I can revert to DX7.0? I believe there are some freeware tools that can do that.

Thanks for the tip!

Cheers,

Ryan
 
ola said:
Have you updated your virus definition file lately, i.e. in the last couple of weeks? If not, it's pretty much useless. You should definetly perform a complete virus scan, after having updated your virus definition file.
Click to expand...

I formatted my hard drive and re-installed all software except Norton. I'm not sure wether I will do that. If I do Norton will update automatically and perform a complete scan of my DAW.

One setting that you may want to check is HDD DMA. If DMA is not checked, your processor has to spen lots of power on handling the HDD transfer. [/B]
Click to expand...


I already did that. Thnx!

How many tracks and plugins are we talking here? Many plugins equlas much CPU load although I doubt that using different manufacturers' plugins would make a difference, apart from that some are more CPU hungry than others. [/B]
Click to expand...


As Eurythmic mentioned earlier it might be that the problem is DX8.0a. I read on the Steinberg site that there are some difficulties with certain audio cards. Never thought of that again since my CPU overloaded. Haven't tried it yet though. Anyway, I used two traxx at the same time processing reverb, delay and a flanger. Nothing special.

When you mute a track, the computer stops processing it so it doesn't spend power on things you dont hear. [/B]
Click to expand...


That's the strange part, cause when I mute a track the CPU meter does not go back but stays at that percentage... Wen I turn it on it goes further up....
 
The program that I used to get rid of DX8.0a is called DirectX Buster. I don't have the URL for it, but if you do a search on Yahoo you're sure to find it.

From that same webpage, they have links for downloading pretty much every version of DirectX, ever.

But keep in mind, Microsoft doesn't want you removing DirectX at any time. They say that all versions of DirectX are fully backwards compatible (ha!), so you should never need to. But because of this, DirectX Buster is not fully guaranteed.

I can tell you that it worked perfectly on my computer, though - except that I had to reinstall my gameport driver afterwards. And the CPU utilization in my recording software went right down to normal.
 
Question for Ola -

I have seen the recommendation to check DMA on your HD many times. I have two HD's in my system, an older 5400rpm 4.5Gb IBM, and a relatively new 7200rpm 20Gb IBM deskstar.

In Control Panel I can not find a DMA checkbox for the IBM deskstar (for info., it is an ATA-100 drive on a Highpoint controller built into the MOBO).

On the older HD there is a DMA checkbox, but I get a pop-up warning message when I try to check the box (and since this drive has my operating system on it, I am concerned about checking it). This drive is on the standard IDE controller on the MOBO.

Any suggestions?
 
Check DMA for the older disc as well. The warning message is out of date. I have never had problems with DMA but keep in mind that if DMA is enabled (checked) for one device on the IDE bus, both devices on that IDE bus must be DMA compatible, which everything is nowadays. I'm sure that the last statement isn't tru but I have yet to see a fairly new (a couple of years old) IDE device that isn't DMA compatible. There are e.g. CD-devices that are not DMA compatible. So, if you have a CD on the same IDE bus as that 5400rpm drive, check if there's a DMA checkbox for that as well. If not, you may want to move it (the CD) to another IDE bus just to be sure.

As for the newer HDD not having a DMA checkbox. Dunno. Maybe it's automatic with that IDE bus. Maybe you have a non DMA compatible device on the same bus and thus the DMA is disabled for all devices. I doubt that it's not DMA compatible.

/Ola
 
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