CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Hello Everyone,

I recently upgraded my home studio setup (interface and computer) and upgrade to Pro Tools 2020.12.0.

As you can see in my signature, my computer should be quite capable of handling demanding session.

I had a Precision T3610 before and could run large session without getting into too much trouble with CPU in pro tools 10.

I tried all the recommended Windows settings and tweaks to optimize my computer, but I still have CPU peaks with only three tracks. It results in audible audio clicks.

I attached a screenshot of the peak in the systeme usage windows. The general CPU is peaking while the core usage is pretty low on all core. It seems odd to me.

What I am missing or doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Here is the Sandra report:

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : DESKTOP-F84NES2
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Dell Precision T7610
Serial Number : 7XG****
Chassis : Dell Tower
Mainboard : Dell 0NK70N
Serial Number : /7XGGS12/CN7************
BIOS : Dell A18 09/11/2019
Intel vPro : 8.1.72.3002
NUMA Support : 2 Unit(s)
Total Memory : 128GB ECC DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz (12C 24T 2.7GHz, 2.7GHz IMC, 12x 256kB L2, 30MB L3)
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz (12C 24T 2.7GHz, 2.7GHz IMC, 12x 256kB L2, 30MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA2011

Chipset
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) DMI2 100MHz
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Intel Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 1 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Intel Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 1 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACR AL2021
(1600x1200, ACER
, 20.2")
Monitor/Panel : CHD PMOS320-IQC-1 (2560x1440, 31.5")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.5 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 10GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.5 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)

Graphics Processor
CUDA : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.1 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
OpenCL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM1.2 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM12.1 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2 (8GB)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2 (8GB)

Storage Devices
Disk : Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 7200rpm)
Disk : Seagate ST31000333AS (1TB, SATA300, 7200rpm)
Disk : WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 20000rpm, 32MB Cache)
Disk : Samsung SSD 860 QVO 2TB (2TB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD, OPAL)
Disk : Seagate ST2000LM007-1R8174 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Optical : HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GTA0N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Logical Storage Devices
Backup_2 (G:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 7200rpm)
Data Mat (D:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST31000333AS (1TB, SATA300, 7200rpm)
Backup_1 (E:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 20000rpm, 32MB Cache)
Hard Disk (C:) : 2TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 860 QVO 2TB (2TB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD, OPAL)
HD backup (H:) : 2TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST2000LM007-1R8174 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GTA0N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller #1 : Dell Patsburg LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller #1 : T1 08-00
Audio Device : Gigabyte GP104 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0083
Audio Device : 6656 Universal Audio UAD-2 QUAD
Serial Port(s) : 2
Disk Controller : Dell Patsburg IDE-r Controller
Disk Controller : Dell Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Dell SAS2208 PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS-2
USB Controller #1 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller #2 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller #3 : Dell uPD720201 USB 3.0 Host Controller
USB Controller #4 : Renesas Tech uPD720201 USB 3.0 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller #1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #2 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #3 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #4 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #5 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #6 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #7 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #8 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #9 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft Software Printer Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Print To PDF (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Brother Laser Leg Type1 Class Driver (1200x1200)
Printer : Brother MFC-490CW (600x600, Colour)

Biometrics
Voice : Analog NUI Voice Virtual Sensor (Voice)

Peripherals
Media Player : Seagate Expansion (1.82TB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Network Connection (Ethernet)
Network Adapter : Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Ethernet, 100Mbps)
Wireless Adapter : Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 10.0.19042
Platform Compliance : x64

Performance Enhancing Tips
Warning 2513 : TPM not detected. Some security features are unavailable.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

You have CPU meter peaks??? Or you have actual Pro Tools AAE CPU errors. What exact errors? If you are not getting actual errors just ignore what the meters are doing.

If you are getting actual errors you likely need to troubleshooting plugins, with CPU issues you need to always suspect plugins. Suspect plugins even if you are not using any in your sessions. This has been discussed in thousands of posts on DUC. You can search for any of those to get you started (start with moving all .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folders).

There are also lots of recent discussion on DUC about Windows CPU affinity settings with Windows. You can try those as well.

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

I would also check the ignore error box to ON as we have had that checkmaried for 10 years. Just worth a try. And set the disc cache to atleast 75% of your total RAM amount.

And f you dont use video un-check the video engine

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Not sure I agree with Christopher on how much disk cache to set, but I definitely would set it to an amount other than "Normal". 5-6GB is plenty for music(but go larger for orchestral or post work). Mine is set to 6GB and its never full(my work is all pop/rock/country songs):-)

More to consider:
Disk : Samsung SSD 860 QVO 2TB (2TB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD, OPAL)
Disk : Seagate ST2000LM007-1R8174 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Optical : HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GTA0N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Re the Samsung QVO: be careful with this drive and DO have anything on it backed up. I had the 1TB version and it summarily dumped data a few times before I sent it back to Samsung. They updated the firmware and its been okay since then, but having been burned(and not properly backed up), its something to be aware of.

Re the Seagate: Since its 5400 rpm, its too slow for anything other than backup, and I would recommend it be disconnected when you are running Pro Tools(at least to troubleshoot the current issue).

Re the DVD drive: just make sure there is no disk in the drive when running Pro Tools(having any disk in the drive is very likely to cause sluggish/bad performance in Pro Tools):o

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

As Darryl mentioned, try Processor Affinity.

You also need to run LatencyMon to find out if/what is causing the spikes and audio issues.

Have a look here and here.

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Thanks for your replies. I didn't receive any email notification though.

I do not have CPU errors, I have CPU peaks that generate click and audio drops when recording and playback. It is worse when recording. I got those clicks even with a 256 samples setting.

I try to set the cache settings between 75% and 85%. Didn't do anything.

It a fresh Pro Tools install (so only stock plugins) and I didn't set any plugin in the session.

The video engin is disabled.

The seagate drive is juste a backup drive. I removed it to be sure.

No disk in the DVD drive.

"You also need to run LatencyMon to find out if/what is causing the spikes and audio issues."

I'm not sure, how do I perform a "LatencyMon"?

I'll check The Weeds' RME UFX procedure when I'm back in the studio.

It looks like the culprit could be the Graphic card.

Thanks everyone so far.


Updated Sandra report after removing some unwanted parts:

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : DESKTOP-F84NES2
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Dell Precision T7610
Serial Number : 7XG****
Chassis : Dell Tower
Mainboard : Dell 0NK70N
Serial Number : /7XGGS12/CN7************
BIOS : Dell A18 09/11/2019
Intel vPro : 8.1.72.3002
NUMA Support : 2 Unit(s)
Total Memory : 128GB ECC DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz (12C 2.7GHz, 2.7GHz IMC, 12x 256kB L2, 30MB L3)
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz (12C 2.7GHz, 2.7GHz IMC, 12x 256kB L2, 30MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA2011

Chipset
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) DMI2 100MHz
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Intel Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 1 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Dell Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit
Memory Controller : Intel Core3E (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 1 Target Address/Thermal 100MHz, 2x 2GB ECC DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : HMT42GR7AFR4C-RD 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACR AL2021
(1600x1200, ACER
, 20.2")
Monitor/Panel : CHD PMOS320-IQC-1 (2560x1440, 31.5")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.5 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 10GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.5 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)

Graphics Processor
CUDA : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM6.1 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
OpenCL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM1.2 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (2560S 20C SM12.1 1.63GHz/1.77GHz, 2MB L2, 8GB 9GHz/10GHz 256-bit)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2 (8GB)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2 (8GB)

Storage Devices
Disk : Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 7200rpm)
Disk : Seagate ST31000333AS (1TB, SATA300, 7200rpm)
Disk : WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 20000rpm, 32MB Cache)
Disk : Samsung SSD 860 QVO 2TB (2TB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD, OPAL)
Optical : HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GTA0N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Logical Storage Devices
Backup_2 (G:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 7200rpm)
Data Mat (D:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST31000333AS (1TB, SATA300, 7200rpm)
Backup_1 (E:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 20000rpm, 32MB Cache)
Hard Disk (C:) : 2TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 860 QVO 2TB (2TB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD, OPAL)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GTA0N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller #1 : Dell Patsburg LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller #1 : T1 08-00
Audio Device : Gigabyte GP104 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0083
Audio Device : 6656 Universal Audio UAD-2 QUAD
Serial Port(s) : 2
Disk Controller : Dell Patsburg IDE-r Controller
Disk Controller : Dell Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Dell SAS2208 PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS-2
USB Controller #1 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller #2 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller #3 : Dell uPD720201 USB 3.0 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller #1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #2 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #3 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #4 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #5 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #6 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #7 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #8 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller #9 : Intel MCP3-E(P) XMB Ch 1 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft Software Printer Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Print To PDF (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Brother Laser Leg Type1 Class Driver (1200x1200)
Printer : Brother MFC-490CW (600x600, Colour)

Biometrics
Voice : Analog NUI Voice Virtual Sensor (Voice)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Network Connection (Ethernet)
Network Adapter : Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 10.0.19042
Platform Compliance : x64

Performance Enhancing Tips
Warning 2513 : TPM not detected. Some security features are unavailable.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Take a look at this Presonus article on Optimizing Your Computer for Audio Windows 10 to see if it helps.

I’d also pay attention to your power settings. Here is another Presonus article on Pops-and-Clicks-on-Windows-10-with-Quantum-and-StudioLive-Series-III-.


If that doesn’t work, you may want to open a ticket with Presonus to see if they can help you troubleshoot the issue.

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Uncheck "ignore errors" while troubleshooting. It will mask/hinder solving any problems. You hopefully will get a DAE error then instead of clicks and pops... then solve for thats DAE error.

It's a fresh pro tools install? What does that mean?

Were there any past Pro Tools installs? Or any third party plugins you have installed for for other DAWs? They will often install .aaxplugin files which any new Pro Tools install will just load. If there is any possibility of this you should do the test or moving all .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder and let Pro Tools put back the default plugins.

Pay attention to all the usual Windows optimization things, double check you have done all of them, including all the BIOS settings, cstate etc., then especially do the CPU priority and affinity tweeks which are not usually on the Avid optimization lists but are well discussed on DUC recently.

You are not trying to run at a very high sample rate are you?

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Hi,

I followed all the instruction from presonus. Nothing helps so far.

Thanks anyway.



Envoyé de mon SM-G973F en utilisant Tapatalk

Re: CPU peak in simple session with 24 cores and 128 gB ram
 

Hi Darryl,

I'm running 48khz, 24 bits sessions.

By fresh install of Pro Tools I meant there never was any Pro Tools on this machine and I didn't add any plugins. I was just starting messing with the I/O settings in order to get use to my new Presonus Studiolive 24r.

I have Presonus Studio One installed though...I'll try to see if this could be a problem as they may share some plugins even if I didn't use Studio One until now.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,



Envoyé de mon SM-G973F en utilisant Tapatalk