Crappy results on the Dave C test

[spookster]

I finally got around to doing the Dave C test. After reading everyone's high track counts, my results were dissapointing to say the least. I've always thought that I should be getting a lot better performance out of my system than I've been getting.

My results
-10 tracks
-eMac 700 Mhz G4 processor
-640 MB of RAM
-80 gig OWC with 911 chipset firewire drive
-M-box

I think that only ten tracks is a bit of a joke. It's not like I have a powerhouse system, but I should be getting better performance than I did. I also tried running the test from my system drive and I got the same results. What do you guys/gals think?

[GORILLA]

Spookster!!!
You in OS 9 or OSX?
You may already have these settings if not try setting monitors to Thousands not millions.
If your in OSX you NEED MORE RAM!!!!! 640mb isn't much in OSX. Max it out to 1.5 Ghz of ram.
In OSX make a new user and on that user only have the bare essentials and PTLE. In OS9 make a new extension with only PTLE and the bare essentials.
In OS9 allocate more memory to DAE. Sorry, I can't remember the exact numbers. But, don't over due it either. Keep the minimum the same!!
These may help, if your in OSX and OS 9.

[spookster]

Thanks Gorrilla, I'm in 0S9. I've already created an extention set just for PT with the bare essentials. Or what I think are the bare essentials. I've allocated 200 MB's of RAM to PT and the DAE, and left the minimums the same. When I ran the test, I didn't have the monitor settings on thousands. I'll try that and get back to you. Also two 512 chips of RAM are the max for the eMac. It only has two slots. But I've been meaning to max that out, I should do that, RAM is cheap.

So do you agree that 10 tracks with the Dave C test is pretty low?

Thanks again!

[Chris Coleman]

In OS9, you actually want your screen set to 256 colors rather than thousands. Also, make sure you're memory control panel settings are correct (512k disk cache, virtual memory off, RAM disk off) and that sleep/energy saver is turned to Never. Also, just in case you've never heard so, you should be recording to a separate audio drive (though I think you're already doing this...).

[spookster]

I tried the test with the colors set to thousands, 256, and grays. I got the exact same results with each setting. My RAM shouldn't be an issue (by the way, I mispoke in the previous post, I've got 250 MB of RAM allocated to the DAE and 200 MB allocated to PT) because with PT, DAE, and the OS running, I've still got over 130 MB left of RAM just sitting there doing nothing. So I've got extra RAM yet if I need it. I don't know what the deal is. I just feel that with my setup, I should be getting way better performance. I know people with G3's that get better performance than I do. This has been an issue ever since I got this computer. I think I just need to tweek some settings differently. Any more help from anyone out there is greatly appreciated. It could just be something simple that I've been overlooking. Thaks again folks.

[Egghd]

I get 7 on my G3 iMac 400. It seems you would do better than 10.

[Larryboy]

You should also reduce the amount of time allotted to recording under (I think) operations. i got an extra track just by setting it to a resonable amount, like ten minutes. It comes set to infinity.