Current top of the line Windows Laptop for Protools

[CME]

Almost forgot to post here. I haven't done anything that would stress the system yet, but did carry it out to the truck and tweak a mix in the truck. Something I've always wanted to do. Seems as though the "car" test always shows you something you missed. Now I can tweak it before I finish. Haha.

And where are the rules for the current DVerb test? I tried to do a search and somehow couldn't find it.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by CME

And where are the rules for the current DVerb test? I tried to do a search and somehow couldn't find it.

It's in the first post of the i7 Build thread (scroll down):

http://duc.avid.com/archive/index.php/t-356304.html

Basically

This is a quick benchmark stress test that can be done in a few minutes.

EDIT: IT's New, It's Exciting! It's Dverb 2.0!

Always do a Dverb test after a fresh start up of the computer with a newly created session on your audio drive. Since the 5.X days, PT always seems to keep something in some type of cache that doesnt always clear. Hard to explain, but you'll notice it. Also, only do this with the stock Digi plug-ins in the plug-in folder. Do not have any other plug-ins installed or your test will vary. If you have already installed a load of plug-ins then move them to another folder except Dverb and the stock Digi plug-ins, and then do the test.

The Dverb 2.0 Test

Please make sure that RTAS Engine Ignore Errors During Playback/Record box is unchecked

Start the computer. Create a brand new 24bit/48k Session on your audio drive for the Dverb test. Open up the system usage window in PT. Then, go to Setup > Playback Engine... > and make sure the RTAS engine: Ignore Errors During Playback/Record(may cause clicks and pops) is NOT checked. Also, Go to your buffer setting and select 1024(CPU usage must be 95% or highest possible). Set up your time line ruler for Min:Secs. You want to be in grid mode and set up your grid for Min:Secs and 1 second. Create one mono audio track. Take the selector tool, put it on the 5 minute mark in your audio track and drag this to the start of your session. You will now have 5 minutes selected in this track. Go to AudioSuite > Other > Signal Generator and click on the "process" but. You should now see a 5 minute test tone. Create another audio track and insert 5 Dverbs in all the inserts. Record arm the Dverb track. Click on the track name so it is high lighted white, and hit shift+alt+D then hit enter. Record arm the new track and continue this pattern. You want to be able to record WITHOUT THE TEST TONE BREAKING UP!! Keep adding Dverbs and recording. If the test tone starts to breakup, then delete some Dverbs until you can hear a SOLID TEST TONE for 5 MINUTES. This is VERY VERY important. The test tone has to be 100% solid!!!

[CME]

Well here's my first results. They could probably be better with some more tweaking. And they may not be that good. But I got 385. The meter was hovering right around 93-100% but never heard any artifacts. Solid tone the whole 5 mins. I didn't remove my 3rd party plugs. And was also using the on-board sound. Not sure how much that affected my results. But overall I'm pleased with the performance.

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by CME

Well here's my first results. They could probably be better with some more tweaking. And they may not be that good. But I got 385. The meter was hovering right around 93-100% but never heard any artifacts. Solid tone the whole 5 mins. I didn't remove my 3rd party plugs. And was also using the on-board sound. Not sure how much that affected my results. But overall I'm pleased with the performance.

IF that is a quad core I7, that is not very good. That is the equivalent of the first generation I7 920. That being said, its still not terrible for a tracking machine and if its stable, thats worth a lot.

[guitardom]

I should add as comparison, on a 6700k downclocked to 4.0Ghz, PT 12.6, 64HW buffer, old digi 002r, I can do around 670 Dverbs.

[CME]

I will tweak some more. Remove 3rd party plugs. Use an actual interface and see where I can get to.

What scores are others getting with a laptop? Just out of curiosity?

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by CME

I will tweak some more. Remove 3rd party plugs. Use an actual interface and see where I can get to.

What scores are others getting with a laptop? Just out of curiosity?

If you tested with asio4all, it's terrible at low buffers

[JCBigler]

So I guess I'm not sure what the proper testing procedure is.

I'm getting about 295 DVerbs per test. I've tested both with 10 DVerbs per track and with 5 per track. and only as low as a 256 buffer. This is with my Focusrite Scarlet 18i20. When I did the test with DVS, I was getting about 129 DVerbs.

Do the drivers for the interface make a huge difference?

I do have all of my third party plugins installed. Does that make a big difference in the score?

And does it matter is I have the Disk Cache set to something other than the default?

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

So I guess I'm not sure what the proper testing procedure is.

I'm getting about 295 DVerbs per test. I've tested both with 10 DVerbs per track and with 5 per track. and only as low as a 256 buffer. This is with my Focusrite Scarlet 18i20. When I did the test with DVS, I was getting about 129 DVerbs.

Do the drivers for the interface make a huge difference?

I do have all of my third party plugins installed. Does that make a big difference in the score?

And does it matter is I have the Disk Cache set to something other than the default?

I start at 5 per track, max out the track count if possible, then start adding dverb 6 on each track and so on.

The low buffer is what really matters. That is simulating tracking. It will also show you if you have any DPC latencies and interrupts that will cause you problems. You likely wont see those at high buffers. I start at 64 buffer if possible, 128 if not.

I am working on a post for our website where I just tested a bunch of different interfaces on the same system and have some performance tests to post as well.

[JCBigler]

On the plus side, everything seems really stable so far. The only errors that I have had is Protools telling me I am running out of CPU power and to remove some Native plugins when I get up to about 300 DVerbs.

Haven't seen any other error messages so far, and I was able to track for hours with all 32 channels of I/O recording through DVS with no issues.