CPU Usage Spike

[pinstripeninjas]

Hey, I'm a new user so sorry if I botch this. Several months back I built a new Windows 10 PC and have been battling usage issues where the CPU meter will run at ~70% and spike to 100% with relatively little load. This occurs with only one instrument track record enabled and one plugin (Superior Drummer 3, Kontakt, Omnisphere 2 -- they all perform similarly).

It will also occur with only one audio track record enabled and one plugin (i.e. BIAS FX).

I'm running the buffer at 64 samples because I want to reduce latency as much as possible. I experience similar results with both interfaces I have tried (UA Apollo Twin and Focusrite Scarlett 2i2). I have also tried other DAWs with no improvements.

All software is up to date. This horrible performance seems ridiculous to me with a brand new PC. From what I can gather, I just happened to select a bad combination of processor/motherboard/RAM/SSD drive for this type of application. Before I launch it off the top floor of a 20-story building, any thoughts on what I can try to salvage the situation? I've tried disabling hyper-threading in the BIOS, which did not help.

If I have to replace some of the hardware, what would be the simplest solution to guarantee the performance I'm looking for? Thanks!!!

Specs: i7-8700k 6-core 3.7GHz, MSI Z370 mobo, 32GB RAM, Crucial MX500 SSD

[The Weed]

Look at the "Help Us Help You" link at the top of each page and at this thread.

We need more information, like a SisoftSandra report.

[albee1952]

And, you probably should review all the required system tweaks. I agree that your system SHOULD be performing better. Other things to check:
BIOS tweaks
no disk in your optical drive?
What drive are you recording to(and is it fast enough)?
Is RAM installed in the correct slots?

Pretty much all amp sim plugins are resource hogs and I assume BIAS is much the same(but having said that, I can run 3-4 instances of Guitar Rig on my system without issue). Kontact's usage is dependent on which instrument is loaded(so try a few). For me, I tend to do a lot of tracking with other VI's that are easier on the rig. Once I get the midi tweaked, I will swap to the desired VI and commit the track(like using MiniGrand to get the final piano arrangement/performance, then swap to KeyScape and commit. If you do go swapping major components, I recommend NOT using ASUS motherboards at this time(Gigabyte is a solid brand). I can't comment on the Z370 chipset, but the chipset is often the "make or break" item for compatibility. Posting a Sandra Lite report will help the experts diagnose

[Darryl Ramm]

What exact AAE errors are you getting?

Workout how to use track freeze and commit especially on VI tracks, that will at least help you for now.

Session sample rate is?

If 64 sample IO buffer just won’t hack it just try larger for a while and see if that works for you. Lots of people track at larger buffer sizes.

As others have suggested get every last optimization done... and post a SiSoft Sandra report, and indicate which disk partitions in that report are being used for audio/sessions and VI samples.

Is disk cache enabled = set to a size, several GB?

Make sure “ignore errors” is not checked? That increases latency.

Have you tried trashing prefs?

You need to work through the standard troubleshooting, including things like removing all .aaxplugin files and just testing with standard plugins, adding back one badly behaving plugin at a time. Yes even plugins you have installed but not using can toast your system. Test with new empty session. From a new admin account, etc. Trashing pefs frequently as you try stuff.

If you have a UA Apollo Twin that opens up some other options for low-latency tracking and monitoring, if you can live within the console DSP limits of the Twin.

[pinstripeninjas]

Thanks for the responses. I'll try some of your suggestions and also get a SiSoft Sandra report.

Currently I'm recording to the SSD, but the VI's are installed on a secondary HDD. Session settings are 24/48k.

I've tried running the buffer at 128, which obviously has better performance, but I find that minor latency unsettling when tracking guitars through the amp sim.