Laptop Pro Tools users at 100% CPU load - UNITE!

[rgorka09]

Folks,
What is your CPU Useage Level set to in Pro Tools?

Thanks.

Digi ETS

I have tried numerous CPU settings in PTLE with the same result...

Sounds like a firmware issue to me...Why? I have read that people have the same problem when using digi hardware as a soundcard, such as when playing windows media player.

I built an Allenstein cause the P4M sucked so bad... Did I mention my p4m is recommended by DIGI? (Gateway 450 laptop)

-Gorka

[Allen Hallada]

I have tried numerous CPU settings in PTLE with the same result...

Sounds like a firmware issue to me...Why? I have read that people have the same problem when using digi hardware as a soundcard, such as when playing windows media player.

I built an Allenstein cause the P4M sucked so bad... Did I mention my p4m is recommended by DIGI? (Gateway 450 laptop)

-Gorka

Gorka,
After owning Macs now for the past 2 years it is obvious to me that Mac owners and the Apple company has different view points on what is normal fan noise and what is not. If you want to see some funny threads check out the support pages for the new G5s at the www.apple.com site. Especially the new buzzing iMac G5.
Maybe when you are running the computer in a separate control room, noise is not that important, but when it is in the same room that you are trying to record in, it is really important. This is true for most laptop owners.

I would love to see an explanation from Digi on what exactly Digi qualified means and what the protocol has been in selecting which systems get tested and which ones don't. I would really like to know why there was extensive testing performed on the iMac G5 within months of its release, but the AMD 64 systems still haven't been qualified in over a year from their release. I use both and I can tell you the AMD 64 far outperforms the iMac G5 for recording purposes and does it much quieter also. How about developing some excitement around the next great release in the PC world? I'm not a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates fan and personally don't care if they are both out to suck money from consumers (which they do very well). I do care about the quality of computers that are used for recording here though and don't understand how an iMac G5, that is one of the most problematic computers ever released by Apple, passed qualifications as a recording computer to be used in a studio. Of the six iMac G5s I purchased in the last 4 months , 4 of them required a full midplane replacement, and when that G5 processor is stressed just a little, the fans rev up louder than is acceptable in any studio. The G5 processor runs at idle at over 50C on air and when stressed just a little it runs over 60C. Now that puts excessive heat on the other internal components including the hard drive as well as requiring the fans to run at full speed to keep it cool.

The AMD 64 processors run around 34C at idle and rarely go above 37C on air cooling when stressed. This allows for much less cooling required and much less noise. With the new Zalman heatsinks these can virtually run silent now and much more stable.

Is Digi threatened by the power of the new AMD processors now that they are closing in the gap toward the HD1? I hope not or the competition will eat them up.
Anyone at Digi care to explain the lack of research and support on the Windows platform even after the thousands of PC customers that have joined? I'd really appreciate it.

Allen

[Shan]

DITTO!!!

to the above statement.

And now that we're on the subject Digi, you might want to follow your AMD beta testers on this thread and this thread.

Those two threads are where the research and support on the Windows platform is.

Read them from top to bottom. Very carefuly. That gap that Allen mentioned is already closed as far as I'm concerned.

Now get some sleep bro. It's 3am

Shane

[rgorka09]

Is Digi threatened by the power of the new AMD processors now that they are closing in the gap toward the HD1? I hope not or the competition will eat them up.
Anyone at Digi care to explain the lack of research and support on the Windows platform even after the thousands of PC customers that have joined? I'd really appreciate it.

Allen

Allen,
I don't know if Digi is threatened...but maybe ignorant!!

I've posed the question "Does Pro Tools have a Bright Future?" in this forum with this idea in mind. What happens when multicore processors are here...AND OTHER AUDIO SOFTWARE PROGRAMS START TO SUPPORT THEM. Will Digi slit its' own throat (killing the HD line monopoly power) to support mulicore chips too?

Or, will digi continue to ignore the situation? Could Digi and Pro Tools go the way of General Motors in the 1980's...

-Gorka

[Digi ETS]

Thanks, Gorka.

We're investigating this today. One more question: Is the sole result of the CPU load at 100% constant fan noise? Are you seeing other issues as a result of the CPU load?

Thanks.

Digi ETS

[Digi ETS]

Hi,
Here's some products on what we are looking at on the AMD platform:

Dual Opteron Tyan-based system
IBM A-Pro dual Opteron
AMD Sempron based laptop (Acer)
AMD Athlon based laptop (Acer)
Asus A8V Deluxe (VIA K8T800 Pro) based system running an Athlon 64 3800+
Asus SK8V (VIA K8T800) based system running an Athlon 64 FX-53
MSI K8N Neo2 Platnium running Athlon 64 3500+

All of these machines are being tested now. We hope to announce support shortly. We decide which machines (or more specifically motherboards/chipsets) to support based on user input, DUC threads like this, reviews and input from AMD.

Please note that we have a good relationship with AMD and Intel, and will continue to expand our support.

Thanks.

Digi ETS

[Digi ETS]

OK. I am seeing the CPU Load at 100% as well on a Thinkpad T43 (Sonoma chipset), though I am NOT hearing the fan spinning at full throttle. Regardless, we understand that it is an issue. More news soon.

Thanks.

Digi ETS

[hjorte]

Thanks for joining this thread, Digi ETS. I'm glad you can reproduce the problem inhouse and i will be looking forward to have this resolved. If you need any reports or feedback just ask.

My laptop doesn't have other performance related issues as a result of the CPU load. Funny thing is that it doesn't seem to slow it down doing other things with the computer while PTLE is running. But the heat DOES build up quickly as a result of the 100% load, which leads the fans to switch on in a matter of seconds after PTLE launch. And the components inside the laptop will eventually become hotter as a result of this constant 100% load - fans or no fans. Li-ion batteries and hard drives suffer the most from this.

Hopefully, this 100% load is an unnecessary feature of PTLE. Heat kills in the long run.. and we could do without the fan noise.

/Henrik

[Allen Hallada]

Hi,
Here's some products on what we are looking at on the AMD platform:

Dual Opteron Tyan-based system
IBM A-Pro dual Opteron
AMD Sempron based laptop (Acer)
AMD Athlon based laptop (Acer)
Asus A8V Deluxe (VIA K8T800 Pro) based system running an Athlon 64 3800+
Asus SK8V (VIA K8T800) based system running an Athlon 64 FX-53
MSI K8N Neo2 Platnium running Athlon 64 3500+

All of these machines are being tested now. We hope to announce support shortly. We decide which machines (or more specifically motherboards/chipsets) to support based on user input, DUC threads like this, reviews and input from AMD.

Please note that we have a good relationship with AMD and Intel, and will continue to expand our support.

Thanks.

Digi ETS

I appreciate the response here. Here are some thoughts on this selection:

The SK8V is discontinued actually so I don't see the benefit of this one. I've never seen one used with PTLE anyways. The most popular motherboard is the K8V SE Deluxe and soon to be DFI 250 GB nForce 3 motherboard. These are also our best performers at the time.
I'm glad the A8V is on the list though and I hope that the A8V-E is added also. The others I really see no beneifit with PTLE, especially the Sempron list. Dual Opterons may be interesting, if anyone can afford them.
Glad to hear Digi is at least testing some AMD products. My suggestion would be to add the DFI and K8V boards to that list.
I'm also happy to see some testing on the Acer laptops although I see no mention of the chipset. We have some Acers that work and some that don't.
Thanks for responding.
Allen

[AvidCS]

Our Engineering Department has provided us with the following information regarding the 100% CPU issue;

This is an intentional process used to disable processor stepping on certain laptops.

As part of its advanced power management features, the Windows XP operating system can slow the CPU clock frequency on certain processors (usually laptops) to conserve power (battery management). The clock speed adjustment happens automatically and without any warning to the user. This feature is also popularly known as SpeedStep (Intel CPUs), PowerNow (AMD CPUs), and CPU throttle (Microsoft). This changing clock frequency causes various performance problems for ProTools. The specific manifestation of this problem appears to be machine specific.

In order to provide solid laptop performance, upon Pro Tools launch, we check the registry to see if there is a "laptop processor" in the system. If there is, we run the processor at 100% and disable the step down processes. One unfortunate offshoot of this is that some laptop manufacturers decide to crank their fans on all the time if they sense this....yet others don't.