PTLE 8.0.5 Win7 optimization/cpu issues

[halipino]

Hello everyone, been a very long time since my last DUC post.
Last year I built myself a new PC (Win 7 Pro 64 bit SP1) that I thought for sure would be a "rocket ship" for my recording efforts.

I know I am running old software but it should be stable enough.
Are there any optimization tips or threads here that can help me set up my PC and PTLE?

Are there any special things I need to do in the Setup? i.e preferences, playback engine (buffer, Host processors, CPU etc???)

I still have Pro Tools 8.0.5 with a DIGI002 Control Surface and time and time again I keep getting errors saying there is not enough CPU power (loose translation, sorry no error codes to share at the moment).

I have an AMD FX-8150 Eight core 3.6GHz CPU and 16GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 550 Ti, yet I still get error messages with sometimes less than 5 plugins? Not good....



Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance!
:)

[mjslakeridge]

For recording, select a small buffer size to reduce latency. For mixing, a large buffer size. However this should not affect your errors regarding not enough CPU power. Assign 7 cores to RTAS plugins. You definitely have a problem. As you can see from my signature I am running an AMD 6 core with a crappy motherboard and even older version of PT and I have been able to achieve over 300 plug ins (when running the Dverb2 test). Maybe try posting a Sandra report so members can have a look at your system.

[halipino]

Thank you mjslakeridge, yes indeed I have assigned to 7 cores and 512 samples right now based on a thread I read many months ago.

Yes this is not correct, this is the 4th PC I have used and never had a problem like this even running PTLE6, (except when running BFD on an older machine that barley made the compato list...).

Ok here is my SiSoftware Sandra report, hope this helps. Thank you.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


ID
Host Name : PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : GigaByte GA-990FXA-UD3
Chassis : GigaByte Desktop
Mainboard : GigaByte GA-990FXA-UD3
BIOS : Award (OEM) F8 05/30/2012
Total Memory : 16GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : AMD FX(tm)-8150 Eight-Core Processor (4M 8T 3.93GHz/4.24GHz, 2.22GHz

IMC, 4x 2MB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : AM2r2/AM3

Chipset
Memory Controller : AMD F15 (Orochi) CPU HT Hub 2x 1.31GHz (2.63GHz), 2x 8GB DIMM DDR3

1.35GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1600C11 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-25 4-

33-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1600C11 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-25 4-

33-10-5)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : (Standard monitor types) Generic Non-PnP Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Hewlett Packard HP f1905
(1600x1200, 19.1")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (4CU 192SP SM5.0 2GHz, 1GB 4.51GHz, PCIe 2.00

x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (4CU 192SP SM5.0 2GHz, 1GB 4.51GHz, PCIe 2.00

x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (192SP 4C 2GHz, 1GB 4.51GHz)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (192SP 4C 2GHz, 1GB 4.51GHz)

Storage Devices
WDC WD1001FALS-00Y6A0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB Cache) : 932GB (C:)
Generic USB SD Reader (USB2) : N/A (G:)
Generic USB CF Reader (USB2) : N/A (H:)
Generic USB SM Reader (USB2) : N/A (I:)
Generic USB MS Reader (USB2) : N/A (J:)
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS90 (480.3MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 458MB (D:)
PHILIPS SPD6104P (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1001FALS-00Y6A0 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB

Cache)
Removable Drive (G:) : N/A @ Generic USB SD Reader (USB2)
Removable Drive (H:) : N/A @ Generic USB CF Reader (USB2)
Removable Drive (I:) : N/A @ Generic USB SM Reader (USB2)
Removable Drive (J:) : N/A @ Generic USB MS Reader (USB2)
Audio CD (D:) : 0bytes (CDFS) @ HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS90 (480.3MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW,

2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ PHILIPS SPD6104P (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ATI (AMD) IXP SB600/700/800 SMBUS Controller
LPC Hub Controller 2 : ATI (AMD) SB700/800 LPC host controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8720F
Audio Device : Gigabyte IXP SB600 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : EVGA GF116 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Gigabyte SB700/800 SATA Controller [IDE mode]
Disk Controller : Gigabyte SB700/800 IDE
Disk Controller : Gigabyte 88SE9172 SATA III 6Gb/s RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB OHCI0 Controller
USB Controller 2 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB EHCI Controller
USB Controller 3 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB OHCI0 Controller
USB Controller 4 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB EHCI Controller
USB Controller 5 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB OHCI2 Controller
USB Controller 6 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB OHCI0 Controller
USB Controller 7 : Gigabyte SB700/800 USB EHCI Controller
USB Controller 8 : Gigabyte Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Gigabyte VIA VT6308 1394 OHCI Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : ATI SB800 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Adobe PDF Converter (4000x4000, Colour)

Peripherals

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.9

[mjslakeridge]

From what I can tell, (I'm no expert) you only have one hard drive. Avid recommends that audio be recorded to a drive separate from the drive the operating system and Pro Tools. Do you have a spare 7,200 rpm drive you could install and designate as the audio drive? Also, make sure you don't have "turbo boost" or whatever it's called enabled for the CPU. Pro tools likes a stable speed for the cpu. You can set up a fixed overclock, but that shouldn't be necessary for that cpu. Good motherboard for that processor.

At the top of this page, click on "Search Knowledge Base" and enter "Pro Tools LE optimizations" and it should link to documents that describe other tweaks that are necessary.

[halipino]

lol, well I'm certainly no expert either but that should not matter too much (should it?) in my PT coming to a screeching halt. I have recorded 100's of hours on only 1 HD before without a hiccup on other builds.

The only time I really found it truly beneficial (at least noticeable) is when running BFD drums, all BFD files are on the 2nd drive.

:)

[mesaone]

Using a second drive for PT projects matters a whole lot. It's a cheap enough fix, too.

[halipino]

cool, will def fire up 2nd drive. Right now I am doing all the optimization techniques as suggested on this page, http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...rue#enable_dep

Enabled legacy FW driver, DEP and a few startup items etc... we will see what happens...

Any other tricks are certainly welcome, will keep you posted on how this goes.

[albee1952]

More to consider:
Yes, add a second drive, and don't skimp. WD Caviar BLACK are a top choice(WD blue, green, red are an awful choice).

Most motherboards are capable of dual-channel RAM. That requires even numbers of matching sticks(so you might get a boost if you get another IDENTICAL stick of 8GB RAM).

I could be wrong, but I thought it was not a good idea to mix nVidia graphics on an AMD system(comments welcome). Wonder if an ATI card would help

VIA firewire controllers are often a "no go" with audio. Maybe adding an approved FW card would help

Right-click on the PT icon(on the desktop) and select Properties. Then find the tab with these 2 items:
Always Run as Admin
Disable Desktop Composition
Check BOTH of these.

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I could be wrong, but I thought it was not a good idea to mix nVidia graphics on an AMD system(comments welcome).

I believe mixing and matching (in this case) is fine... AMD graphics cards are not supported, though.

[halipino]

Thank you guys for all your help so far...
Right now I have the playback engine set to 7 processors and 512 samples.
Are there better settings I should be aware of in general?

I took a screen shot and sent as attachment.
:)