Upgrading PC processor question

Guitarjon

Guitarjon

Fractal Fanatic
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of getting a new processor for my PC because my daw can't seem to handle the amount of plugins that I'm running with big mix sessions.

I'm on windows 10 64 bit and I always use Cubase (8.5 at the moment).
The current processor that is in my PC is an Intel I5 4440.
It has a clock speed of 3.1ghz with a turbo boost to 3.3ghz.
I'm not a computer expert but a friend of mine helped with looking up what processor would fit on my current motherboard.
The best option seems to be the I7 4790K.
That one has a clock speed of 4.0ghz and at turbo it can reach 4.0ghz iirc.

Now, I've never upgraded my CPU before so this may be a bit of a newbie question but it's not a cheap investment so I have to make sure it will be worth it.
What kind of differences will I notice when the CPU is upgraded?
I'm expecting my daw to be able to handle more plugins without dropouts etc.
That's actually the main reason want to upgrade.

Will this upgrade make me happy? :)
 
I'm no computer expert but have built several personal PCs. The biggest difference you will notice is your programs run quicker and consistently better. It won't typically translate into being able to add more plugins, that would usually require more RAM. In my experience, the greatest improvement I've noticed is by increasing the RAM when upgrading a CPU. This may require a new motherboard but if you do a lot of recording, it would be well worth it.
 
It will make a difference but not an enormous one. Faster clock speed, larger cache, and hyper-threading support for 8 threads instead of 4. The CPU is only part of the equation though. How much RAM do you have and what speed is it? Your performance may be getting bottle-necked elsewhere. Those chips support max DDR3-1600 speed ram. If you are currently using DDR3-1333, it would be worth it to upgrade your memory first. Memory is relatively cheap. You might even look into replacing your MB to support a newer chip and DDR4 RAM. The CPU is the most expensive part, so for only a couple hundred bucks more you could upgrade everything and see a much bigger performance jump for your dollar. What MB are you currently using?
 
The biggest bringer for me was a RAM upgrade from 8 to 16GB and SSD instead of HDD, upgrading from i5 to i7 should be the icing on the cake.
 
I really appreciate the help guys.

The motherboard that I have now is the Asus H87M-plus.
And my ram is Corsair vengeance DDR3 16gb.

I really don't have the funds to also upgrade my mb and ram unfortunately.
 
Words of wisdon and experience here.

Avoid those H chipset mobos, they are generally limited the minimum speed for memory despite having bios settings to go higher, try to stick with the Z, or P prefix chipsets on the mid range motherboards. Shouldn't cost you to much extra, will get rid of a large number of headaches in the future if you can remember that.
 
OMG! I just found out that one of my 2 ddr3 units was in the wrong slot.
So my memory was set to single channel....
I put them in the right slots now.
I hope I'll notice a difference!
 
  • Like
Reactions: yek
mr_fender said:
It will make a difference but not an enormous one. Faster clock speed, larger cache, and hyper-threading support for 8 threads instead of 4. The CPU is only part of the equation though. How much RAM do you have and what speed is it? Your performance may be getting bottle-necked elsewhere. Those chips support max DDR3-1600 speed ram. If you are currently using DDR3-1333, it would be worth it to upgrade your memory first. Memory is relatively cheap. You might even look into replacing your MB to support a newer chip and DDR4 RAM. The CPU is the most expensive part, so for only a couple hundred bucks more you could upgrade everything and see a much bigger performance jump for your dollar. What MB are you currently using?
Click to expand...

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

If one of your sticks of RAM is in the wrong slot, (set to single channel in your bios) and you've moved it over, you should notice a immediate difference. I'd first engage both channels and upgrade the RAM first. More RAM. If that leaves you discontent then look at the other options.

I'd go RAM first. Then SSD. And if you can swing multiple Drives, set up your DAW on one drive (on OS drive), samples on another drive and audio files on a separate drive. The reason for this is because a hard drive, whether it be SSD or HDD were not intended to read and write at the same time. It will increase proficiency and be a lot less taxing. Particularly to the HD.

I had stuttering problems and when I assigned the different aspects/components of my DAW setup to separate drives, it remedied the issue. As well, if need be... set up the separate drive assignments as a template within your DAW. I had to do this with Logic.

Hope some of this helps, Jon.
 
Last edited:
swass said:
^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

If one of your sticks of RAM is in the wrong slot, (set to single channel in your bios) and you've moved it over, you should notice a immediate difference. I'd first engage both channels and upgrade the RAM first. More RAM. If that leaves you discontent then look at the other options.

I'd go RAM first. Then SSD. And if you can swing multiple Drives, set up your DAW on one drive (on OS drive), samples on another drive and audio files on a separate drive. The reason for this is because a hard drive, whether it be SSD or HDD were not intended to read and write at the same time. It will increase proficiency and be a lot less taxing.

I had stuttering problems and when I assigned the different aspects/components of my DAW setup to separate drives, it remedied the issue. As well, if need be... set up the separate drive assignments as a template within your DAW. I had to do this with Logic.

Hope some of this helps, Jon.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Yeah the memory is working on dual channel mode now.
I don't notice a big difference in Cubase if anything at all but I'll have to experiment more.
I always have my daw on my system drive (SSD) and my sessions on a seperate drive.
 
If you have a look at Task Manager when everything is loaded up and running it may help you figure out where performance is taking a dive.

As others have stated, quite often it is a lack of actual RAM that hits hardest, you will be able to see if this is the issue when looking at Task Manager.
 
Guitarjon said:
Thanks!
Yeah the memory is working on dual channel mode now.
I don't notice a big difference in Cubase if anything at all but I'll have to experiment more.
I always have my daw on my system drive (SSD) and my sessions on a seperate drive.
Click to expand...

There is just so much, "frigging around" to get a computer to work optimally for one's specific needs. Sometimes tweaks are all that is needed to cure things. I hope you can sort it out without digging too deep into the bank. But I'd definitely give the RAM thing a go before dropping money on a CPU and/or a MOBO.
 
You would think so. To me, that's plenty. As mentioned by, Shenks, check out your Task Manager/Performance when all is running at full bore. If your CPU, Memory, and Disks look good and things still leaves you scratching your head, it may be your MoBo bottle-necking things.
 
What speed is your DDR3? Your MB supports 1066, 1333, and 1600. The performance difference between 1066 and 1600 is quite large. Running a fast processor with slower RAM is like driving a race car in rush hour traffic. 16GB should be a good amount of RAM unless you're running a ton of tracks and effects. Performance monitor will show you what you've got left.

Also, tinker with your buffer settings. If you are not trying to monitor live inputs with effects, you can increase your buffer size to reduce dropouts. It will give you more latency, but for mixing and playback that's usually not a big deal.
 
Last edited:
Get your hands on a "software cpu monitor" and see how much the cpu is running at full speed, that will give you an indication on how much you really need a faster cpu ..

I am not sure the cpu is the bottleneck on your system, it rarely is .. faster harddrive and more RAM .. as much as you can afford :)
recently changed my primary drive to an SSD 500gb .. and it was a very pleasant suprise..
 
I pretty much agree with Mr Fender......Being a retired microsoft certified tech, which actually is no big deal. But I did work mostly on desktops on various networks - desktop support. I don't think the cost to upgrade the CPU will make the difference you want. That motherboard is not great... but I know you said you cannot change that now. I would buy more ram but that's me. I have 32gb ram. But i also have a killer PC-home built.. You can get a much better MB for under $100. I am partial to Asus boards myself. every PC I build has an Asus MB.....Plenty of really smart guys on this forum to help you out................
My PC has an i7 3740 running at 3.40 and it flies.......same as you I have SSD for OS and daw and separate drives for samples and for Audio.

Did your friend check to make sure the CPU is running as it should? like stepping....meaning CPU speed changes.. I believe that is the default if you never turned stepping off. Bunch of stuff to consider.
 
Last edited:
swass said:
I'd go RAM first. Then SSD. And if you can swing multiple Drives, set up your DAW on one drive (on OS drive), samples on another drive and audio files on a separate drive. The reason for this is because a hard drive, whether it be SSD or HDD were not intended to read and write at the same time. It will increase proficiency and be a lot less taxing. Particularly to the HD.
Click to expand...

I would actually flip the priority on those. SSD is your main I/O for translating what your processor architecture is returning to you (proc/memory). In other words, you interacting with CUBASE installed on C:\ (on SSD) would have significantly higher read write times potentially solving your underlying issue. The amount of memory, if upgraded, will most likely surpass it's usable I/O because your hard drive is still spinning to read/write and consuming more power than it needs to.

About 2 years ago for any of my friends/family that I would need to rebuild their machines (if worthy) would be replaced with a SSD. The results have been significantly more consistent and my new baseline approach to evaluating situations like the OPs. I work as a systems engineer in the Microsoft realm for one of the world's largest private companies so I do have some relevant experience in this. Not to discredit ANYONE's opinion or feedback at all, but I would definitely look at replacing your existing HDD with an SSD ASAP. Amazon has the Samsung EVO 250GB's for $88 Prime shipping: Amazon product ASIN B00OAJ412U
Cannot go wrong there, I would definitely rebuild your OS with CUBASE using a SSD prior to upgrading anything else. Then you could at least eliminate one variable at a time.
 
ibanezfreak4 said:
I would actually flip the priority on those. SSD is your main I/O for translating what your processor architecture is returning to you (proc/memory). In other words, you interacting with CUBASE installed on C:\ (on SSD) would have significantly higher read write times potentially solving your underlying issue. The amount of memory, if upgraded, will most likely surpass it's usable I/O because your hard drive is still spinning to read/write and consuming more power than it needs to.

About 2 years ago for any of my friends/family that I would need to rebuild their machines (if worthy) would be replaced with a SSD. The results have been significantly more consistent and my new baseline approach to evaluating situations like the OPs. I work as a systems engineer in the Microsoft realm for one of the world's largest private companies so I do have some relevant experience in this. Not to discredit ANYONE's opinion or feedback at all, but I would definitely look at replacing your existing HDD with an SSD ASAP. Amazon has the Samsung EVO 250GB's for $88 Prime shipping: Amazon product ASIN B00OAJ412U
Cannot go wrong there, I would definitely rebuild your OS with CUBASE using a SSD prior to upgrading anything else. Then you could at least eliminate one variable at a time.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he said he already has a SSD for OS and Daw...maybe I misread it EDIT: Nope in post #10 he states this
 
Thanks for all of your answers, I hugely appreciate the help!
To clarify, yes, my system and daw are both on a Samsung SSD drive.
I have another SSD disc in my computer where all my drumsamples are stored.
The sessions are on an internal regular hard disc.

So I opened task manager when I was playing a session that I was having some trouble with recently.
Cubase seemed to be able to handle a little bit more than before, probably because I fixed that memory thing.
My RAM is hovering quite comfortably at 41% so nothing strange there.
My CPU was getting as high as 70% average at busy parts, maybe in some instances a bit higher.

Sometimes the cubase cpu meter does overflow and I had one 'dropout' when the sound stopped playing because of it.
Before I fixed my RAM this happened more often though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom