LIVE 4 PERFORMANCE TEST

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:29 am

wow Vince 35% on a G4... is that the peak reading?

drush · Post by **drush** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:41 pm

vince watson wrote:1. 22% with no FX / 35% with FX
2. Mac Powerbook G4 17"
3. OSX 10.3.7
4. 1.5 Ghz
5. 2gb Ram
6. RME Multiface with Cardbus
7. 5400rpm

ok vince, other than a lot of RAM and not much else on the computer as you've said before, what the hell is making this G4 so efficient?!

skiptracer · Post by **skiptracer** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:04 pm

1) 37% (peak 39%)
2) SMK Internet Components AMD custom
3) Windows XP Home SP1
4) Athlon XP 1700+ 1.43 gigahertz
5) 512 MB RAM
6) Delta 10/10 PCI
7) 7200 rpm

i noticed that i dropped 5-10 CPU percentage points when i disabled my MIDI and audio inputs.

commuter · Post by **commuter** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:42 pm

1. 22% with no FX / 35% with FX
2. Mac Powerbook G4 17"
3. OSX 10.3.7
4. 1.5 Ghz
5. 2gb Ram
6. RME Multiface with Cardbus
7. 5400rpm

Maybe it's the RME soundcard that reduce the cpu load, by taking the audio/latency issue with DSP ?
Don't know...
Does anyone experienced similar performance with RME soundcard ?...
I'm really curious..

detroitechno · Post by **detroitechno** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:07 pm

1) 21% avg. 22% peak
2) Averatec 6240 Laptop
3) Windows XP 64 Bit Edition
4) Mobile Athlon 64 3000+
5) 512MB DDR333 (32MB shared with integrated video)
6) Realtek AC'97 integrated
7) 80GB 4200RPM stock drive

I decided to finally join in this... I'm actually in windows xp 64 bit edition right now, and was completely blown away by the result! even running live 4.1 which is a 32-bit program, in this 64 bit OS, my results were 21% consistant, with a spike to 22% about once every 15 seconds!

Also note, that is with wireless enabled, firefox running in the background, icq 5.02 running, msn messenger 7 beta, outlook express, and a few other things all running at once! SHOCKED!

I'm going to reboot back into 32 bit XP and post the results in 32 bit and see the difference, if any...

detroitechno · Post by **detroitechno** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:31 pm

1) 23% avg. 25% peak
2) Averatec 6240 Laptop
3) Windows XP 64 SP2
4) Mobile Athlon 64 3000+
5) 512MB DDR333 (32MB shared with integrated video)
6) Realtek AC'97 integrated
7) 80GB 4200RPM stock drive

I'm back in standard 32-bit XP. the performance is a little bit worse than when I was in 64 bit xp. Which I am suprised with, I thought for sure a 32 bit coded program would run much better in standard 32 bit OS... but this proved not to be the case!

The difference is only 3% but the spike in 32 bit was more 'jumpy' than in 64 bit. in 64 bit, the cpu was almost dead solid at 21%.

I'm going to keep the dual boot thing going on now, and work on live in 64 bit from now on. the performance increase isn't much, but I liked how stable it seemed.

considering this laptop cost me $1299 at circuitcity, and is tied with a dual 2.5ghz G5 costing $3000, I'm more than happy to run a dual boot!

If anyone has questions about 64 bit os's and would like me to try anything, ljust PM me, and I'll try and get back to you sooner than later.

P.S. 64 bit isn't for everyone. you will have to take time and configure and find drivers.... 32 bit drivers DO NOT WORK. that means ALL asio soundcards will NOT work. the only company making 64 bit drivers (beta) is m-audio... good for them, I'm proud they took the first step.

Cunningham · Post by **Cunningham** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:09 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter peak 32%
2) Laptop/Desktop? desktop
3) Operating System windows XP
4) CPU Make Model and Speed Intel pentium 4 3.0 GHz
5) Amount of Ram / Speed of Ram 512MB 400MHz
6) Soundcard: Pci Creamware Pulsar 2
7) Hard Disk Drive Speed 7200, 160 GB

elektrovert · Post by **elektrovert** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:10 pm

Live CPU Meter :40% average 51% peak
Dell Inspiron 5160
XP SP2
Intel P4 3.02Ghz
1024MB RAM
Firewire Audiophile
5400 RPM

That's an awful lot of processor power!!
How come my machine seems more processor hungry than other machines of lower spec??

very odd.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:46 pm

elektrovert wrote:

That's an awful lot of processor power!!
How come my machine seems more processor hungry than other machines of lower spec??

very odd.

check your power settings, make sure its set to the "Always On" power scheme. Some of the newer Pentiums have speed step which will save you battery power at the loss of cpu power.

skiptracer · Post by **skiptracer** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:04 pm

also disable your inputs in the inputs/outpus setup as well as your MIDI inputs.

vince watson · Post by **vince watson** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:10 pm

basically guys i have streamlined my powerbook ..i have it as speced up as i can get it....there is nothing in this computer other than ableton, peak and qt pro etc....single language, no fontz...

so if you guys on macs have also done that then its gotta be down to the way im using it i guess....

i have peaked higher recently at around 41, since my sets are getting more and more complexed by the week...but generally speaking its smooth as a baby's..

there's no doubt that since i started using the mutlface, my whole system has become much more efficient and fast. im really impressed with it....

i also keep my firewire storage device unplugged, so the only connections i have are the multicafe and powercord........oh yeah..since i moved onto the mutiface, i can use my bluetooth mouse again with no problems....

im using an icurve stand from griffin tech, so thats gotta help the heat too....

drush · Post by **drush** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:16 pm

vince watson wrote:i also keep my firewire storage device unplugged, so the only connections i have are the multicafe and powercord

funny you should say that, i recently unplugged everything from my 1.47ghz powermac and noticed some nice Live performance gains

also he's right, in general the single language/removing fonts thing helps a lot.

thanks vince, encouraging words. wonder if in the desktop mac world a pci audio card would have similar effect on performance (as opposed to firewire or usb)

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:29 pm

LOFA · Post by **LOFA** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:39 pm

OK: Dual 2ghz
G5 desktop
2x 512mb ram (1 for each processor so only count 1@512mb)
10.3.7
512 buffer on latency as suggested

Results:
With effects:29-34%
Without :20-24%

I must add that 4/5 of my hard-drive (200/250gb) is packed. I have a feeling this must affect performance bbut I have no way of really knowing.
I can live with this for now, but I wish my second processor was supported. Oh wow... the plug-in potential..
Thanks for the test, and the baseline for reference AdamJay. I hope some big wigs are reading this thread!

vince watson · Post by **vince watson** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:44 pm

drush wrote:
vince watson wrote:i also keep my firewire storage device unplugged, so the only connections i have are the multicafe and powercord
funny you should say that, i recently unplugged everything from my 1.47ghz powermac and noticed some nice Live performance gains

also he's right, in general the single language/removing fonts thing helps a lot.

thanks vince, encouraging words. wonder if in the desktop mac world a pci audio card would have similar effect on performance (as opposed to firewire or usb)

if your gonna use a g5 desktop its gonna boost it greatly...

its strange how doing little things can help in a big way, and its normally stuff that you dont normall think of doing...like only plugging in your firewire harddrive when its needed. etc....