LIVE 8 PERFORMANCE TEST - Results Here

[Frank_k]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter 26 %
2. Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? iMac i7
3. Operating System? OS X.6.2
4. Ableton Live version? 8.1
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i7 2.8 GHz
6. Amount of Ram? 8 GB
7. Soundcard Built in
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know?
9. Number of playback tracks? ALL

Hm.. I'm a bit puzzled why my i7 peaks around 26% while others can do 16%?? I'm quite new to Mac OS X, do I have to deactivate certain tasks to let Live use the full potential of my maschine?

[steko]

Hm.. I'm a bit puzzled why my i7 peaks around 26% while others can do 16%?? I'm quite new to Mac OS X, do I have to deactivate certain tasks to let Live use the full potential of my maschine?

Have you enabled multicore/multiprocessor support in Live's CPU Preferences tab?

[filterstein]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter Live version 8.09: 60%, 8.1: 58%, 8.1.1b5: 60%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Desktop custom
3) Operating System? w7 32 bit
4) Ableton Live version? 8.09,8.1,8.1.1b5
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? AMD Athlon64 X2 5000 2.61 ghz
6) Amount of Ram? 2GB
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Echo Audiofire 5.5 running Asio
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200 rpm
9) Number of playback tracks? 8

Nothing wrong performancewise in 8.1 as you can see.

[simpleton]

1. CPU meter = 63%
2. Laptop HP Pavillion
3. Vista 32 bit(sp2)
4. Live 8.0.8
5. Intel Core2Duo 1.66 GHz
6. 3 GB DDR2 RAM
7. Indigo IOx
8. 7200 rpm internal HDD
9. 8 Tracks

edited because I first ran the test @ 48 KHz and with inputs enabled. made a difference of -6%
wow- I can't believe how good my aging processor is stacking up against the 2 point something Core 2 Duo's!

[#1thelark]

Haven't found any results on the i5 750... would you recommend i5 or i7-cpus to use with ableton?

[Frank_k]

Hm.. I'm a bit puzzled why my i7 peaks around 26% while others can do 16%?? I'm quite new to Mac OS X, do I have to deactivate certain tasks to let Live use the full potential of my maschine?

Have you enabled multicore/multiprocessor support in Live's CPU Preferences tab?

hi steko,
yes multicore support is enabled. I have now plugged in my new motu 828 mkIII, not much better. It still peaks around 23%... really strange. And the iMac gets really hot aswell! I'm wondering whether it will still work without any issues in summertime when we have some 30 something plus degrees here in Europe.

Any more suggestions on how to improve performance are mostly welcome (from anyone )

cheers, Frank

[metasymbol]

Hi, here a test on a Hackint0sh (see my sig)
It was a cheap (400€) computer assembled in 4/2009

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 28%
2) Desktop Home brewed Hackint0sh
3) Operating System Snow Leopard 10.6.2
4) Ableton Live version 8.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed Core2Quad 2.7Ghz
6) Amount of Ram 4GB DDR2
7) Soundcard Alesis IO26
Hard Disk Drive Speed 7200rpm
9) Number of playback tracks 8

37% with 109 sample buffer and input enabled

[jamief]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % 21 - 27
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Acer m7720
3) Operating System? Win 7 ultimate 64
4) Ableton Live version? 8.1.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? I7 920 2.66 not overclocked
6) Amount of Ram?6GB DDR3
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? M audio ozonics
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? Sata 2 7200
9) Number of playback tracks? 8

Interestingly the cpu meter on the desktop only ewver read 16% showing live isnt as other stated utilising all the cores. There are 8 on my machine 4 virtual ones and 4 physical i believe.

best

[Formic]

here are my results:

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 29%
2. Desktop, home built, Gigabyte Mobo
3. Operating System: Win7 64 bit
4. Ableton Live version: 8.1.1
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Intel i5 750@2.67 GHz
6. Amount of Ram: 6GB DDR3
7. Soundcard: Echo Gina 3G
8. HDD speed: 7200
9. No of tracks: 8

[dru]

1 ) Ableton Live CPU Meter % (if it bounces around, please list the peak) 21%
2 ) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Apple iMac 27"
3 ) Operating System? OS X 10.6.2
4 ) Ableton Live version? Live 8.1.1
5 ) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 2.8GHz Intel Core i7
6 ) Amount of Ram? 4GB
7 ) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? PreSonus Firebox
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200RPM
9 ) Number of playback tracks? 8

[Formic]

Updated results with i5 CPU overclocked to 3.0GHz

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 16%
2. Desktop, home built, Gigabyte Mobo
3. Operating System: Win7 64 bit
4. Ableton Live version: 8.1.1
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Intel i5 750@3.0 GHz
6. Amount of Ram: 6GB DDR3
7. Soundcard: Echo Gina 3G
8. HDD speed: 7200
9. No of tracks: 8

I'm going to keep the test running for half an hour or so to see if I have any stability/overheating issues

[ecosmose]

Hye all !

I am happy to post my first contribution on this forum. I wish many of my postes will follow this one :

So, my feedback will present several configuration to show the value-added of the CPU and Soundcard :

I keep the same Hard disks but I put with the second test with a RAID 0 system. RAM is kept with 3GB PC 5700.

Three soundcards tested : Realtek inside my motherboard ASUS P5W Deluxe

3) Operating System? Win XP 32 bits SP3
4) Ableton Live version? 8.0.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? E6550 @ 2.8 Ghz
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200 RPM No Raid (Samsung spinpoint F1 750 Go)
9) Number of playback tracks?

Realtek (ASUS P5W motherboard inside)
24 tracks 91%
18 tracks 71%
16 tracks 64%
12 tracks 53%
8 tracks 36%
4 tracks 26%

Hoonteck 3000 SP 24 ASIO (almost same result but a few efficient in case of heavy project).
24 tracks 86%
18 tracks 68%
16 tracks 61%
12 tracks 49%
8 tracks 36%
4 tracks 26%

Replace the CPU E6550 by a new Quad core Q9550 @ 3Ghz (little bit oc) , a RAID 0 and test on XP 32bits with a new soundcard (with a Live 8.0.5)

TC electronics studio 48 Konnekt ASIO
64 tracks 132% (overload)
48 tracks 100%
32 tracks 71%
24 tracks 56%
18 tracks 42%
16 tracks 39%
12 tracks 32%
8 tracks 23%
4 tracks 15%

Repeat the same test with a Win XP Pro 64 bits SP2
3) Operating System? Win XP Pro 64 bits SP2
4) Ableton Live version? 8.0.5
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Q9550 @ 3Ghz
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? RAID0 (Samsung spinpoint F1 750 Go)

TC electronics studio 48 Konnekt ASIO
64 tracks 132% (overload)
48 tracks 100%
32 tracks 71%
24 tracks 57%
16 tracks 40%
8 tracks 23%
4 tracks 15%

The Quad core appears very efficient and the TC soundcard give an excellent and better latency ....I am very happy of the improvement ! It appears that the OS (32 versus 64 bits) has no impact. Maybe I will feel the difference in case of heavy and large project with a big consumption of memory (like heavy sound banks) that will be the next step for me , Increase the RAM memory...But first I am going to enjoy and play music...Hardware doesn't do it alone, the best it could be

[Rave]

Hye all !

I am happy to post my first contribution on this forum. ...

Thanks for the details. Welcome

[ecosmose]

Hye again,

Yes all this details to illustrate the importance and the inprovement of a multi core CPU (At the same tracks amount, I increase the CPU computing power by twice as the Quad is in theory twice of Core Duo power). My new configuration shows me that sometimes the practice is almost the same as theory (fortunaltelyt ;°)

[julienb]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter : 29% with multicore support enabled (80%! if multicore support disabled)
2. Laptop : HP DV7 3080EF
3. Operating System : Windows 7 premium 64bits
4. Ableton Live version : 8.1.1
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed : Intel Core i7 720QM
6. Amount of Ram : 4 GB
7. Soundcard : Internal
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know) : 7200 RPM
9. Number of playback tracks : 8