slow to load instruments and effects..

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fra1
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 3:54 pm

slow to load instruments and effects..

Post by fra1 » Wed Nov 11, 2020 4:54 am

hi!
I have a small problem that I really want to fix, since it's really annoying.
Ableton is slow to open its OWN instruments & effects but just the first time I try to open them in a session. Then they open normally for as long as Ableton stays open (whole session).

Here's a vid showing what happens: https://streamable.com/ev4r4e

More info about my laptop:

System Model: OMEN by HP Laptop 15-dh0xxx
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home - Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz, 2592 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
RAM: 16Gb
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
Audio: Realtek

I think this is not a laptop in which you expect Ableton to have slow loading times, but I may be wrong. I am currently running ThrottleStop to undervolt my CPU (since it was running at 95-100°C most of the time) and I am currenty using Ableton with the laptop's native Realtek drivers.

Hope to find a solution to this.

contortrix
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:09 pm

Re: slow to load instruments and effects..

Post by contortrix » Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:16 pm

Just from the info in your post, I am 90% sure that this is a CPU thermal issue, probably due to a bad paste/heatsink.

What are your current temps / voltage / etc.?

If you have some sort of performance monitor running while you attempt to load Live devices, what spikes do you see? CPU? RAM? SSD/HDD I/O?

What settings are you using in ThrotteStop? Which version of Throttlestop?

Is Ableton Live installed on an SSD or an HDD?


Anything over 90C for CPU indicates a hardware issue, such as a bad thermal paste job, uneven heatsink surface, inferior thermal paste, or some combination of the aforementioned. If you are comfortable performing a repaste with something like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, I encourage you to do so if your laptop is not under warranty / if you are OK with possibly voiding your warranty. If this is a new laptop under warranty, please reach out to HP support to get your laptop repaired; it's very likely that HP messed up the thermal hardware at the factory, and they just need to repaste and/or swap the heatsink. 95-100C is at or near the thermal junction (i.e. destroying the CPU) temperature, and should not happen for any reason, even under massive CPU load.

In Throttlestop, you may be able to (counterintuitively) get a performance improvement by using the following settings (if you are not using them already):
  • (Main screen) Speed Shift = 0: this locks the CPU to a single speed, so it won't switch to other states.
    (Main screen) Uncheck C1E: this prevents the CPU from switching to a state that negatively affects audio applications.
    (FIVR)
    Non-Turbo Ratio: check the "Lock" box, and make sure the number is set to 26 (or whatever your maximum non-Turbo multiplier is, which should be 26 x 100MHz). This prevents the CPU from going into Turbo states.
All of this will lock the CPU to your maximum non-Turbo speed, while disabling both some low-power states and all Turbo states, ultimately locking your CPU in to one speed and a thin range of possible states, improving thermals and latency.

With these settings, plus an undervolt of -.200 CPU Core and -0.124 CPU Cache, I have a VID (voltage) under 1000mV, max temp of 53C, idle temp of 36C, max PKG Power 32W, idle PKG Power 14-17W on an i9-8950HK 2.90GHz (so I'm at 29x multiplier instead of 26x, but still a similar CPU).

Make sure that applications do not have Power Throttling enabled:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-mana ... windows-10
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