Is my computer too weak for ST 3

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Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby leo-kim » Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:38 pm

Hello again.
I have been using sampletank 3 sporadically during the last years since I got it as a promotion when purchasing the irig PRO keyboard.
That means that I have loaded one sound and played around with it, maybe made a split but seldom anything bigger.
Recently I have been planning to use it live so I loaded in five sounds in part 1 to 5 on midichannel 1 to 5. The Idea being changing midichannel on my keyboard (a one button press on my current keyboard) to access another sound.
The problem is that the CPU bar at bottom right goes to full and if I play the sound, it crackles and distorts. I can have two sounds without problem but more and the meter starts to max out.
The minimum specs state 4 GB ram. I have 6 with 4,94 accessible according to Windows.
It states a intel core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2. I have an AMD A6 6310 APU 1.8 GHz.
I have no idea How it compares with the minimum specs.
I Am running Windows 10 home edition.

Would it help to add RAM? The specs recommend 8 GB. Or do I have to get a faster processor?
If the CPU maxes out after 5 instruments loaded something isn´t right, right?

Hope you can give me some advice.

Regards
Mikael Johansson
Sweden
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Re: Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby Peter_IK » Wed Dec 19, 2018 6:38 pm

Hi, from what I can find that AMD processor is much more powerful than a base Intel Core Duo. However, I'd recommend asking IK Support directly at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support to see if they have any reported/known issues with SampleTank 3 and AMD processors like yours just to be 100% sure. Though it certainly sounds powerful enough to me from the specs I see online.

RAM would be great in my opinion as SampleTank 3 does load sounds into RAM and I believe there are general performance gains to go to at least 8GB or more RAM on any computer that can do so even if the computer is not dedicated to just audio.

Support can also help with the crackling, etc as that sounds like something outside of the scope of the things you're asking here, especially seeming to me like your buffer may be set too low on your audio interface or similar. They can certainly troubleshoot and figure out if that or something else might be the case.
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Re: Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby leo-kim » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:04 pm

Thanks Peter.
I´ll check out the RAM issue and will contact support efter the holidays.

Have a great christmas and a happy new year!

Regards
Mikael Johansson
'Sweden
leo-kim
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby Peter_IK » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:11 pm

leo-kim wrote:Thanks Peter.
I´ll check out the RAM issue and will contact support efter the holidays.

Have a great christmas and a happy new year!

Regards
Mikael Johansson
'Sweden

You're welcome. You have a great Christmas and happy new year too!
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Re: Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby silver-machine » Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:17 pm

Hi
I would recomment paying out about £1800 for a decent six core or is there more and 32 gig ram and never look back. Get a good company to build a music computer for you and you can choose the parts that go in.
In my view computers last about 5 to 7 years and then all that needs upgrading again.
Same with a lot of electrical goods.All have a certain shelf life.
All the best
John
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Re: Is my computer too weak for ST 3

Postby leo-kim » Sat Dec 29, 2018 4:22 pm

Thanks John.

I did up the ram from 6 to 12 GB but the cpu meter still goes to the roof when I load in 4-5 sounds in ST: I have searched online and found that it is a common problem and one culprit are the effects. four effects per sound times 4 or 5 adds up…

If I removed all the effects the cpubar dropped to about half.
I'll just have to minimize the effects in my multis.

I don't plan to upgrade the computer yet but in the future, who knows? :-)

Mikael Johansson
Sweden
leo-kim
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:16 pm


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