CPU not coping. Any tips

[DaveTubaKing]

You can see my specs. I'm working up a huge orchestral and chorus score. The loudest most complex parts are pushing the CPU to 100%. It's a close thing but there are even louder and more complex sections later in the score so it looks like my rig can't quite cope.

I'd welcome any suggestions related to VSL or Sibelius settings that may help to reduce CPU usage or indeed any general PC tips that may help.

[Bill]

Is adding a slave system to share the load an option financially?

[dbudde]

I assume you've explored increasing the buffer size and reducing the number of reverb instances (especially convoluton reverbs).

When the CPU is at 100%, is this true across all of the cores?  If so, there's not much you can do but add more cores or reduce the number of staves emitting notes at the same time.  If there is an imbalance, then you'll need to experiment with your instance partitioning.

[DaveTubaKing]

Sadly Bill, any further expenditure on my toys is not an option for some time. I had changed the buffer size in Sibelius to 4096 but now realised I had not changed it in VE Pro and it was still at 512. Did the trick and now just tipping 60% so that's very encouraging. I note Sibelius (or my sound card) only goes up to 4096 where as the VE Pro has options up to 32768.

[noldar12]

That is about all you an do without spending any money: glad that changing the buffer has helped.  Unfortunately, to get better performance, you would be looking at a new processor, no lower than the 3930k (possibly even the 3960x for a more significant jump), and new MOBO.  Thus, any upgrade will not be inexpensive.

[hetoreyn]

I encountered the very same problem recently. Sadly the only thing you can do is either thin out your orchestra (never a good option) or bite the bullet and go buy additional slave devices in order to cope with the loads.

I was doing all my work from one Macbook Pro 17 inch back 2 years ago. The way my orchestra does it's thing these days, and how I'm composing means I now have 3 iMacs running my libraries, each of them maxxed out with 16 gig's RAM. And I can now compose again with a buffer setting of 512 :P (haven't seen it that low in a LONG time).

I was lucky to find an ex-demo 27 inch iMac to save some $$$. But the good news is that a decent slave device doesn't have to be epic .. something along the lines of a Mac mini (to which there are many PC equivelents) will do as a slave and they don't cost the earth.

[DaveTubaKing]

 Hi Hetoreyn, fortunately as latency is not an issue for me I'm happy to work at 4096 or even higher if I have to. Just glad I can run a 100+ piece orchestra and 16 part double chorus, and piano and organ etc etc with what I've got. I have to work up each orchestral section and then purge before moving onto the next and purge all to play back the full score so it's time consuming but this project has already taken me ten years so I'm in for the long haul.