DDR4 cas latency in DAW

[lmu2002]

I just noticed that in my recent project the 'system memory usage' shows 18.2Gb (88%) which is a bit odd because I have only 16Gb installed. I'm experiencing some issues when playing back the project so I believe I'm reaching a ceiling. Anyway, I started thinking about buying more RAM . When buying another 2x8 kit it seems uncertain whether it's going to work ok even when choosing the same spec sticks, even from the same manufacturer because the actual memory units can be different (Samsung, Hynix etc.) It is still an option if I can return a kit which doesn't work as wished.

The other option is to buy a new 2x16 kit. I was advised to buy the lowest cas latency kit I can afford. The RAM speed is limited to 3466MHz by my motherboard so a 3200MHz kit is probably fine. But the price difference between low spec ones and high spec ones is huge (150€-400€ for 32Gb). Just adding another 2x8 to my current setup would cost only about 80€.

So, the wormcan question is, how much an impact does that have on actual ASIO latency and DAW performace?

CPU: Ryzen 5900X

MB: MSI B450-Pro

RAM Patriot Viper 3200MHz 2x8 kit

[scook]

31 minutes ago, lmu2002 said:

So, the wormcan question is, how much an impact does that have on actual ASIO latency and DAW performace?

WRT latency, system memory has no effect.

Latency is the result of buffering in the interface hardware, interface driver software and plug-in.

Users have no control over the safety buffers in the interface hardware.

ASIO drivers have a user selectable buffer size. Lower buffers sizes or higher sample rates to reduce latency may strain the CPU, however this is not something additional RAM will address.

Some plug-ins that use lookahead buffers may provide a way to adjust the buffer size or select a different mode that does not need buffering. 

 

Whether adding RAM will improve overall DAW performance depends on the how the DAW is used.

Generally, the largest consumers of RAM in DAWs are sample-based plug-ins that load all their samples in memory.  This may be addressed by adding RAM or, plug-in permitting, stream samples from disk.

In general, if the DAW has sufficient RAM to run, adding more RAM does not improve performance.

If there is insufficient RAM and the OS has to use virtual memory, dropouts are likely. Additional RAM may help in this case.

[lmu2002]

30 minutes ago, scook said:

WRT latency, system memory has no effect.

Latency is the result of buffering in the interface hardware, interface driver software and plug-in.

Users have no control over the safety buffers in the interface hardware.

ASIO drivers have a user selectable buffer size. Lower buffers sizes or higher sample rates to reduce latency may strain the CPU, however this is not something additional RAM will address.

Some plug-ins that use lookahead buffers may provide a way to adjust the buffer size or select a different mode that does not need buffering. 

 

Whether adding RAM will improve overall DAW performance depends on the how the DAW is used.

Generally, the largest consumers of RAM in DAWs are sample-based plug-ins that load all their samples in memory.  This may be addressed by adding RAM or, plug-in permitting, stream samples from disk.

In general, if the DAW has sufficient RAM to run, adding more RAM does not improve performance.

If there is insufficient RAM and the OS has to use virtual memory, dropouts are likely. Additional RAM may help in this case.

So system RAM speed has no effect on DAW? That's good news for my wallet ?

[Jim Roseberry]

6 hours ago, lmu2002 said:

So system RAM speed has no effect on DAW? That's good news for my wallet ?

With Intel architecture, RAM clock-speed doesn't have a massive effect on performance.

With Ryzen's Infinity Fabric architecture, RAM clock-speed has more of an effect on performance.

 

DDR4/3200 works great for DAW purposes.

 

All that said, if you're going to add RAM, you need to add RAM that is 100% identical.

Anything else is inviting (begging for) stability issues.  ?

If you can't be sure the new RAM is 100% identical, the safe/sure option is to replace the existing RAM.

 

For DAW purposes, I don't use anything higher than Cas-16.

 

If you're using more RAM than is physically present on the machine, you're hitting the virtual-memory swap-file.

That will kill performance of ANY machine.

You need enough RAM for your largest projects.

Having loads of unused RAM doesn't buy any additional performance.

 

 

 

[lmu2002]

49 minutes ago, Jim Roseberry said:

With Intel architecture, RAM clock-speed doesn't have a massive effect on performance.

With Ryzen's Infinity Fabric architecture, RAM clock-speed has more of an effect on performance.

 

DDR4/3200 works great for DAW purposes.

 

All that said, if you're going to add RAM, you need to add RAM that is 100% identical.

Anything else is inviting (begging for) stability issues.  ?

If you can't be sure the new RAM is 100% identical, the safe/sure option is to replace the existing RAM.

 

For DAW purposes, I don't use anything higher than Cas-16.

 

If you're using more RAM than is physically present on the machine, you're hitting the virtual-memory swap-file.

That will kill performance of ANY machine.

You need enough RAM for your largest projects.

Having loads of unused RAM doesn't buy any additional performance.

 

 

 

Thanks!

I was thinking about this. I install RAM very rarely so maybe better safe than sorry. I will need to remove the gpu to get the cooling tower off, to access the RAM etc. Maybe time to renew also the cooling paste while visiting the CPU.

So, new RAM it is then.  I will probably get some € when selling the old kit which will ease the damage. The CL16 @3200MHz is reasonably priced, fortunately.

[lmu2002]

Just to end this story. I bought a (barely) used kit (2*16) for 100€ and sold the old kit for 50€.

Now Cakewalk is running smoothly again.