DAW optimization list for Win 10

[Starship Krupa]

As far as DAW optimization, mostly what Robert has already said.

Think about stuff that you would want to access quickly or store cheaply, and place your files accordingly. For me, that's programs, projects, plug-ins, and samples on SSD, everything else. like downloads, documentation, installation files, personal entertainment libraries, etc. on spinny.

A thing that I'm  adamant about is disabling anti-virus/malware programs that perform realtime scanning of whatever files your DAW reads and writes in the course of its operation.  While using Windows Process Monitor, I observed that my malware protection  program was scanning every file that Cakewalk was reading from the disk, including plug-ins, audio files, sample libraries, themes, and configuration files.

I decided that I did not need nor especially want my CPU power to be used to give breathalyzer tests to audio files and VST plug-ins, nor did I wish the accessing of these files to be slowed down while the analysis took place, especially since nobody had asked me whether I wanted the program to do that, and resolved to put an end to such nonsense.

Sometimes you can do this by excluding certain folders, like your sample folders, project folders, audio data folders, plug-in folders, DAW program folders, etc.

I chose to do it by turning off realtime scanning entirely in my computer's malware program, which is Windows Defender. Defender now only runs its scans on files that are sitting on my drives, and it does it during times when my system is idle.

This made a noticeable difference in playback latency in projects with many tracks/takes. Since Cakewalk reads every audio file associated with every clip in a project regardless of track or clip muting status, this can result in a lot of file reading overhead in cases where one wishes to retain many alternate takes in a project (the way to alleviate  this effect is by moving the clips to a different track which you may then Archive).

[gmp]

Thanks Bob for sharing your experiences. Some of us may find ourselves in similar situations, so it's always good to hear. I hope the new motherboard transition is smooth.

 

I read that an M.2 HD can connect with SATA but it doesn't have the speed increase, it's just like an SSD HD as far as speed. But yet in your disaster situation maybe it would have given you some peace of mind to connect it to your old computer just to know it hadn't lost data.

[Steve_Karl]

On 9/22/2019 at 1:00 AM, Promidi said:

If you have an Nvidia card, in the Nvidia Control Panel | Manage 3D settings, set "Power Management Mode" to "Prefer Maximum Performance"

So, I *do* have an nVidia card, ... a GeForce GTX 750 Ti ...
but on my audio OS I am using the Microsoft driver that auto installed and it's working fine.
I don't have nVida control panel installed as it can be sneaking around in the background, as I've found on other OS builds.
So I'm going to guess that I don't have any 3D settings available or even running and that I'm probably better off not installing the nVidia control panel to find out.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[Promidi]

20 minutes ago, Steve_Karl said:

So, I *do* have an nVidia card, ... a GeForce GTX 750 Ti ...
but on my audio OS I am using the Microsoft driver that auto installed and it's working fine.
I don't have nVida control panel installed as it can be sneaking around in the background, as I've found on other OS builds.
So I'm going to guess that I don't have any 3D settings available or even running and that I'm probably better off not installing the nVidia control panel to find out.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Head over to Nvidia and download Nvidia's driver for the GTX 750 Ti .  These will be more recent that Microsoft's driver.  The most recent Nvidia drivers for the GTX 750 Ti is 512.95 and was released on May 24 2022

The nVidia control panel is actually required if you want to optimise your Nvidia card.

I have these drivers installed with a GTX960 and it's working fine as well.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/189681/en-us

What I also do is use NVSlimmer to repackage the driver to remove a lot of the Nvidia stuff I don't need.  When I repackage, I deselect everything except Core Display Driver, Install core and PhysX

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvslimmer-nvidia-driver-slimming-utility.423072/

[Steve_Karl]

14 minutes ago, Promidi said:

Head over to Nvidia and download Nvidia's driver for the GTX 750 Ti .  These will be more recent that Microsoft's driver.  The most recent Nvidia drivers for the GTX 750 Ti is 512.95 and was released on May 24 2022

The nVidia control panel is actually required if you want to optimise your Nvidia card.

I have these drivers installed with a GTX960 and it's working fine as well.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/189681/en-us

What I also do is use NVSlimmer to repackage the driver to remove a lot of the Nvidia stuff I don't need.  When I repackage, I deselect everything except Core Display Driver, Install core and PhysX

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvslimmer-nvidia-driver-slimming-utility.423072/

I'm more of a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" person.
I won't assume that the newest nVida driver is better than what I already have ... that is working perfectly.

I was just hoping someone to confirm that 3D is not even happening on my PC.

[Promidi]

10 minutes ago, Steve_Karl said:

I'm more of a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" person.
I won't assume that the newest nVida driver is better than what I already have ... that is working perfectly.

I was just hoping someone to confirm that 3D is not even happening on my PC.

The only time 3D would be happening on your PC is when you are gaming.

There are some plugins that will use the GPU for graphic rendering....  but this is not “3D”. 

Meldaproduction is an example of plugins that can use the GPU to speed up graphic rendering within the plugin.

The reason drivers are updated is because the developers (who have a much deeper knowledge of their products than end users do) have found flaws in their code that end user would never have found.

The “if it ain't broke don't fix it” argument is only really valid if you can say with absolute surety that it is not broken.  Just because something appears to work properly, does not mean that are not any flaws. 

I always update.....  Drivers, CbB, windows updates, etc.....but that's just me.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Promidi

[Steve_Karl]

5 hours ago, Promidi said:

The reason drivers are updated is because the developers (who have a much deeper knowledge of their products than end users do) have found flaws in their code that end user would never have found.
The “if it ain't broke don't fix it” argument is only really valid if you can say with absolute surety that it is not broken.  Just because something appears to work properly, does not mean that are not any flaws. 

I always update.....  Drivers, CbB, windows updates, etc.....but that's just me.

Funny story about newer is better.
Google speech to text on Android - the original version (green button) responds correctly to "new paragraph" and does a double space immediately.
The newest (blue button) version has no clue to this command - and yet the newest version is a forced download without user consent and will update quickly after every time I nuke it. The only way to get back to the green button version is to disable the Google app - forcing a reset to the factory installed version - then re enable the app.

Back to nVidia - when the official nVidia driver is installed it runs at least 1 or 2 extra processes called nVidia Container.
Not so with the MSFT supplied driver.
The last time the nVidia driver for my card was updated was in 2017 but to know for sure I'd have to install the nVidia control panel which is bloat ware.

So, thanks for the confirmation about 3D. I can put that one to rest and get back to other things!

I, usually never update anything unless I see a user perk associated with the update.
I have CbB installed - who wouldn't out of curiosity - but my main DAW is still Sonar Platinum (final good PRV) Version: 2017.01 ( 23.1.0.32 )

I still can't get the newer PRV design to work as quickly as 2017.01 because of lost hot keys, moved MSR buttons, and probably a few other issues,
.... yea ... filter this!
... and the CbB PRV also doesn't "look" as well defined as 2017.01 when it comes to colors. 

Anyway, thanks for the confirm on the 3D. Much appreciated.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Steve_Karl