MisterGreen Posted January 26 Posted January 26 I haven’t seen any minimum requirements regarding graphics. Does Sonar require a dedicated GPU or would the integrated graphics on the CPU suffice? The i7-14700 has Intel UHD Graphics 770.
Salvatore Sorice Posted January 26 Posted January 26 There are many more knowledgeable people on the forum than me, but from what I know, the dedicated graphics should be OK for a single monitor setup. Dedicated graphics card would be better once you get into multiple monitors, 4k and higher resolutions, etc. Dedicated graphics will also take some strain off of your CPU. Now, let's let the experts chime in! 1
Terry Kelley Posted January 26 Posted January 26 (edited) I believe the general consensus is that the graphics load is minimal and a card won’t really help anything. I’m using the built in graphics of the i7 12700 with dual monitors. Works fine. Getting an external card won’t do much of anything for me. Edited January 26 by Terry Kelley 1
henkejs Posted January 26 Posted January 26 No expert here, but the integrated graphics on my Intel CPU work fine for Sonar. 2
Terry Kelley Posted January 26 Posted January 26 I know some GUIs on some VSTs might benefit if they are animation heavy but I’ve never seen anything that appeared to be messing up or delayed. So I don’t bother. 1
Promidi Posted January 26 Posted January 26 6 hours ago, MisterGreen said: I haven’t seen any minimum requirements regarding graphics. Does Sonar require a dedicated GPU or would the integrated graphics on the CPU suffice? The i7-14700 has Intel UHD Graphics 770. It doesn't, but I would recommend it, especially for older CPUs. For the i7-14700, a dedicated GPU would be less important. However, you might still benefit from a dedicated GPU Remember, it's not only Cakewalk that would utilise a dedicated GPU, but you overall Windows GUI would as well. If you are worried about fan noise, you could always see about getting a fanless, or a card where the fan only starts up when the GPU load exeeds a given threshold. 1
MisterGreen Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 Thanks again for the additional replies. I'm going to proceed the build without a dedicated GPU for now and add one if needed.
Terry Kelley Posted January 28 Posted January 28 (edited) On 1/26/2025 at 12:46 PM, Promidi said: It doesn't, but I would recommend it, especially for older CPUs. For the i7-14700, a dedicated GPU would be less important. However, you might still benefit from a dedicated GPU Remember, it's not only Cakewalk that would utilise a dedicated GPU, but you overall Windows GUI would as well. If you are worried about fan noise, you could always see about getting a fanless, or a card where the fan only starts up when the GPU load exeeds a given threshold. It wouldn't surprise me if some slower i3 or i5 processors might benefit some. My earlier i7-4790 didn't need the card. The VSTs themselves did a fine job of grinding that processor into the ground. Arturia's Augmented anything was usually the cause. It wasn't the graphics load. Anywho, no harm with a card. Have at it. It's doesn't need to be an expensive card. Edited January 28 by Terry Kelley
MisterGreen Posted January 29 Author Posted January 29 13 hours ago, Terry Kelley said: It wouldn't surprise me if some slower i3 or i5 processors might benefit some. My earlier i7-4790 didn't need the card. The VSTs themselves did a fine job of grinding that processor into the ground. Arturia's Augmented anything was usually the cause. It wasn't the graphics load. Anywho, no harm with a card. Have at it. It's doesn't need to be an expensive card. The cheapest I could find was a PNY for $175. I guess that's cheap considering cards these days can go for over $1K. Regardless, it's bumping up my build price.
Chaps Posted January 29 Posted January 29 20 minutes ago, MisterGreen said: The cheapest I could find was a PNY for $175. I guess that's cheap considering cards these days can go for over $1K. Regardless, it's bumping up my build price. Video card prices are insane. The Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1050 Ti I bought four years ago for $189.42 is now selling for $299.99.
MisterGreen Posted January 29 Author Posted January 29 43 minutes ago, Chaps said: Video card prices are insane. The Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1050 Ti I bought four years ago for $189.42 is now selling for $299.99. You're not kidding. Hence my question. I'd rather not add 200-300 dollars to my build unless absolutely necessary.
msmcleod Posted January 29 Posted January 29 It's worth noting that unlike CbB, Sonar is DPI aware. I'm running Sonar with my CPU's integrated graphics, however my two displays are 1080P @ 100%. If you've got a 4K display, Sonar will be drawing 4 x the amount of graphics. In this scenario, having a dedicated GPU may make sense - especially if you've got multiple 4K displays. Not to say that your integrated graphics won't be able to cope - it may be fine... but if you are running 4K displays, bear this in mind.
Salvatore Sorice Posted January 29 Posted January 29 47 minutes ago, msmcleod said: It's worth noting that unlike CbB, Sonar is DPI aware. I'm running Sonar with my CPU's integrated graphics, however my two displays are 1080P @ 100%. If you've got a 4K display, Sonar will be drawing 4 x the amount of graphics. In this scenario, having a dedicated GPU may make sense - especially if you've got multiple 4K displays. Not to say that your integrated graphics won't be able to cope - it may be fine... but if you are running 4K displays, bear this in mind. I've got (3) 4k Monitors and I definitely noticed the difference with a dedicated GPU. This is the layout (from an older post). PS - I would still love to see the ability to have multiple Console Windows!! 1
MisterGreen Posted January 29 Author Posted January 29 50 minutes ago, msmcleod said: It's worth noting that unlike CbB, Sonar is DPI aware. I'm running Sonar with my CPU's integrated graphics, however my two displays are 1080P @ 100%. If you've got a 4K display, Sonar will be drawing 4 x the amount of graphics. In this scenario, having a dedicated GPU may make sense - especially if you've got multiple 4K displays. Not to say that your integrated graphics won't be able to cope - it may be fine... but if you are running 4K displays, bear this in mind. Good to know. Thanks!
Terry Kelley Posted January 30 Posted January 30 Ah, good point. I don’t use Sonar and didn’t think about 4k. So my comments are wrong.
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