Hi

I've got an old Acer laptop (Model: Aspire E15 E5-575-59zr), key specs are:
Intel i5-6200U (2.3GHz)
Intel HD graphics 520
8GB DDR4 memory

I use it to run Maschine & Ableton Live 10 - it runs ok, most things work ok & it performs ok. I'm not using any large orchestral type samples or instruments - i mainly chop audio samples in Maschine etc and so the laptop performs ok. It does sometimes slow down and get abit slow to do some things, and it really struggles when i try and run Izotope Ozone 8 for mastering - in fact it really doesn't come that well at all with those tasks.

I don't have other programs open or do other tasks whilst i'm using the laptop for making music or mastering - but like i said it seems to struggle sometimes just when using maschine and definately when mastering.

Are the specs just not good enough?
Would putting an extra 8GB of DDR4 RAM help solve the issue? (buying a new laptop is not an option)
Is there anything else i could do to improve things.

Another thing I dont understand is a friend has a similiar Acer Laptop (Model Aspire F15 F5-573G-5996), key specs are very similiar to mine
Specs are:
Intel i5 6200U (2.3GHz)
Nvidia GTX950M graphics card
8GB DDR4 memory

They manage to complete the same sort of tasks with no problems - does anybody know why that laptop seems to cope and mine doesn't?

Thanks in advance for advice/help

 

how about your harddrive? are you using an SSD??

 

are you using an ssd?? because i have an i3 7100u, 8gb of ram and the ssd (nvme btw) and my laptop works really good (handling large session on protools or some virtual instruments on studio one)

 

Hello,
8 gig of extra ram would be good, Ozone is greedy in cpu, the processor of your pc is 7 years old, and when you buy it with a hdd i suppose, you can replace it with an ssd, I did it with an Acer and everything is more fluid.

 

Thanks for input for so far - both laptops dont have SSD's just the old HDD

 

you have to put an ssd on the laptop, that is easily one of the lacks of performance

 

Intel graphics are probably using part of your main memory. That memory is very slow for graphics. NVidia cards also accelerate processes. Some you might be surprised about like the browser or a chat window. Sadly, that will not change for you but more memory might be also a good investment

 

First, check your temperatures with HWiNFO. Run something CPU intensive like a benchmark or video encoding in the background. CPU temps will rise, see how high they go. Anything above 70°C-80°C for a laptop is not good, it reduces CPU performance. Also, SSD will only improve load times, which feels faster but doesn't really help in CPU heavy tasks. Your CPU is weak, frankly. 2 cores is too less for anything more than basic gaming and lightweight production. I don't recommend you to buy more RAM, 8GB is just enough these days. Also update your drivers, which Windows are you using?

My i5-6400 was heating up to 100°C yesterday, so I used some toothpaste, temps were back to normal, although you should use a thermal paste if you don't want to do this thing every month or so, incase your CPU temps are a problem

 

High temps are an issue. It can cause a CPU to lower it's power to protect the CPU from damage. DO NOT USE toothpaste. This is not a thermal compound and is conductive. Many will not want to open the case. Simply make sure all the venting is not obstructed. In the case of RAM, think of it like this, what if your Intel graphics is using 2GB of your memory. Now you have 6 GB. If it is shared memory and is set to something like 3GB you might be able to lower it. It can be set often in the OS but also in the BIOS of some laptops. A minimum could be imposed to the pixel density of your laptop display. Hard disk (especially 5400RPM) vs SSD is an issue depending on how many streams are coming from it. Tracks including hardware count. In addition, many software synthesizers will stream samples on playback. You can change some to put more into RAM but now you circle back to possibly having a RAM bottleneck. Freeze (or equivalent in your DAW) tracks as you go to save processing power. This creates a temporary track with all the effects baked in as wave files. You un-freeze tracks to re-enable all the processing to make edits. It is not the way we want to work but it is a reality for processing restraints

 

I believe this article applies to your Intel Graphics installed. https://www.quora.com/How-much-graphics-memory-does-Intel-HD-Graphics-520-have?share=1

 

First the laptop is good, for the slowdowns quite possible is to blame windoze/drivers did you put your daw and the plugins and their related data folders on the exemption list in av did you clean your laptop from dust recently?/change termal paste etc. put laptop cooler underneath do you get the iZotope plugs from the sister if so from what supplier

 

Firstly - THANK YOU all for the help so far - I really appreciate it.
To answer some of the questions people have asked:

Laptop is running Windows10

@MetaCastle
iZotope plugs are from sister site (Ozone 8) by r2r
I've never cleaned the dust from laptop --- i know i sound like a noob --- but i dont know how to (help appreciated)
I've never changed the thermal paste - again no idea how to do that
No AV software running - so that shouldn't be a problem


@marveljam
Thanks for explaining the intel graphics card impact on RAM simply for me - given what i've said so far --- would an investment in extra ram (an extra 8GB can be bought relatively cheaply) be a good idea to help solve my problems?


Is the consensus extra RAM & an SSD help (after i've checked temperature etc)? If I can't afford both RAM & SSD which will make the biggest improvement.

 

Last edited: Feb 3, 2021

SSD will be a bigger improvement than RAM, pretty sure a Acer Aspire E15 E5 575 Laptop can be upgraded with a NVMe drive

 

Best is to start with youtube to see how to open the model brand you have clean the dust using a air blower or a vacuum cleaner that have the option reseed the ram don't put the cover back check if everything working put the cover use it for a day and see if it performs the same or just slightly better the something is wrong with he hardware also did you update the bios recently

 

or you go the lazy route
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...U-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-4700U/2556vs3140vs3426vs3699

 

Given the current value of $300 U.S. max, I would not spend any funds on upgrades that could not be used in another system.

The shared memory on some systems can be adjusted in the BIOS settings. If your system has a permanent setting, the next logical step would be changing the HDD to 2.5 SSD or installing an NVMe if your system has the option.

16GB of DDR4-17000 (PC4-2133) system memory would be ideal but, that upgrade would not be very useful if at all in a newer system.

If you have the knowledge & ability, tear down the system for a thorough cleaning & thermal repaste.

 

Last edited: Feb 4, 2021