Graphics cards DO matter for music production... A LOT.

Discussion in 'Computer Hardware' started by Torrao, Nov 1, 2017.

  1. SineWave

    SineWave Audiosexual

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    I don't think that'll work. Windows will just revert to using a universal VGA driver. What you should try is disabling the Nvidia card in the BIOS, if you can, or choosing which VGA to use, if there is an option for that. My laptop has that option and I disabled the on-cpu Intel one.
     
  2. Voznjicaidemo

    Voznjicaidemo Newbie

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    SO which GPU do you reccomend based on experience and review with low dpc latency?
     
  3. bluerover

    bluerover Audiosexual

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    ATI video cards are better for PCs dedicated to music production. The rule is 1 GB per monitor. So, 3 monitor set-up will need a 4GB card. 2 monitor setup needs a 2GB card etc...
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
  4. SineWave

    SineWave Audiosexual

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    I don't have much experience with AMD cards and the experience I had was a buggy and not really satisfying one. I used to install 3rd party control panel for it because the AMD one was appalling and a huge memory hog. Programmed by CEO's grandson in Java, I suppose. They also consume more power and are harder to cool, therefore noisier.

    Admittedly, I haven't tried an AMD card in about a decade, at least. Intel VGA driver is a pile of someone's diarrhoea also and Intel VGAs suck performance wise, but they seem to do a good job for an audio workstation as we really don't need powerful VGAs. Currently, I'm usually recommending an onboard Intel CPU one for audio and still Nvidia cards for video workstations. I'm looking forward to try an AMD one once more and compare, intrigued by this thread, mostly. :wink:

    The DPC latency with v2.96 [or is it 2.92?] Nvidia driver on my PC and v3.26 [I think] on my Thinkpad laptop is pretty good. Never goes beyond 200 micro seconds [I used to have a PC that had DPC lingering between 10-30 mic.sec. though]. I've also disabled GPU throttling with Nvidia Powermizer enable/disable utility. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/disable-powermizer-tested.261929/
    https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/how-to-disable-powermizer.289406/

    To be fair, newer v3xx Nvidia drivers are also a pile of steamy, smelly "thing". :sad: Far more buggy than they used to be. The best Nvidia drivers were v1.9x and older [cca 2010], in my experience.

    Regarding any GPU, I always disable as much of the driver's unnecessary functionality as I can. Services, systray utility rubbish. The more you can disable, the better.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
  5. Look for a passively cooled (fanless) one in your price range. I'm using one of the ATI 2GB omes (there are many varieties).
     
  6. JudoLudo

    JudoLudo Kapellmeister

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    yes I can choose to use Intel or nVidia, but I was wondering if choosing one could stop the other working, or not. I'll try to disable it via BIOS, but I don't remember an option like this in my BIOS, it's very skinny. thanks however.
     
  7. NyquistFrequency

    NyquistFrequency Newbie

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    To the people that won't buy an nvidia card because of OPs post, please think twice.
    He says "empirical evidence" without providing any.... or any context as to what the other parts in his computer are.
    He also displays a complete lack of knowledge about how computers work.

    If your hardware is fine, an nvidia card will NOT be a problem.
     
  8. m9cao

    m9cao Producer

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    Yes, if you have a graphic card so you dont need to buy a shit UAD card, a uad card cannot displaying any graphic in your monitor:rofl:
     
  9. Jazz-N-Stuff

    Jazz-N-Stuff Platinum Record

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    guys dont believe this Bullshitter. This is an actual Screenshot of CUBASE running alot of VST synths ( 4 Omnis 2 in Multi more than 12 of them) + alot of other virtual soundsources.
    Graphikcard is a NVIDIA Palit GTX1050TI. Only Drivers, no Bloatware installed.
    https://prnt.sc/iel2lm
    https://prnt.sc/iel72l
    Scroll down (4k Monitor) and watch it: latency of around 80 over along time, i can run a video with 1 hour stresstest, if you dont believe me.
    I am runing WIN7 and an AMD RYZEN 1700X as u can see in the upper right The cores are evenly distributed (CUBASE! YES). I built this machine in sept 2017 and work every day.
    The same setup in WIN 10 is much WORSE!!! I tried out WIN 10 stripped everything possible, its a NIGHTMARE to work with. I am using Computers since the early 80s an i am an educated electronic. I have built alot PC's for friends in STUDIOs.
    The Problem is not the Graphiccard, its the OS and the USER with absolute no experience what they are doin. Stay on WIN7 as long as possible, do dual booting setups if you really need WIN 10.

    Ahh btw CUBASE is very underestimated, most guys have no clue when they talk abt Cubase (cracked versions ect.) and have never used it over years. Is ist complicated ? YES (but Reaper is even more).
    But its gets the work done and is reliable. And yes, its 400$ + abt 100$ per year for updates... but isnt your Guitar and microphone and synthesizer way more expensive?
    more tech info: it was on ASIO ALESIS I026 FW Interface 128 Buffersize I sold my RME Fireface cause it wasnt any better. I work 95% in the BOX.

    FUN TEST: i run a CPU stresstest while checking to choke the whole machine down,
    https://prnt.sc/ielcb4
    watch this screenshot and at the right bottom CPU-Z. It was even working somehow (interrupts in Cubase tho). all cores were at 100% , this NEVER happens ever.
    I did stresstests with 15 Multi Omni2 = 134 OMNIS working (8 synthmachines per Multi) running fine, but then ist started choking. I showed all the screenshots of it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
  10. kolutshan

    kolutshan Member

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    Sorry but that is at leasr partly wrong. Nvidia itself adressed the high latency issue in 06/2017 and released a hotfix for lowering the problem. It did not worked for everyone though. Currently the issue is far better as back in 2017 but some of us still got issues with Nvidia Cards. Of course that does not mean that the Nvidia drivers are the lone cause for it.
     
  11. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    pretty much all decent aftermarket gpus nowadays don't spin fans until reaching around 60°C, so if silence is your only concern, then even something like EVGA GTX980Ti Classified (I have, primarily for Resolve) will work, even in MacOS (El Capitan here), requires serious power delivery though (two 8-pin power from psu)
     
  12. Torrao

    Torrao Platinum Record

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    I find funny how many people just registered on the forum to bash my thread. How much does Nvidia pay you, guys? :rofl:
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
  13. NyquistFrequency

    NyquistFrequency Newbie

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    With "many people" you mean 1 or 2 posters....?
    And comments like that are a very bad discussion practice.
    "People that disagree with me must be fanboys/shills"
    It makes you look dumb if you discard valid points by people and push them away with silly comments like that.
    You talked about "empirical facts" without providing any and wonder when you get called out on it?
     
  14. Daskeladden

    Daskeladden Rock Star

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    Is it okay to disable the Nvidia sound drivers? When do I use them?
     
  15. Heels Machine

    Heels Machine Kapellmeister

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    With a decent external soundcard, a decent amount of RAM and a decent CPU, there is no way any GPU could cause latency. Stop propagating this bullshit. It's like audiophiles and powerlines. Even by installing the bloatware that comes by default with Nvidia drivers.
     
  16. Heels Machine

    Heels Machine Kapellmeister

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    I have a i7 4930K, 16gb of Ram, a Scarlett 2i2 Rev2, a GTX 1080TI OC (I'm a CGI artist), an Axiom 25 and a DX7 MKI connected at the same time, and guess what ? ZERO latency PERIOD.
     
  17. spacetime

    spacetime Platinum Record

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    i like apple pie
     
  18. Torrao

    Torrao Platinum Record

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    I provided screenshots, but seriously I don't care if they're not enough for you. I wanted to share my findings with the world to help people that has tried it all (as I did). I find even funnier how ferociously some people defend graphics card brands, which should matter a damn for producers. This is supposed to be a producers forum. I could thank every day the dude that pointed me in the direction of getting an AMD card for audio production. Perhaps Nvidia Quadros work wonders but I wouldn't get one since I don't do video editing.

    One last word to the haters. If this doesn't work for you, you can just return the card and buy a Nvidia. It's not like you're damned forever or something. My last three cards were all Nvidia and all of them suffered from the same shit. Good ridance!
     
  19. NyquistFrequency

    NyquistFrequency Newbie

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    You still don't get it, do you?
    People that took issues with your statements do not defend nvidia and they don't hate.

    And you are right, a screenshot of low latency is not enough. I could upload a screenshot of my low latency, while using my nvidia card. Would that prove the opposite?
    You claimed to have "empirical evidence" and implied that people shouldn't buy nvidia cards which both is bullshit.
    When asked or called out, you simply ignore the points and questions of others....
    Even if you just shared your experience it wouldn't be 100% clear to everyone since there are sooo many factors in play when it comes to latency.
    I never had any latency issues and i have used nvidia cards for ages and you are right, it's an audio production forum and a graphics card shouldn't matter but you have to consider that there are a lot of hobbyists here that use their DAW pc for other things like gaming too.
     
  20. Torrao

    Torrao Platinum Record

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    Well, I'm not buying a Nvidia card again to post "before" screenshots. If you're not having problems, good to you. This thread is for the people who DO have problems with said driver, which is very easy to check with LatencyMon. There are quite a lot of them, actually (just google Nvidia DPC latency). Dismissing all people having problems with it because YOU don't, and calling out a person trying to help them based on his own experience is not very nice of you, I'd say. Actually you just registered in a forum to hijack a thread created to help others. I don't work for AMD, mind you.

    And of course there are also hobbysts who do gaming. I do. Guess what? I'm totally fine losing ~3fps (tested with my previous GTX 970 card) in games compared to having HALF the latency.

    Since it's you who doesn't seem to get it, I'll say it again. This thread is aimed towards people having problems with Nvidia cards. You don't have any? Congratulations, this thread is not for you. :like:

    I won't reply to you any further. I don't like feeding trolls, nor wasting my time arguing in the internet. I actually prefer to spend it creating threads to help others overcome latency issues... :winker:
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2018
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