win arm

Discussion in 'PC' started by washlim, Nov 28, 2024.

  1. washlim

    washlim Newbie

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    Not sure any thread about win arm stuff yet. So I start a new one.

    Warning : I'm a nerd ( including a tendency to troll and lean toward a tech or another ..)

    Cubase 14 supposed to be released on arm t1 2025 ( not sure of schedule)
    Some plugins synth already.
    Steinberg makes Use of arm 64ec binary so can load some Intel binaries plugins and maybe they won't migrate all, keeping some of their own old Intel cubase DLL idk. It costs at least 20% perf ( no avx and other intrinsics VC++, limited registers to pass data to libs) but of course easier for everyone for compatilibty with Intel.

    Bitwig
    in beta , and full arm, plugins run in their own sandbox. Not fan of bitwig but how cool is that... Anyway not much asio arm drivers to what I knows except focusrite. Maybe some Steinberg ones somewhere...

    Reapers supposed to be released too.

    Sounds cool, still vaporware at this stage but promising. Never believed much into win arm but step by step it seems to be there. max raw 300w power would be still certainly to Intel and AMD but for most use case arm promise better power/heat/efficiency. for price right now those x elite cost an arm and a leg still... Even more expensive than mac, that's nonsense to me. But i digress.
     
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  3. xorome

    xorome Audiosexual

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    Yeah, the value proposition for Windows-ARM isn't there at the moment.

    Qualcomm probably believed they had a blowout win for all of 2024-2025 on their hands and set prices accordingly, but AMD and Intel made serious efforts with their latest gens and are now pretty close to Qualcomm's perf per watt and often cheaper too. The convenience of x64 wins if there's no "wowzers" incentive.

    Sales numbers suggest QC's market share last quarter was 0.8% of all laptops (so 0.5-0.6% of all W systems). QC has adjusted their growth projections accordingly for 2025 and beyond (down).

    They'll have cheaper ~€700 models in 2025, but those will cut general performance considerably. (And that's pretty wtf, because the €700 price tag is pretty crowded with okay x64 laptops)

    The "problem" with WoA remains that MS isn't Apple. MS doesn't have the kind of tight control over the software / hardware stack that Apple does. MS can only add more conveniences (mostly for developers) as incentives (automatic x64-translation, hybrid ARM-x64 builds, ARM-on-x64 for testing, ...). And QC.. can only turn the perf per $ and perf per watt knobs in WoA's favour, but that cuts into margins, and QC loves margins.

    Realistically, I'm not expecting to have W-ARM builds for more than 2/3rds of my plugins by 2030. Don't count out x64 just yet either imo; AMD's latest (370) is surprisingly hot on the heels of both Qualcomm and Apple.
     
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  4. ChemicalJobby

    ChemicalJobby Ultrasonic

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  5. fiction

    fiction Audiosexual

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    Interesting topic. When plugin developers start to optimize their code for ARM CPUs specifically, I'd be surprised if there was no obvious performance gain on Windows for ARM CPUs.
    IMO, MS slept a bit too long ignoring the ARM architecture and I'm more than curious to see what the market will look like in a few years.
    I'll enjoy my bags of popcorn for sure while watching the race between Intel, AMD and Apple.
     
  6. Radio

    Radio Audiosexual

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    What you write does not convince me, because I found the following text and I remain skeptical about ARM.

    Disadvantages of 64-bit ARM chips in the data center

    While the advantages of ARM chips with 64-bit architecture are certainly convincing from an energy efficiency perspective, ARM processors also have their disadvantages, as Marsh-Mossadeghi points out: "There are still problems with the lack of maturity of the software stack, which makes production systems challenging. While processor support is now available, the challenges lie more in the hardware peripherals, which can ultimately lead to problems with BIOS, boot loaders and kernel functions."

    Matthew Larbey, Product Strategy Director at Virtus Data Centres, shares this view: "Large parts of the operating system and application stack will have to be redesigned to really realize the benefits of the ARM architecture. Essentially, this is a chicken-and-egg problem where both sides, hardware and software, need to be sufficiently developed to make the new server architecture a success."

    According to Aaron Sullivan, Senior Director at Rackspace, 64-bit ARM systems may also require different approaches to error and storage management and monitoring: "If administrators are very attached to their array of independent disk controllers, network adapters and management tools, then switching to ARM will require some getting used to. The basic functions are certainly there, but the approach to configuration and management is different."
     
  7. fiction

    fiction Audiosexual

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    Yes, like you wrote, it's not about the processors but rather about the software to catch up. Just a matter of time.
     
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  8. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    I cant wait for a Dual ARM processor, because everyone needs 2 arms.

    Sorry that was terrible. I apologise to anyone who reads this!
     
  9. zpaces

    zpaces Platinum Record

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    Windows and ARM should not mix. Windows 11 works so poor on ARM.
    Also you have to watch out for the software compatibility on the processor. The AMD ARM is different from Intel ARM! You have to checkout which software works on which CPU. It will be a mess!

    Anyway ProTools is Win ARM ready.
     
  10. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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    It may start being a thing if Nvidia decides to release a pc with an all Nvidia solution. Most likely branded AI something lol. They do have their own ARM cpus after all and the pc scenery looks somehow ripe for a "hijacking", now that Intel's flailing and everybody "wants a lapdance with AI" hehe. On the other hand Qualcomm is more and more moving away from the traditional ARM design. They keep buying tech companies in order to do so. They even tried to buy Intel for fk's sake. But the future's not so bright for the marriage of ARM and PC, at least not yet. Those first Qualcomm X attempts were met with a lot of criticism, mostly because they can't run all soft no matter their bridge soft and as raw cpu power are inferior to both Intel and AMD offerings. But we 'll wait and see, i keep spare popcorn at all times :D
    Cheers
     
  11. zpaces

    zpaces Platinum Record

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    Ah yes, I forgot Nvidia. They also release their own ARM with their very own software compatibility. =D
    Like I said, it will be a mess!
     
  12. Swatch

    Swatch Producer

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    Hey there.
    I had my hands on the super beatiful Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim with the Snapdragon X Elite.
    It´s a 14.4" OLED 3K Multi Touch Notebook.

    I really felt in love with this device. How can Lenovo built this beautiful machine with a Snapdragon CPU.
    The Trackpad is super precise and snappy, also the Touch Display.

    https://www.cyberport.de/notebook-u...agon-elite-32gb-1tb-ssd-win11-copilot-pc.html

    Anyway.
    I search for a 14" Laptop, which can handle FL Studio (max 50 Channels, 20 Sylenth1)
    Davinci Resolve 4K h265 Basic Video Editing without 3D Effects. Just the Tracking and masking.

    Davinci started to make big advertisment on the new Snapdragon Support and capable of doing the "AI" stuff on the CPU

    So my question: Can i use ALL my Windows Audio Apps?
    FL Studio 2024, Sylenth1 VST3, Some FX VSTs on Arm

    I also tried Parallels on MAC. It´s some kind of Windows ARM on Mac Emulation bullshit.
    I had a few Exe files, which stopped working or had bad behavior.

    Alternatives: AMD Ryzen AI 365 or AMD Ryzen 8040HS Or Core 7 Ultra.
    But Core7 Ultra has a very low base clock :(

    Thank you :)
     
  13. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    RME drivers (ALL USB interfaces) are officially ARM native by now - https://rme-audio.de/arm-drivers.html

    Reaper native W11/ARM version (BETA) is available for long time already - https://www.reaper.fm/download.php
     
  14. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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    Nope. Not on ARM. It isn't ready yet. Some apps will work, some will crash and some will work very slow. If you are sold on this, you 're gonna have to buy one to try it for yourself with an option to return it within 15-30 days and get your money back, if it doesn't meet expectations.
    If we 're talking 14", i really like the Framework 13.5" modular laptops. A friend from Chicago brought one with him last summer and it is a marvel for the diy world. It is by all means a laptop but it's completely modular and fully upgradeable almost just like a desktop. I say almost because they won't take a discrete gpu so you are stuck with onboard graphics and everything that this may mean. Still, everything else is interchangeable even the mobo and cpu lol. You can spec it with either AMD Ryzen or Intel Ultra cpu.
    My other fav 14" is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS @ 4GHz (24MB Cache, up to 5.2 GHz, 8 cores, 16 Threads, AMD XDNA NPU up to 16TO) and discrete gpu up to Nvidia RTX 4070, 3K 120hz OLED display (0.2 ms response time, 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, delta E color accuracy of less than 1, VESA HDR True Black 500 certification) and various storage and ram options.
    Cheers
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2025
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