Originally Posted By: Joe V
Thanks for sharing AI-David...are you an Artificial Intelligence enthusiast, or are those just initials ? BTW - how do you know it's mostly the ram vs. the faster CPU due to newer CPU architecture and faster clock speeds ? Likely both contribute - but do they do so equally or does one contribute more than the other ? I know a lot about simple basics things and generalizations with PC's - but when it comes to a complicated use scenario - like DAWs with virtual instruments and BB running, I really am clueless as to the extent each component plays in raising the overall performance bar....Even the articles I've read rarely explain things at that level. You kind of have to read lots of articles and infer....perhaps one of our low level BB coding engineers can explain better ?

Bottom line - faster, newer generation (more efficient) CPUs and multiple cores will result in better performance - I get that. I just find it interesting to know which components are limiting performance in a fully-loaded DAW.


Hi!

My full name is Alan David (yes, David is my last name), but in the music biz, I'm more well-known as Al David. I threw in the hyphen because most sites don't allow spaces in usernames. That's not the case here at PG Music Forums but I didn't know that when I opened my account.

I'm not an expert at anything other than saying "Yes ma'am" to my wife. My brother and I owned a computer store back in Missouri. I now live in Northern Alabama.

The 2 reasons I attribute most of the difference to the DDR4 RAM are:

1. My older computer had an I5 - 2nd generation CPU. Statistically, it's almost (not quite) as fast as the 6th generation. There is, indeed, a difference but it's not a huge difference. But that does, in fact, account for some of the difference, perhaps 15 - 20 percent of the difference.

In more technical terms, here is the compelling difference. The an important factor is a huge difference in capacity. DDR4 is able to accomodate a much higher RAM capacity per Gigabyte compared to DDR3. DDR3 RAM can theoretically use about 128 GB while while DDR4 RAM can go up to 512 GB. That's a very significant difference. Now, bandwidth in numbers - The frequency speed of DDR3 ranges from 800 MHz on the low end and tops out at 2133 MHz. DDR4 memory ranges from a low of 1600 MHz and tops out at 3200 MHz. Thus, DDR4 has a much higher rate (speed) of data handling than DDR3. I have 2666 MHz in my computer. There are other differences (better error detection and correction, for example) favoring the DDR4 but the two I mentioned are the major differences.

This also helps to reduce the load on the processor when using demanding software. Although that doesn't make operations any faster, it might extend the life of your CPU, allowing it to run somewhat cooler. Just a couple of extra benefits besides speed.

For simpler, more ordinary tasks, a significant speed difference isn't usually apparent. But for more intensive, memory-hungry programs, the difference is more obvious.

Right now, DDR4 memory is more than twice the price of DDR3. Also, you have to have a different motherboard for DDR4. The cost to upgrade, therefore, is substantial.

I probably told you more than you were anticipating, but it might be helpful to know.

Hope I answered your question. Best to you,

Alan

Last edited by Al-David; 01/27/18 05:38 AM.
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