# Performance is worse after major PC upgrade



## funkymantis (Apr 22, 2019)

For the last 4-5 years, I was using an i5 PC with 8GB of RAM. Ableton was my primary DAW but I recently started using Studio One Pro as well. With 10-20 tracks plus FX, my CPU meter would hit 20-25%.

Last week, I upgraded to an i7 and 16GB of RAM. I reinstalled Ableton, Studio One, and most of my VSTs to do some testing. I've found that loading just one instance of a VST instantly puts my CPU meter at 20%. Playing notes or adding FX gets it closer to 30%.

I don't recall having to do any major tweaks on my old build, but that was Windows 7, and I'm now on Windows 10, so maybe I missed some crucial option to ensure that I'm maximizing the efficiency of my system. Any suggestions? Feeling a bit lost here, as I sank a lot of money into these upgrades.


----------



## tommalm (Apr 22, 2019)

Make sure Windows Power Plan is set to "High Performance".


----------



## Guy Rowland (Apr 23, 2019)

Could you post your old and new processor models and clock speeds?


----------



## Fredeke (Apr 23, 2019)

This video by Richard Ames most probably explains the reason for your problem :
https://vi-control.net/community/th...e-vs-real-time-performance-in-your-daw.46807/


If after following his recommendations you're still not happy, then you could try this:
https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/

In short, the video explains that some processes are holding your CPU back, and those are probably faulty drivers. The solution is to update every possible driver and if it doesn't work, removing your new hardware piece by piece until you identify the guilty piece(s). The second link is about tweaking Windows 10 for maximum real-time performance. They somehow overlap, but both are worth checking out.

Good luck


----------



## funkymantis (Apr 23, 2019)

tommalm said:


> Make sure Windows Power Plan is set to "High Performance".



Thank you! It was set to Balanced by default.


----------



## funkymantis (Apr 23, 2019)

Fredeke said:


> This video by Richard Ames most probably explains the reason for your problem :
> https://vi-control.net/community/th...e-vs-real-time-performance-in-your-daw.46807/
> 
> 
> ...



I will check these out tonight. Thanks for responding!


----------

