Plenty of RAM with weak-ish CPU

Hi,

Just a query about having a system with a good amount of RAM 16-32 GB for example but with the CPU having half the power of a 4790k - It is correct to think that using Kontakt which is sample based that very good results can be obtained by being able to load a lot of samples into RAM and the processor which isn't the strongest would be un-affected because the RAM and SSD for example would run Kontakt really well.

I think this is it but just need to make sure - I know if VSTi's were used - virtual analog etc.... then the CPU is stressed due to computations but as far as sample based instruments are concerned is this correct that the Kontakt software does not stress the CPU much ? - Even if there were a lot of instruments loaded?

Any good insight welcome - thanks -

 

Well, not quite. Kontakt libraries can quite often do quite a lot of DSP processing, OR play a large number of voices (which you will once you start adding lots of instruments) - and you will need a good CPU for that. Best have a CPU to match.

 

Depends upon your needs. For studio use, yeah, CPU is king, it's hard to hit RAM limits in a typical DAW sequence. You're commonly playing the part of many instruments and instances in one project, which chews CPU, but even at 20+ instances, RAM won't be much of an issue.

However, for live use, it's the other way around, especially for a sampler, which typically uses less CPU than a modeler or something monolithic like Reaktor. However, when using programs like MainStage (my environment) or Ableton, you're rarely going to be actively running more than 5-10 instances as once, but you can easily have 100+ loaded in RAM, lying in wait.

For that reason, if I have to choose, I'll go with more RAM. Hitting the RAM limit is death on stage. However, in a project studio, especially if I'm on my own, I can chug through a slow CPU session if I have to... pre-render out tracks if need-be. Obviously not ideal, but I can make it work.

 

Thanks for the input - I've got a few processors of varying CPU power so it was more asking the real world situation so it's obvious a reasonable amount is needed. Of course I can experiment.

So you know where I'm coming from - AMD have the 880k and A10 7870K which gets a benchmark of 5,500 points which gives a good idea of how strong a CPU is. By contrast i7 4790k scores around 11,000 which is double whilst a 5820k scores 12,900 - These can all be overclocked to boost.

Thanks

 

IMHO anyone serious with audio work should be using Intel CPUs.