It is about time I upgraded my PC. Currently I have a PCI 3 Asus Rog Strix mobo with 64 gb of Ram. Been out of the market fro a few years, but I think I am looking for a powerful machine with lots of RAM. Usually I use the on board Graphics as I don’t game.
Can anyone give me some basics about where the market is at, at the moment please?
Not sure if I should go Intel or AMD?
How much RAM is the top end of Standard these days (I use orchestral VSts)
Any Cubase specific gotchas?
DoI need PCI5 architecture?
The definition of “Top-end” varies a lot for people.
I built top-end $1500 machines and top-end $90000 machines (Quad-Xeons).
People tend to overestimate their needs these days and 64GB is already a lot of memory for 90%+ of applications.
PCIe Gen4 or Gen5 makes no difference for a CB machine.
Any recent Intel i7 or i9 desktop CPU should do fine (again for 90%+).
Pick a quality recent NVMe SSD (or 2) from a reputable vendor (ex Samsung, Micron).
A GPU card is really not necessary, but can make a little difference if you use SpectraLayer a lot.
Keep some budget for a large 4k monitor… but that’s another debate…
i build this system, and minimal 500 GB system drive should do, or more.
From 16 GB RAM on, if you use windows 11 and cubase, you have allready a good start, 32 GB is then for these 2 programs very good and enough, but i do not know what software you use.
When i use Cubase 13 now in this system, 1 reached 9 GB RAM in use.
So my 32 GB RAM is enough, or else i buy some modules.
For so far how it is here. Good luck.
Merely half of Iconica Sections and Players by itself is too big for most computers, while Sketch is good sounding yet small enough to run on the majority of laptops. It would be good to know what libraries you do use so we can know what kind of powerful this computer needs to be.
I just use Dorico, so I don’t know how heavy Cubase already is.
Not a biggy, but I’d be curious to see how you come to this conclusion.
With a fast enough SSD, you don’t need the complete library to be in RAM to be able to use it.
Well, i am running Cubase 13 now since februari 29 2024, and those vstsound files on your harddrive are taking more space at the drive.
So if there is enough space on the drive, then you can manage that, the folders on the drive are containing more VST sounds if you buy and install more packs.
For the memory (RAM) used when cubase is running, that is not an isue.
It is just how many tracks you can create and how many effects.
Because that is the working memory.
Now i checked here a while ago, with a project with many tracks and effects and automation, and at that moment the RAM USED was about 9 GB.
So i use only cubase 13 at that level.
If you running more programs at the same time, offcourse RAM fill with data.
So in Windows my Steinberg folder in ProgramData (hidden folder in Windows on C:) contains 96,2 GB (103.326.853.710 bytes)
The whole library is never loaded in RAM.
It works just like dll files in windows with vstsounds.
When you program a sound in cubase with HALion, then HALion makes connection with the vstsound file, and at that moment is only HALION taking the data from a vstsound file and put it in RAM via HALion.
It works as follow:
When HALion ( is an executable) is loaded in memory, it is just like any other program in that memory adressed, in a frame.
Not the whole library, that is on the harddrive, is going in RAM.
Because HALion read the data from the files and the processor put it in RAM, in the frame, adressed to HALion, with a PID.
But that is in windows.
Because RAM, works with a processor.
The Processor put data in RAM via a scheduler, and that data is comming from your hard drive.
In RAM all programs get their own space.
So only the data HALion READS in the vstsoundfiles while you using HALion is going to RAM via the processor.
That is what the kernel does.
But that is hardware.
If HALion must put my whole library in RAM then that is 92 GB vstsoundfiles on my hard drive.
then i should get myself 1000 GB RAM now
No, just kidding, library it self is never in RAM.
@Y-D@Erik8 Sorry. I meant storage on the computer. Which I suppose you could upgrade or add an external drive for at any time.
I’m not great with computer terms, so let please correct me if I get something wrong.
Ah oké, that is clear.
And yes, it is realy data that counts.
So important.
How many space you have left at this moment on your HD?
And what OS you use?
This sort of thing needs a good plan before you start.
1TB HD will do good for Cubase and more.
But that depends what your plans are.
Here it works good with a HD from 476 GB C:
(Assuming you’re talking to me in this comment.)
I don’t actually have a computer to call my own, just have an iPad, but I can tell you right now that I use both MacOS Catalina/Sonoma and Windows, and I have tried downloading Iconica just to peek in HalION and see what it has (I don’t have the license of course) and both computers I’ve tried it on can’t even download the woodwind section.
Thankfully, I’m not planning on getting Iconica any time. Most likely I’ll just stick to using Muse Sounds, HSE, and Iconica Sketch. Quite possibly noteperformer in the future as well.
Oké, so you used to different systems.
For the hardware to check, and new software, those packs just use space on a drive.
If you wanna get rid of the files you installed, i personaly manage that in the folders self.
But i have no need to change it now.
I planned this with the hardware before i got cubase 13.
I am not working with i pads, so in that case i am dumb
Offcourse if you want to know something, we can share info.
That is no problem…
Good luck.
About Iconica.
For even the largest collection, Steinberg says 4GB is enough and recommends 16GB.
Check “System Requirements” at:
If you run multiple instances, having 32GB is a good idea, and it’s a nice provision to get 64GB, but it’s not the first place I would invest in.
The CPU and SSD will become bottlenecks before RAM when you abuse of VST instances. (Bounce and/or freeze tracks when playing large orchestration then.)
I have 32GB, but only rarely need over 16GB.
Can you explain why the CPU and the SSD become a bottleneck?
The speed of the processor and RAM, when you load your vst instruments in the program you start first.
Your concern is then space on the hard drive.
And not the program that handles the instruments while programming.
So can you axplain more technical the isue?
Because 32 GB RAM is not the speed.
The speed of processor and RAM in Hz…
So, the harddrive can not be a bottleneck.
If you use programs and your RAM is full, then you know that.
If you install all packs, Steinberg made as instruments, nothing change after you start cubase in how it works.
Only the library is longer.
And mediabay shows the instruments.
So where are the bottlenecks, when it is the extension *.vstsound?
You do not need to change your hardware for more instruments, only you need enough space on your harddrive.
Sorry I was too succinct in my comment.
When I mentioned “bottlenecks” it was about what will have an effect on the user experience/performance.
So “CPU bottleneck” in this context was referring to its performance, and that in itself depends on multiple factors, like number (and type) of cores, GHz, turbo, thermals, number of memory channels, type and GHz (IBECC, etc.).
And “SSD bottlenecks” was about its read speed in GB/s mainly (not its size). The difference between using a recent Gen3 versus Gen4 PCIex4 SSD, for ex., will not be perceivable (or barely), but compared to a SATA SSD, it can be 6x to 10x faster, and that will affect the load speed for samples. And of course, mechanical SATA drives are out of the question in this context… First place to put your money to upgrade a PC is on a good SSD (min. 3000 MB/s read).
So, I meant that all those performance factors are more critical to the user experience than having more than 32GB of RAM (or even 16GB for most). Having 64GB+ will rarely make a difference, and it’s a waste if those other bottlenecks (CPU+SSD) are not taken care of properly first.
If you already have (or planned) for an +8-core (recent) i7/i9 and a fast SSD (or two!) and 32GB RAM, than yes 64GB might be your next step, but the odds are it won’t make a difference for most people.
Those questions are related to computers, so, no worry, because all those questions are rissing in you when you want to get a good system.
If you look at specifications of hardware, then you can understand that from 2017 the most i7 processors are from an 2009 generation, that is 14 years ago.
Now, some i7 procesors can not handle Windows 11, and many people can not get updates anymore.
That is besites Cubase, a strategy.
So, what you can do is look at specifications.
Because you want to build your own system.
For RAM and processor and motherboard, those 3 and the specifications, about speed in Ghz…
Now the i9 processor is a fact to, you can still buy computers with i5, i7 processors.
But you want to make music…
So you need that computer.
And, you want to have enough room and speed.
Then the processor = the bottleneck if that processor is to slow, but then RAM is to slow to, because the processor load data in RAM and the speed is high.
i9 = 16 core.
But, that is more then enough.
So you need a mobo, and the processor and the mobo have specifications.
DDR 4 or 5?
You must look at this info otherwise it do not match.
And then you can get problems.
But then it is not cubase, but the computer self.
So read specifications and show us what you want as a system.
My opinion is that you wait!!!.
Future Versions of all software will need an NPU
take a look at the new Logic 11 it needs the NPU (do your research) to create all these AI tricks
but that’s another debate…
