Graphic Card recommendation for Cubase 8.5

Cubase
1

Hi

I have a 4 monitor setup and would like to start working with Cubase 8.5, but switching to Aero currently make the transport bar stutter and the meters are lagging. Does anyone have a recommendation for a graphic card that works fine with Cubase 8.5 and a 4 monitor setup?

I’m currently using two graphic-cards in my computer, AMD R7 260x and and AMD HD 6450 and this works fine in Cubase 7.5.40, but as soon as I switch to an Aero theme, the transport bar stutters and Cubase feels like its lagging.

In Cubase 8.5, if I remove the mixer, channel editor and various open plugins (like Ozone) from the screen and just let it play with the arranger, it plays 100% fine without any stutter or lag, so I figured I need a more powerful graphic card to handle everything thats going on onscreen.

My system is Windows 7, 64 GB Ram, SSDs for sytem and samples, ASUS P9X79 LE Motherboard, RME Babyface Audiointerface (onboard audio disabled in BIOS), Oxygen 61 midicontroller, CC121 and Korg Nanokontrol connected, all drivers and firmware are up to date.

Any recommendations/experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

Asus STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5 or the Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5

I have both on different systems, I use the GTX970 for my DAW. Best thing is that the fans won’t engage until the GPU temp hits 65°C. In my 3-screen setup for Cubase the fans never spin, cause the application is not graphic heavy, and my case is also well ventilated.

3

I am also looking for these Asus STRIX cards but would like to use it for a single display running at 4K 3840x2160 resolution.

Does anyone have experience on 4K, so does the Asus Strix cards still stay silent running Cubase at this resolution?

4

According to the asus website for the strix 970 and 960 seem to support 4K settings, depending upon the which display connector is used. Check that out before you buy.

The Strix 960 is less power hungry and requires only 1 6-pin powerconnector where as the strix 970 requires 2. I don’t know about the 4K resolution refresh rate … but that is something that should be easy to find as well.

5

Unfortunately not so easy, I did not find any reference.

Asus does not even mention the version numbers of the display port and HDMI of these cards in the manual.

6

No idea about that model/brand though I have a geforce 750, which is ~3.5x less powerful than a 970, ~2.4x less powerful than a 960
and I run 2 monitors from that single 750 card
#1 running 3840x2160 (4k) @ 60fps (DP1.2)
#2 1920x1200 @ 60fps (HDMI)

with no issues, So a 960 or 970 running a single 4k monitor will be childs play (keep in mind you will need to use display port to run at 60fps)

7

Got a pasive 750 too, less power, less heat, performance in spades, no issues whatsoever.

8

The GTX 750, a great card, has no extra power connector requirement, but lacks the Strix finesse of have no fan engagement below 65°C, but if you have an passive cooled card, than you don’t have that problem either.

9

There are multiple versions of Asus STRIX for the 750 Ti as well.

This is the one with the most memory: http://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/STRIXGTX750TIDC2OC4GD5/

Just for Cubase / DAW and basic everyday use the 960 / 970 are a bit overkill… if 750 Ti does the job probably that’s fine.

Sounds great.

10

I have a Asus Hd7790 working perfectly with 8.5 with 4 monitors

11

For what it’s worth, I have a GTX 970 with a single display and have GUI stuttering problems in various projects. My GPU usage never goes above 10%.