ive just got a lenovo thinkpad I7-7700HQ laptop with 32 gig ram, 512GB SSD. The idea was to be able to work on fully loaded projects seamlessly between my studio PC and and on the go with the laptop. (desktop PC is an I7-6700K, with 16gig ram)
The performance on the laptop is terrible - I took a project from the studio PC and tested it on the thinkpad - the performance meter in cubase goes mental (average load) and audio stutters (basically its unusable) and that was only on a medium sized project.
ive made sure all the drivers etc are up to date on the laptop, and that its set to the steinberg power scheme, etc - so im really not sure what else to do.I notice that my desktop processor is clocked at 4.00ghz, where as the thinkpad is 2.80ghz. Would that be the difference in performance? I dont know enough about it (can you overclock a laptop?)
Surely a 7-7700HQ, with 32 gig ram should be able to handle big projects?
Im going to send the machine back if i cant get it sorted, really annoying though because ive spent hours setting it up and swapping licences over etc.
Is the correct power schema active? If your notebook is in power save mode the CPU is throttled down and it is no longer useable in realtime-processing.
Try using the Best Performance energy settings, but be aware that your battery will be empty in no time. So if you are doing something else turn the energy mode back down.
Some notebooks also throttle the CPU if the power cord is not pluged in.
Very often it’s a graphics driver that interrupts real time processing badly. Sometimes bios settings/onboard hardware driver updates can improve the situation, sometimes the components just don’t play together nicely for the task given.
While in theory the Thinkpad has good specs it’s still very important that all the stuff adds up to be performant instead of fighting each other.
Could be someting completely different as well but checking the DPC latency won’t hurt anyway.
I had a feeling it could be some weird gfx issue, because cubase seems to be in a slightly lower screen res than icons on the desktop, Windows menus, etc. It’s like the whole programme and all the vsts I load up are in lower res. Some of the vsts have a very slight delay graphically when I’m moving parameters around. I’ll run that tool you’ve linked tomorrow… but don’t really know what I’m looking for (any advice?)
I don’t think the machine has any sort of updated gfx card, would it help if I got one? I’m not a gamer so have no idea what I would be looking for even if that would solve it.
Any further advice would be very much appreciated!
@th3ben… power scheme is set to max performance and I’ll always be using it mains powered anyway
Have done a lot of optimisation tweaks and testing today. It’s improved slightly, but is absolutely incomparable with my desktop and isn’t much quicker than my i5 samsung ultrabook with 6gig of ram. It’s akin to having the engine of a McLaren p1 with the running gear of a Vauxhall nova.
It’s getting sent back! I’ll stick to sketching out ideas on the old laptop and using the desktop to make things properly.
Waste of time! If anyone can recommend a laptop (Not mac) which works well with cubase please let me know and I’ll consider getting one.
You should also note that your desktop I7 6700K CPU performs a lot better than a laptop I7 7700HQ. Laptop CPUs are always pinned down low power units compared to their desktop cousins.
32GB vs 16GB RAM does no difference other than you are able to load more sample libraries.
PS. No, normally it’s not possible to overclock a laptop and you wouldn’t do it anyway as the laptops cooling are only designed to handle the stock settings on a laptop.