System Resources Getting Maxed

Hi,
I’m using Cubase 10.5 Pro to compose rock/metal songs. Typical instruments are: Drums, 2-4 Guitars, 1-2 Bass, 0-4 Keyboards and several vox tracks being routed into as few FX tracks as possible. I’ve got a project now that takes several minutes to open and, after it’s open, the project is really slow and can hang up. Using the Win 10 task manager, my CPU & memory can be in the 80%-90% range easily.

I’ve removed my VST3’s from my common folder, logged the CPU, memory, disk and time stats and did this adding one VST3 at a time. I’d save the project and re-open again. Then I tried freezing tracks of each instrument, save, close and log. Then, I deleted each instrument, save close and log.

The biggest issues are using Superior Drummer 3 (SD3) and Waves plugins. I knew SD3 would be an issue because I have 4 instances not bounced to audio yet. That’s because I’m still composing the song and expect changes. I have the same issue with several Halion Sonic instances. The Wave plugins are mostly on the Stereo Out.

What work flow do you all use when composing in Cubase so your system resources aren’t this taxed and your project doesn’t have performance issues?

I’m running Win 10 Home version and recently had to upgrade to a new Win 10 version (20H2) but this was an issue before that. Here are my stats:

Alienware 15
Intel(R) Core™ i7-6820HK CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.70 GHz
Ram: 32.0 GB (31.9 GB usable)
System Type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
1 TB C drive
1 TB drive for Storage, including samples and music projects

Hi,

I would increase the Buffer Size as high as possible.

Could you test your system by using LatencyMon utility, please?

And for the workflow, I would freeze SD plug-ins (which are very CPU hungry). You can simple unfreeze them anytime, when you are going to change something on the track.

Thanks for replying and suggesting LatencyMon. That’s a great tool!

I ran it on my Dell Alienware 15 R3 and my mobile desktop which was custom built for audio recording/editing. The Dell showed I needed to change a CPU throttle setting, which I did. It still gives that message but I’ve checked the BIOS, task manager and power settings and I feel CPU throttling should be disabled now. It also showed I might have a WLAN problem but I have my wireless off and I’m using a LAN cable to connect to the internet, but I’m not sure why that would cause recording issues. I had to update several drivers, which I did and they didn’t help. There is still a BIOS update to do but after chasing computer issues all day, I don’t want to tackle that today. My Dell battery had puffed up, cracking open my case. I replaced it and didn’t touch the memory but after the battery replacement, I began getting an error when booting up saying I needed to reseat my memory because it had been changed.

I went back into the laptop and reseated it yet I still get the error. I’ve read it’s a Dell specific issue. I’ve tried all the solutions except flashing or updating the BIOS. I also get a message once Win 10 has started saying my AlienwareFX isn’t working properly. I believe that just controls the light scheme of the LED’s and keyboard lights but no solutions fixed that yet either.

When I ran LatencyMon on the custom mobile desktop, it didn’t see any issues until I opened the Cubase project I’m talking about. I think that’s because I just have too many plugins engaged. Opening Cubase and a much less intensive project didn’t show any issues. Opening the larger project gave the same messages to check CPU and possible WLAN issues. I also have wireless turned off on this machine. Thanks again for replying.