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Hi friends,

So because of a broken Alt key, Dell sent me a new machine for exchange. And now instead of a 8th gen Intel Precision 3540, now I have the 3560 with a 11th gen Intel processor.

I have a question for you all. Should I turn off t?

1. Intel SpeedStep;
2. C State
3. Intel TurboBoost
4. Intel Hyper Threading

Due to traveling, I can't test out my audio interface and VST setup right now, so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Also, since I'm plugging in the computer anyway, I've set it to "primarily AC use". Hopefully I did the right thing.

Thanks!

David

on some boards turning off speedstep affects the turbo clocks, So test this both ways to see if the boost clock hits its maximum rated.

turn off all c states, keep turbo on, you can disable hyperthreading if you notice latency from low thread count use, if you notice latency from high thread count use you want to turn it on.

Hi David,

That is a nice upgrade.

I would try the laptop out of the box and see how it runs without any tweaks.

Disabling SpeedStep and C-states can improve audio glitches. But also will use a lot more power, generate more heat, and probably force your CPU to run slower, potentially a lot slower.

First tweak is to set windows power to "High Performance" or similar.

Thank you for the replies!

The install of Windows I have is from my previous upgrade to the 3540, the 2-TB SSD. I'm transfering that into the new 3560. So all Windows settings are still what I did almost 3 years ago.

The only thing I'm asking about is the UEFI settings, as this doesn't have text-to-speech, and I have people who can speak English nearby. Currently I'm traveling in North Carolina and don't have my keyboard or audio interface with me, so can't test things out. I hope to make some adjustments, and pray that it'll be fast, cool and quiet over there when I return to Indiana. That's why I posted this thread.

One more thing, the new system has a 3200 MHZ 16GB SODIM ram, but since my previous upgrade on the 3540 was to add another 2667 MHZ 16 GB SODIM on to that system, I decided to plug both 2667 rams into the new machine instead of taking a higher speed ram, as I was told that it's better that the ram slots be filled with rams of the same speed, and I don't want to spend more money upgrading my system when I already got one "for free."

Hope this helps!

As far as I know, if the Windows power settings set to high-performance, this will do the same as disabling Speedstep (and it is better to have it disabled).

Turboboost should be on - this increases the max CPU clock speed. It should be disabled only if the laptop overheats.
Hyperthreading does not matter - your case (playing with VSTi) should not be thread-heavy. I would keep it on.

C states should be turned off.

Thank you, Vlad! That helps a lot.

I changed the "balanced" plan and made it "ultra performance" on my Windows 11 install.

OK, I'll turn hyperthreading back on tomorrow. Yes, sometimes I do hear a low fan noise now that it's off. This would keep it all quiet.

Make sure you have the minimum processor state when plugged in at 100%. I assume you play with laptop plugged in.
Control Panel - Power Options - Change Advanced Power Settings - Processor Power Management

Yes, and yes already done. I've also through the help of a nearby English speaker, set the battery management to "primarily AC use".

the ram frequency only matters if the processor and motherboard AND bios supports the higher speed. some laptops limit ram freq through bios even if the cpu supports it.

Hello,

@David Lai, We're in sync, I moved my virtual pianos to a different (not new but more powerful) PC yesterday and am also 'tuning' that machine now.

So it is wonderful that you'd ask, and others answer, those BIOS questions this same moment.

Anyway, I want to add that there is a splendid document by Cantabile that gives a lot of background on audio processes on Windows PCs followed by a step by step guide to set up everything as is perceived to be the best for optimal audio performance.

The document is a .pdf e-book and can be found here:

https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree

Cheers and happy fine-tuning,

HZ

PS How is the NC festival for you? 🙂

Remember to disable the Dell services, or totally uninstall them, especially the ones with supportassist and vault in the name. If disabled, they tend to be reenabled every time Windows is updated.

So do you suggest running a 3200 MHZ along side a 2667 MHZ ram? Or do you suggest ram frequencies be consistent?

Thank you, HZ!!! I'm glad we are on this adventure together.

I just read in that document it also suggests disabling hyperthreading. But I'm not sure when this was last updated, as I got last year's processor. Maybe now this technology is better? I don't know.

I'm doing well in NC, and since there's an acoustic upright always at my calling, I don't have to sign up for practice rooms like other students.

Cheers and happy researching!

David

No problem. Such software programs were already uninstalled.

If the board is dual channel (most desktops are) , 2 sticks will always be better than 1 even if running at lower freq.

Look up the max freq supported by that chip and motherboard. then get 2 sticks that has those freq/ timing in its jedec table. some sticks have their highest timing stored only in xmp, and most oem boards do not support xmp.

I see. Thank you! So it's OK to mix 3200 with 2667 MHZ rams in your opinion for playing VST pianos. Interesting, thank you!

I have C-Ctates Off
Hyperthreading on.
Turbo Boost On
I also usually disable virtualisation in BIOS.
I also disable on board soundcard.

disabling unused motherboard features can improve latency because those devices along with drivers may cause stutter, onboard network chips are the most notorious for this.

That's interesting. So does it mean that you don't connect to the Internet using your computer? For me, my laptop is not just a music machine, but also an "everything else" handler.

Interesting. So you just pump all audio through your external audio interface / soundcard. Good to know!

I've been second guessing this "hyperthreading", especially on this 11th gen I7. This might be something to look into.