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Old 08-08-2019, 04:29 PM   #1
udaemon
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Default "disable power management"-setting

hi,

after some weeks off I've just experienced that the cpu usage of my reaper projects is 10-15% above what it used to be. firstly, I was not sure if I remembered that wrong but I can tell that the average cpu usage used to be around 5%, now it was 15-20% with just some tracks (< 10) with FX loaded and transport stopped. I tried to find out what the reason was and eventually discovered that when I activate the "disable power management"-setting cpu usage goes down again to around 5-8%.

I didn't find a related entry in the recent changelogs so maybe this different behaviour came with an update of my system (antergos/arch).

did anybody experience the same?

even if the problem seems to be solved when changing the said option I don't understand this aspect very well. furthermore, I figured out by chance that using e. g. Geraint's js plugins (https://geraintluff.github.io/jsfx/) I have to uncheck the "disable power management"-setting to avoid cpu usage increase unusually. so now, practically, if I wanted to use my usual plugins (mostly native vst(i)s) as well as Geraint's jsfx I'd have to live with my machine being demanded a higher cpu load as usual.

I'm a little confused. if anybody could share her/his experience, knowledge, links etc. ... thanks!! :-

Last edited by udaemon; 08-08-2019 at 04:46 PM.
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Old 09-02-2019, 06:51 PM   #2
JamesPeters
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That's just CPU frequency (CPU frequency governor setting). Leaving it set higher (at "Performance") is fine. It'll only be a problem if you're using a laptop on battery power, since that'll mean your battery will deplete faster. One of the first things in setting up a DAW on any OS is to disable the CPU frequency "throttling" to ensure the smoothest performance under high and/or changing CPU load. In Windows you'd do this under control panel, power settings (you've probably seen this advice given many times on DAW forums). Linux is the same in that regard, but you won't find that setting in the same place of course.

Perhaps you'd had your distro's CPU frequency governor setting at "Performance" without realizing it (maybe some DAW software changed this setting for you, such as how QjackCtl can add your user to a "realtime" group automatically during install). I don't use your distro so I didn't have the same experience as you. The CPU frequency governor was set to "Powersave" by default unless I changed it myself.

Your CPU meter can only tell you what percentage of the "current ability" of your CPU is being used. So if you see 15% of your CPU being used when it's operating at 800 MHz (my current CPU's frequency in "Powersave"), it seems like a lot but it really isn't. When at 3.8 GHz (my current CPU's frequency in "Performance") that CPU % number will scale accordingly, more like 3%. Also depending on how many frequency "steps" your CPU can use, this number will vary. The more you demand of your CPU, the higher the CPU frequency governor will go. So unless there are sudden CPU level changes in your project, you might be able to leave the CPU frequency governor set to "Powersave" and everything will work fine. Add more plugins, the CPU will throttle up. You get the idea. But a sudden change of CPU might cause a short dropout/crackle (such as when the play cursor passes over items with FX on them, or quickly navigating the project with lots of plugins active).

I added indicator-cpufreq to the panel so that I can quickly change the setting to "Performance" if I'm running a project with lots of plugins. It's usually fine set to "Powersave" though. Just don't let those % numbers freak you out, if you're leaving it set to "Powersave".
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Old 09-04-2019, 08:54 AM   #3
udaemon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesPeters View Post
That's just CPU frequency ...
Thanks for your clarification! that really helped me to understand some still dark aspects of my system.
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Old 09-04-2019, 09:02 AM   #4
SmajjL
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Here is the terminal commands should you use the Widget, Stickie notes.

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor
(Info of the state you are on)

echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor
(Pedal to the metal)

echo powersave | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor
(zzzZzz)

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Old 09-06-2019, 01:03 PM   #5
SmajjL
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One more alternative for Ubuntu compatible people is to just add some Ubuntu Studio stuff of choice and you get even more options, including the CPU thing (Ubuntu Studio Controls) and the switch seems to stay that way also after reboot.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ub...dioPreparation
And KXstudio has stuff also https://kx.studio/Repositories.
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Last edited by SmajjL; 09-06-2019 at 02:17 PM.
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