Question About Daw's And Plugins Computer Resource Usage

[fastlanephil]

With the nMac Pro about to be released I'm curious about how the DAW host and the plugin effects and instrument libraries utilize muti-core CPU's and GPU's if OpenCL is utilized.

Can a DAW such as Logic X just by itself work with a computer's CPU and GPU or do the plugins also need to be coded to utilize the CPU's muti-cores and GPU's (OpenCL).

There's not much sense in having all that potential power if it's not going to be tapped.

Just wondering.

 

[ChrisA]

With the nMac Pro about to be released I'm curious about how the DAW host and the plugin effects and instrument libraries utilize muti-core CPU's and GPU's if OpenCL is utilized.

Can a DAW such as Logic X just by itself work with a computer's CPU and GPU or do the plugins also need to be coded to utilize the CPU's muti-cores and GPU's (OpenCL).

There's not much sense in having all that potential power if it's not going to be tapped.

Just wondering.

The OS itself will distribute threads over multiple cores. I don't think a developer has to do anything to make that happen except use multiple threads. As for the GPU, the developer does need to make use of OpenCL. Some do some don't. OpenCL is a learning curve, it is not like turning a switch. So if a plug-in uses OpenCL or not depends on who wrote the plug-in.

But over all Logic does not need a lot of processing power the MacPro is a bit of overkill. A quad core iMac is, I think the best match. Those new MacPros are designed for vide. Video is different and WILL soak up any amount of processing power to give it.

 

[fastlanephil]

The OS itself will distribute threads over multiple cores. I don't think a developer has to do anything to make that happen except use multiple threads. As for the GPU, the developer does need to make use of OpenCL. Some do some don't. OpenCL is a learning curve, it is not like turning a switch. So if a plug-in uses OpenCL or not depends on who wrote the plug-in.

But over all Logic does not need a lot of processing power the MacPro is a bit of overkill. A quad core iMac is, I think the best match. Those new MacPros are designed for vide. Video is different and WILL soak up any amount of processing power to give it.

That's pretty much what i suspected. The iMac probably now out-performs the current Mac Pro's when it comes to audio.

I'll probably set up a master/slave using my 2011 iMac and a quad Mac Mini with VE Pro 5 if VSL fixes the crash bug in their software I've run into. Total price for more memory and two NewerTech miniStack drives will be about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of a nMac Pro set up. A no brainer, huh!