RAM and Performance

[STC]

1 hour ago, Nikhil said:

What processor are you using?   

 

Oops..... I didn’t see the date. I use i7-7700. 

[Chopin75]

I see, so I guess if I get the latest Macbook   Pro quad core 8th gen i5 and 16GB that should be adequate even for DSD 256 or 512? Or even DSD 256 M-ch ? 

[Nikhil]

For DSD 256 and above I would suggest Core i7.

But what software are you using or plan to use?

 

Is this going to be a single computer connected to your DAC.  With Roon, you can repurpose an older machine to run Roon Server and get away with a Sonore Rendu as a transport. Not suggesting anything but the answer really depends on what you have in mind.  

 

[Chopin75]

I am not doing roon, so I am just goIng to be using a single maxbook Pro which if I just play music I won’t do anything else wit h it. The latest 8th gen i5 seems quite similar to i7 in performance unless u do really high power stuff so it seems i5 is now much closer to i7 than then older gen.  Quadcore itself seems Also faster as well. I am not sure if I want to may more for i7 for now.

[rando]

An 8 core 9th generation i7 will be able to handle a little upsampling on a desktop.  The big Christmas goose still hiding in the shed is laptop processors. 

[Darryl R]

Just looking for some input on RAM, the brand.  Almost a year later and I'm going with the i9-9900 (with a little prodding from Nenon ;).  I continue to find evidence in support of thinking bigger for the new server build.

[Chopin75]

I ended up abandoning the Noisy MacBook and built my own PC using HDPLex (well have someone built to be more precise) using Ryzen 2700x an 8 core professor. More than adequate for my needs.  8GB RAM is fine with me.  

[Darryl R]

In looking at the supported memory for my new mobo (Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITXac) I see DDR4 2400 thru 4500 (OC).  My current server has 16GB of 2400.  I'm not certain how fast to go with memory.  My DAC has a new fiber interface and a clock speed of 33 femtoseconds, and I want to push the envelope with this server as well.

[Chopin75]

50 minutes ago, Darryl R said:

In looking at the supported memory for my new mobo (Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITXac) I see DDR4 2400 thru 4500 (OC).  My current server has 16GB of 2400.  I'm not certain how fast to go with memory.  My DAC has a new fiber interface and a clock speed of 33 femtoseconds, and I want to push the envelope with this server as well.

Depends on what you are doing I suppose. Are you planning on upsampling, resampling from PCM--->DSD, doing DSD256 and 512,

Are you using HQplayer ?

Are you running RAM with all your programs including the OS, eg Audiolinux on RAMROOT, ?

Normally if you just download the entire music file to play in RAM, 8GM RAM is enough, as I do and I also do HQplayer PCM--->DSD256, and that is fine too. 

Obviously if you want to do gaming then that would be a whole different matter. 

[Darryl R]

1 hour ago, Chopin75 said:

Depends on what you are doing I suppose. Are you planning on upsampling, resampling from PCM--->DSD, doing DSD256 and 512,

Are you using HQplayer ?

Are you running RAM with all your programs including the OS, eg Audiolinux on RAMROOT, ?

Normally if you just download the entire music file to play in RAM, 8GM RAM is enough, as I do and I also do HQplayer PCM--->DSD256, and that is fine too. 

Obviously if you want to do gaming then that would be a whole different matter. 

 

Server is used exclusively for playback thru USB, no upsampling or conversion, files range from 16/44 to DSD128 (though my MSB DAC will play quad DSD natively).  I currently use Roon with Ubuntu, but am looking at other players.  A friend has strongly recommended Euphony (OS and player).  I'm intrigued by the minimal linuxes (Audio-linux, Audiophile-linux) but I don't want any issues.  Ubuntu minimal is very stable.  OS will load from Optane.