Best CPU for hqplayer

[LoryWiv]

8 hours ago, pis99 said:

Jussi must done some magic on the latest 3 or 4 win desktop version. I can now play 512 dsd, 7ECv2, ext3 on 11900K+3090. So 12900 must be able to do 7ECv2 at 512dsd. I am sure an extra GPU can help improving music too.

 

From my person view, it definitely worths the money for the latest CPU. I believe computing power contributes to good sound for HQP. 

Is there a version 4 of 4.14? I believe the release at signalyst.com is 4.14.2 and he made 4.14.3 available in the forum but wasn't aware there is anothe (4th) version.

[LoryWiv]

I'm exploring a Windows 11 rig with  i9-99000 Z690 chipset to enable me to use higher resource requiring HQ Player modulators and filters. I've seen great information here about importance of CPU, GPU but not much about role of RAM. In terms of improved performance impact for expense outlay, would I better off with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM or 64 GB or DDR4 RAM. The builds I'm considering aren't conducive to 64 GB DDR5. I do plan to install HQ Player on my main work PC (due to space and money constraints).and do some light multi-tasking while HQ Player is in use (web, email). With my current i7-7700 4.2 GHz, Nvidea GeForce 1060, 32 GB DDR4 RAM playback stutters with HQ Player for anything beyond DSD128, Gauss-Long or similar,. Filters like Ext3 consume nearly all of my RAM when I try to use them. Suggestions?

[LoryWiv]

4 hours ago, Miska said:

I would say 32GB of DDR5 is better.

 Very helpful, thanks @Miska

Which case consumes so much? You can't easily burn 32 GB of RAM on such especially if you are doing just stereo playback.

I tried to replicate that use case to provide you with a screen shot, but could not. Perhaps it was just a "one-off". Ext 3 does tax my GPU to 50% (I run a meager GeForce 1060)  but now only loads ~ 20% RAM. 

BTW the GeForce 3090 is quite expensive...is it likely a GeForce 3080 with an i9-12900k could get me to at least DSD256 with ASDM5EC / Ext3 with reasonable resource use? Thanks Jussi!

 

[LoryWiv]

14 hours ago, Rune said:

A RTX 3060 with 12 GB might be enough if you are only doing DSD256 even my old 1080 Ti can do all filters DSD256 so I have seen no need to put my 3090 in my HQPlayer server running embedded.

There are rumors of a 3070 TI with 16GB that would be perfect.

I just went through build specs with vendor and decided to go with RTX 3080, hopefully the "sweet spot" between the super-pricey RTX 3090 and lesser video cards. With the supply chain issues it may be 6 weeks or more till my rig is in hand, but of course I will look forward to testing modulator / filter combinations and update this forum thread.

[LoryWiv]

5 hours ago, Miska said:

I've spent a week now working on adding specific support for Intel's 12th Gen CPUs. The whole core allocation needed rework. It should benefit also machines with two or more sockets/dies.

That's GREAT to hear @Miska. I just ordered a PC build based on an i9-12900 / Nvidia RTX 3080 and am really looking forward to better success using high resource modulators and filters. Thank you for your continued efforts to keep HQ Player at the top of the pack!

[LoryWiv]

I have a new 12900 PC with 32 GB DDR5 expected in 4 weeks or so and will report performance with HQ Player.

 

@StreamFidelity you are correct on multiple fronts. The DDR5 is pricey and availability is the rate limiting step in getting my build completed., expected late December. I went with 32 GB DDR5 rather than 64 GB of DDR4 at similar cost based on the recommendation of @Miska. I do wonder if the DDR5 clock speed increase may prove more helpful than the negative impact of higher latency. My prior PC's RAM was KINGSTON 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) HyperX Fury DDR4 2133MHz, PC4-17000, CL14 and new build will have 32GB (2 x 16GB) FURY Beast DDR5 5200MHz, CL40. More to follow.

[LoryWiv]

3 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Yeah, 4.14.0 was released before I had 12th Gen CPU to test on. Core allocation goes wrong because of P/E-cores and that P-cores are threaded while E-cores are not.

 

 

This is because Windows cannot cope with the fact that P-cores have AVX512 while E-cores don't. And processes/threads using AVX512 cannot be migrated between these two types of cores, it needs to be locked to P-cores. Doesn't mean you couldn't run other types of processes/threads on E-cores... But anyway I'm pretty sure the reason is that Microsoft wasn't ready to handle this complexity.

 

P-cores are typical Intel Core cores.While E-cores are typical Intel Atom cores.

 

Will the next release of HQ player desktop be better optimized for 12th gen Intel CPU? Thx!

[LoryWiv]

9 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Yes it is up to motherboard and BIOS, your's is CL19, so higher latency it shouldn't affect bandwdith. In BIOS, I do following:

 

1. Load optimized defaults
2. Set XMP 1 memory profile
3. Set Qfan profile to "Silent" for all fans

 

Do you have two or four memory modules? With four you get additional advantage of memory bank interleaving.

 

How does setting fan to silent improve performance?

[LoryWiv]

3 hours ago, Quadman said:

Wow, and I get nervous when my Ave CPU temp in HWinfo64 goes above 70 C which it does on DSD512 w EC7 or 5 V2 (72-75C).  I have an HTPC case with Noctura NH-9DL cooler and 2 fans in push pull configuration.  DSD1024 ave CPU temps in the uppers 40's and 512 w ECv2 in the 70's.

 

I also cannot get my 11900K to play any DSD512 with ECV2 modulators with any HQP version except 14.4.3, even when I turn off AVX512 in Bios, 4.16.1 and any 4.15 will not play DSD512 w ECV2 even with 2s filters.  14.4.3 I can play any 2s filter at 512 EC7 or 5v2 and any base input rate up to 192K and bios can be either with AVX512 enabled or disabled both results about the same.

 

I Manually overclock the my CPU cores; 4 cores at 5GHz, and 4 cores at 4.7GHz, voltage is set at auto and for 1024 CPU averages 1.33V and DSD512 ECv2 voltages run 1.398.  I am surprised Jussi that you get the 11600K to do DSD512 EC7v2, with Guass XLA filter and keeps temps near 72 with Silent fan mode.  Are you letting the MB automatically overclock?  When I do that my ave CPU voltages even at idle are 1.47-1.49 volts, wow, but temps stay about the same as my manual overclock.  Its the high voltages that keep me away from a full auto overclock.  I don't think even with 4.14.3 I could do Guass XLA w DSD512 EC7v2 and you can do it w 11600K.  I'm doing something wrong.

 

But DSD1024 with Guass XLA filter is magical, and 512 w ECv2 is also magical and certainly another level up from what I was limited to with the 10700K.  I just love HQP, Thank you!!

I assume you are using a less CPU-resource demanding modulator to get such low temps running DSD1024, correct?

[LoryWiv]

I am running Win 11 Home,  i9-12900KF 3.19 GHz, GeForce RTX 3070. Trying to output DSD512 with 5EC modulators give me static overlying the music, basically unlistenable. Per other's experience I'd think my hardware could handle this.  should I set DSP acceleration=0 (if so, a pointer to how to do this would be appreciated) or some other adjustment? Thanks for any help!

[LoryWiv]

On 2/11/2022 at 11:01 AM, Quadman said:

You certainly can try.  For my Win 11 pro (probably the same on 10) go to control panel>> System>>Advanced settings>>Edit environmental variable's.  Then edit and add exactly have you have written.  Apply, then restart HQP and done.

Thanks so much. My ASUS Motherboard bios does have an option to enable AVX512. Does adding the environment variable "DSP acceleration=0" do exactly the same thing? In the bios, it says that doing so requires disabling the E-cores.

 

Also wondering if enabling AVX512 leads to much higher power consumption / temps. I 'd love to hear what you've experienced, @Quadman, @Miska and others before I decide if it's worthwhile for me to give it a try.

 

Thanks so much!

[LoryWiv]

7 minutes ago, IgorSki said:

just finished playing with 12900KS, I choose to disable all TVB settings in BIOS. When these are ON, it really looks attractive - voltages and temps are a bit lower, but for HQP - it shutters...

 

as for the ring ratio, I started to get stable builds matching ring ratio with e-core ratios, and e-core ratios matter - on "auto" would always shutter. So smth like e-core "44" and ring "44" ? How far e-cores can go on 13K, x46-x48? 

For the less savvy amongst us: what are TVB settings?> Thank you, always trying to learn especially as relevant to HQP

[LoryWiv]

18 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I doubt they would be interested as they normally sell workstations to people who use them for work. I did buy my HQP machine from them though. That decision was based more on wanting a warranty and reliability from a reputable company instead of anything else.

 

 

I've bought my last few PC's from AVA Direct, very solid and reliable builds. Perhaps they would be willing to do some HQP benchmarking?

[LoryWiv]

8 hours ago, Miska said:

Note that the Task Manager shows GPU loads incorrectly when CUDA is in use. For GPU loads, use nvidia-smi from command prompt. I usually use 5 second update interval with "-l 5" argument.

 

For those of us who are command-prompt challenged, is a small utility like HWMonitor more accurate in determining GPU loads while CUDA offload is running?

[LoryWiv]

Thanks @bogi, I'll check it out!✔️