CPU use Renoise compared to windows task manager

Hi, i’ve recently built a new computer (i7 with windows 7 64 bit), and i noticed that the cpu use in Renoise is much higher then in the windows task manager. Renoise indicates between 50-80% cpu use on this song i am working on, but in the task manager the number stays between 7-15%.

Is there perhaps some setting that i could change to get the most out of my computer? I have already turned on the “use hardware buffers” switch but that makes only a small difference.

And while i’m already here, i also have a few quick questions about vsts in Renoise. In 2.8 it takes a few minutes to scan for new plugins, is there an option i can check so it skips that step? And the last one, is it possible to import edited vst names from an older version? I’ve spent quite some time categorizing everything (about 100 plugs) so i’d rather not do that again every new version…

Have a nice day :)

renoise only tells you the load on whatever core it is using. task mananger tells you the average load across all cores. or something. i think.

Wow you must have 100s way too many, but yes: just under where you set the vst directories is a checkbox.

I’ve tested it by loading a cpu heavy plugin quite a few times (until it maxed out) and still got shut down with the message “using too much cpu for a long time” or something. The selection box also says “8 cores”…

Would be too bad if i could only use 1 core, but i don’t think that’s the case, because in the task manager the graphic of the most used core is only a quarter of the way up when Renoise maxed out, so…

Yeah, its quite a lot, 127 to be precise (according to the counter thingy), mostly freeware though… But this is just a selection of the ‘usable’ stuff, i’ve deleted about 3 times as much :D
Anyway, thanks for the tip, starts up in about a second now (don’t know how i missed that option tbh) :)

I wonder if you used Razor by NI. That plugin uses so much CPU that it’s practically broken. 1 instance used up 50% of my CPU playing 1 note.

I know this is unwanted advice, but really try to limit the plugins that you use in your compositions. You should only use about 1 or 2 main soft synths that you know extremely well, pick your favorite reverb, a couple other saturation plugins and effects, and your mastering suite effects like a linear-phase EQ and multiband limiting/compression, or Ozone. And samples, because that’s what Renoise is for right?

Reason being, if your computer ever takes a shit, then your left to re-download every plugin that you’ve used to be able to go back to your tracks. Also, if you want to work on multiple computers, copying your library can be tedious.

the part about HT cpu support can be disregarded for the i5/i7 series, those didn’t existed back then and they are treated differently.

http://forum.renoise…hl__taskmanager

Actually i used harmonic adder by AnarchySound (recently became freeware, but i bought it about 6/7 years ago i think), still uses about 10% cpu on my machine when i tweak it a bit.

Thanks for the advice on plugins, but i really use almost all of them (some more then others but still…) just for the different flavours. The internal effects have their place too, but when i can’t get them to do what i want it’s nice to have alternatives. If you have between 7-10 plugs of every kind, like compressors, saturators, filters, flangers, distortion etc, it adds up quickly. And with most utility effects, the principles are pretty much the same so it’s not really all that difficult to work them.

And if i can’t get the sound with one plug alone, i use them together which works quite nicely most of the time. For example on my latest track i have stacked about 5 different chorus/phaser/flange fx (each mixed in just a little) which really adds depth i couldn’t get any other way.

I also keep a backup of all installers/dlls on my external drive for exactly that reason, did learn that the hard way though ;)

Thanks for the link, but it doesn’t really account for the difference i am seeing… Or am i missing something?

Ah! So that’s why there’s no difference between 4CPU and 8CPU in my machine. Good to know.

I couldn’t found the topic where this was explained better. But more or less is explained:each core gets its own CPU time in Renoise and Renoise gets some CPU time from the OS, not all because else an application could lock up the OS. So the taskmanager will always show more room in the CPU usage space than Renoise will show.
Core division in Renoise is something like:One core per VST plugin, if the VST plugin allows this control. If they perform their own Multi-CPU routines, Renoise lets the VST plug handle the multi-core control. Next to it renoise will use/reserve some CPU for the graphics, this usage is not shown in the CPU meter in Renoise.

K, thanks for the explanation. I guess i was just hoping something wasn’t right, it seemed like such a waste when you could have about 5 times as much processing power available (when looking at the numbers…) ah well :)

I thought everything in a track had to be processed in the same core? IE if you were to try stressing by loading a synth and a load of a high CPU plugin all onto a single track then you would be loading up on a single core, not spreading the load over all available. Or am I mistaken?

I don’t know exactly, like i said:i couldn’t find the specific thread that goes into the details. I recall one VST per core. If it would be one track per core, multiple tracks would be using multiple cores if the CPU would output their audio across those tracks? (audio routing).
Ofcourse the theory can be simply tested by doing it.