Nothing that follows affects the operability of MG3 whatsoever, so this is hardly a complaint — just perhaps a question for @JamO.
I’m wondering why there is such an increase in CPU and GPU usage when MG3 operates in the background (plugin hidden) compared to when it is in view? So I took the habit of hiding/closing the MG3 window whenever I don’t need to access its settings to preserve the CPU/GPU for other tasks.
I made this simple benchmark using the task manager to give you a comparison. This was tested on Windows 10 (minimal bloatware), i7-9700 @ 3GHz, 32GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Studio drivers). I also compared it with Fender Studio Pro that I use and another DAW to determine whether this might be DAW-related.
What I noticed is that resizing the MG3 window makes quite a significant difference in how much the GPU is being taxed.
Perhaps I miss something critical in my setup ? Please let me know if it’s the case.
Here is mine, Windows 11, Reaper, a complex patch (with 3 synths and various effects), MG3 HEX and a very capable computer:
Reaper Buffer VST Plugin CPU% GPU%
16 Hidden 8 2
16 Visible 10 13
In my case the jump in GPU is kinda on the high side but still in line with other plugins that vary between 4%-10% so maybe there is some room for improvement.
if you don’t use the system for gaming then it might be worth giving this a try:
i’m not recommending it based on experience, i haven’t tried it. but even with the studio drivers nvidia installs a bunch of stuff which isn’t necessary for music making.
@kimyo WOW!!!, that has fixed my issue by a large margin. I am now down to 10-15% on the GPU after running the clean install option of the driver with NVCleanstall. CPU% looks like it remains unchanged.
Today, I learned something & I fixed something. What a relief ?!
Million thanks to suggesting this solution, really !!
For DAW NVidia GPUs are problematic especially if you are looking to achieve low latency setups. I use an AMD RX6600 with everything disabled in the low noise mode (the GPU fan is basically always off)
Thanks @ElectroFuzz. I was not aware of this. This is new to me. Thanks for the tip that I will definitely look into when I am going to upgrade my computer.
I think maybe what happens is that with some GPU/drivers it will run as many frames pr second as it can, whereas it should be capped at 60 fps. If anybody can reproduce this issue, please let me know what the fps counter says (right under the CPU meter).
