Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
Forum Statistics

182,161 users have contributed to 42,207 threads and 254,681 posts.

In the past 24 hours, we have 1 new thread(s), 14 new post(s) and 44 new user(s).

  1. Home
  2. Sample Libraries
  3. Vienna Instruments Libraries
  4. VE3 - Memory Usage on G5 and Intel

  • VE3 - Memory Usage on G5 and Intel

    F
    F
    The same Vienna Ensemble 3 program loaded on a Dual G5 and a Macbook Pro yields the following results:

    Intel:
    Wired    2.35GB
    Active     410mb
    Inactive    213 MB
    Used    2.97

    G5
    Wired    2.45GB
    Active     105mb
    Inactive    2.56GB
    Used    5.12

    Take a look at the "Inactive" column. Any comments? Why does the Dual G5 grab an extra 2 gigs of "Inactive" RAM? It's a problem for me because the G5 system runs out of memory on smaller loads than Intel.

    Fitz
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    according to apple's documentation *active* is the memory currently in use (by an application), the part you need to look related to VI is *wired* (= cannot be paged out) - on both platforms a single stereo sample needs 64 KB ...

    inactive memory is *reserved* but not *in use*, most of it might actually reside in the page-file.

     

    the difference probably results from more services beeing started after boot on the intel mac (see activity monitor details).

     you should also double check, if both machines are configured identically and run the same operating system version ... and you didn't mention how many GB physical RAM each machine has ....

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • S
    S

    Fitz:

    When you say that your G5 "runs out of memory," what are the symptoms?

    What I'm getting at is that your G5 could be running out of CPU before it is running out memory. This depends on what OS version you are running, what application is the MIDI source and what application is hosting VE or VI. In my experience, OS 10.5.2 has more processor overhead than OS 10.4.11, Logic 7 is more efficient in terms of CPU usage than Logic 8 - - and both Logic 7 and Logic 8 are more efficient hosts than VE. Also if you are using Finale as a MIDI source to play virtual instruments hosted by Logic, DP or VE, you should be aware that Finale is a CPU hog. In my testing Finale playing a single empty staff with no notes and no MIDI data in the staff - - with scrolling & Human Playback turned off - - consumes 90-105% of one CPU during playback - - thus significantly limiting the number of virtual instruments you can employ. Your MacBook Pro most likely has more powerful CPUs than your dual G5, a new MacPro equipped with a suitable amount of RAM would probably mitigate all these issues.

    In my testing on my dual 2.5GHz G5 equipped with 7GB of RAM, playing a file running under OS 10.5.2 with VE instantiated within Logic 8 produced digital artifacts (clicks and pops) with a significantly lower number of samples than playing the same file running under OS 10.4.11 with Logic 7 acting as the host for Vienna Instruments sample players.