Dell MT 9020 i5 quad Buffering Constantly..

Question

Hello..I have a Dell 9020 MT ( which I though I was getting the 7010.. )..I'm using it for music production at my home studio..It has the i5 quad, 16 g Ram and I upgraded to a 550 watt psu..I'm getting constant buffering/bogging when recording..I'm using various plugins and average track count 24-32 tracks..Have my buffer set at 512-1024 and still gets it..I've seen laptops perform better with similar specs..Shouldn't 16 g ram handle this modest set up or do you think adding more Ram may help..?..Thanks..

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hi Snatchman, has it been the way since the start of the set-up or just recently? Does updating the audio/ video drivers along with the BIOS drivers help? Do check with the software used if the hardware set-up used will be sufficient to provide the necessary support. What is the operating system installed?

Please private message us the service tag of the system so that we can check on the configuration shipped with the system.

-Akshatha

Snatchman · Answer

Hello..I'm using the older Radeon 1g video card that Dell used as an option...Would this older card have an effect in this problem..?..Getting a faster card may help..?

Tesla1856 · Answer

If you must keep this old machine for important work ...

Replace your bootable Windows C: drive with a famous-maker 2.5-inch SATA-3/600 SSD. Install all your Apps there as well.

Either use this SSD for recording and scratch space (as well), or install another similar SSD for recording.

You can still use old spinning HDD for storage, but don't "work from them" ... understand ?

Yes, 16gb should be fine. But remember ... todays Intel-i3 processors are faster than yesterdays Intel-i7's ... just sayin.

Snatchman · Answer

Hello..Thanks for the replies...Yes, I'm using a SSD and IDE for storage..It's been this way from the beginning..I thought it may have been PSU issues ,hence upgrading to a bigger one..

speedstep · Answer

This is not a precision model with thunderbolt.

Latency can be many things including the audio interface.

Thats why the Focusrite models are GEN3 now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg6RZZBS9ls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdvROfxAKI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_YQGBkT_w

Snatchman · Answer

Hello..I do use the Focusrite interface,As I stated, could the older Radeon video card contribute but it's the Clarett series..As stated, could the older Radeon video card be contributing to this problem..?

speedstep · Answer

Focusrite Clarett USB units that are not GEN3 like the newer scarlett series .

You need USB3 and the GEN3 products to address the issues.

Dell does not support any of these so your questions will have to be to focusrite.

https://focusrite.com/en/clarett-usb

They went GEN1 to GEN2 to GEN3 on the scarlett models to address the latency issues.

The three Clarett USB units vary in their I/O: Clarett 2Pre (10-in, 4-out),
Clarett 4Pre (18-in, 8-out) and Clarett 8Pre (18-in, 20-out).

https://customer.focusrite.com/sites/customer/files/focusrite/downloads/32412/focusrite-control-clarett-preusbv1.0.pdf

Snatchman · Answer

Hello..Thanks again for your replies so far..I ran a latency test and it stated I may need to update my BIOS because it showed power management issues..I think the last update was in 2017 ( when I bought this computer)..If I do the update, will it cause me to lose or reset any data I already have in place...?..

Optiplex Desktops

Dell MT 9020 i5 quad Buffering Constantly..

Was this post helpful?