Slow DP GUI

[aq]

From years of usage of DP, I don't know if it is me who is more and more exigent, but I realize that DP GUI is really slow.
For instance, just switching from the tracks tab to the mix tab is not immediate: when I click on the tab it takes like a half second to switch. My configuration is OSX Sierra Mac Mini late 2012 with SSD and 16GB ram. I did a fresh reinstall of OSX and it did not improve anything.
Any similar experiences ?
Is it my Mac which is too old ?

[stubbsonic]

My RMBP is a similar vintage with SSD and 16GB RAM, but it has an i7. (I don't know what processor that mac mini has).

I don't have any lag switching between tabs, as you describe. But my system isn't the same as yours, nor are my projects, (likely).

My point is that I don't think the age of your computer is relevant, since mine is the same age.

[mikehalloran]

The 2012 was the last year of the i7 quad-core Minis. The i5 was dual-core as are all current 2014-on, both i5 and i7 (there was no 2013 Mini).

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... cmini.html

With DP, i5 vs i7 makes a big difference in DP performance—I was able to A/B this more than once with quad-core iMacs. Expect a bigger difference between an i5 Dual and an i7 Quad.

Although the core count, i5 vs i7 and clock speed of the Mini make them a 1/3 slower than similar iMacs, that isn't the only issue. Minis do not have dedicated GPUs and V-RAM, rather Intel HD Graphics 4000 which shares system memory and display functions with the core and physical RAM—better than none at all as on earlier Minis.

Certain plugins will also slow the DP GUI way down. Izotope's RX 3, Ozone 4 and 5 are notorious for that—the workaround is to make your settings and close the plugin GUI when done. Later versions are much better but there are still complaints.

Quickest, easiest way to speed up a Mini is to get rid of its original HHD or Hybrid drive. There are no adapters required, an SSD drops right in. Enable TRIM and you're all set. If you haven't maximized the RAM, do so to the 16G maximum.

[cuttime]

I find that the Track Name part of the TO window can be agonizingly slow scrolling left or right in the latest iterations of DP and macOS. I can't pinpoint when this began, but all other GUI buttons seem perfectly "snappy".

[mikehalloran]

Open a 2-hour stereo live track for editing.

On my 2010 iMac i7-Q with 1G VRAM, it takes less than a minute before you're ready to go.

On a nearly identical 2011 i5-Q with 512mB VRAM, click to open... make a cup of coffee... wait some more... apologise to the band (wasn't my studio, thankfully)... tell them I'll call them in when ready... and so on till it finally came up, ready to go. Figuring that it was a problem with the iMac I was using, I tried the identical file on a fresh install of DP on my wife's identical iMac 2011 i5 and got identical results.

Both machines had Apple WD Caviar Black HHDs at the time. The i5s had 8G RAM while my i7 had 12G. DP was 7.24 and, being the first time I had loaded this live concert, there were no plugins on the file. So, reopening the file later was faster—DP had tried to assign beats already and such.

Since upgrading the two iMacs around here with more RAM (32G and 16G respectively) and SSDs, that same file opens in a few seconds on my i7 and a few minutes on my wife's i5. That's why I recommend SSDs and more RAM.

I was quite surprised to find such a big difference but have been recommending the i7 over the i5 whenever possible. The i7's FPU makes a big difference on many tasks and doesn't on others.