What does "Force single CPU" mean?

[M@rkus]

Hi again!

I still haven´t bought a new computer, but have to make do with the one I´ve got at the moment. I´ve had some problems with "snap, crackle and pops", when using mulitple tracks and effects.

Yesterday I decided to tick the box labelled, "Force single CPU", and the snap, crackle and pops stopped!

But what does "Force single CPU" really mean, and what does it do to the computer? Any risk the CPU will crash if I use "Force single CPU" constantly?

[Scythe]

Good question ~ i'd like to know as well...

[gypsy101]

http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/v5/he ... rences.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit

you can also freeze tracks to help w/ that issue.
http://demon.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=24388

the short answer as per Acoustica Greg-"The more CPUs, the better. That option is just there to troubleshoot flaky VST plugins."

[M@rkus]

Thanks a lot gypsy101 for your answer! I´ve read the articles and I understand that "Force single CPU" means that you force the computer to run only on one core (?) instead of multiple cores, and this speeds up the computer (but why? Aren´t multiple core computers supposed to be faster?).

"Force Single CPU
This will force the sound engine to use a single CPU for mixing audio. This is only applicable to machines with multiple CPUs, such as a Dual-core or Quad-core computer. If you have one CPU on your computer, this option will not be available. You can use this option for better compatibility with older VST effects and virtual instruments."

But I couldn´t find if I risk to damage my CPU if I use "Force single CPU" all the time.

I´ve also tried to freeze my tracks, but that only caused the computer to slow down even more!!!

[outteh]

Force single CPU will not damage anythng. In dual core and quad core CPU's, efficiency and speed are accomplished across all applications by distribuitng the work to different "cores" of the CPU. As one core becme busy, anothe core takes over, and on and on. In sound processing, sometiems this moving from one core to another can cause issues with the sound. If you have a dual or quad core procesor it is generally beter to use all the cores.
If switching to force single cpu helped, then keep it that way. But as mentioned in the previous posts, the issue is probably with sound drivers, sound cards, VST's or a combination of all. I assume you have adjusted your buffer and frequency settings to see if this helps? Sometimes playback needs a higher buffer setting then recording.

[M@rkus]

Thanks for a clearifying answer!

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

We originally added "Force Single CPU" to help troubleshoot third-party plugins that might not behave well when used with multiple processors, but it turned out that it can also help with some computers that don't provide fast multi-processor experiences.

So, selecting "Force Single CPU" might help some people, but it would likely slow others down, and a bunch of people in the middle won't notice any difference at all.

Greg