I have a Surface Pro 6 and I am about to upgrade to a SP 8 when it is released soon. My present machine has 16 gigs of ram and when I load a gig file of 20 rack spaces with predictive turned off, I have 15% ram left. The gigfile loads fine In about 4 minutes and plays fine, with each rack space loading instantly due to predictive turned off.
My question is this - is 15% spare ram enough for GP to operate efficiently? Or is ram amount more of a Windows issue? I could buy the new Surface Pro 8 with 32 gigs of ram but the price hike is huge. When programming at home, I turn predictive on to for the quick loading and editing, but prefer predictive off when gigging so I can have instant switching.
I would like some informed opinion about this. Many thanks.
Ram is not an operating system issue as I think you are using it. You might find Crucial’s explaination on RAM worth reading - the link is HERE.
Your question is similar to another users post that I replied to - you might find my reply applicable to yours as well. The link is HERE. The article linked in my reply covers memory as well and worth reading. As the author notes, sample libraries like the Berlin Strings library from Orchestral Tools recommend at least 32GB of RAM for that alone for best performance. At the end of the day, the amount of RAM you’ll need for digital audio production will depend on how many plugins and sample libraries you regularly use, but your description of 85% usage would be a flag for me that more would be desired and worth the additional money if you are going for a new rig.
Many thanks for the reply. I read the article references and also read about your own build. I queried Microsoft about the top end SP 8, and their reply indicated that the 32 gig ram SP 8 will not be coming to my country (NZ). So, I am obliged to stick with the i7/16 gig/512 sd model.
As I said in my post, I have been having good success with the SP 6 (now three years old), so the increased performance of the newer model should be worth having. Because I do not record but focus on live playing, the SP line suits my needs due to their portability and small foot print.
Once again, I appreciate the time you put into your reply to me.