KVR Audio

lampairouge · Post by **lampairouge** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:59 am

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Hi,
I'm planning to buy a new laptop and I found a good deal on the Asus Rog flow x13 with a ryzen 7 5800H cpu. I was wondering if someone had the chance to test the zen 3 AMD cpus on laptops, does it have DPC latency issues?
I've come across the notebookcheck review and apparently latencyMon didn't show great results. (https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ROG- ... 584.0.html (https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ROG-Flow-X13-in-review-Gaming-convertible-with-an-AMD-Ryzen-9-5980H-and-an-optional-RTX-3080.519584.0.html))
I've always used Intel Cpu's, was the last generation of AMD laptop cpus (4000 series) any good ?
Thanks.

theresonance · Post by **theresonance** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:46 am

Hi lampairouge, laptop Internal audio latency is never something I really care about (*unless it's horrifying). It's pretty standard practice to have an audio interface or DAC of some type. You can even get little USB C adapters that you can use on your phone that will run with ASIO drivers. ASIO drivers are the pro choice, they enable very low latency over USB.

Sorry if you know all this. If so please ignore.

I am also looking at the ASUS Flow X13. I love the idea of desktop power in such a portable device. I should be able to run full projects with all the plugins that I am running on my desktop PC. I have a 12 core AMD 3900X desktop that is the best computer I have ever used for audio production. I get really low latency over USB-C (SteinbergUR44C) and my high end portable DAC works seamlessly too. Also touch screen is really nice for audio production. I have done some very analogue old school mixes by mixing with on screen faders and fx. Great for live use.

Cheers,

xbow · Post by **xbow** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:10 am

I am watching this topic because I would also be interested in any findings.

As far as I know, the DPC latency that OP is asking about is still relevant with an external audio interface. When your CPU is processing audio in real time, it is important that any tasks related to this are performed as quickly as possible. If there are only a few milliseconds delay, you can get audible dropouts. Even if you use a good audio interface, any dsp (soft synths, effects, etc) processing still happens on your CPU. DPC latency occurs when other software on your system, including your operating system and drivers, get in the way of these audio-related tasks.

This also means that in theory, you can improve DPC latency my optimizing your system configuration, drivers, etc. Just an example, my old Lenovo laptop has dropouts when wifi is enabled, but is fine in airplane mode because apparently the wifi drivers introduce a lot of latency. The latency tests you find in reviews are probably based on the default configuration, and you may (or may not) be able to improve this.

theresonance · Post by **theresonance** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:31 pm

Good stuff xbow, now it's getting juicy.

So CPU latency can add more latency to less mature systems. Less parallel data transfers causing interrupts. If it's motherboard and system is anything like my AMD desktop then the USB audio latency should be good. I have a X570 Asus motherboard and it has received lot of bios updates. Asus seem to be really on it. It has been rock solid for complex audio production (Film/TV sound and mastering predominantly).

Hopefully this thread will reveal more as people get them in their hands.

xbow · Post by **xbow** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 7:19 pm

Thanks, theresonance, and you are right to point out that other system components, like motherboard and chipset, also play a role in this.

For anyone interested, there is a good expanation on the Latency Monitor homepage, which is also the tool used for the benchmarks mentioned above, and to find out what processes exactly may cause audio drop outs on your system. https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

There are also a few good articles to be found if you Google "optimizing Windows for real-time audio processing" or something along those lines.

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:03 pm

Some tweaks good to lower DPC latency, but not good for laptop batteries...
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... tcount=257

Markus Krause · Post by **Markus Krause** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 10:07 am

Happy Ryzen laptop-user here. It's ultra-stable and ultra-fast. I really recommend this chipset to anyone

cma5 · Post by **cma5** » Tue May 04, 2021 4:31 pm

@Markus Krause
Which notebook did you by in particular? I'm also currently searching for a new music production notebook.

Ryzen 5000 laptops performance