[LAU] 16 frames, no xruns -> Mobo + CPU + RAM + PSU < 180,- €

Hi,

if you should need a cheap computer for audio, the setup I'm using
might be interesting for you, too.

RME HDSPe AIO 48 KHz, 32 frames, no xruns
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen 48 KHz, 16 frames, no xruns

Another advantage, the PC is absolutely silent, but there are also two
disadvantages. There are issues with the Intel graphics and the PSU
cables already smelled bad, when it wasn't used.

For compiling in tmpfs I'll get 4 additional GiB of RAM soon or
later, since 4 GiB aren't enough to compile a kernel. However, compiling
a kernel using a SSD instead of tmpfs takes 60 minutes.

Even with the shared IRQs there are no xruns, at least not for
a test song I already used with my old mobo and the Focusrite. On the
9 years old mobo the RME AIO at 256 frames run with inaudible xruns
and the Focusrite at 128 frames without xruns, so the test song already
says a little bit about the audio performance of the new mobo.

I didn't check MIDI jitter and a test is just a test, but seemingly
this cheap computer is usable for audio.

Some IRQs differ after a reboot, but the RME card, the TerraTec card
and ehci always share IRQ 16.

[root@email-addr-hidden rocketmouse]# hwinfo --bios | grep Manufacturer -A1 | head -2; hwinfo --cpu | grep Model | sort -u; hwinfo --memory | grep Size
    Manufacturer: "Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd."
    Product: "B85M-D3H"
  Model: 6.60.3 "Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU G1840 @ 2.80GHz"
  Memory Size: 3 GB + 768 MB
[root@email-addr-hidden rocketmouse]# cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governorperformance
performance
[root@email-addr-hidden rocketmouse]# aplay -l | grep -v HDA\ Intel | grep -v Sub
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDSPMx579bcc [RME AIO_579bcc], device 0: RME AIO [RME AIO]
card 1: EWX2496 [TerraTec EWX24/96], device 0: ICE1712 multi [ICE1712 multi]
card 5: USB [Scarlett 18i20 USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
[root@email-addr-hidden rocketmouse]# uname -rm
4.9.11-rt9-1-rt-celeron x86_64
[root@email-addr-hidden rocketmouse]# rtirq status

  PID CLS RTPRIO NI PRI %CPU STAT COMMAND
  102 FF 90 - 130 0.3 S irq/16-ehci_hcd
  105 FF 90 - 130 0.1 S irq/25-xhci_hcd
  121 FF 89 - 129 0.0 S irq/23-ehci_hcd
  257 FF 85 - 125 0.4 S irq/16-snd_hdsp
  373 FF 80 - 120 0.0 S irq/16-snd_ice1
   38 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/9-acpi
   52 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/8-rtc0
  103 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/1-i8042
  106 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/26-ahci[000
  256 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/27-mei_me
  258 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/5-parport0
  260 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/28-snd_hda_
  262 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/29-i915
  374 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/18-i801_smb
  375 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/31-snd_hda_
  485 FF 50 - 90 0.0 S irq/30-enp3s0
    3 TS - 0 19 0.0 S ksoftirqd/0
   21 TS - 0 19 0.0 S ksoftirqd/1

The BIOS is used with it's defaults and I didn't update the BIOS. Since
everything seems to be ok for audio, I'll only disable the onboard
sound and the full screen logo, but won't upgrade the BIOS or change
any serious settings.

Regards,
Ralf
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Received on Wed Feb 22 04:15:01 2017