Beelink SER7 DAW performance
- Published: 2024-11-20 12:18
- Updated: 2024-11-20 13:23
Given the chance for comparing a modern Beelink SER7 mini PC with my aging DAW, I thought I’d document my findings.
TL;DR
Ableton Live and Bitwig Studio perform VERY well.
Baseline for comparison¶
| Beelink SER7 | i9 reference DAW | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 11 Pro 64bit | Windows 10 Pro 64bit |
| - Build | 22621 | 19045.5131 (22H2) |
| Mainboard | Custom | Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro |
| CPU | Ryzen 7 7840HS | Intel i9 9900k |
| - Cores/Threads | 8/16 | 8/16 |
| - Clock base | 3.80GHz | 3.60GHz |
| - Boost clock | up to 5.10GHz | 4.70GHz fixed |
| Memory | 32GB (2x16) | 32GB (2x16) |
| - Type | DDR5-5600 | DDR4-3200 |
| GPU | AMD Radeon 780M | NVidia Geforce RTX 4080 |
| - Memory | 4GB exclusive (Bios, adjustable) | 16GB (native) |
| - Driver | Adrenalin 24.10.1 | 560.94 DCH |
| Audio Interface | MOTU M4 | MOTU M4 |
| - Driver | 96648, 24/10/16 | 96648, 24/10/16 |
Ableton Live 12: Wavetable polyphony test¶
How many Wavetable instances does the system handle, with each instance playing:
- both oscillators and the sub
- 8 notes
- using unison in shimmer mode with 8 voices?
Baseline: 512 samples latency¶
| | |
Reverb (cache/memory test)¶
Test setup¶
MOTU M4, Asio, 48KHz
Ableton Live 12 Suite:
- Impulse:
- Rimshot sample
- -24db Output
- Reverb—default preset, edits:
- Size 500
- Decay 60s
- High density
- Hybrid Reverb, default preset, edits:
- Algorithm: Prism
- Decay 60s
- Size: 100%
- MCharmVerb, default preset, edits:
- Length: 60000ms
- Size: 100%
- Designer:
- Complexity: 64
- Modulation: 70
- Delay min: 9.5%
- Delay focus: -180%
- Delay order: Up (4 sets)
- Delay max: 56%
- Delay width: 15%
- Modulation rate: 0.06Hz
Results¶
Baseline: Single channel CPU use¶
| System | Latency | CPU avg | Spikes |
|---|---|---|---|
| i9900k | 512 samples | 15% | 25% |
| 256 samples | 17% | 40% | |
| 128 samples | 19% | 75% | |
| 64 samples | 22% | 130% |
Max channel count > performance deadline¶
Maximum number of copies before playback is compromised by interaction. Eg switching channels and opening plugin windows.
| System | Latency | Channels | CPU avg/cur | Task Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i9900k | 512 samples | 27 | 92% | 100% |
| 256 samples | 23 | 93% | 92% | |
| 128 samples | 13 | 56% / 150% max | 50% |