Laptop to run Cubase Elements

[skb558]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Windows laptop with enough clout to run Cubase Elements (whatever the latest version)?

My son prefers a Windows machine for college and the rest of the family are Mac users and I’m keen to avoid overspending.

Thanks, Shaun

Edited February 25, 2021 by skb558

[paul_5]

Solid state drive and lots of fast RAM (assuming he’s using plugins) are an absolute must. 

There are modifications you can make to Windows (mostly turning off a load of unnecessary apps that run n the background), but Windows would not be my first choice; how does he feel about Linux as an OS?

[Nicko]

Cubase site recommends i5 or faster processor, with 8GB RAM operating 64 bit windows 10.  However the i5 in a laptop is normally considerably slower and more expensive than an equivalent desktop. You also need to make sure the laptop has sufficient USB ports for interface, keyboard etc.

I run Cubase 7 LE and Ableton Livelite 10 on an all in one i5 desktop and haven't had any significant problems with latency or processor power.  However a newer i5 laptop can't cope with Ableton running a complex multitimbral synth as the processor gets overloaded and the latency is dreadful.

Check the actual chip performance carefully - some i5s are slow and others aren't and multicore with turboboost makes things more complicated.  If it absolutely has to be a laptop spend more or be disappointed.

[NickD]

I'm running Elements 10 on an almost 10 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop, god knows what the processor is off the top of my head, but 8gb Ram running Win 10-64. Lot's of tracks, plenty of plugins and it's not stalled once, no problems with latency, nothing. I honestly don't think Cubase Elements is that heavy a piece of software.

It's not that I don't have the choice, I'm typing this on the Mac I use for work, but I'm happy to leave it where it is for the time being as it's fine.

Edited March 1, 2021 by NickD

[adamg67]

On 01/03/2021 at 11:43, Nicko said:

Check the actual chip performance carefully - some i5s are slow and others aren't and multicore with turboboost makes things more complicated.  If it absolutely has to be a laptop spend more or be disappointed.

This is very true. "i5" on it's own is fairly meaningless, they've been around for 10 years or more now and at the same clock speed a new i5 will absolutely destory an old one. Check out the CPU benchmark comparison for a couple of different i5s @3.3GHz ish: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-10600-vs-Intel-i5-661/3750vs76 (yes, I know that just shows how they do at benchmark tests).

I ran a comparison between an old core-2 quad Q9650 and an i5 for some cpu intensive stuff a few years back, when i5s had been around a year or two, and the Q9650 won easily. That was almost certainly because it had more than double the L3 cache, which for many tasks makes more difference than the clock speed. Plus obviously some of the older ones were 2 cores not 4.

As @NickD says, don't buy an i5 laptop without knowing the CPU model and checking it out, and watch out for some of the mobile CPUs. My laptop has a desktop class CPU in it (but it is a bit of a chunky thing).

Also, PCIe SSD rocks.

[PatrickJ]

I use Cubase Elements 10.5 on a Windows laptop.

It's an HP Envy running an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU (4000 series) with 8GB RAM and a SSD. 

I do use a number of plugins, compressors, EQ, channel strips, VST instruments and have not had any problems. 

My only slight annoyance is that sometimes on audio play back of a back tracking can cut out right at the start, for about 1 second.   It's intermittent and no idea why it does this as if I restart the playback it's generally fine.

Edited March 15, 2021 by PatrickJ