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Honestly, I have two suggestions

107.142.146.197

In Reply to: RE: JRiver; RAM, laptop speed. posted by grantv on November 15, 2023 at 08:22:18

1. Windows is notorious for becoming more bloated over time running myriad unnecessary processes and accumulating tons of crap. For that, I suggest downloading a free app called "CCleaner", aka crap cleaner, to identify and remove a lot of this stuff. Clearing the laptop from running lots of CPU and memory consuming resources will help everything.

2. Use a small, dedicated to music playback streamer instead. General purpose computers are great for the many task they can perform but are constantly doing other things that take away their attention from job one. They also require more power which translates to increased noise. Both of mine operate in a 5V 1A environment which is next to nothing.

Adding more memory would simply be a band aid. The Raspberry Pi streamer I use in the garage system has 1 GB of memory, but a full 600 MB of that is used as a dedicated output buffer. While a Win10 box requires at least 1 GB to wake up and essentially do nothing, dedicated streamers really don't require that much to fully do their job.

Follow Ups:

Well received... - grantv 12:45:56 11/15/23 (2)
But that means buying a bunch of new stuff, and learning a bunch of new stuff...
I'll try the ccleaner, but was really hoping one of the existing units could be made to work well (as opposed to buying new gear). As mentioned below, I also use Gizmo as a remote for my music, would hate to lose that.
Thanks for the suggestions, not poo-poing it yet.
- RE: Well received... - Doublej 05:30:08 11/18/23 (0)
  The easiest way to improve the performance of your existing hardware is to do a clean install of whatever version of Windows you have on it, remove all of the hidden 'junk' that gets installed, and install an SSD to replace the spinning disk hard drive.
  
  However, given the really low prices for new laptops at the moment, I would just get a new one. A good basic laptop can be had for $300-$400. If you want to go down this route make sure it has a full version of Windows 11 installed (not Windows S), 8GB+ RAM and 256GB+ SSD.
  
  In other words just stay away from the bottom of the barrel stuff that is out there.
  
  You should get the investment back quickly through the reduced power consumption alone.
  
  You don't need more RAM and you don't need a big CPU for audio but I hypothesize that the lower power consumption of the components in a new machine will make a noticeable improvement in the sound quality even if you are feeding a digital signal from the computer to a DAC.
  
  Why? Less electromagnetic noise in the laptop and perhaps improved audio signal processing in the new OS (or does J-River bypass the OS?)
- I use - E-Stat 12:47:18 11/15/23 (0)
  my watch, phone and pad as remotes. Usually have the first two with me wherever I am. :)

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