Long time ago I used to have multiple boot configs, one with everything standard loaded, the other with just what I needed for Pinnacle Studio.  At the time I definitely noticed a difference when editing when using the trimmed down config. Over the years and OS/HW upgrades I stopped doing that, but since I have a newer computer that seems slower than it should be I was looking at using MSConfig "Normal Startup" as my everything profile, and "Selective Startup" as my optimized PS boot profile.  

Does anyone have any recommendations on which services you must not shut off, or which services you can shut off which offer performance boost?  Otherwise I'll just try the 50/50 test method (shut off half the services I'm pretty sure I don't need and test, etc.). 

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19044 Build 19044
System Model G507
System Type x64-based PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor, 3593 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Mode UEFI
AMD Radeon RX 5700 
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 31.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 16.3 GB
Total Virtual Memory 36.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 13.6 GB
Page File Space 4.75 GB

We don't know what you have on the startup.

Click on search and type task manager and then select startup and check all applications you have running. Disable any application you don't use.

In the Services tab, you can check mark to hide all M$ Services. Then you are left with what is running...

>>We don't know what you have on the startup.

 That's good would be kind of creepy if you did. ;)   Given the objective though, we all have one thing in common, we're running PS, and the goal here is to have a profile with ONLY PS running.  Last time I did this it was effective because I turned off network and security, e.g. antivirus.  I wouldn't be comfortable doing that if the system was still online.   However with everything off except the software I did notice a pretty good difference in performance - guessing it was because of the antivirus software I was using at the time.  However I'm ashamed to say last time I did that was like PS9.   

 I guess I can shut everything off except anything related to the video card, and see what doesn't work.  Again, at that point its no longer a home PC, but an editing station.  For people that live in the product all day long they probably wouldn't go without internet connection.  I think I'll experiment, create as minimal of a profile as I can, then test a few things like exports and see if there is a difference and report back if it does actually make a difference. I can also try what Tony P mentioned in the test, though I think I should just buy a workstation with his config and I wouldn't be complaining. 

 

 

Honestly, a lot of "stuff" that is installed on computers today, whether by default or by user, is staggering. I am constantly going through Task Manager when I start editing to make sure things just aren't running. For instance, Adobe update for their PDF reader and Team viewer.

The only thing I can do is minimize what is running, see what starts up when the computer is turned on, etc... And with the additional overhead added to most software when you upgrade, well... we are fighting a battle that can only be won with a "stronger" computer. 

How about this.... Pinnacle Edition (formerly FAST) morphed into Avid Liquid. How about muilticam for 16 cameras. Real time FX, compositing, Title Deko Pro, and a whole  host of professional features running on a 32bit Win XP Pro with 1GB RAM and 256MB graphics. The ability to edit professional codecs, add subtitles for DVD along with multi-angle, nested tracks, background rendering (they were the first to have this), dynamic timewarp WITH interpolation....wow.  I finished with Avid Liquid Pro 7.1.  Then Avid killed the Media Composer killer.

Needless to say, I was really disappointed with the "replacement" Avid Studio.

But my point is, look what was possible with a 32bit OS and 1GB of RAM. Now, look what you need to run anything in the consumer level. Pro level requires workstation class hardware on a dedicated machine. Something has been lost along the way.... 

Tony P:

Something has been lost along the way.... 

Yes. What has been lost is RAM "rareness". I mean, in a word where RAM costs nothing and is virtually unlimited, why would programmers still bother to try to save any bit of RAM they could while writting their code ? Programming good habits have been lost.

With hard drive space, RAM and processing power available, why consider tight coding....  Looking at Firefox using up 1.7GB of RAM. Yes, I have several tabs open... but really???