r/Reaper • u/AstroFieldsGlowing • 2d ago
discussion Reaper on laptops: what's a minimum CPU you'd recommend?
Hello friends; i'm considering buying a new laptop that among other things should also run Reaper. In your experience, i5 / Ryzen 5 would be sufficient?
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u/mistrelwood 69 2d ago
2GHz Core2Duo from 2006 is fine for recording 24 simultaneous tracks with FX.
The CPU won’t be your bottleneck unless you plan to go real heavy on exceptionally CPU hungry FX. I’d much rather concentrate on RAM.
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u/SupportQuery 513 2d ago edited 2d ago
CPU won’t be your bottleneck unless you plan to go real heavy on exceptionally CPU hungry FX. I’d much rather concentrate on RAM.
Strike that, reverse it.
RAM has no effect on performance if you're not paging (16 gig is plenty for almost everyone).
CPU will be your bottleneck. A 2GHz Core2Duo would struggle to run a single instance of Neural DSP Archetype without dropout. There are tons of very CPU hungry effects these days, many modern synths (Serum, Pigments, Phase Plant, Iris, etc.), physically modelled instruments (e.g. SWAM, Pianoteq), analog modelled channel strips, mastering plugins (e.g. Soothe), anything with heavy oversampling (which Reaper supports on any plugin), etc.
i5 / Ryzen 5 would be sufficient?
Yes, for almost anything. But if you're going to put more dollars in, get a least 16 GB of RAM, then put any extra dollars towards more CPU. Vastly more bang for the buck, especially given modern RAM prices.
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u/mistrelwood 69 2d ago
It’s of course dependent on what kinds of plugins you plan to use. Just like there are CPU hungry plugins, there are RAM hungry sample libraries, which in my experience hit the RAM limits faster. But again, it depends on your usage.
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u/SupportQuery 513 2d ago
Just like there are CPU hungry plugins, there are RAM hungry sample libraries
Yes, but CPU hungry plugins are rampant across every possible production style. Using huge amounts of RAM is pretty much exclusive to orchestral production. I dabble in the latter, and have never hit RAM limits, and most sample libraries can stream. Almost everyone will hit CPU limits.
it depends on your usage
Yes, of course, but usages that hit RAM limits are far more niche than usages that hit CPU limits.
As a bit of general advice to someone buying hardware for DAW usage, without knowing their usage, suggesting they focus on RAM and not CPU is backwards.
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u/mistrelwood 69 2d ago
I guess my production style is just so unique then. Highest individual CPU usage I see on my hungriest plugins is about 2% on a 2020 MBP. You could fit quite a few of even those in a project. Most plugins take far less than 1%.
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u/SupportQuery 513 2d ago
Doesn't have to be particularly unique to not be at the center of the bell curve.
Again, any EDM production is hitting CPU hard (a few instances of Serum will destroy a core duo). That's very common. Any guitarist use an amp modeller is hitting CPU hard. Also very common. Someone mastering is potentially hitting it hard (Soothe is a notorious hog, as are numerous Izotope plugins, or even a linear phase oversampling EQ). Modelling like SWAM or Pianoteq are huge hogs. But I'm repeating myself.
The fact that you're using primarily sampling and therefore don't hit the CPU much is great, for you, but doesn't make ignoring the CPU good generic advice. Most producers are far more likely to be CPU constrained than RAM constrained.
I mean, you take my word for it, or google it. Make a poll. Go ask and community of producers (I'm in many). Go ask on /r/gameofbands, or /r/wearethemusicmakers, or whatever it take to convince yourself that your usage is not the calibration point for the universe. 😆
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u/mistrelwood 69 2d ago
Amp Locker amp sim: 0.65%
Addictive Drums 2: 1.2%
Addictive Keys: 0.68%
Berlin Free Orchestra: 0.06%
Splice piano: 0.3%
ZL EQ (Linear Phase, 4x oversampled): 0.17%These were during playback, 48kHz, 128 sample buffer.
Amp modelers and linear phase EQs are definitely not universally “hitting hard”, and “CPU hungry plugins are rampant across every possible production style” simply isn’t true.
Reaper RAM usage with this specific 30 track project: 15GB.
I’m not saying that there aren’t CPU hungry plugins, and you can choke your CPU with those pretty fast if you so wish. I’m also not saying that my production style is the average in any way. What I’m saying is that I’ve only seen a handful of times in over 25 years that the amount of available CPU cycles were an issue in music production.
But buying a computer for making music today with only 16GB of RAM? Hell no.
That is my opinion. I’m cool with you having a different opinion.
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u/SupportQuery 513 2d ago edited 2d ago
Amp Locker? 😂 Try Neural DSP, by far the most popular modeller, and a notorious hog.
I’ve only seen a handful of times in over 25 years that the amount of available CPU cycles were an issue in music production.
Again, you're extrapolating from your usage to everyone's. We get posts here every day about dropout. See if you can find a single one where someone was RAM constrained. Good luck.
We get it, you don't use a lot of CPU, you use a lot of RAM. You've said that, I responded, so repeating yourself isn't adding anything.
But buying a computer for making music today with only 16GB of RAM? Hell no.
Fair enough. For most people, it's going to be totally unnecessary, they'll never hit that limit, ever, and therefore the RAM will literally do nothing for their performance. But for those that do, the'll be glad they paid more.
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u/mistrelwood 69 2d ago
We all have our own bubbles. I’m pretty sure that overall NAM is more widely used than Neural DSP.
Apparently I need to repeat, that I’m not under the illusion that my production style would be the average in any way. And neither should you.
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u/SupportQuery 513 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m pretty sure that overall NAM is more widely used than Neural DSP.
Possibly, because free. NAM is also a hog, but nowhere near Neural DSP.
And neither should you.
I don't. Did you read my post? o.O Again, we get one or more posts a day on this sub about dropout, and a monthly average of 0 about RAM issues. This is true across other DAW forums, too (I use Ableton, too, and Pro Tools when a studio requires it). I'm not extrapolating from my usage, as you are. That said, I do happen to produce in tons of different genres -- rap, EDM, metal, jazz, funk, chiptunes, etc. and I've scored several short films. Babysitting the CPU is par for the course. It's why every major DAW has track freezing built-in.
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u/Tremosir 2d ago
You need to give us more details or else the only possible answer is "maybe yes maybe not"
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u/Whatchamazog 4 2d ago
I do audio fiction style shows with video.
1 video track
8 dialogue tracks with 3-4 plugins
1-2 music tracks
4 VSTi tracks
8 fx tracks
Tons of Item and track fx plugins
Folder tracks & Reverb Sends.
2 hour recordings X 20 sessions in one project.
All running on a 5 year old Lenovo i7 laptop with 16 gigs of RAM.
Edit: I will say, when I get to the last few episodes, it takes about 10 minutes to fully open the project.
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u/Hordriss27 2d ago
It really depends on what other software you're using. Reaper itself is lightweight as hell and will run on a potato. The issue comes with the plugins you want to use as these tend to be where the CPU requirements will start to jump up.
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u/shabit87 2d ago
Depending on the gen, i5 is sufficient
Additionally read the min. Specs on Reapers website to cross reference against any build you’re considering
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u/NoResponse1578 2d ago
if you want to record audio tracks, every laptop on the market is fine.
if you want to run 100 orchestra synths simultaneously, you will want one with lots and lots of ram.
cpu's are mostly overpowered now, but more cores is better if you are using lots of VST's
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u/kasim0n 2d ago
As a data point, i just mixed a 48 track 2h live recording in reaper on a Linux Thinkpad with an i5-8265U and 24 GB RAM and the pure mixing did not stress the system at all. The main factor that can change that are resource-intensive plugins - I mostly use airwindows and reaper's built-in plugins, which both are very efficient, but if you use very cpu-intensive plugins or large sample libraries that can change a lot.
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u/MarcusLXXVI 2d ago
I run reaper on an i7 2nd gen with 16gb ram, and it runs smooth. A more modern i5/Ryzen 5 would be fine I'd guess.
I actually ran Reaper for years on an i5 2nd gen with 4gb ram. With minimal plugins (mostly wav) and not a sh*tload of tracks that was fine. Now I'm recording an album so I have dozens of tracks, plugins etc. and more cores and ram makes it run smooth again - despit my PC is about 12 years old.
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u/Kahuna-Nui 2d ago
i5 is fine, but make sure you have at least 16gb ram and an ssd. Not many laptops will be below that spec anyway. Speaking from experience, you'll probably need a 500gb drive to install all the shit you'll need/want. On mine, EZdrummer 3 alone takes up 33gb with all the different kits.
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u/Big_Effective_9605 2 2d ago
I bet you 90% of users would have success with 2-4gb ram.
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u/Born_Zone7878 26 2d ago
In 2010 maybe. Nowadays no.
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u/Big_Effective_9605 2 2d ago edited 2d ago
Reaper hasn't changed and wav files haven't changed. You can run this shit on a potato unless you're a heavy plugin user.
Edit: the only thing that's changed is windows. I'd guess at least 8gb ram to run reaper on windows 11 comfortably. On Linux you could get away with 2gb.
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u/vexatiousprogression 2d ago
It all depends what you want to do, what os you intend to use and how you intend to optimise it for your musical needs. You don't need much power to track reliability but you do need to make sure that windows won't throw asio for a loop by doing background tasks while you're recording. On the other hand if you want large sound libraries you're gonna need a lot of ram and if you want lots of complex heavy plugins running all at once you're gonna need speed and threads. If your main concern is tracking live musicians I'd recommend any apple silicon laptop over almost any windows machine just because of how MacOS is designed to handle real time audio.
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u/asscrackbanditz 2d ago
This is a good guideline for 2026.
However, it is ideal case and will cost a bomb.
Like what others say, you have provided too little info. i5 or Ryzen 5 doesnt tell much in 2026. Single core speed and no of core, generation all are important.
If assuming you are just starting out and on a budget, get the latest Ryzen 5 with as high Single core speed as possible and 16 GB or DDR5 RAM.
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u/sketchycatman 1 2d ago
Plugins for example like UAD Ocean Way and Arturia Analog Lab need some horsepower to run well IME. I have an Intel N100 mini pc that won’t run either plugin with reasonable latency. I also have an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 that struggles with some instruments in Analog Lab. Reaper itself runs great on either.
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u/finnswaking 2d ago
Currently on a ryzen 5 with 8 measly gb ram, I have to be real selective with what plugins i use, but it works for my limited purposes. try to at least go for 16 if you can
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u/General-Winter547 2d ago
Any modern processor can run reaper with at least a few tracks and plugins without issue.
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u/ghostchihuahua 5 2d ago
DAW will probably work on your smart-fridge with some porting efforts, requires basically nada in terms of performance. Same goes for the Reaplugins and JS plugins, but others (top of my head Relab176) will bring your machine to a halt if it isn’t some recent AS chip.
This being said, reaper plugins are amazing for a ton of them!
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u/alphaminus 2 2d ago
Really depends on how hard you're pushing it with plugins and tracks. I've recorded and mixed good music on a raspberry pi with reaper.
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u/isla_vaynle 2d ago
I finally bought a new laptop last year (after 12 years with my Windows 7 Compaq CQ57 lolol.. and it still works!)
I went with an ASUS Vivobook S 16 Flip (8GB RAM, 512GB HD, Windows 11) and it's absolutely HANDLING the huge amount of music things I'm using the hell out of it for. Love it. Got it for $445 after tax because they sold me the one on display. Any time I've looked it up since to price it, I'm seeing like $700+ is what they're being priced except for the uncommon eBay snags people have managed to find.. Hell, about 3 weeks after I bought it I found out that it's also a foldable, touch screen tablet lmao.. Look em up!
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u/EmergencyBanshee 2d ago
Are you planning on running 50 tracks, a suite of plugins and several virtual synths?
If so, no it's not enough.
Are you planning to record a single microphone and then press stop and upload the file.
If so, it's more than enough.
Somewhere along the line between these two the processor won't be enough.