Enhancing Mbox Performance; Recommended Hardware Practices; Recommended Os Setup - PRG MBOX User Manual

ENHANCING MBOX PERFORMANCE

Recommended Hardware Practices

Use the following recommendations for hardware:
+ Mbox will use as many CPU cores as possible; more CPU cores provides better performance.
+ CPU speed is also a factor, but based on the speed of modern Macintosh hardware, CPU speed has less impact that
the number of cores.
+ The OS will let Mbox use as much RAM as the computer has. Therefore, more RAM (at least 16GB) can be
advantageous.
+ Mbox puts a heavy load on the computer's GPU, the most powerful GPU is always the best choice.
+ Mbox requires fast and constant access to file storage. SSDs and flash-based storage will provide the best results.
+ Modern Mac hardware can connect peripheral devices using Thunderbolt. Computers may have a limited number
of Thunderbolt buses available - and therefore a limited amount of bandwidth. Always try to connect Thunderbolt
devices to the correct bus to maintain the necessary bandwidth.
+ Using a single video output with a multihead adapter will always provide better overall performance than an
equivalent number of independent video outputs.

Recommended OS Setup

Use the following recommended practices to enhance the performance of the Mbox system:
+ Use OS X 10.11 El Capitan if possible.
+ Disable any screen-savers.
+ Disable File Sharing and Remote Management (any and all sharing, in fact).
+ Turn off automatic software updates.
+ Disable Spotlight on all connected hard-drives by placing them in the Privacy table.
+ Set Energy Saver settings to disable computer and display sleep, and to stop hard-drives from being put to sleep.
+ If using a laptop with two graphics modes, disable automatic switching (use max performance).
+ Disable Time Machine.
+ Disconnect the computer from the internet.
+ Disable Mission Control functions and keyboard shortcuts.
+ Make sure that the "Displays have separate Spaces" pref is not checked.
+ Turn off FileVault and Firewall.
+ Turn off Bluetooth.
+ Turn off automatic data and time setting.
+ Quit all other applications!
+ Disable unnecessary background processes.
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