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[cyberkul]

Tempting to get this completely quiet Itx, but it is no good if it doesn`t do the convolution. The N3700 CPU is 1,6GHz, 4-core. I`m not interested in video-performance, this will be a dedicated audio-PC with an external audio interface.

[mwillems]

It depends really on how long the filters are, how many channels are being convolved, and what sample rates are in play.  The passmark on that system is low (1836 with only 500 single thread performance), but it's about the same as some older core 2 duo systems, and folks seem to use those successfully with longish convolution filters.  I have an older (six years-old or so) i5 with a passmark about double that (3500 or so) which works well for all convolution tasks I've put to it, but with 8 channels at a high sample rate I get down to less than 10x realtime processing which is close to the "danger zone" (i.e. my experience is that an average of less than 5x realtime can result in dropouts when system usage spikes).

Every convolution filter is different, so you may want to try and find a way to test, either on the proposed system or on a similar system (if you have an old PC or laptop with a similar passmark to the N3700).

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+N3700+%40+1.60GHz&id=2513

[cyberkul]

Thanks for a great answer! I think I`ll pass on the Itx. I can`t try it before buying.

[cyberkul]

Got an Core i5 2400 instead today. Is memory size and speed important?

[mwillems]

Got an Core i5 2400 instead today. Is memory size and speed important?

Only if you plan on using memory playback; convolution is mostly a CPU bound process.  This is getting more into general performance advice than convolution-specific advice, but I wouldn't try to run (say) windows 10 with less than 4GB of RAM, and I'd advise an SSD over an HDD for the OS to avoid random I/O bottlenecks, but assuming everything is working correctly, CPU grunt is all you really care about for convolution. 

That processor should serve you well based on the passmark.  I actually use the i7 "sister" of your processor (an i7 2600) as my main living room HTPC, and it's more than capable for any convolution task I've attempted despite being a seven-year-old processor.  Moore's Law (processor speed doubling every 2 years) is mostly over now, the processor speed gains in the last 5-10 years are not as significant as they previously were.  The latest "consumer" i7 desktop sku from Intel (the 8700) is not quite twice as fast as my seven-year-old 2600, so we've gone from doubling every two years to doubling every ~eight.

[cyberkul]

Thanks
My desktop computer is 10 years old, and still good enough for the every day PC use.