That 5600x has been getting great reviews and its got me wondering if its a good low budget solution for a audio production PC.
6 cores 12 threads Is that enough for guitar bass drums and a few vst synths? I'm not doing orchestral stuff with 30 tracks of vsts.

On the other hand the 3900x is double the cores and slower on the single thread tests. I'm guessing its a great choice for the mutli core aspect.

What would you pick? I don't want to spend more than 400 bucks on the cpu
I currently have a 2600k and studio one is really glitching... reaper is still fine
Its time to upgrade, really feeling it

 

How much memory have you got in your box? I've got 64 GB in mine and Studio One runs perfectly. You can have the fastest processor in the world, but if you are low on memory, it will run like a snail.

 

I have 24 GB, One thing really obvious to me is I can go down to 128 ms in reaper but in studio one best I can do is 256 (same ASIO driver) Btw I can live with 256 but when playing guitar and its nice to have as little latency as possible. I think this is telling me my processor cant keep up with the more overhead of studio one. This is not the sole reason Im feeling the need to upgrade. The biggest reason is EZbass glitches in studio one and not in reaper. Ive reinstalled and tried both vr and r2r versions. I can tell theres sluggish responce and the 2600k is at its limit with a few vst tracks. Its time to upgrade.

Just talked to a guy used stuff with boxes. MB new in box
Ryzen 9 3900x
16 GB 3200 cl ram
B450 M steel MB
aftermarket air cooler

450 for all

I'm still holding out researching more.

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2020

This video is very long but tons of great information.

 

This video is chock full of great info. Watch it! Twice, thrice, until you finally understand it.

That's why I always tell people to use the oldest OS they can, to not use antivirus and loads of programs that sit in the background. Check the performance of your computer with DPC latency checker. How powerful is your CPU, or how much RAM you've got is not that important for real time processing. All that is important is how many computing cycles are free on your CPU for audio processing! Let that fact sink in for a bit.

That expensive shiny motherboard with 66 different features/devices on it is not a perfect choice for an audio workstation. That's why I recommend a motherboard that has good VRM, but it has only as much of devices on it as needed. Yes, lookout for those additional PCIe SSD/HDD chips or cards. Those can give you DPC spikes. Use the one that is connected directly to the CPU, those that are on the motherboard close to the CPU.

This guy said almost all that one needs to know about how to make your computer perform better. One thing that he kinda mentioned but not directly is single core performance. It is always better to have a CPU with better single core performance than more cores with lower single core performance. Why? Because very demanding plugins will use only one core of your CPU, and if this core isn't powerful enough you get crackling. That's why some plugins have a multicore option, which you might want to keep disabled, actually, but if you hear crackling you should enable it. Why? Because it is better to utilise just one core and leave other cores free for the other plugins. It consumes less CPU when you have a plugin per core than all the same plugins working with all the cores, and you get better real time performance with one core. The difference isn't earth-shaking but it's there and every bit counts.

So to answer your question, maybe I would go with the 5600x because it has better single core performance, however... The problematic thing I see there is that it is a very new product. I don't like very new products because you *always* encounter some problems, because new means buggy, and products that are 1 or more years old are much better polished and bug-free. These days make that 2 years. That's a perfect timing for buying a stable computer, and you pay less for it. That goes for software, too. The older, the better.

So... it is a bit hard decision as 3900X is a great CPU already. it's been on the market long enough, and you can get it for a lower price. I would actually go with that one regardless having a bit worse single performance. 3XXX series has remedied some slight problems [like RAM speed] that 1XXX and 2XXX had, so it's perfect. Make sure you buy good 3200MHz low latency CL14 to CL15 RAM because it likes fast RAM, and make sure your motherboard doesn't have wi-fi and a coffee maker on it...

Every additional device you have on your motherboard, and that stupid Windows gadget or some other program you're running in the background will use precious CPU cycles that could otherwise be used for low latency, crackle-free audio.

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2020

I really appreciate your input. After watching that video I did a few tests and the DPC latency test was really good when I ran it. Theres got to be something in my system that messing up only with studio one. Could be anything like a plugin. I need an update and I'm over it regardless.

I'm thinking the single core performance is good enough on the 3900x for what I'm using for. Plus I think that's a good price to upgrade. The MB sucks as its a micro but the other stuff is good. The cooler is a massive D15S.

The 3900x single core performance is 39% faster than than the 2600k, multiple core is between 25 and 30% faster.

The 5600x is 13% faster than the 3900x in single core

OMG the 5600x is 57% faster than the 2600k in single core. That's crazy.

 

The 5600x is more then enough.
I still have a 7700K and in my current future house project i have around 30 serum layer, 2-3 Kontakt Layer, some spire & sylenth + Effects on the Channels.
Still running smooth.

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2020

That's really good and that is a 4 core processor. Just looked it up, the 7700 and 3900 are neck and neck the same single core speed.
Sinewave is right about the importance of single core speed.

The 5600x is only 299. Rumour's say it wont be in stock until Dec or after. That's another thing to consider.

 

The difference is not just the cores, the internal structures are very different. If you end up going with the 5600X, you also want a B550 or X570 mainboard to take advantage of the newer CPU tech. Memory is also key on both Zen 2 & Zen 3. You want memory that operates at stock 2133, 2666 or 2933 with 1 to 1 XMP profiles that ramp up to 3200, 3400, 3600, (3733, 3800) with tight timings. Higher speed memory profiles tend to loosen up (16-19-19-43).

See this AMD 3rd Gen memory list.

Some examples from the list:
Trident Z DDR4-3200MHz CL14-14-14-34 1.35V 32GB (2x16GB)
Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200MHz CL14-14-14-34 1.35V 64GB (4x16GB)
Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600MHz CL16-16-16-36 1.35V 32GB (4x8GB)
VENGEANCE® LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 2133MHz C13

4GB & 8GB module tend to work better in groups of four (single rank).

For the average gamer or musician, the Ryzen 5600X & the i5-600KF are what is being recommended for now.

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2020

I was thinking the same. Studio One uses more RAM and often a bit more of CPU but usually the difference is not so big.

 

Err, i hope you don't get your info from cpu.userbenchmark mate. Because they suck and blow... Their numbers are at least unreliable and all over the place. For example, in their score tables, the i3 8100 (i have one lol) rates higher than the 18 core i9 10980XE, because of the 8100's higher boost clock... No further comment.
So, to put some real craze on those numbers :
- The 3900X is about 80% faster in single core and about 350-400% in multi-core than the 2600K (!). Depending on the type of load and thread distribution, it can be up to 5 times faster in multi-threading.
- The 5600X is 15-20% faster than the 3900X in single core depending the type of load. It is about 75-80% slower in multi-core though.
Also, the 5600X is about twice as fast in single core than the 2600K, and ~180% up to ~250% faster in multi core.
Now, if you play games and in DAW you don't do many tracks with many plugs, the 5600X is a nice choice, only when prices normalize because as i see it now, it's more expensive than the 3900X lol. And really wth, you don't have to be a scientist to choose between a 6core and a 12core with similar clock speeds and a small lag of the latter in single core and boost clocks. After all they 're only a generation apart and plug into the very same socket.
If you are serious about DAW work, the 12 core 3900X is the right choice imho. I 've tested it thoroughly with everything, it is a killer cpu now a little over the 400 euros range, a beast of a multi tasker.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2020

good price for those parts
i would throw the motherboard away and look for a b550 or x570
i also wanted to go for the 5600k but they were sold out everywhere so i ordered a 3800x which runs nice with asus b550 f gaming mainbord and slightly clocked the cpu 100mhz 4000mhz on al cores
im not an expert when it comes to clocking
my memory is jskill 3600mhz 32gb cl16

 

get the 3900x man you got a good deal ive just spent 2 and a half grand on a 5900x with 32 gigs ram and a 3080 build and theres not that much difference between the 3900x and the 5900x , id say get the 3900x and overclock it

 

Try to get a balance between single core perf AND global score
I still buy intel, so i got 10700k (price single multi ratio).

Check "passmark" single core and global score.
And cross them.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html#xy_scatter_graph
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html#thread_xy_scatter_graph

3700X is the best ratio price/single core/multi for now

 

seems like 3700x / 5600x is the sweet spot cpu for <less than 12-24 tracks of music productions? ++plugs ?

 

I think is close to that, awaiting more 5000 line tests and stable pricing.

 

From where you are coming, either will suffice, but I'd lean toward the higher core count if they are similar in price.

Someone mentioned gaming but even then your video card would matter infinitely more than cpus in this range.

 

double post, what happened lol

 

3pl post lol

 

now it erased everything i wrote, aaaaahhhrrrgh lol.
FKit, happy new year