Hey there!

I'm in the process of building a PC for music production. I want a powerful enough CPU to run all my music software with ease and enough RAM to keep everything running smoothly. I was considering a Macbook Pro M2 Pro before, but they're way too pricey, and their support is very limited in my country (Guatemala). That's why I decided I'm going the Windows route.

I've been looking at the Intel Core i9-13900KS for the CPU, and I'd like to get 16 up to 32 GB of RAM. However, I'd like to know what else I should keep in mind when building a PC for music production and how this CPU compares to the M1 Pro from Apple. Which PC fans should I buy? I must clarify that I plan to use the PC for music production only. I don't want to use it for video editing or gaming.

Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

There is a great video tutorial out there, called "Sonic Academy PC Build for Music"!

 

13900K Destroys M1 Pro for audio work. There are potential problems if you are using Cubase though, i would go AMD personally to stay away from E cores. This is from Steinburg site ''
Performance issues on Intel® Core™ 12th gen (or newer) hybrid-architecture CPUs
Problem

Running Cubase/Nuendo on systems with hybrid-architecture CPUs utilizing performance and efficiency cores (P-Cores/E-Cores), such as the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ Alder Lake or newer, can lead to audio dropouts and reduced performance.

This is why we currently cannot recommend using these processors!

Cause
Windows 11 is recommended for CPUs with hybrid-architecture. The included "Thread Director" assigns tasks to available cores to use as many cores as possible simultaneously. However, tests have shown that tasks which are not in focus and run in background, such as rendering jobs, minimized windows or real-time audio tasks, could end up on the much slower E-Cores.

Workarounds

1. Disable the E-Cores in the UEFI/BIOS setup (if accessible)

 

I'll check it out. Thank you very much

 

Wow, thanks for this answer. Which AMD CPU would be a good option in this case?

 

Yes AMD CPU are a good option.

If you can afford it, take in account that everything is now going 5.
DDR5 , PCIe 5 so if you want a "future proof" computer, chose a motherboard that support these standards.
USB 4 is also arriving, but there are very few motherboards that have it.

Example: ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS AMD X670 + AMD RYZEN 9 7900X (or AMD Ryzen 7 7600x) + DDR5 6000Mhz 16GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB CL40 x2.

That's a good base for several years of high performance.

Take in account that AMD use to keep their new CPU compatible to the socket. As they just changed socket this year, it will last for a while. (AM4 socket was launched in 2016, 7 years ago, and there are still CPU working on it as it receive updates for new CPU)

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2023

You are much better off with a i7-13700K. The i9 KS is overpriced and offers not meaningful benefits for production or gaming.
The onboard graphics will be more than enough for well coded and optimized software.

The money saved could go into more memory and/or storage. An affordable cooler such as the DeepCool AK620 is more than enough to handle the i7 while maintaining performance.

Also keep in mind that unless you are doing video editing, high speed Gen 3 X4 NVME SSDs are perfect for audio while provong more savings vs Gen 4 NVME SSDs.

Make sure you get at least a 750W 80+ Gold rated PSU. 850W if you plan on adding a basic modern graphics card.

Just a few thoughts.

 

the AMD threadripper pro 5995wx is the best CPU actually
https://www.amd.com/en/processors/ryzen-threadripper-pro

check the dell configuration with selectable options (CPU, ram, stockage) up to 1To of ram.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/precision-7865-workstation/xctopt7865us_vp

from 2000$ to 50 000$ to play candy crush.

 

Thanks for your previous answer. Could you recommend a motherboard that would be a good fit for the Core i9-13900KS CPU if I were to choose that option? Thanks again

 

you should be looking at 32GB or even 64GB ram, because it's so cheap there's no reason to buy any less,
that said, you need to decide if you want (cheaper, older) DDR4, or (new, not so well tested and optimized yet) DDR5 ram,
that will ultimately tell which motherboards you can pick, which platforms you can pick,
new AMD cpus support only DDR5, Intel 12th and 13th gen support either DDR4 or DDR5 depending on mobo choice (physical different ram slots),

speaking of 12th vs 13th Intel gen, they both use same socket and compatible with same chipsets, BUT if you buy newer-gen motherboard, you may need firmware/BIOS upgrade and only motherboards with USB-BIOS-Flashback can perform such upgrade without having CPU socketed,

stronger CPUs draw more power, produce more heat, need better cooling, sometimes borderline-impossible to do with air coolers, and water coolers are always bit more noisy,

come up with some PC parts list and I can help you with guidance and changes,
it makes no sense to give you biased opinions when it's ultimately your choice and your money

 

for the motherboard, anything with socket LGA1700
the board chipset can be B660 or Z690, the lastest is intel Z790 and enable more PCI 4 slot.

check the sata or M2 connections number if you need to connect a lot of drive. idem for the ram slot.
the cheapest and micro format are generally poor in connectivity.
have a look on these DDR5 motherboard:
ASUS PRIME Z790-p
GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX
ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING
GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2023

base model m2 pro mac mini and call it a day.

 

I have just finished building a new beastly production PC. this time around I decided to go with AMD because of the upgrade path. I got a 7700x which is a hefty boy in its own right. But because it is the beginning of the AM5 cycle, I will be able to drop in a massive upgrade in 4 -5 years at a big discount similar to a 5950x for the AM4 platform.

I'm really picky about noise, particularly silence. For the cooler I went with the tried and true Noctua d-15. And I really never hear it, worth every penny. For case fans I swapped in 3 140mm noctua nf-a14 pwm and combo-ed it with their nifty little NA-FC1 fan controller.

One source of noise that you don't want to overlook is the power supply. From what I understand, a good seasonic prime titanium is going to be really quiet but I never wanted to take any chances with fan noise I cant control, so I went with a fanless model. I got the prime tx700 however it cost me a little extra. If you're not going to be gaming at all then I think the TX 500 fanless would be sufficient. (you may wish to consult https://pcpartpicker.com/ to check the wattage requirements of your build).

And then of course you want to get some ssd's for your hard drives, however much you can afford. If you focus on getting silent components you dont have to be picky about the case you buy, I've found sound insulating cases to be a little gimmicky and not really making too much difference.

you can live with 16 gb of ddr5 ram, but I've opted for 32 to be fully in the clear.

If you keep your comp in a different room or don't record with mics ever then you can disregard these ideas. Cheers!

 

@Atma_WeaponVI - may I ask which PC case did you go for?
I'm still torn between "silent" case designs and "airflow" case designs, in practice is seems something like Fractal Design Torrent gives best thermals/noise performance with huge 18cm intake fans

 

I'm sorry but I've been only studying the marked for AM5 platform, I have no clue about what's on the market for Intel's processors.

For the exact same reasons as Atma_WeaponVI.

 

See this article from Puget Systems:
Intel Core i9 13900KS Content Creation Review
Posted on January 12, 2023 by Matt Bach

 

@tzzsmk - I ended up going with the Antec P101SILENT. The reason I chose it was because it had a built in fan controller that could turn them completely off if necessary. But this turned out to be unnecessary as the lowest speed setting was too loud so I got a noctua fan controller in the end, which is perfect.

If I had my time back, I would have worried less about sound insulation in the case and got something more stylist like the the fractal design. 18cm intake fans sound minty, they should be capable to pushing tons of air with barely a whisper. I feel like if your components are silent you don't need sound insulation in the case, and if you components aren't silent, I don't think sound insulation does enough to mitigate that issue.

 

A lot of great recommendations here! But buying a fast PC with lots of RAM and the latest technology is not so difficult. Everyone can tell you to buy the fastest processor with the most and fastest DDR5 ram.

But as with everything, you need a plan. You first need to establish what you exactly need.

Do you really need the fastest or can you do with a little less? Or is the extra money no issue? Either way it’s important to know what you really need configuration wise before deciding what to buy.

Nowadays I would always recommend a minimum of 32GB of ram for an audio system. If you’re planning to use a lot of Kontakt libraries and/or planning to do surround or ambisonic mixes I would recommend 64GB or even more. If there’s one thing you shouldn’t cut costs on it’s RAM! Also, don’t waste your money on ram with the absolute fastest timing. IMO it’s just marketing invented to make you spend more money. The average (for sometimes half the price!) will do just fine and in real life you won’t notice any difference in speed!

1. First establish what processor you are willing to buy and then start to choose a motherboard with the configuration you need.
   
   
2. Do you need to connect a lot of disks (storage) and what type (sata, M2)? For instance if you use a lot of Kontakt libraries you can never have enough storage connections! Some motherboards offer more connections than others. So make sure what you need and choose according to that.
   
   
3. Look at the pci-e slots available? Make sure it’s enough for what you’re planning to do.
   
   
4. Do you want to play games or do you need other demanding graphics power? Or do you need to connect more monitors than the motherboard can physically handle? If so, you’ll need a separate graphics card. So buying a processor and motherboard with integrated graphics is a waste of resources and money!
   
   
5. Do you need to connect to wifi with this PC?

The choices above will narrow down your choices and this eventually will bring you to a small selection of motherboards to choose from and make a sensible choice.

When it comes to casing. You could choose a good air cooler or go for liquid cooling?

When choosing a case, look for what you really need! If you need lots of storage slots, make sure your case facilitates that.

Most mid and high end cases offer additional case fan slots. It might be tempting to think that more fans are always better but this is actually not true!

There needs to be a balance between the in and out flow of air in a case. Otherwise the extra airflow of more fans will do more damage than good and will create an unbalance in airflow and cause the case to collect more dust and have less cooling.

The right balance usually means, if you have 2 ‘in’ fans of the same capacity you need 2 ‘out’ fans of the same. But in reality it’s more complicated than that. Because there’s ‘front, bottom inputs and top, back outputs. So a variety of options, depending on the case and the processor cooler are available to achieve the optimal cooling.

Considering all this? You may understand why some people just don’t want to bother and are willing to buy from a company that specializes in PC’s specially built for audio?

 

One problem i have with the Fractal is the lack of 3.5" drive bays. It has only 2, and i like your Antec ability of 8.
I am using a Define R5 which has plenty as well. So many cases are lacking in 3.5" space.
It is nice to be able to have all your active (all non-backup drives) internal in one case when it comes to "taking the studio" to remote locations.
Eventually all will be SSD and i can use a newer case and just attach them with chewing gum.

 

Define R5 user here too,
I actually removed all the front drive bays for better airflow (less obstruction = enough airflow at lower fan speeds = less noise), using only few SSDs in the back,
no HDDs = no noise