The only reason to go with AMD anymore is because of the IME ("intel management engine"). But since I have all those ports blocked at the internet ingress firewall it's rather moot in my case. Pretty much all my machines are intel based. However, someone who is not familiar with IME should be concerned with the fact that the IME is a non-negotiable backdoor waiting to happen security wise and is more often that not able to be disabled on the host machine. Unless one takes steps to protect ones self.
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[Edit] - got curious about AMD with regard to the above and found that AMD has a version of the Intel IME on all their stuff as well. The "AMD Platform Security Processor (PSP)" has been present on AMD processors since ~2013. Same deal applies to disabling it as the IME - some systems have toggles some don't.

The good part about it (if one could find anything good about it) is that all these POS's are only a problem if the host is connected to the internet. Which means (re: IME) that any weasels (yeah I'm talking to you, you NSA boneheads) trying to use it to access a machine remotely must come thru a NIC (or wifi) from outside your network. Simply block ALL those ports and you're good. Tried to find a list of ports for the AMD PSP but couldn't readily find one.

 

Last edited: Jul 19, 2026 at 9:41 PM

... ahem... @Reverend Alden , I take it back. Sorry for calling you unreasonable at all...

 

a 64GB RAM stick is around $1500 here.

 

Intel 270k Plus is a great value apparently https://www.scanproaudio.info/2026/04/17/intels-ultra-plus-range-refresh/

I took a chance and got the AMD 9950X3D for my last pc build but unfortunately the cpu died after only about a year of use. I got it replaced for free under warranty but still if I had a choice I would probably want to go with intel in the future.

 

Yes.. I miss the good old days of Intel..
7 generations of CPU with 4 cores and 8 treads for 350/370€.. Then came Ryzen, and Intel added 2 cores to the 8700k.. Lol!

For the OP..
On this system 2 ram is a better choice than 4..

Check the mobo manual.. Probably some SSD will share the bandwidth with others, or with a future second GPU. Or worse, something will be deactivated..

You'll probably be using high refresh rate or 4K displays, so be aware of possible graphical annoyances in the plugins you intend to use..

Not all plugins are cracked perfectly, some are better to buy unfortunately. Shaperbox, Serum, Cinematic Rooms.. Or if you like some UAD.. So you could invest part of your budget in DAW, plugins or similar stuff..

Sorry for the English..

 

Last edited: Jul 20, 2026 at 6:46 AM

Hi there! I think that this system is severely OP for your use case and agree with the rest of the comments here.

If you want to simplify it, i would reduce it to:

- Intel/AMD Core or Ryzen 5 minimum, ideally not older than 3 generations (one being the most recent, so 2 ideally) Mostly for compatibility issues, to have the latest technologies and optimization, and also for raw performance/efficiency
- 32gb RAM DDR4 3200mhz CL20 (or less) or DDR5 CL34 6000MT/s+ (or less) This could be a real game changer, i would focus on speed and latency here
- 1tb SSD NVME Gen 4/5 with a secondary one Gen 4/5 4tb/6tb for samples, projects and files. Another really important point
- 650w PSU 80+ Bronze (minimum) certified. For security and convenience

This assuming a build for 48.000hz sample rate with a moderate, standard workload.
Since this is your "dream PC" i understand that you're aiming for the moon, in that case, i would strongly advise you to define your goals before spending so much money.

If you wish to enjoy that "No boundaries" experience, like 4k gaming, or 192khz work with severe amounts of processing, then your setup does make more sense, but it's extremely overkill for just music production, the strongest weapons in the arsenal are the storage, ram and CPU for that use case, and with a Ryzen 9 or Intel 9, regardless of the variant, you absolutely destroy most use cases, i would only advise going with a iGPU processor for plugins with graphic UI, but buying a fully-fledged GPU for this use case is nuts. Watch out for internet debate regarding pc parts, since most people will always find something against your components

 

The Nvidia driver is often a headache when it comes to audio.
https://vi-control.net/community/th...graphics-card-amd-radeon-7950x-system.164334/

 

i would go for the minimum graphics card.. if only music DAW tasks.. its not gaming or video rendering.. i would say just go for the cheapest geforce RTX. but if you plan on gaming too go for the latest geforce rtx 5 series.. you dont need super expensive graphics card for music production what matters is motherboard and processor here. again i would buy the absolutely latest. in 2 years its already redundant and outdated.. the intel core ultra series or just wait until they release newer.

this is my specs.. i think AVX is important some newer plugins utilize that. massive x for example.
i would just go for the absolutely LATEST