FWIW after agonizing months of research and chitchat on forums (ie wasted time), I said fug it and built a basic but upgradeable Z690 i7-12700k, 3tb total of m2 ssd, with just 16gb ram (everybody told me it absolutely would not be enough, but they are dead wrong) and stock graphics, and its super fast. It handles everything I throw at it with ease (50+ tracks, vst synths, kontakt, fx, midi, audio, ext hardware etc, hundreds of plugins in a project all with OS on). Its fast and efficient enough that I never even think about it anymore. I spent just over a grand and that was last year, so prices may be much cheaper now.

If budget is a big concern, I suggest you do the same, buy a entry level -basic but pro level- setup that has an upgrade path only if/when needed, rather than blowing your entire budget in one go on something you may not actually need.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2023