Audio Production

thejonesman

So, I've gotta build that has a Ryzen 9 -12 core-, 32gb of RAM, 2tb hard, 512gb ssd. This is about for $1600ish after taxes. I need it mainly for audio production which includes many different plugins working in FL studio at the same time. I went pretty cheap on the graphics card cause idk if im going to be doing much gaming on this thing. My main question is if this is just overkill? Could I make an audio workhorse for less? Do I need 12 cores? If anyone in the audio production community can help me out with this pc build that would be immaculate *Future voice*

TSTDavey

Hello @thejonesman and thanks for posting on the Microcenter Community Forum. We're not familiar with the FL Studio program but we did look at the system requirements recommended for this audio workstation software.

It doesn't require a lot of CPU speed nor Memory capacity. If you are using a lot of plugins, a few browsers, other audio software programs, and office at the same time, the cpu and memory is what helps manage all of these multiple programs at once. For all this, a 4 to 6 core processor is probably all that is needed along with the 32gb of RAM to manage your system. You could probably just go with 16gb or 24gb of ram.

You don't need 12 cores. But the more the merrier. I'm assuming you have no lag or bottlenecking with the Ryzen 9 system.

hzee

I will chime in here just because I am in the same boat as far as being unsure which CPU to run with for a "most of the time Digital Audio Workstation". At the moment I'm using a 5 year old Intel i5 6600k 3,5ghz with 24gb ram and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 ver1. My main DAW editor is Ableton Live and use many VST plugins...lately at least 2 processing VST's on top of Serum soft synth times 10+ tracks. Also add in master channel and 4-5 more plugins. I'm now able to get by somewhat but it is very glitchy and CPU is hitting Overload status. My method of making music is more than the system can handle and need to get more speed and power. At this point I cant decide if I want to wait to get a Ryzen 9 5900x or just settle for a 3900x or intel core9 10900k. If there is anyone who might be into similar style of computing would you please help shed a little light on this subject...I could use the help. Thanks.

zippyzap

To answer thejonesman, no you don't "need" 12 cores. What might be more useful are some peripherals such as good headphones or studio monitor speakers, plus depending on what exactly you are doing with audio maybe a good multitrack USB digital mixer.

hzee, what do you mean by "very glitchy and CPU is hitting Overload status?" A faster CPU just means things are done faster (and maybe in "real time"). Slower doesn't mean glitches, unless you're trying to record from an input and the audio is skipping.