Processor recommendation

[vignesh.vijay]

I am a music producer who does a lot of film and pop music. I am looking to upgrade my pc.
I work with a lot of vsts, sometimes even upto a 100 VST tracks or more at once (mostly kontakt, omnisphere, etc).
I use cubase 13. Any good processor recommendation?
Is there a new dawbench results out? if so, which parameter should i look at in that?
Thanks

[Pictus]

The new AMD Ryzen 9000.
https://gearspace.com/board/music-compu ... eaper.html

In a week or two may have test at
http://www.scanproaudio.info/category/test-labs/

[eLawnMust]

I'd use at least a pentium III...

[ghettosynth]

I'd use at least a pentium III...

That has three cores, right?

[vstdls]

12900K, 12700K, 12600K.

[vignesh.vijay]

Do I need more cores? Or is that just a overkill. I can see significant difference in price between 24 core and 32 core though.

[Jim Roseberry]

If you're running large massive scoring templates, I'd want an Intel i9-14900k or AMD Ryzen 9950x.
Performance is near identical.

Both score 40k with Cinebench R23 Multi-Core.
Both offer exception ultra low-latency performance.
ie: You can do things like run IK's ToneX (Similar to Kemper but a plugin) at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size.
With something like an Orion Studio Synergy Core, that's ~1ms total round-trip latency.

There's been a lot of YouTube hysterics about the 13th and 14th Gen Intel CPUs.
As I've mentioned many times, out of scores of builds... I've replaced two 13900k CPUs.
Not had to replace any other 13th or 14th Gen CPUs.

If you go with the Ryzen 9950x, there's a problem with iLok (Pace service won't stay running).
They've released a hot-fix that resolves the issue.
If you need it, I can forward via PM.

[vignesh.vijay]

If you're running large massive scoring templates, I'd want an Intel i9-14900k or AMD Ryzen 9950x.
Performance is near identical.

Both score 40k with Cinebench R23 Multi-Core.
Both offer exception ultra low-latency performance.
ie: You can do things like run IK's ToneX (Similar to Kemper but a plugin) at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size.
With something like an Orion Studio Synergy Core, that's ~1ms total round-trip latency.

There's been a lot of YouTube hysterics about the 13th and 14th Gen Intel CPUs.
As I've mentioned many times, out of scores of builds... I've replaced two 13900k CPUs.
Not had to replace any other 13th or 14th Gen CPUs.

If you go with the Ryzen 9950x, there's a problem with iLok (Pace service won't stay running).
They've released a hot-fix that resolves the issue.
If you need it, I can forward via PM.

Would waiting for arrow lake intel 15th gen processors be worth it? Even if it doesn't significantly improve performance, it would atleast bring down the price of 14th gen processors?

[Jim Roseberry]

Would waiting for arrow lake intel 15th gen processors be worth it? Even if it doesn't significantly improve performance, it would atleast bring down the price of 14th gen processors?

No matter when you're looking, there will usually be something better/faster if you're willing to wait. Arrow lake is supposed to be released at end of October.

Arrow lake does away with Hyperthreading on Performance cores.
That will likely result in lower multi-threaded performance vs Raptor Lake.
If that holds true, I wouldn't expect major change in 14th Gen cost.

[Hewitt Huntwork]

@vignesh.vijay just so you know, this guy that's answering your questions - Jim Roseberry - is probably the only guy I personally would buy a music PC from (at least until he retires). I bought one from him 15 years ago that I used happily for 11 years. 4 years ago when it was time to replace it, I didn't bother looking anywhere else. I am a happy, happy customer. He answered all my questions (some of which were so basic I was embarrassed to ask) and he steered me in the right direction for a peripheral purchase that wasn't even from his business.

[vignesh.vijay]

Awesome, Thanks for responding and would surely consider you all when buying a new pc.
Is Threadstripper worth considering? Or not so good for music producers?

[uOpt]

Threadripper is not price-competitive unless you actually outcompute 16 cores or 192 GB RAM.

I am not aware of a music person testing a recent threadripper. It is said that it had latency problems, but it is possible that these were just theoretical concerns with nothing measured.

[Jim Roseberry]

Threadripper is not price-competitive unless you actually outcompute 16 cores or 192 GB RAM.

I am not aware of a music person testing a recent threadripper. It is said that it had latency problems, but it is possible that these were just theoretical concerns with nothing measured.

Earlier Threadripper CPUs had a more latent design (as did earlier Ryzen CPUs).
IOW, If you're pushing performance at lowest possible round-trip latency, they were not the CPU you wanted.

The Ryzen 5950x is where AMD ultra low audio latency performance was back competitive with the best Intel CPUs.

I haven't bothered testing ultra low latency audio performance of the latest Threadripper (Storm Peak)... for two reasons: cost and noise.
Not many folks are looking to spend upwards of $10k on a machine.
With 350w TDP (and active-cooled motherboard chipsets), it's impossible to build a current generation Threadripper machine that's super quiet. That's a non-starter for most of our clients.

Thankfully, the latest Ryzen 9950x is a fantastic overall performer.
Scores 40k+ with Cinebench R23 and can run audio as low as sub-1ms round-trip totally clean.

9950x and 14900k offer almost identical audio performance.
9950x does so at lower TDP.
For a higher-end 9950x build, you'll spend about $150-$200 more (vs. the 14900k).

[Jim Roseberry]

Threadripper (Storm Peak) 7970x has 32 cores... but max turbo frequency is 5.3GHz.
TDP = 350w
$2200 just for the CPU.

Ryzen 9950x (Granite Ridge) has 16 cores... and max turbo frequency is 5.7GHz.
TDP = 170w
$610

Typically, having more cores at the expense of significant clock-speed... results in lower DAW performance (vs standard CPUs). This is why Xeon CPUs (thought more expensive) yield worse DAW performance vs standard i5/i7/i9 CPUs.

[vignesh.vijay]

Awesome, thanks for the inputs. I will wait for Arrow Lake to be released to do a comparison with 9950x and 14th gen and then make a decision.