Building a music production PC that will last 10 years

[QuestionAsker]

My 14 year old Hackintosh that I built in 2011 just died recently, because of dust (oops... lesson learned).
Up until dust fried the motherboard it was still running like a champ, even in 2025, for normal everyday tasks.
So I’m looking to build another PC for music production, that will last me another 10-15 years.
I’m OK with going a bit overkill on it, as that’s what I did with my 2011 Hackitosh (to make it future-proof).

I’ve been researching a lot of music production PC builds and taking notes, but looking for advice here to make sure I do it right.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or insights.

-----------------------

What PC Will Be Used For
• Music Production (Ableton): Using both VSTs and recording live instruments.
• Work / Productivity: CAD + lots of Brave browser tabs open across 2-3 windows, random programs, etc
• Light gaming: Not really important, but sometimes I do like to try out flight simulators sometimes, etc, just for fun. I don’t really game but would be cool to have the option from time to time.

Budget
• ~$2000, though I can try to increase if need be. I’m located in the U.S.

Special Considerations
• Low Noise: Trying to keep it as silent as possible, as I’ll be recording voice / instruments in the same room as the computer.
• Temperature: I’m in Southern California, doesn’t get too hot, but room can get up to 80F-85F sometimes (26C–30C)
• Dust: Lots of dust where I live. Room has a coat of dust after just 1-2 days.

Parts List So Far
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950x – (I hear for Ableton this is a good choice)
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 – (to keep noise levels down)
• Case Fans: Replace with Noctua – (to make case even quieter)
• PSU: Seasonic Prime GX-1000 – (I hear for low EMF / electronic noise this is a good choice)
• OS: Windows 10 – (bare bones, very lightweight version)

Accessories
• Dust Cover – (to protect from dust when computer is off)
• Dust Filters – (to place over air inlets if need be)
• Ferrite Chokes – (To minimize EMF interferance, especially via power cable to external GPU. I’m still learning about these, but they’re cheap to try out. Even if they don’t work, won’t hurt)

Parts I’m Still Trying to Figure Out:
• Motherboard – (trying to get one without onboard wifi/bluetooth... going to try to have it connected by ethernet only. To cut down on EMFs, and personal preference)
• Case – (wondering which will be quietest, while allowing for high airflow?)
• GPU – (I know GPUs are crazy expensive now. But looking for something somewhat decent for light gaming, and quiet as well)
• RAM (128gb) – (which brand will be best? Also – 2 x 64gb?, Or 4 x 32gb?)
• Hard Drives
• Anything else missing? – (Open to suggestions)

Parts I Have
• 2 x Samsung Monitors
• Keyboard / Mouse
• Audio Interface (Focusrite 2i2)

[Kaine]

9950X - yes, the right choice for Ableton.
D15 - sure, maybe even overkill but why not if it fits in both the budget and the case.
Case - Personally, be quiet! 501 or 802 and save on not having to switch out the fans
Prime PSU - yes, all day long.
OS - W10 is about to hit end of life cycle, I wouldn't choose to use it on a modern chipset at this point.
Ferrite chokes - seems overkill, not made a difference for me since the late 90's.
Avoiding BT on the board - same as the Ferrite chokes... you can always disable it in the BIOS anyhow.
GPU - make sure it's hybrid cooled (fans spin down under lighter loads). Most do, but double check on whatever your budget allows.
RAM - AMD spec will downclock quad sticks to 3600MHz and it's tough to get it back above 4000Mhz. Use dual sticks for optimal performance.

[Tiles]

• GPU – (I know GPUs are crazy expensive now. But looking for something somewhat decent for light gaming, and quiet as well)

Offline AI generation too? Then you may want a Nvidia card. Minimum 16 gb vram. It is a bit slow compared to the really expensive cards, but a 5060 TI might already do the trick. And is not this expensive. For the noise you need to compare the db values then.

[uOpt]

If you go AMD anyway you can as well put ECC memory, especially if you want to drive this PC to very old age,

[pekbro]

Don’t like Mac? Can get a Mac Studio for a similar price, thereabouts. Since you don’t want win 11 anyway.

[Pictus]

My 14 year old Hackintosh that I built in 2011 just died recently, because of dust (oops... lesson learned).

My take https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4vqCWc
You will need to select the motherboard, drives and case.

Motherboard that can handle 5 M.2 drives, USB 4 and POST CODE led Display
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4bFmP6 ... -nova-wifi
If 3 M.2 drives are enough, USB 4 + Debug LEDs(Post Code is better)
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QJsV3C ... ptide-wifi

Drives for BOOT:
1TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/DyhFf7 ... ds100t2x0e
2TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/crKKHx ... ds200t2x0e
4TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yBC48d ... ds400t2x0e
8TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mzJp99 ... ds800t2x0e

Secondary/tertiary drives:
2TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/TspQzy ... 002t-rnnng
4TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cDJp99 ... 004t-rnnng
8TB https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mzJp99 ... ds800t2x0e

I do not know what case has the best dust filter and at the same time good airflow.
You live in Southern California, visit some Micro Center near you and ask the guys there.
Maybe the be quiet! Silent Base 802



For GPU better avoid NVIDIA cards as they have a tendency to mess with
Windows DPC latency, check here.
I selected the Radeon RX 9060 XT, verify if it is good enough for flight simulator
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-compone ... b-review/4
Fans only work when it gets hot(games/3D)
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sapp ... oc/39.html

Lots of stuff you should check at
viewtopic.php?t=621326
Good luck!

[FranklyFlawless]

• Anything else missing? – (Open to suggestions)

A substantial vacuum cleaner for dealing with all of the dust more efficiently.

[lunardigs]

I don't have any particular picks, but my current workstation is ~10 years old.
It's a Xeon E5-2640 v4 paired with a Supermicro X10 Serverboard and 128GB ECC RAM.

I intend to get a newer workstation for higher top end performance at some point, but for now, this build still works really well and is very stable.
The big benefit of server hardware is while the top end is lower than whatever contemporary gaming stuff, it offers what could be considered a 'guaranteed minimum' performance level. In other words, even when it's pushed to the max, it maintains stability and doesn't crash.

For my next build, my guess is I'll go with a regular AMD CPU and pair it with a serverboard, ECC RAM, etc., but I'm not sure yet.

[QuestionAsker]

9950X - yes, the right choice for Ableton.
D15 - sure, maybe even overkill but why not if it fits in both the budget and the case.
Case - Personally, be quiet! 501 or 802 and save on not having to switch out the fans
Prime PSU - yes, all day long.
OS - W10 is about to hit end of life cycle, I wouldn't choose to use it on a modern chipset at this point.
Ferrite chokes - seems overkill, not made a difference for me since the late 90's.
Avoiding BT on the board - same as the Ferrite chokes... you can always disable it in the BIOS anyhow.
GPU - make sure it's hybrid cooled (fans spin down under lighter loads). Most do, but double check on whatever your budget allows.
RAM - AMD spec will downclock quad sticks to 3600MHz and it's tough to get it back above 4000Mhz. Use dual sticks for optimal performance.

Thanks Kaine - for W10 I was going to do LTSC 2021, which has support until 2032.

GPU: Decided on Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB, hope that one is OK.

RAM: Will go with 2 x 64gb of the G.Skill most likely.

Case: Which is better between the be quiet! 501 and 802? I am considering the 802, as well as the Fractal Define 7, and Antex Flux Pro. Have you tried either of those other cases? (Define 7 or Flux Pro)

[QuestionAsker]

• GPU – (I know GPUs are crazy expensive now. But looking for something somewhat decent for light gaming, and quiet as well)

Offline AI generation too? Then you may want a Nvidia card. Minimum 16 gb vram. It is a bit slow compared to the really expensive cards, but a 5060 TI might already do the trick. And is not this expensive. For the noise you need to compare the db values then.

Yes, I'm looking at the Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB - that one was recommended a few times to me. Seems like a decent video card that won't break the bank. Hopefully it's not too loud.

[QuestionAsker]

Motherboard that can handle 5 M.2 drives, USB 4 and POST CODE led Display
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4bFmP6 ... -nova-wifi
If 3 M.2 drives are enough, USB 4 + Debug LEDs(Post Code is better)
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QJsV3C ... ptide-wifi

I do not know what case has the best dust filter and at the same time good airflow.
You live in Southern California, visit some Micro Center near you and ask the guys there.
Maybe the be quiet! Silent Base 802


For GPU better avoid NVIDIA cards as they have a tendency to mess with
Windows DPC latency, check here.
I selected the Radeon RX 9060 XT, verify if it is good enough for flight simulator
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-compone ... b-review/4
Fans only work when it gets hot(games/3D)
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sapp ... oc/39.html

Lots of stuff you should check at
viewtopic.php?t=621326
Good luck!

Thank you! Lots of great info.

I just drove by a Micro Center today, forgot to stop by. The closest one is about an hour away from me... maybe I'll be driving by that way again in a week or so.

-----------

I did hear about that with Nvidia GPUs and Windows DPC Latency. So even if I'm not actively using the Nvidia graphics card, I can still have crackles and audio issues when using Ableton?

How common are DPC Latency issues with Nvidia cards? I'm guessing even with a top-of-the-line built, DPC Latency would still pop up as an issue? Chatgpt is saying it's not that common of an issue, but I'm wondering.

(Note: I plan to go with Windows 10 LTSC 2021 (supported until 2032). It's a light version of Windows 10. I read online the DPC Latency issues are moreso with Windows 11(?))

--------------

For the motherboard, I was thinking of going with ASUS X870E Creator, since it has Thunderbolt built in (for upgrading audio interface down the line), as well as lots of connectivity ports etc. Would that be a good choice?

[QuestionAsker]

I don't have any particular picks, but my current workstation is ~10 years old.
It's a Xeon E5-2640 v4 paired with a Supermicro X10 Serverboard and 128GB ECC RAM.

I intend to get a newer workstation for higher top end performance at some point, but for now, this build still works really well and is very stable.
The big benefit of server hardware is while the top end is lower than whatever contemporary gaming stuff, it offers what could be considered a 'guaranteed minimum' performance level. In other words, even when it's pushed to the max, it maintains stability and doesn't crash.

For my next build, my guess is I'll go with a regular AMD CPU and pair it with a serverboard, ECC RAM, etc., but I'm not sure yet.

Glad to hear your 10 year old setup is still doing well. I think I can revive my old setup, I'm thinking of doing so just to access my old files, etc. I think if I manage dust better, and get it a dust cover, it can still last another few (or another 15?) years.

Regarding ECC Ram... I've tried reading about it a few times already, I understand it's for data integrity... but how does this translate to real-world use in audio production? How often would one actually use it in real life?

[Tiles]

• GPU – (I know GPUs are crazy expensive now. But looking for something somewhat decent for light gaming, and quiet as well)

Offline AI generation too? Then you may want a Nvidia card. Minimum 16 gb vram. It is a bit slow compared to the really expensive cards, but a 5060 TI might already do the trick. And is not this expensive. For the noise you need to compare the db values then.

Yes, I'm looking at the Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB - that one was recommended a few times to me. Seems like a decent video card that won't break the bank. Hopefully it's not too loud.

As told, you can compare the db values of the different manufacturers. There are slight differences.
A bit more expensive but told to be very silent is the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti OC 16 GB
Good luck

[Pictus]

Thank you! Lots of great info.

You are welcome.

I did hear about that with Nvidia GPUs and Windows DPC Latency. So even if I'm not actively using the Nvidia graphics card, I can still have crackles and audio issues when using Ableton?

Yes.
To have less Windows DPC problems, go for AMD GPU.

How common are DPC Latency issues with Nvidia cards? I'm guessing even with a top-of-the-line built, DPC Latency would still pop up as an issue? Chatgpt is saying it's not that common of an issue, but I'm wondering.

This is quite common. NVIDIA is only interested in AI, not audio.
Check https://vi-control.net/community/thread ... em.164334/ and viewtopic.php?t=503585

(Note: I plan to go with Windows 10 LTSC 2021 (supported until 2032). It's a light version of Windows 10. I read online the DPC Latency issues are moreso with Windows 11(?))

Windows 11 without the bloatware is better, specially for modern CPUs.
To create a de-bloated Windows 11, check viewtopic.php?t=621326

For the motherboard, I was thinking of going with ASUS X870E Creator, since it has Thunderbolt built in (for upgrading audio interface down the line), as well as lots of connectivity ports etc. Would that be a good choice?

Yes, it is USB4 and some TB(Thunderbolt) compatibility.
Looks like it was working well with TB, but at some point in the latest bios
seems to having compatibility problems, if you really want TB, better go Intel.

[uOpt]

Regarding ECC Ram... I've tried reading about it a few times already, I understand it's for data integrity... but how does this translate to real-world use in audio production? How often would one actually use it in real life?

First, understand that ECC/non-ECC RAM and registered.unbuffered RAM are different concepts.

To answer your last question - if you don't have ECC you can't tell how often you would have used error correction if you had it. ECC memory includes both error detection and reporting. Non-ECC memory has no reporting.

For me the reporting is the important part. I want to be notified when a RAM module goes bad or overheats or whatever. If I don't get that RAM errors would slowly (or not so slowly) scramble the contents of my filesystems. I don't like that.