CPU, GPU and ram prices and expectations 2026

[BJ]

Not looking to build my own PC you gotta keep me as far away from thermal paste as you can. The Mac Mini looks interesting but I'm too much of a Windows guy and I'm happy with my setup just need extra new CPU power, more SSD space, a 4K capable GPU. I'm probably going to order a build from PCspecialist they delivered great work on my current PC in 2018. I made a test build just now with them:

Case: CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAIRE
CPU: Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 20 Core 265KF (max 5,5 GHz) 30 MB cache
Motherboard: ASUS® TUF GAMING Z890-PLUS WIFI (LGA1851, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
RAM: 32 GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz CL40 (2 x 16 GB)
GPU: 8 GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 3050 VENTUS 2X XS 8G OC - DVI, HDMI, DP
System SSD: 1 TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2 PCIe 4.0/5.0 NVMe SSD (7150 MB/s read, 6300 MB/s write)
Audio SSD: 4 TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2 PCIe 4.0/5.0 NVMe SSD (tot 7250 MB/s read, 6300 MB/s write)
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650 W CX SERIES™ CX 650 W

It looks good to me if anyone has any thoughts? Again I fear the prices might go up but I'm hoping to save up a few more months to top it off with my vacation bonus in june and I might even splurge on 64 GB Ram and bigger SSD's.

[legendCNCD]

Do you really need a gaming motherboard?
You could if you want, change the 3050 to 6GB Lowpower version. Less heat and noise.
I'd change PSU to SeaSonic one though.

[BJ]

Do you really need a gaming motherboard?
You could if you want, change the 3050 to 6GB Lowpower version. Less heat and noise.
I'd change PSU to SeaSonic one though.

You’re right I don’t need the gaming motherboard it was just the standard in their pro audio default package. Their 6GB GPU also has 2 hdmi’s which might come in handy one day. I don’t see SeaSonic in their options. Thank you for the suggestions.

[Pictus]

It looks good to me if anyone has any thoughts?

The motherboard is good, has 8 PCB layers, the cheaper ASUS models have 6.
8 layers provides a bit better clear electrical signal.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0

https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-a ... e-busters/
https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-c ... busters/2/
viewtopic.php?t=621326

[legendCNCD]

Do you really need a gaming motherboard?
You could if you want, change the 3050 to 6GB Lowpower version. Less heat and noise.
I'd change PSU to SeaSonic one though.

You’re right I don’t need the gaming motherboard it was just the standard in their pro audio default package. Their 6GB GPU also has 2 hdmi’s which might come in handy one day. I don’t see SeaSonic in their options. Thank you for the suggestions.

Ok, then go with that if they have certified it as a good one for audio machine

[BJ]

It looks good to me if anyone has any thoughts?

The motherboard is good, has 8 PCB layers, the cheaper ASUS models have 6.
8 layers provides a bit better clear electrical signal.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0

https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-a ... e-busters/
https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-c ... busters/2/
viewtopic.php?t=621326

Thanks for the info then I'll keep that one

[Papuzzo]

If you refuse to go Apple, which is entirely understandable, Ryzen mini-pcs are still probably a better long term value, since they won't be locked from future OS updates like Apple does. Once (if) prices come back to sanity levels for home consumers, they can easily be relegated to a multitude of other computing tasks free from the Apple ecosystem.

I used Windows since 1995 and my last PC was a Ryzen 7 Mini PC from Beelink. It was fine and had a 1Tb NVME and 32gb of ram, but the CPU was the weak link. It was fine for light and medium use but suffered with CPU intensive soft synths even at a 512 buffer. I finally gave up and got a Mac Mini M4 2 months ago and even at a 128 buffer size the CPU calls me a wuss and keeps telling me "Harder Baby! Harder! What's my name bitch!" 16gb of ram is fine, the system drive is only 256gb so I push a lot of stuff onto external drives. I still tend to like Windows better than MacOS, but Apple is crushing it with these new ARM CPUs. My suggestion for those hobbyists looking for an economical new computer is to look good and hard at the Mac Mini.

[vstdls]

If you refuse to go Apple, which is entirely understandable, Ryzen mini-pcs are still probably a better long term value, since they won't be locked from future OS updates like Apple does. Once (if) prices come back to sanity levels for home consumers, they can easily be relegated to a multitude of other computing tasks free from the Apple ecosystem.

I used Windows since 1995 and my last PC was a Ryzen 7 Mini PC from Beelink. It was fine and had a 1Tb NVME and 32gb of ram, but the CPU was the weak link. It was fine for light and medium use but suffered with CPU intensive soft synths even at a 512 buffer. I finally gave up and got a Mac Mini M4 2 months ago and even at a 128 buffer size the CPU calls me a wuss and keeps telling me "Harder Baby! Harder! What's my name bitch!" 16gb of ram is fine, the system drive is only 256gb so I push a lot of stuff onto external drives. I still tend to like Windows better than MacOS, but Apple is crushing it with these new ARM CPUs. My suggestion for those hobbyists looking for an economical new computer is to look good and hard at the Mac Mini.

For the short term, yes, but I do not believe Apple products offer long term value. A $300 mini pc will get you through. A $500-$600 Mac mini will be faster, no lie.... but they are twice the price, and stuck in AppleLand. Is the next point that a $1000 desktop smokes a Mac mini?. Yes. Does the $2000 Mac smoke the $1000 desktop? Probably.

I think if anyone is looking right now for an 8-10year production PC, the best value I've seen in the past few months are Microcenter's bundles that pop up once and again. Currently they have a 14700K/mobo/32G ddr5 deal for something like $570. That build will smoke absolutely anything I think any of us could throw at it (audio production-wise)

Ultimately though, I think we are all a little spoiled with available computing power.

[Papuzzo]

I agree. I don't want a desktop computer, I have a second house and it is so convenient to keep a big monitor and peripherals in both houses and just bring a Mini PC and external drives with me. My question is how could Apple build its own processors that crush AMD and Intel's mobile processors? Hopefully AMD will develop ARM processors that are even faster. Then the problem of Windows remains. Microsoft better start respecting its customers again. The best thing is for AMD to make even better processors than Apple and Linux compatibility gets to the level of Apple.

[vstdls]

The remarkable thing about the the Apple ARMs is the power draw. The performance is based on the OS scheduling integration. Intel and AMD need to work for the entire breadth of stuff out there, Apple ARM only needs to work for AppleOS. I think I might pick up a miniPC too, just because...also these gaming handhelds seem to have pretty decent specs for the price. I wonder if any have removable joy sticks, since I won't use them....

[Papuzzo]

The remarkable thing about the the Apple ARMs is the power draw. The performance is based on the OS scheduling integration. Intel and AMD need to work for the entire breadth of stuff out there, Apple ARM only needs to work for AppleOS. I think I might pick up a miniPC too, just because...also these gaming handhelds seem to have pretty decent specs for the price. I wonder if any have removable joy sticks, since I won't use them....

I recently bought a Mac Mini M4 because I am not so sure about moving forward with Windows and Apple has the sweetspot of performance/cost at the moment with these Mac Minis. That being said, what I really would like is Linux to get more popular, run great of the nextgen ARM chips, and somehow get ASIO support so that DAWs would be as easy to set up as on Windows and the best plugins could run without jumping through hoops.Then we wouldn't need Microsoft or Apple.

[cjmars]

Most likely, the prices of RAM and SSD will rise as long as the scaling of AI technology is relevant. The price drop can occur either in a fantastic or a realistic scenario. The fantastic scenario is when the hardware component of AI becomes completely self-sufficient and humans completely disappear from the development and production process, that is, the self-reproduction chain will be closed . And the realistic scenario is when this AI bubble will burst. The only question is when will this happen? Because wars and the tyranny of politicians also need to be taken into account.