Music Production PC AMD or Intel Spec?

I need to buy new PC specifically for music production, and I need some advice.

I will be running Cubase 8 Pro, Maschine 2.2, Komplete 9 Ultimate and a NI Komplete Audio 6 soundcard. I want a SSD for the OS and programmes, and another for the K9U sample library.

I'm trying to decide between an AMD FX 8350 or Intel i7 4790 based machine, however I keep finding conflicting information. Some say that AMD processors aren't suitable for music production, others say the 8 cores of the FX8350 are better than the i7 4790. Help me please!!!

I would go for the following spec AMD:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO 452 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-8350 Eight Core CPU (4.00-4.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX/Sli)
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
3rd Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
4th Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Corsair H55 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Firewire
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence


Or the following Intel i7 spec:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO 452 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, XFIRE/SLI
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
3rd Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
4th Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 150Mbps PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Firewire
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence

Thank you in advance, help would be much appreciated. After two months of research I'm still no nearer to making a decision

The amd chip will work just fine, it probably has a better chance in something like music production because it is so multi threaded. That said, I'd still opt for the i7 because is it cooler (therefore quieter) and uses less power to get (in most cases) better performance.

AMD is a better 'value' option but if you have the budget intel does tend to win out.

If I were going to be picky about the rest of the spec I would change the thermal compound to the higher spec stuff as music production is likely to be better with as little noise as possible. The other area would be swap the dual 2TB drives for caviar greens, they are quiet and fast.

Thank you, I'll change the thermal compound and to the caviar greens and see how much it impacts on my budget. I only have £1150 to spend, so that should make the decision on the chip come down to cost. Hopefully I can get the i7

Just redone the spec with suggested upgrades and it comes under budget. Even had enough to upgrade to 2133mhz RAM. Very happy

macnyi721 said:

Just redone the spec with suggested upgrades and it comes under budget. Even had enough to upgrade to 2133mhz RAM. Very happy

Click to expand...

unless you are overclocking your cpu the higher frequency ram wouldn't be beneficial

I have Komplete 8 Ultimate, with the libraries installed on a USB drive. It currently takes up 206GB. I don't know how big version 9 would be; and as you receive updates, I wonder if you might struggle to fit it all into 250GB. And if you install new VSTs with sample libraries (Sample Tank, upgrade to the next Komplete, and so on), you might want those on your libraries drive. I'd go for a bigger drive for that.

grimsbymatt said:

I have Komplete 8 Ultimate, with the libraries installed on a USB drive. It currently takes up 206GB. I don't know how big version 9 would be; and as you receive updates, I wonder if you might struggle to fit it all into 250GB. And if you install new VSTs with sample libraries (Sample Tank, upgrade to the next Komplete, and so on), you might want those on your libraries drive. I'd go for a bigger drive for that.

Click to expand...

I can confirm version 9 of komplete comes in at around 320Gb once extracted. I had to install to the OS drive also.

I don't plan on overclocking so with change the RAM back, thank you. I didn't intend on installing all of the sample libraries from K9 Ultimate just the one's I use the most often, but as I'm still under budget will see if I can afford a bigger drive. Thanks again

Finally ordered my pc today. Went with the following due to budget restraints, but happy with it. Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO 452 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-8350 Eight Core CPU (4.00-4.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AM3+ (ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 720 - DVI, HDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
120GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
4[SUP]th[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Windows 10 Upgrade
FREE Upgrade to Windows 10 with all Windows 7 & Windows 8.1 Purchases*
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Browser
Microsoft® Internet Explorer
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1