• arts
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 1

Topic: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x

Would like to discuss compatibility issues if any with the new Ryzen 9 cpu’s. I own RME UCX and currently planning to purchase a new PC. First question is AMD or Intel?? Would like to go with the new AMD 5950x as this cpu is bettter than say i9 10900k however will I run into issues with AMD


OS Win10 Home
DAW Ableton Live 10.1.9
Plug ins Omnishere, Kontakt, Diva, Hive, Brainworks, Waves, amongst others

Any/all feedback welcome

Many thanks

  • mkok
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2020-11-04
  • Posts: 623

Re: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x

I went with an i9 and haven’t had any problems. I’ve seen a few posts on the Cubase forums with problems with the Ryzen but they could be specific to other hardware. If going this route I would look at what components are being used by audio pc makers. I did this and then actually got them to build it as it was o my £50 more and had a 3 year guarantee so seemed worth it. I used to always build my own.

Babyface Pro Fs, Behringer ADA8200, win 10/11 PCs, Cubase/Wavelab, Adam A7X monitors.
  • Registered: 2019-10-01
  • Posts: 675

Re: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x

Hello, guys!

Here's a good article, I found on the latest CPUs: https://psymedia.co.za/best-cpu-music-production/

Also, @arts, which DAW are you using? or planning to use? Are you using Video-editing Software, as well?
There are DAWs that favor Single-core speeds, and others that have better implementation of multi-core CPUs(Reaper for example).

So, you could, also, ask at the DAW's forums for compatibility issues!

Another thing for you to research, is the video card. nVidia has/had some buggy drivers for some of its cards, so I would suggest an AMD card(but you can research more). Maybe the issues had to do with the combination of nVidia+MoBo, but I don't know!

Also, make a good research on the MoBo that you are going to use!

Other than those, don't forget to Optimize your new system for Audio work:
- Disable C-states in the Bios
- Highest perfomance settings(Windows)
- Optimize for Background tasks(Windows)
- Disable unnecessary windows services

RME Gear: Digiface USB, HDSP 9632

4 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-02-17 04:57:28)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,869

Re: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x

Many thanks MetalHeadKeys
to add to this list
- depending on whether you have a separate room or not I would check to get a silent system
- latest generations of mainboards for AMD with X570 chipset have chipset blower
  all but one mainboard and the one is an expensive one from Gigabyte (I personally wouldn't buy from this brand)
  we know from the past that chipset blower can produce a very intense noise level
  later boards with slightly reduced chipset (B550) do not have a blower, I would look for such a board for silent builds
- get a cpu with a high single thread performance if you
   - intend to use CPU-hungry VSTi's
   - tend to use many VST plugins into one channel, audio has to be processed sequentially through all of them in 1 thread
   - if your DAW tends to have a high CPU load on one thread (which was or even is the case for Logic)
- todays CPU can become very hot under load, max temperature target for a Ryzen9 3900x is 95°C (!!!)
  and even when being not under load some people report temperatures of around 64-72°C (room temperature 22°C)
  Get a very good cooling (which is not noisy at the same time if the machine is close to you)
  https://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/thre … ng.545263/
  https://community.amd.com/t5/processors … d-p/349357

So nowadays in the very hard competition between AMD and Intel that is going on I have the feeling that CPU power is being squeezed out as much as possible even if clock and temperatures become very high.
So it might become more challenging to get a real silent built in situations, where the PC is close to you or even in the recording room.

I contrast to such high temperatures my Xeon E5-1650v4 runs IDLE between 28-31°C at about 30°C and under high load not more than 48-55°C .. (prime95 after 1+ minutes). If you let it run for longer time it stays below 60°C.
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … mponenten/
Ok, not so powerful like the newest Zen3 / Intel, but still fair enough for a ~5y old 6-core CPU:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … cks-de-en/

If you have concrete requirements for performance / noise / temperature then I would think about to get a turnkey system for audio depending on how much time you have to spend to optimize your system.

Don't forget to plan a large case for a desktop system so that the heat doesn't accumulate so much inside the case.

It is important to ensure a good air flow. And remember: Heat that is not produced does not have to be dissipated (loudly).

It can be an advantage if the case has a static 5/9/12V fan control for the case (not CPU) blower to be able to implement a low volume via manual switching.
Please make sure that the used case fans also start reliably at 5V. There are fans that initially start at 5V, but later no longer.
Very good experiences I have with the be quiet! Silent Wings 3, 140mm (BL065). Not cheap but good throughput and silent, also easy to mount.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13