Topic: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

Hi there,

I'm building a new PCI and I'm not sure if I should take an Intel or a Ryzen 7000 series CPU. I have an UCX interface that works great, even with a 10meter long USB cable (my pc is in another room). My CPU now is an old Intel i5-4670K.

AMD Cpu's seem to be more energy efficient than Intel, but on the internet I read stories about USB problems. Futhermore I read some stories about problems with RME interfaces and AMD Cpu's.

So any advice about going Intel or Amd?


Thanks a lot for your help!


Greetings, Mixnar

2 (edited by Kubrak 2024-04-24 09:12:53)

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

I do not have AMD 7xxx, just 5xxx. All my RME devices work just fine on Win10. I have used FF UC, FF UCX, FF 802 and Digiface USB.

I cannot say if 10m USB cable would work, or not. I am not sure, but I guess if AMD USB does not work for you, you could plug in dedicated card with USB ports....

Concerning Intel x AMD there was a discussion about it on this forum quite recently. I prefer AMD. If you are not in hurry and decide for AMD, it might be good to wait few months for release of Zen5.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=39291

And concerning AMD in general. 7xxx does not necesarily mean the latest Zen4 CPU archtecture. It means the year of release... Architecture used in chip is indicated by third digit in code....
https://www.msi.com/blog/understand-how … mobile-cpu

Also, beside CPU also chipset that motherboard uses may play role. For certain chipset families manufacturers have to meet AMD requirements, so might be better use mb with those chipsets.

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

Thanks for your repsonse. The CPU I'm interested in is the Ryzen 7900X from the latest architecture. May I ask why you prefer AMD? Is it because how Windows 11 handles p- and e-cores?

I've read that AMDs inter-core latency is higher than Intels, and that it gives worse results when handling audio (also for audio latency). Any comment on that? What's your experience?

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

It is because Intel big-little and how it treats Win. But it is possible to tame by Lasso SW. It is said.

From, what I read, it is Intel, because of big-little and Win handling it, that Intel may have rather high latency inter core. When thread is sheduled from e to p core and vice versa. Lasso probably solves that...

And that Intel needs more power, so disipates more heat, needs better and more expensive cooling, PSU, power cascade.... So probably more sound from coolers, or need for more advanced ones...

AMD had latency "issues" in Zen1 architecture, it has been resolved in later models. I cannot compare AMD with current Intels. I have Zen3 APU 5700G (8C/16T) and it runs just fine.

If you need lots of computing power, might be good to wait few months for Zen5. It should have 20-30% more computing power for the same core count and clock speed. And it should do much faster floating point operations that are used a lot in audio computations. It has 50% more ALUs to do computations.

And also stronger AI coprocessor.

Those, who use Intels probably tell you, that it is also good. The only thing is, one has to tune certain things using Lasso (or like SW), set properly power limits and so on. So, it is not out of the box thing....

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

Thanks again for your reply.

My pc is acting up, so I don't think I can wait much longer before I have to replace it. So both Intel and Amd are fine with RME interfaces, but Intel can give problems with its p and e-cores. And they use more power in high loads. AMD CPUs on the other hand seem to use much more power when idling. Do you know if this is true?

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

I am not sure about idling thing. My whole computer takes 7W on idle. Two SSDs, 64 GB of RAM... And it is Zen3. I think. AMD has improved idle in Zen4.

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

7 Watt is almost nothing. What I read about the zen4 generation is more up to 35-60 watts on idle. And thats too much in my opinion.

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

No compatibility issues with my 7950x and Asus X670E-F system. The UCXii bought in February this year works perfectly and is much more reliable than the Motu Ultralite mk4 it replaced because of the constant problems. It ran fine on my old Intel 6700k rig but I ran into issues with AM5  from the day it was built. It wasn't even recognised by the new system 90% of the time I had to buy a USB 2 pcie card and forget about using the onboard ports just to get it working semi-reliably on the AM5 platform. Very frustrating.

I think the main issue is driver support, I was surprised to see RME regularly updating drivers for equipment that's over a decade old. The ultralite has been effectively abandoned after only half that time.

9 (edited by Kubrak 2024-05-03 08:46:45)

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

mixnar wrote:

7 Watt is almost nothing. What I read about the zen4 generation is more up to 35-60 watts on idle. And thats too much in my opinion.

I cannot test it, I do not have Zen4, but this test says it is around 20 W on idle, comparable to Intels, even few Watts less....
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/10309 … index.html

Anyway, I strongly doubt it would take 60 W on idle, if some AMD CPUs have TDP 65 W and take 80 W at most.

Re: Amd 7000 series CPU with Rme interface

I don't know if it affects Windows, but I have encountered problems on the Linux side, please see the link

I'm trying to figure it out:

I know there is no support for Linux from the RME side, but if there are problems with the AMD 7000 series, it might affect Windows devices as well. But if this is in the wrong forum, you can delete my post.