Building a Studio PC 2025

[john12ax7]

It's time to build a new windows studio pc. To be used for recording, mixing, simulation, and video editing. Stability and low noise are the biggest priorities. Any suggestions for quiet and stable parts appreciated.

Want to add a mid to high end GPU. Is the fan noise an issue? Often record in the same room as the computer, until now have used onboard graphics or fanless cards..

AMD vs Intel. Always used Intel for my DAWs, should I go AMD this time, are they stable enough?

Thinking of going racmount case, any reason not to?

 

[soulsonic]

I've been using AMD for my DAWs for the past 10+ years and haven't had any trouble with them. I had used Intel for the previous 10+ years.

 

[SubSpec]

We're pretty spoiled for choice these days compared to the olden days of Windows DAW performance. My studio is centered around a handheld gaming device (Asus Ally X), no joke, and it handles all my projects to date. I do have to crank up the buffer size on some of my more intensive projects (100+ tracks, heavy plugins). But it's an $800 machine that outperforms the $2k machine it replaced.

Not recommending that. I do agree that AMD is the CPU to beat these days. Regardless, barring intensely demanding workloads like live orchestral tracking or extremely high track count scoring / sound for video work so long as you pick modern components with reasonably performant specs you should be golden.

Noctua used to be the go to for quiet fans, I'm sure there is more competition these days (all the better) but you could always opt for liquid cooling if you want to be extra quiet. Better yet, Noctua NH-P1 is a massive passive (not the Manley kind) cooler that has been demonstrated running one of AMDs most performant chips under high workload while remaining practically as cool as a liquid cooled system. That paired with a case that compliments passive cooling (something that allows a good volume of airflow without fans) and a similarly quiet GPU choice (or something with integrated graphics) could net you a virtually noiseless system.

 

[john12ax7]

Anyone using AMD with Pro Tools? Alternative hardware has always seemed to be a bit hit or miss with Avid.

 

[DFischer]

I used to have stability problems when I used AMD, but I switched to Intel about 10 years ago and it's been rock solid ever since. To be fair, it could be the Windows OS that has gotten more stable.

Regarding the components, I'm using Noctua fans for the case and CPU sink and they are basically dead silent, especially when throttled down for lower loads. I also went with a Fractal "Define" case which has pretty beefy damping material on all the sides which I suspect helps as well. And all SSD's of course.

I use a Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4600Ti graphics card because I do AI based amp profiling with ToneX. The fans never come on during normal audio use, and I don't think I've ever noticed them while doing AI processing. The computer is quiet enough that I can record finger-picked acoustic in my control room without hearing the PC in the silent parts.

 

[totoxraymond]

I can't say for pro tools but i use Nuendo (Cubase) with an amd processor and it's really good.

The 'X3D' line of processors with extended cache has proven very usefull for lowering the latency. I can run a 150 tracks surround mixing session with about 13 ms of latency (in + out). I could lower that, but i don't really care for mixing. But it's great when recording. I don't have to relly on 'direct monitoring' anymore.

Proc: AMD ryzen 7 5800X3D
MB: TUF B450-plus gaming
RAM: 32 Gb DDR 4

 

[solowiej]

I built an AMD system with a 3090ti about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. I do more video editing with RAW 4k-8k than I do high audio track counts, but it handles the tracks and filters/plugins nicely. The AMDs do run warm. Bone up your cooling with all the tips from pro-gamers. I started with a remote radiator but found failures with those and moved back to an all-in-one on-chip liquid radiator (CoolerMaster V10). It's all as quiet as can be, but it still has to breathe. See below for my ultimate personal sound solution.

For software I'm amazed that not everybody is using Fairlight (included in Davinci Resolve). The Resolve package is the best thing out there for video work,, and it's free. Likewise it's Fairlight DAW is magnificent, and integrates seamlessly with their video working tabs. Same program, same timeline.

I worked in (video) post-production for many years. Designed and built facilities, managed the round-tripping between our video edit systems and ProTools and used ProTools to do minor mixes. I've built many Mac systems for editing including Hackintosh (which were surprisingly stable for many years). I've struggled with integrating Linux for Resolve and played with Win11. So far for me nothing beats Win10 overall.

My recent favorite discovery of all time is the long distance 4K over Cat cable transceivers. I bought piles of these used (Lightware TSP RX95s - but there are newer models too) on eBay and run my PC in a rack closet at the opposite end of my tiny adobe house. Three different 70' long Cat6 (5e works fine too) cables run both of my monitors at 3840x2160 with embedded audio, and smooth USB (including a Scarlett and an HDMI to USB for Webcam source) between the rack and my whisper-quiet desk and recording area.

There are a lot of Video distro products out there that frankly stink. Including 75' long super-cables. Many of the devices that work also do something to the video signal that makes them not worth using. But with these Lightwares and a Cat6 patchbay my son and I have our PCs, a SFP+ storage server and other toys quietly tucked away in the cooled rack and we can switch any device to any viewing staion, including our entertainment screen/stereo and a separate studio outbuilding 125 feet away. And it was cheap to build!

 

[john12ax7]

Some really good real world info, thanks everyone.

I think I can drop in something like a 4060 card in my current setup. That would minimize the down time until I can get the new full system built and setup.