Best AMD CPUs for Music Production [2021]

AMD has hit the market with some of the most powerful processors for content creation. Not only these CPUs are high-performers, but they carry more value when compared to competitor units from Intel. Music software is highly dependant on the performance of your CPU. AMD processors are highly compatible with the music software that come with higher requirements.

If you are planning to buy an AMD CPU for creating music, then you have to look out for several factors. First, is the number of cores, and second is the clock speed. Music plugins and software are CPU hungry, so a powerful processor plays a significant role at this point.

AMD units knock out Intel when it comes to music production. In our research, we found that music producers and YouTube content creators rely heavily on AMD processors for producing music. Well, the reason for this is quite apparent, AMD CPUs are cheaper than Intel and perform the same.

Top 4 Best AMD CPUs for Music Production

Let’s review some of the top-rated AMD CPUs for music production.

1. AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | Cheap AMD Processor for Music Creation

Cores/Threads: 6/12 Base Speed: 3.6 GHz Max Clock Speed: 4.2 GHZ Overclocking: Yes

With Ryzen 5 3600, AMD has combined power and affordability at one spot. It is one of the most sold processors for content creation on the internet. Right out of the box, you get your hands on the six cores and 12-threads clocked at 3.6 GHz. Moreover, you can push it up to 4.2 GHz through overclocking as well.

This AMD CPU costs you under $150 to create high-quality music. Indeed, it is one of the best value processors in the market that knocks out some mainstream processors from Intel in content creation. It is easier to install and doesn’t need any tweaks with your AM4 socket or bios.

On top of all, you get the AMD Wraith Cooler Fan that saves you money on buying aftermarket coolers. However, the cooler that comes with this CPU makes a little noise when you throttle up to higher speeds. You can replace it with affordable aftermarket CPU coolers under $50 if you want.

Overall, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is an affordable CPU for music production if you are tight on budget. It comes with more cores and clock speed that is truly needed for faster music creation.

Pros

• Affordable Price
• 35 MB Gaming Cache
• Overclocking
• Supports AM4 Sockets
• Better Performance than i5-9600K and other high-end processor from Intel

Cons

• No built-in graphics

2. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | Top-Rated CPU for Audio

Cores/Threads: 8/16 Base Speed: 3.6 GHz Max Clock Speed: 4.4 GHz Overclocking: Yes

With Ryzen 7 3700X, you can take content creation to next level. It delivers powerful performance when it comes power demanding tasks. Some hefty music plugins and application demand powerful processors to work efficiently. AMD Ryzen 3700X comes with 8 cores and 16 threads to edit music and video projects.

During our search for the best AMD CPUs for music production, we found that Ryzen 3700X performs similar to the Core i9-9900X, which is an expensive processor from Intel. Ryzen 3700X is four times cheaper than the i9-9900X, which is the reason we recommend going for it.

Even at the base clock speed of 3.6 GHz, it easily handles the content creation tasks. However, if you want more juice out of it, you can overclock it to 4.4 GHz for improved performance. It is quite stable under heavy workloads like video editing, audio production, and graphic designing.

This CPU sits well under $300 price tag if your intentions are to create high-quality music. It has numerous cores and threads to handle multiple music plugins and applications.

Pros

• Great Value for the Money as compared to Intel CPUs
• Backwards Compatibility
• L3 Cache of 32 MB

Cons

• Not enough room for overclocking
• No built-in graphics

3. AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | Highly Recommended Audio Creation CPU

Cores/Threads: 12/24 Base Speed: 3.6 GHz Max Clock Speed: 4.4 GHz Overclocking: Yes

Ryzen 9 3900X is one of the highly recommended CPUs for audio production from AMD. It is the beast of music on our list due to its 12 cores and 24 threads. with this CPU, you can run your multiple music projects at one time at 128 samples latency.

this CPU easily handles the multiple waves plugin and music studio applications without any problem. We tested Ryzen 9 3900X with the FL Studio and found that it performed the same as Intel i9-9900K at stock speed. However, by a slightly overclocked speed, it performed 30% faster than i9-9900K.

If you are not limited to spend money on a high-performance music production CPU, then go for it. The music creation software and plugins that are present in the market do not need any 12-cores processor for creating music. Any CPU with at least 4 cores can do this job as well.

However, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X is one of the most reliable CPUs for music production at the moment. It is expensive, but when you compare it with the Intel lineup with similar specs, it stands out. By installing this AMD CPU, you won’t need to upgrade your rig for the upcoming five years.

Pros

• Higher Performance than Intel units on less price
• Supports PCIe 4.0
• Compatible with X470 Mobo

Cons

• Uses more power when idle
• Expensive than other AMD units
• No integrated graphics

4. Ryzen 2700X | Best Budget AMD CPU for Music Producers

Cores/Threads: 8/16 Base Speed: 3.7 GHz Max Clock Speed: 4.3 GHz Overclocking: Yes

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X has been top-rated by many music producers, content creators and community on the YouTube for faster performance. It is one of the most reliable CPUs for creating music and editing videos. Ryzen 7 2700X makes use of AMD SenseMI technology for efficient performance under heavy workloads.

With a base speed of 3.7 GHz and overclocking potential to 4.3 GHz, this CPU can easily handle all kinds of workloads that you can throw on it. On eight cores and 16 threads, this CPU is superfast in managing content creation tasks like audio editing and production.

Ryzen 7 2700X is the best CPU for the money to create music in less time. Though it has more cores, the thing that really matters is the single core performance at this point. And this is the area where the Ryzen 7 2700X shines the most. No doubt, it is one of the most reliable CPU with single core performance in the market.

If you are building a custom PC for gaming and content creation at the same time, then we recommend you to go with Ryzen 2700X. This AMD chip has the best value for the price you pay for it. Moreover, Ryzen 7 2700X is backward compatible, this means you can install it on older motherboards like X370 and B350.

Pros

• Price for the Performance
• Backwards Compatible
• Optimized for DDR4 rams with a higher clock speed
• Overclocking

Cons

• Limited overclocking room
• Still slower clock speed than Intel chips of same price

Bottom Line

Music creation needs a powerful setup when it comes to building your custom PC. Choosing the best CPU for music production can boost up your performance and shorten the time it takes to create a single music file. AMD CPUs are affordable and have improved over time, this is the reason these are ideal for audio production.

If you are a beginner and recently shifted from Intel platform to AMD, we recommend you to go with Ryzen 7 2700X. For professionals, we prefer going with Ryzen 9 3900X that delivers excellent performance by all terms.

FAQs

Why AMD CPUs are better for Music Production?

Well, AMD CPUs are cheaper than Intel chips having similar specifications. Some AMD processors perform way better than the Intel CPUs under the same price tag. The money you save on buying an AMD CPU can be used for buying other essential components like GPU and Ram.

For music production, CPU with higher clock speed on a single core matters a lot. Though, Intel CPUs are excellent when it comes to single core performance, they are expensive. AMD CPUs on the other hand come with higher clock speed on single cores at lower price tag.

Is Ryzen 5 good for music production?

Ryzen 5 3600 is one of the most recommended processor for creating audio content. It performs well on single and multiple cores to take care of workloads. On top of all, it is cheaper when compared to the Intel chips having similar specs.

Are more cores better for music production?

Multiple cores play a vital role in applications that support multiple-threads to work properly. Some music software like DAWs depends upon multiple cores to edit and create music. However, many music plugin and software still rely on single performance and higher clock speed.

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