Best CPU for music production 2025
I’ve been a DJ for the biggest part of my life, and a music producer since 2016.
I have also a degree in software engineering and fill in sometimes in the local computer store to repair and sell computers.
I think I’m the perfect person to tell you about processors for music production.
TL;DR: My Recommendations
- AMD or Apple M-series processor
- 7 or 9-type processor
- Latest generation
Table of Contents
- TL;DR: My Recommendations
- What is important for a processor for music production?
- Which is better? Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Apple M-series?
- Is i5 or i7 better for music production?
- Do I need more RAM or a better processor for music production?
- Is CPU or GPU better for music production?
What is important for a processor for music production?
A processor needs to be fast above everything else.
Especially plugins like reverb and synthesizers “eat” a lot of CPU power.
Music production is a very time sensitive task.
If a processor can’t process all data within a set certain time-frame (i.e. 48 Khz), it will skip the time-frame which will result in a crackle (distortion) of the audio.
There are some ways to mitigate the annoying crackles by rendering out (also called: bouncing) the calculated audio.
But rendering 1 minute to change 1 MIDI note is not very convenient way of working.
Which is better? Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Apple M-series?
I would say AMD for Windows or Apple M-series for Mac.
Here is my reasoning:
Intel vs AMD
In the past I was a big Intel fan, but Intel dropped the ball over the last couple of years.
Especially the problems with the 13th and 14th generation of processors instilled a tremendous fear in me, but also the entire industry.
Where in the past AMD processors were unstable, got too hot and drew too much power.
Is now Intel the one that is unstable (13th and 14th gen), gets too hot and draws too much power.
In the meantime, AMD fixed their issues, and thus, with AMD you simply get more bang for your buck.
Intel is more expensive and has more problems.
So, that is a no-brainer in my book.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is mainly a manufacturer of ARM processors for mobile phones and tablets.
ARM processors are faster and more energy efficient than x86 processors, that’s why they are used in battery powered devices.
Where Intel and AMD are in the camp of the x68 instruction set, Qualcomm is the ARM camp.
This means that you can’t just run a x68 program on a ARM processor.
Which in practice means: your DAW has to support ARM.
However, not many DAWs do support ARM.
So, I don’t think this is a good alternative for music producers at the moment.
Apple M-series
After using ARM processors for years in their iPads and iPhones, Apple switched to ARM in 2020 for their desktop computers: the M-series processor.
M-series processors are fast, efficient, reliable and thus very good for music production.
But Apple optimized the M-series so incredibly hard in the M1, that newer generation processors are sometimes slower (!!!) than the older series.
But it depends heavily on the DAW if it is slower with a newer processor.
This YouTube creator did a very interesting performance test between different Apple processors and DAWs:
Comparison table processors
Here is a quick comparison table for processors:
| Brand | Instruction set | Operating System | Recommend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel | x68 | Windows only | No |
| AMD | x68 | Windows only | Yes |
| Qualcomm | ARM | Windows only | No |
| Apple (M-series) | ARM | Mac OS only | Yes |
Is i5 or i7 better for music production?
Processor types within a generation are: 3,5,7,9 (formerly known as i3, i5, i7, i9).
Both AMD and Intel make this distinction.
3 being the slowest, 9 being the fastest.
The 7 is supposed to be top of the line, but the 9 is meant for professional and power use.
I would recommend at least a type 7 or 9 processor.
Don’t even consider a type 5 processor.
Be aware that, especially in notebooks, 3,5,7 processors (9 isn’t even available for notebooks) are a bit slower than their desktop counterpart to save battery-life.
Do I need more RAM or a better processor for music production?
100% a Processor!
If it was only for the simple reason that you could expand RAM later, and generally processors not as easily.
When you have an Apple you are “doomed” anyway, because you can’t expand anything at all.
When you want an Apple pick the “maximumust” processor and the most RAM you can afford.
You have to pay the infamous Apple Tax on that.
What is more important depends heavily on the type of producer you are:
- When you use a lot of synthesizers: CPU!
Synthesizers like Serum and effects like reverb take a heavy toll on the CPU, because sound has to be calculated. - When you use a lot of sample based instruments: RAM!
Sampled instruments like Kontakt and Alicia’s Keys are recorded pieces of sound (1 sample for each note in different circumstances).
All those samples have to be loaded into memory to be available on-the-fly.
Is CPU or GPU better for music production?
GPUs aren’t used much in music production.
There are some technical challenges to keep all components in the computer sync, which is less of an issue with gaming or video editing for example.
Therefore, an onboard GPU generally enough for music production.
But it is a shame to see all that raw computing power of graphics cards nowadays go to waste,
especially when CPU cycles are so valuable to music producers.
So there are some software manufacturers of DAWs and plugins that sometimes take advantage of GPUs.
It is talked about, but that is far from industry standard.
