{"id":6266,"date":"2025-04-02T14:21:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T12:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/?p=6266"},"modified":"2026-01-06T17:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:09:14","slug":"best-computer-music-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/articles\/best-computer-music-production","title":{"rendered":"Best computer for music production 2026 &#8211; buying guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Besides that I\u2019m a DJ for the biggest part of my life and started producing music in 2016, I\u2019m also a software engineer by trade.<br>On top of that I regularly fill in in the local computer store where I sell and repair computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think I&#8217;m the perfect person to tell you about computers for music production.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"simpletoc-title\">Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<style>html { scroll-behavior: smooth; }<\/style><ul class=\"simpletoc-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#processor\">Processor<\/a>\n\n\n<ul><li>\n<a href=\"#brand\">Brand<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#cores\">Cores<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#357-series\">3,5,7 series<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"#ram\">RAM<\/a>\n\n\n<ul><li>\n<a href=\"#speed\">Speed<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"#storage\">Storage<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#gpu\">GPU<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#screen\">Screen<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#keyboard\">Keyboard<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#cooling\">Cooling<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#brands\">Brands<\/a>\n\n\n<ul><li>\n<a href=\"#recommended-brands\">Recommended brands<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#brands-to-avoid\">Brands to avoid<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"#read-more\">Read more<\/a>\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 id=\"processor\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Processor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-processor.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6287\" style=\"width:305px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-processor.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-processor-500x342.webp 500w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-processor-220x150.webp 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Probably the most important component for music production is the processor.<br>When you use a lot of synthesizers and effect plugins like reverb, you need a beefy processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"brand\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to the Windows side of things you can choose between Intel and AMD.<br>I was always a big Intel fan, but Intel dropped the ball over the last couple of years.<br>You should definitely avoid the 13<sup>th<\/sup> and 14<sup>th<\/sup> generation generation because of oxidation issues inside the processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also when it comes to power consumption and heat production, Intel is far behind AMD.<br>With AMD you can have a powerful processor with a decent size cooler,<br>Whilst with Intel you\u2019ll draw 1.21 gigawatts (yes, that was a reference to Back To The Future) and need a skyscraper of a cooler, which is nearly impossible in laptops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, choose AMD over Intel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is actually a third brand: the Qualcom with the Snapdragon X Elite processor.<br>Which is a very capable processor, especially for music production<br>It&#8217;s an based on ARM, just like Apple M-series, which also the problem:<br>there is not much software that supports the processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to the Apple side of things, you can only choose Apple\u2019s M series processors.<br>These are pretty powerful processors and very good for music production, especially the Pro and the Max variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"cores\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cores<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally speaking more cores is better for music production.<br><strong>But most software doesn\u2019t take advantage of having more than 8 cores.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowadays there are performance cores and efficiency cores in processors.<br>The efficiency cores are good for battery life in a laptop, but not for your music production.<br>You need more performance cores for the  &#8230;. uhhh &#8230; performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"357-series\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">3,5,7 series<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to AMD and Intel, they work with series of processors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>3 series: Intel Core 3 or AMD Ryzen 3.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>5 series: Intel Core 5 or AMD Ryzen 5.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>7 series: Intel Core 7 or AMD Ryzen 7.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>9 series: Intel Core 9 or AMD Ryzen 9.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core 3 and Ryzen 3 are comparable, so are the 5, 7 and 9 series.<br>The higher the number, the more powerful it is.<br>So the the 3 is the weakest and the 9 is the most powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For music production the 3 series is too weak, also the 5 is a bit on the weak side.<br><strong>I would choose a 7 or 9 series CPU for music production.<\/strong><br>Not a lot of laptops have 7 series CPUs, 9 series are exclusively for the desktop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more, read my article about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/articles\/best-cpu-processor-music-production\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">processors for music production<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"ram\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">RAM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"476\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-memory.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6288\" style=\"width:293px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-memory.webp 700w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-memory-500x340.webp 500w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-memory-220x150.webp 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The processor is important for music production, but also the RAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you use more synthesizers than sample based instruments than your processor is more important.<br>But when you use a lot of sample based instruments you need a lot of RAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because all the samples need to be loaded in memory in order for your DAW to be able to access them quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowadays when you open a browser you already use 1 GB of RAM without doing anything significant.<br>Cheaper desktops and laptops have integrated graphics cards, which also use internal memory.<br>That leaves very little for your music production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I would say 16 GB of memory at a minimum.<br>When you use a lot of sample based instruments: 32 GB.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With most windows laptops you are able to add memory later if you want.<br>But with an Apple, you never can, so choose twice the amount of RAM you think you are going to need.<br>Yes, that\u2019s expensive, because of the famous Apple tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"speed\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Speed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For music production I&#8217;d recommend dual or quad channel memory at 2400 Mhz, 2666 Mhz or 3200 Mhz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quad channel offers the quickest memory access and is therefore recommended.<\/strong><br><strong>Mhz doesn&#8217;t matter that much, but more Mhz is faster<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t want do dive too deep into memory here, I&#8217;ve written a dedicated article for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/articles\/ram-memory-music-production\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">memory for music production<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"storage\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Storage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-ssd.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6289\" style=\"width:362px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-ssd.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-ssd-500x282.webp 500w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-ssd-390x220.webp 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>From experience I can say: you will always run out of storage sooner or later.<br>Especially when you are a music producer with all your samples and rendered sub-projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, you can use an external drive, but it is a pain in the ass to drag it with you everywhere, and the risk of losing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I\u2019d say, choose 512 GB, but I personally I&#8217;d put 1 TB of storage in my laptop, just to be safe.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hard disks are pretty much replaced fully by SSD&#8217;s.<br>If you choose a desktop, add an extra Hard Disk.<br>Then you can use the SSD to boot your Windows<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gpu\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">GPU<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-graphics-card.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6290\" style=\"width:369px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-graphics-card.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-graphics-card-500x333.webp 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Graphics cards have really powerful processors.<br>However, not a lot of software takes advantage of this power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So, the graphics card doesn&#8217;t matter that much for music production.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often a onboard graphics card will suffice for music production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"screen\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Screen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-monitor.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6292\" style=\"width:365px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-monitor.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-monitor-500x333.webp 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d say: pick the biggest size screen possible, because you need a lot of space on your monitor.<br>I personally use 2 screens, my main one is a 32&#8243; screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27&#8243; or 32 inch is my recommendation, with preferably 2 screens.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For laptops you are a little bit out of luck when it comes to screens.<br>The biggest screen size you can get is often 17\u201d, so I&#8217;d recommend to go for that.<br>14\u201d is way too small.<br>It is annoying when you have to scroll a lot horizontally and vertically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I\u2019d recommend a screen resolution of at least 1920&#215;1080.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"keyboard\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keyboard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For desktops I&#8217;m on team: mechanical keyboard.<br>But that is a personal preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However for laptops, it is really useful to have a backlit keyboard.<br>I\u2019ve recently bought a laptop without it, and I really regret it.<br>It make such a difference in dimly lit environments, like at night on the couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"cooling\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cooling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-fan.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6293\" style=\"width:282px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-fan.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/computer-music-production-buying-guide-fan-500x333.webp 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Regretfully I hear noboby talking about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I&#8217;d recommend a desktop computer over a laptop because it can be much better cooled.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Processors and other computer components can become very hot, especially when you put a strain on your computer with music production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laptops often run into overheating issues because of the lack of cooling.<br>To protect the hardware from overheating, manufacturers slow down the laptop which can result in crackling audio.<br>Or they shut down the computer automatically to prevent overheating, a lot of Apple laptops and desktops suffer from this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the emergency shutdown due to overheating, you need to let your computer cool down a couple of minutes before you are able to use it again.<br>This is super annoying when producing music.<br><br>Go for active cooling (spinning fans), instead of passive cooling.<br>Passive cooling (no fans) is not enough to keep the processor cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially Apple has the tendency to make passively cooled laptops (MacBook Air, iPad).<br>Even actively cooled laptops often underperform, due bad thermal design and bad fan configuration (kick in too late or at a too low speed).<br>Which results in warped and sometimes fried motherboards (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=apple+processors+overheating+warped\">see Google<\/a>).<br>You got to love Apple for their quality!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"brands\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"recommended-brands\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended brands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Acer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lenovo<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hp<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dell (except XPS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Microsoft<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"brands-to-avoid\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brands to avoid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Asus (especially their service sucks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dell XPS series (notorious for crackling audio)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apple (bad hardware, bad service)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"read-more\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-deejay-plaza wp-block-embed-deejay-plaza\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vkcU9BkoXw\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/articles\/ram-memory-music-production\">RAM for music production in 2025 &#8211; everything you need to know<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;RAM for music production in 2025 &#8211; everything you need to know&#8221; &#8212; DeeJay Plaza\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/articles\/ram-memory-music-production\/embed#?secret=sekKROyXd6#?secret=vkcU9BkoXw\" data-secret=\"vkcU9BkoXw\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Besides that I\u2019m a DJ for the biggest part of my life and started producing music in 2016, I\u2019m also a software engineer by trade.On top of that I regularly fill in in the local computer store where I sell and repair computers. I think I&#8217;m the perfect person to tell you about computers for &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-production"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/thumbnail-v5-best-computer-music-production.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6266"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6361,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266\/revisions\/6361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deejayplaza.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}