What are the best desktop computers for studio one?
This guide is for music producers, mixing engineers, sound designers, and content creators who use PreSonus Studio One as their DAW of choice.
If your creative process revolves around arranging tracks, layering virtual instruments, mixing large sessions, or running CPU-heavy plugins like amp sims or orchestral libraries, your desktop must deliver low-latency recording, glitch-free playback, and fast session loads.
The most common challenges producers face include; High CPU usage during real-time playback. RAM overload when using Kontakt or Omnisphere. Storage bottlenecks when loading sample libraries. USB conflicts causing dropped MIDI notes or audio glitches. To fix this, purpose-built systems must be picked.
Studio One requires stability. Speed. Silence. And low latency. That means a system with fast cores, generous memory, fast storage, high-quality power delivery, and acoustic control.
Here’s the minimum technical spec that we expect every Studio One-capable desktop to meet:
CPU: Intel Core i7-14700K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900. Studio One thrives on strong single-core performance for real-time audio tasks. High clock speed is essential. Most plugins, EQs, compressors, and synths are still single-threaded. Multi-core also helps with bouncing stems, exporting mixes, and background rendering.
RAM: 32GB DDR5. Sample libraries like EastWest, Spitfire, or Native Instruments stream directly into RAM. As sessions scale especially with multiple VSTs or orchestral templates—memory usage spikes. More RAM keeps you working without system paging, especially in 96kHz sessions or projects with long takes and edits.
Storage: Dual NVMe SSDs (1TB for OS/Apps, 2TB for samples and projects). One drive handles your system and applications, the other your sessions and sound libraries. This separation dramatically improves load times, playback smoothness, and eliminates disk contention while streaming multiple audio tracks.
GPU: Integrated graphics or low-profile GPU like NVIDIA T400 or GT 1030. Studio One doesn’t lean on the GPU. Avoid power-hungry gaming cards. They add noise, heat, and draw resources unnecessarily. We recommend simple, quiet GPUs that support dual monitor setups for better track visibility and plugin management.
Motherboard/Power Delivery: Look for boards with low DPC latency, excellent USB controller support, and Thunderbolt 4 if you’re running external interfaces or DSP accelerators. A stable power supply, 650W or higher with 80 Plus Gold rating ensures uninterrupted operation during long sessions.
Cooling and Acoustics: Quiet cooling is critical. Audio environments need silence. No buzzing. No whines. No aggressive fan curves. Look for towers with acoustic padding, low-RPM fans, and high-efficiency thermal management. Under-load dB levels should remain under 30.
Connectivity: USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 4 (if available), and a dedicated USB-A 2.0 port for MIDI controllers. Built-in Wi-Fi 6E helps with cloud sync and plugin authorization. An internal SD card reader can speed up importing reference tracks or audio stems.
Let’s break down the performance criteria Studio One users should care about:
Low Latency Recording
When tracking vocals or live instruments, latency must stay under 10ms round-trip. That requires not just a good audio interface, but a processor with fast core response. Intel’s high boost clocks or AMD’s low-latency architecture ensures that monitoring through FX doesn’t disrupt the performance.
Plugin Load Handling
Modern sessions use dozens of third-party plugins: FabFilter, Waves, SoundToys, iZotope, Slate. These demand consistent processing bandwidth. A desktop with strong single-thread and multi-core performance lets you run multiple FX chains without freezing tracks or disabling real-time preview.
Sample-Based Instruments
If you rely on Kontakt libraries, orchestral VSTs, or cinematic sound banks, fast RAM and a second NVMe SSD are essential. Streaming 24-bit samples in real time pulls heavy data. Laggy drives or underpowered RAM cause audio pops or late note-on triggers. Dual-drive setups solve that.
Mixing and Exporting
Rendering high-resolution audio and mixdowns, especially with dithering, resampling, or multi-format exports engages all available cores. Higher thread count reduces export times and improves responsiveness while bouncing stems or consolidating session audio.
Here’s what you should expect from these machines: Zero audio dropouts at 64 buffer size, smooth track movement during automation, real-time effects preview with multiple buses, and session recovery in seconds.
Studio One is a high-performance DAW built for creative spontaneity and technical precision. Your desktop should never hold you back from layering an idea, recording a take, or finishing a mix.
Best Desktop PCs for Cubase Pro.
These are the Best Desktop Computers for PreSonus Studio One (2025):
Contents
- Skytech Legacy Gaming PC, Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz, RTX 4080 Super, 2TB NVME Gen4, 32GB DDR5
- Corsair Vengeance a8100 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU
- Thermaltake Reactor 380 Liquid-Cooled PC (AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, RTX 3080, 16GB 3600Mhz
- Skytech Azure Desktop PC – Ryzen 7
- Corsair Vengeance i8200 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU - 64GB
- Corsair Vengeance i7500 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
- Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 7-7700X, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070Ti
- Thermaltake LCGS Shadow 360 AIO Liquid Gaming PC (AMD RYZEN 5 5600X
- HP OMEN 45L Gaming Desktop, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB Solid State Drive, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Graphics
- OMEN Desktop Computer -(880-191)
- CORSAIR ONE i164 Compact Desktop Computer- i9
- ROG Strix GA35 Desktop Computer - RTX 2080 Ti - AMD Ryzen 9
- ROG Huracan G21 - Compact Desktop Computer - i9
Skytech Legacy Gaming PC, Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz, RTX 4080 Super, 2TB NVME Gen4, 32GB DDR5 |
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| CPU | Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
| Processor Speed | 4.2 GHz |
| GPU | RTX 4080 Super |
| Graphics Card Memory | 16 GB |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 2TB NVME |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 24 x 23 x 13 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value, Performance, Storage |
| Disadvantages | N/A |
Corsair Vengeance a8100 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU |
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| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
| Processor Speed | 4.5 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU |
| Graphics Card Memory | 24 GB |
| RAM | 64GB |
| Storage Space | 4TB (2X 2TB) M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 25.63 x 24.25 x 13.86 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, storage |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
Thermaltake Reactor 380 Liquid-Cooled PC (AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, RTX 3080, 16GB 3600Mhz |
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| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X |
| Processor Speed | 3.8 Ghz |
| GPU | RTX 3080 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 10 GB |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage Space | 1TB |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 14 x 14 x 24 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Price |
| Disadvantages | Storage |
Skytech Azure Desktop PC – Ryzen 7 |
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| CPU | Ryzen 7 3700X |
| Processor Speed | 3.6GHz |
| GPU | RTX 2070 Super |
| Graphics Card Memory | 8GB |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 1TB NVME |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 19.6 x 18.8 x 9.7 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Not Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Large Storage |
| Disadvantages | NA |
Corsair Vengeance i8200 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU - 64GB |
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| CPU | Intel Core i9 14900KF |
| Processor Speed | 3.2 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 24 GB |
| RAM | 64GB |
| Storage Space | 2TB M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 25.63 x 24.25 x 13.86 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Very good performance, large storage |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
Corsair Vengeance i7500 Series Gaming PC - Liquid Cooled Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 |
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| CPU | Intel Core i9 14900KF |
| Processor Speed | 3.2 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 24 GB |
| RAM | 64GB |
| Storage Space | 2TB M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 17.8 x 9.1 x 18.3 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 7-7700X, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070Ti |
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| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7-7700X |
| Processor Speed | 5.4 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070Ti |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12 GB |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 |
| Storage Space | 1TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 20.83 x 8.86 x 20.08 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Value, Design, Performance |
| Disadvantages | n/a |
Thermaltake LCGS Shadow 360 AIO Liquid Gaming PC (AMD RYZEN 5 5600X |
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| CPU | AMD RYZEN 5 5600X |
| Processor Speed | 3.7 |
| GPU | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12GB |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage Space | 1TB NVMe M.2 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Dimensions | 22.75 x 21.5 x 13 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Included |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, design |
| Disadvantages | Storage |
HP OMEN 45L Gaming Desktop, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB Solid State Drive, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Graphics |
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| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, |
| Processor Speed | 4.8 |
| GPU | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| Graphics Card Memory | 12 GB |
| RAM | 32 GB DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 1 TB Solid State Drive |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 8.03 x 18.5 x 21.85 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Very good performance, Value, Compact |
| Disadvantages | N/A |
OMEN Desktop Computer -(880-191) |
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| CPU | intel(r) core(tm) i7-9700k Processor, |
| Processor Speed | 8-Core, Liquid Cooling, 3.60 GHz |
| GPU | nvidia(r) geforce(r) RTX 2080 Ti |
| Graphics Card Memory | 11 GB GDDR6 dedicated memory |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM (upgradable to 32 GB) |
| Storage Space | 2TB HDD + 512GB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 17.41 x 7.56 x 16.43 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance, Storage capacity |
| Disadvantages | NA |
CORSAIR ONE i164 Compact Desktop Computer- i9 |
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| CPU | i9-9900K |
| Processor Speed | 3.6 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti |
| Graphics Card Memory | 11GB |
| RAM | 32GB |
| Storage Space | 960GB M.2, 2TB HDD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 13.19 x 11.46 x 19.25 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance |
| Disadvantages | Price |
ROG Strix GA35 Desktop Computer - RTX 2080 Ti - AMD Ryzen 9 |
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| CPU | Ryzen 9 3950X |
| Processor Speed | 4.7 GHz |
| GPU | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti |
| Graphics Card Memory | 11GB GDDR6 (Base: 1350MHz, Boost: 1545MHz, TDP: 250W) |
| RAM | 32GB DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 19.70 x 11.00 x 17.00 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Top Notch Performance |
| Disadvantages | Price |
ROG Huracan G21 - Compact Desktop Computer - i9 |
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|---|---|
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| CPU | Intel Core i9-9900K Processor |
| Processor Speed | 5 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 |
| Graphics Card Memory | 8GB graphics |
| RAM | 32GB 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 1TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions | 14.6 x 5.1 x 14.4 inches |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Sold Separately |
| Computer Monitor | Sold Separately |
| Advantages | Performance |
| Disadvantages | Quite Expensive |
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