Need advice for a $10,000 AI workstation build (video, image, voice, LLMs, training, everything)
Need advice for a $10,000 AI workstation build (video, image, voice, LLMs, training, everything)
I’m planning to go very deep into the AI space and I want to build a serious workstation with around a $10,000 budget.
Main use cases:
- Local LLMs
- AI image generation
- AI video generation
- Voice cloning / speech models
- Fine-tuning and training
- Running multiple AI tools simultaneously
- Heavy VRAM workloads
- Stable Diffusion / Flux / ComfyUI
- Open-source models
- Maybe some game dev / rendering too
I want something that will still be powerful and relevant for the next few years instead of becoming obsolete immediately.
What hardware configuration would you recommend today for this budget?
Questions I’m specifically confused about:
CPU:
Should I go Intel or AMD for AI workloads?
Is Intel actually better for compatibility/stability or is AMD better now?GPU:
I know NVIDIA is basically mandatory for CUDA, but which setup makes the most sense?
- Single RTX 5090?
- Dual 4090s?
- Multiple GPUs?
- Used enterprise GPUs?
- Wait for newer cards?
- Motherboard:
Does Intel CPU + NVIDIA GPU + Intel motherboard work “best together” in terms of compatibility/stability?
Or does motherboard brand/platform not really matter much as long as PCIe lanes, RAM support, and power delivery are good?
RAM:
How much RAM is realistically needed now?
128GB?
256GB?Storage:
What’s the smartest storage setup for AI workloads?
Separate NVMe drives for models/cache/projects?Cooling + PSU:
How crazy do cooling and PSU requirements get once you start doing heavy AI workloads 24/7?Linux vs Windows:
Do most serious AI people just use Linux at this point?
Is Windows still okay for heavy AI work?
I’d really appreciate recommendations from people actually doing AI locally instead of generic gaming-PC advice.
If you were building the best possible AI workstation around $10k today, what exact parts would you choose and why?