I'm still going through the same conundrum .. Intel vs AMD .. I've put my research in a table:
An interesting subject is the amount of lanes that are handled directly by the CPU. For Intel 10920X / 10940X that is 48 lanes, and if combined with say the X299X Master mobo the CPU is directly connected to ALL of the PCI-e slots + TWO M.2's. Very cool.
In case of the 3950X though, the CPU only does 20+4 lanes, and it usually has a straight line to the first PCI-e slot (= the GPU) + the first M.2. The rest of the devices go through the X570 chipset, and then through the 4x PCI-e gen 4 lanes that run in between the X570 chipset and the CPU ==> in terms of speed, and roughly speaking: 4x PCI-e gen4 = 8x PCI-e gen3 (correct me if I'm wrong). So there's a possible bottleneck if you have SATA's and M.2's and other PCI-e devices running along side each other, all going through the chipset, and making their way to and from the CPU in *just* those 4 lanes. Not sure what effect this has on overall performance, but I thought it was interesting to note.
The main deal breaker for me is MEMORY: I could easily start with 128 GB RAM on the Intel - 4 bars of 32 GB - and leave space for an upgrade to 256 GB. Or just stick with 4x 32 GB, ideally spread over the 4 memory channels that the X299 platform offers. That versus the 128 GB @ 3600 MHz on AMD which is not supported yet .. and: will this ever be supported? Also these are only available in 2 kits of 2x 32 GB, with no clear indication if they will run stable, even at a lower clock - which means lower performance, as Pete from Scan has showed us a couple of times over.
Right now the Intel platform seems to be the way forward for the reason mentioned above. Budget wise, and for reasons of actual AVAILABILITY, I would end up with the 10920X. Over time I might upgrade to 10980XE. Motherboard: Gigabyte X299X Master; an impressive motherboard, and it wins imo over the X570 Master - although the X570 Master is great as well (but man I dislike fans on mobo's).
However, there is also the elephant in the room: Intel 14 nm is DATED at this point.
To be clear, I'm not a fanboy of any team here .. just looking for the best solution for a composition / VI driven DAW.
What I really wanted was a Threadripper 3960X setup on the TRX40 Designare mobo (3 fans, ugh). Those CPU's are not optimal for DAW yet so it seems .. possibly next gen TR?
In October the new gen 'consumer' AMD's will be announced. Waiting might be the best thing to do after all. Perhaps we will see a successor to the 3950X - and it remains to be seen if the AM4 socket will again be used.
Easy choice NOT