Threadripper build - thoughts?

sharknice

sharknice

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
3,759
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Competitive Gaming and AI development.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $3k USD more than I've already spent. I don't really have a set budget

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA, close enough to MicroCenter but I'll probably be buying most of it from Amazon

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, CPU cooler, motherboard, memory, storage, case, power supply

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with the SC2 Hybrid cooler modification. I'll also be putting a GTX 650 Ti in to run some extra monitors. I might also pop in a third or even fourth low end card to run additional monitors.

6) Will you be overclocking?
yeah

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I have 8 monitors, main display is a 2560x1440 144hz gsync

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in a month or so when AIO coolers specific to threadripper are available to buy

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
It needs to be able to handle 4 big video cards, 10 gigabit ethernet without having to take up a PCI slot

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yeah Windows 10 pro 64 bit


https://pcpartpicker.com/user/sharknice/saved/#view=2JVdCJ
I tried using PC Hound but it didn't have several of the parts

CPU
AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4GHz 16-Core Processor
$999.99
I'm pretty set on this. My AI said it needs more cores.

CPU Cooler
Enermax - LiqTech TR4 360 102.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
not available yet, supposedly will be $150. I want an AIO cooler with full coverage for threadripper and this is the only one I know of on the horizon. If there is something else better I would consider it. I don't want to do full on custom water cooling. I'm pretty much waiting for this to be available to purchase before I buy everything.

Motherboard
ASRock - Fatal1ty X399 Professional Gaming ATX TR4 Motherboard
$433.98
I want this because it has 10 gigabit ethernet without having to use a PCI slot. It's the only one I've seen that does that.
I need to be able to fit 4 video cards in there

Memory
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
$324.99
32GB should be enough and since it's just 2 sticks I could add more later if it isn't. 3200 seems good but I don't really know if it makes a difference. Should I go higher or lower to save money?

Storage
Samsung - 960 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
$429.99
Will run the OS and some games

2x Seagate - BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive
$108.79
$108.79
One for games and applications that won't fit on the SSD and another for large video files


Video Cards
EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 HYBRID -actually a 1080 ti FE that I installed the sc2 hybrid kit on
GTX 650 Ti
potentially 2 more video cards
$0, I have them already
My main display will be driven by the 1080 ti, but I have 8 monitors so I need additional cards to run them.


Case
be quiet! - Dark Base Pro 900 w/Window (Black) ATX Full Tower Case
$238.99
It seems good, I need room for 2 radiators for the GPU and CPU AIO coolers. If you think some other case would be better let me know.

Power Supply
Corsair - Professional 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
$242.82
Needs to be able to power threadripper and 4 video cards


Any suggestions are welcome. I think everything I picked out is compatible but it would be nice to get some verification.
 
If you're going to pick a 'brand' of PSU, I'd put Seasonic out there. I'm unlikely to purchase another brand if the model in question wasn't built by Seasonic.

For the RAM, are you sure that you only want to populate two of the four channels on Threadripper?

And for competitive gaming: are you sure you want to go with a CPU with lower single-core performance? 'Competitive gaming' is a pretty diverse so single-core performance may not matter, but you may be able to build out a second system based on a 7700K or upcoming 8700K for not much more if it is.
 
You will want a quad channel 3200 Memory kit with Threadripper for sure. You may be pushing the limit of that power supply as well. Seasonic Prime units are really good and will be about the same price. You may also want to consider eVGA as they have larger single rail power supplies, but they are higher priced. Superbiiz seems to always have the best deal on PSU's.

If you are super super serious about competitive gaming, you may not want Threadripper. AIO are not going to be able to handle the thermals at high clock speeds and in competitive gaming environments. Intel solutions are going to be the way to go for gaming.
 
Does that mean just use 4 sticks of the same memory or do I need to look for a set that's specifies quad channel?

I read somewhere that this Corsair psu is actually made by Seasonic, but I'm not sure if that's true. Is a bigger single rail better?

For gaming I target 140 fps and I'm typically GPU limited if anything with my i7 4770k and 1080 ti. Threadripper is significantly better than that for gaming right? I use Gsync so I don't try to run games at 500+ fps.
I'm thinking I'll be fine for gaming no matter what cpu I choose but the 32 threads would be an enormous improvement for my AI development. It uses 100% of all 8 threads on my current CPU. I also like to record when I game and it seems like threadripper's extra cores would be better for that.
 
sharknice said:
Does that mean just use 4 sticks of the same memory or do I need to look for a set that's specifies quad channel?

I read somewhere that this Corsair psu is actually made by Seasonic, but I'm not sure if that's true. Is a bigger single rail better?

For gaming I target 140 fps and I'm typically GPU limited if anything with my i7 4770k and 1080 ti. Threadripper is significantly better than that for gaming right? I use Gsync so I don't try to run games at 500+ fps.
I'm thinking I'll be fine for gaming no matter what cpu I choose but the 32 threads would be an enormous improvement for my AI development. It uses 100% of all 8 threads on my current CPU. I also like to record when I game and it seems like threadripper's extra cores would be better for that.
Click to expand...

Yes, a quad channel kit is going to have at least 4 memory sticks but whats different with an actual "kt" is they will be matched and guaranteed to be compatible with each other at their rated speed. Also make sure the memory kit is certified on the QVL list for whatever motherboard you chose as not all kits are compatible with Threadripper. As far as power supplies go, its possible Corsair is sourced through Seasonic, but not all their lines are created equal. As I stated earlier, the Seasonic Prime line is outstanding and is a really good value. Its possible Corsair has something comparable, but I just dont know for sure. Threadripper uses a ton of power. Systems are hitting a power draw of over 500W just for the CPU while under full load. Its entirely possible your gaming scenarios wont come close to this, but just something to keep in mind. Also, you could easily hit around 250W per video card; especially if you overclock. Adding this up and you are already hitting 1500W. If it turns out your CPU only draws say 250W and your video cards draw 200W, you are still hitting 1050W so you either need two power supplies or hope you dont hit full load on everything all at once.If you only want to use one power supply, I would use an eVGA 1600W. They are extremely good, but they are also expensive. You could also get a Seasonic 1000W Prime model and then a second smaller Corsair unit. Use the Corsair just for you CPU, motherboard, and storage then use the Seasonic for all the video cards.

And you are right in that you may in fact be OK from a FPS perspective, but your resolution is pretty high.

Hmmm... OK- I may be able to help you out with some testing. I have a 1950X, 128GB PC3000 Quad Channel Memory, eVGA 1600 T2 Power supply, 2x Titan X Pascal video cards (I also have two 1080 Founders Editions I could throw in there), and 4K Gsync display. Let me know what games you have and I can do some testing for you..... The only issue I have is my cooling has not showed up yet, so I am using a 240mm radiator AIO and it gets so nuclear hot that I have to undervolt and underclock in order to use it. I wont have my full blown water cooling setup for it until the end of the month as everything is backordered. Let me know if you want me to do this for you or if you have any other questions.
 
I think I will go with the evga supernova 1600 g2. I don't want to try to fit 2 power supplies in a case.

This 4 stick kit works as quad channel according to the motherboard. I guess I will go with that.
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Memory Kit

I go to LANs every few months. Should I take any special precautions transporting my PC with the aio coolers? Normally I just put it in my trunk on it's side and have only had air coolers.

I looked at a bunch of benchmarks for ryzen 1800. Is that about the same performance as threadripper in games?
I have only been playing Overwatch recently and doesn't use much CPU at all so I'm not worried about current games.
 
That power supply and RAM look good. I would recommend transporting with the case upright and put in a seat in the car, but theorhetically, if everything is secured inside the case there shouldn't be an issue if its on its side. The only thing that "could" happen is the AIO could have air move around or bubbles in the coolant could form some air pockets around your pump, but that would work its way through once it ran for a while. Performance wise for games, the 1800x should be similiar..
 
sharknice said:
I go to LANs every few months. Should I take any special precautions transporting my PC with the aio coolers? Normally I just put it in my trunk on it's side and have only had air coolers
Click to expand...
no not really, other than don't let them get below -20C. they don't care how they are sitting and as mentioned above any air will work it way out once in use.
 
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