[SOLVED] Advice please mostly on which TRX 40 Threadripper 3 Motherboard brand and model is more reliable

[spikeysonic]

Trying to decide on motherboards for a 3rd gen Threadripper 3960x system over my budget as it is so the 3970x is way out). May have to opt for the 3950x. This should do what I want but the TR systems offer a lot more upgrade potential.

Been looking in the UK so far at :
Scan UK, PC Specialist, Chilliblast, Amari and Workstation Specialist for custom options.
(Any experiences or opinions on these would really help)

Several of these tend to favour ASUS boards with only ASUS board in their custom configurations even though other motherboard manufacturers appear to be offering more features for lower or in between prices.
Not sure if its because they work perfect or ASUS bribes them etc

Scan has a very good comparison feature on their site for comparing component features such as motherboards but what it does not cover is things like

• - Bios reliability and ease of use
• - Board build and endurance
• - How well the VRM is

ETC

Ie which brand makes better boards not just in terms of features per buck but how good those features and the board in general are.
Boards Ive been shortlisting are:

- ASRock TRX40 Creator

• ASRock TRX40 Taichi
• ASUS ROG STRIX TRX40-E
• Gigabyte TRX40 Designare

Any advice on these boards or their brand please . this is the main area I need advice on and looking as said more for what cannot be seen in a stright specs comparson like how reliable, how good is the bios etc


This is intended for a mix of content creation including:
- Editing - Adobe Premier, Da Vinchi etc

• Visual Effects and 3D Animation - Adobe After Effects, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Softimage, Nuke, Cinema 4D
• 3D Modelling - Mudbox, Z Brush etc
• CAD - Vectorworks, Solidworks, Rhino, Modo, Alias, Autocad, Google Sketchup
• Rendering and Encoding - V ray, Renderman, Blender
• Podcasting - Adobe Audition
• Graphics - Photoshop, indesign, Illustrator

Etc



Cases been looking at are: Please advise

- Corsair Graphite Series 780T
- Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev.2
and most configurations recommend the :
- Fractal Design Define XL R2 or R6 )
- Fractal Design Define R6

The other components should be :

• - RAM - 32GB or 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX - 3200MHz
• - Cooler - Noctura NH-U14S or Cooler master Wraith Ripper or Corsair Hydro H100i RGB PLATINUM - 240mm Performance Liquid Cooler
• - GPU - Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000
• - Operating system Drive - 1TB CORSAIR MP600 PCI-e GEN 4 1TB Up to 4950MB/sRUp to 4250MB/sW
• - Storage Drive (In Raid 1 Array) - 2x 4tb Seagate Ironwolf Pro 7200rpm

 

[helper800]

Any of those motherboards are reliable and will get the job done. I personally prefer ASUS but that is because I am used to their features and not because they are flawless and do not have their own issues. I would recommend sticking with the 3960x for such a workstation. I would also start with 32GB of RAM and get more later if you know it will benefit you. I would certainly recommend a liquid AIO cooler for these workstation CPU's as they are hot when being utilized properly like it seems you will be doing. Better cooling for these AMD CPU's means more performance and lower rendering times et cetera. As far as the case you pick goes, all of those cases should be fine for airflow and capacity to contain all the hardware you will need including more future storage needs. The case is almost always personal preference/features over performance past the 100 dollar mark.

 

[spikeysonic]

1 worry i have with the asroc Creator is it says it is only 8 not 16 phase like the others. How much of a problem would that be?

 

[helper800]

1 worry i have with the asroc Creator is it says it is only 8 not 16 phase like the others. How much of a problem would that be?

Basically, more would mean better VRM temps, stability, and overclocking potential assuming that the parts that make up the VRMs are the same quality. Basically, if one board has 16 moderate quality Phases vs 8 premium quality Phases they would perform similarly. This is opening a can of worms in the motherboard enthusiast section though because it is debated a lot. If you felt better getting one of the 16 phase motherboards do that. If you ask me whether it matters or not and you are not going to overclock, I would say no.

 

[spikeysonic]

Can of work

Basically, more would mean better VRM temps, stability, and overclocking potential assuming that the parts that make up the VRMs are the same quality. Basically, if one board has 16 moderate quality Phases vs 8 premium quality Phases they would perform similarly. This is opening a can of worms in the motherboard enthusiast section though because it is debated a lot. If you felt better getting one of the 16 phase motherboards do that. If you ask me whether it matters or not in you are not going to overclock, I would say no.

Can of worms? sounds interesting. Anyway to work out if said creator boards phases are good or bad quality? have been hearing about the 'cheating of 16 phase was it doubling or paralleling that makes a board appear to have good vrms when it dont (kinda like a phone with a crappy camera making out its better with a higher mega pixel count rather than a bigger frame chip thats more sensitive

Also was hearing that the TR3 may do better un-overclocked and boosting automatically. Would like to get more info on that or what it can be overclocked to safely.

Likewise on the brand hence asking on issues like board and brand quality not just comparison chart features.


Kinda not wanting to repeat mistake when I got a rise 3d n2 dual printer that had plenty of good features beating other printers on paper but they never pointed out how unreliable it was or how filaments like PVA had a tendancy of caramalising in the nozzels jaming them etc

 

[Phaaze88]

I'll just leave this here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4NuROfYhug

 

[TCA_ChinChin]

I think some others have given good answers on motherboards, but what about your preferences on case and CPU cooler? I believe that your best choice for a CPU cooler in this case is a good air cooler from Noctua as you have listed, since it is the simplest overall for a workstation like yours and literally can't fail (except for the fans). I wouldn't trust an AIO as much as an air cooler over the lifespan of a workstation like yours (5+ years). As for the case, do you have a preference for silence or airflow? If you prefer silence, then either the Define R6 or the Dark Base Pro 900 rev.2 will do with the R6 being significantly cheaper than the DBP 900. For airflow, probably the Corsair Graphite Series 780T.

 

[spikeysonic]

I think some others have given good answers on motherboards, but what about your preferences on case and CPU cooler? I believe that your best choice for a CPU cooler in this case is a good air cooler from Noctua as you have listed, since it is the simplest overall for a workstation like yours and literally can't fail (except for the fans). I wouldn't trust an AIO as much as an air cooler over the lifespan of a workstation like yours (5+ years). As for the case, do you have a preference for silence or airflow? If you prefer silence, then either the Define R6 or the Dark Base Pro 900 rev.2 will do with the R6 being significantly cheaper than the DBP 900. For airflow, probably the Corsair Graphite Series 780T.

Still learning so not that clued up on airflow but get cooler PC happier PC can do more in the overclock department. But also PC would be in bedroom so helps if its quiet on any overnight render jobs.

Prefer the look of the corsair. But think the DBP is more practical. The R6 def cheaper. Was wonderign on the noctura as all I see in configurators is the aio water radiators but heard the noctrura may be better for cooling and sound

 

[spikeysonic]

I'll just leave this here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4NuROfYhug

Thanks... looks that video really helped