- Dec 22, 2016
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Hi everyone. I'm putting together a parts list for a new Ryzen 7 2700X system, and I want to make sure I'm not forgetting something.
I've built a computer before, but it's been a long time. The last computer I built was an Athlon XP 2400+ with an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard and a Radeon 9500 Pro. That would have been around 2002.
Since then, I haven't had the money to buy a desktop *and* a laptop, so I've been using laptops since then. Now, I finally have the money to build a desktop again.
Use case: mostly word processing and light gaming. (I currently have a laptop with a dual core Core i7-7500U and a Geforce GTX 950M. I can run most of my games on medium settings.) But I occasionally run statistical regressions that take about 5 hours on my 4 core desktop computer at work. My statistical software is highly parallelizable, so it ought to scale almost linearly with core count.
I DO NOT PLAN ON OVERCLOCKING. My main goal is stability and reliability, with performance secondary.
I seriously considered a ThreadRipper 1920X (12 core) or 1950X (16 core), but I decided that I need low thread count performance more often than high thread count. The Ryzen 2700X's XFR2 and Precision Boost 2 will probably benefit me more often than the Threadripper's high core count. (The 2nd generation Threadripper is just too expensive.)
So here's the parts list, with commentary:
Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WIFI
This was tough. I also considered the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi), and the ASRock X470 Taichi. Those are all the top X470 boards from their respective companies. At that range, every motherboard is going to be pretty great. So it was a toss-up. I picked the Gigabyte because it has a heat pipe in the VRM heatsink, and it boasts how many thermal sensors it has all over the board. I was almost flipping a coin to decide.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-Core
Self-explanatory
RAM: here it's tricky. I want ECC, but that gives me a very limited selection. Gigabyte has a list of specifically supported models of memory, but I can't find any of the ECC they list for sale. So here are my choices:
(1) 2x16 GB Samsung M391A1K43BB1-CRC (b-die) - DDR4 2400 ECC. It's only 2400, but it's b-die, so supposedly it's great for Ryzen, and supposedly I can run it at 2666 or faster without a problem.
Samsung is hard to find, but I found it here: https://www.energyitshop.com/product/462?ref=goods_search & https://www.serversupply.com/MEMORY/PC4-19200/16GB/SAMSUNG/M391A2K43BB1-CRC.htm
(2) 2x16 GB Kingston KSM26ED8/16ME - DDR 2666 ECC. Micron memory. It's rated for 2666, so I'm hoping it's compatible and won't require me to overclock. But supposedly, Samsung is the gold standard for Ryzen.
Kingston can be bought direct from manufacturer.
Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W 80+ Titanium Power Supply
Room to upgrade the GPU later, add more hard drives, etc.
Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 CPU cooler
I want to be able to boost as often as possible, with as little noise as possible.
Samsung 970 EVO 2 TB
Random 2 TB mechanical hard drive as backup
MSI Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 RX 570 ARMOR MK2 8G
I have a FreeSync monitor, so I want AMD. Even though I don't heavily game, the 8 GB RX 570 is about the sweet spot in price. (The RX 560 isn't a lot cheaper.) I chose this MSI because it advertises silencing features (e.g. idle fan during low loads, etc.)
Windows 10 Pro
be quiet! DARK BASE 900 ATX Full Tower
I wanted a case with noise dampening insulation. And I didn't want a tempered glass window because I suspect that doesn't dampen noise as well. So that limited me to this case and the Fractal Design Define R6. It was a tough choice between the two of them, but I went with the be quiet! because its side panel can accept a fan aimed at the graphics card.
The case comes preinstalled with two 140 mm intake fans and one 140 mm exhaust fan. I'm hoping for positive pressure to mitigate dust.
This case accepts up to a 185 mm CPU cooler, while the Noctua is only 165 mm. So I should be good there.
Case measurements: https://www.bequiet.com/admin/Image...g=1&force=true&download=true&omitPreview=true
Cooler measurements: https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/specification
Finally, I already have a full set of every screwdriver bit you can imagine, several anti-static wrist straps and mats, a headlamp, and ESD-safe tweezers.
Thanks everyone!!
I've built a computer before, but it's been a long time. The last computer I built was an Athlon XP 2400+ with an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard and a Radeon 9500 Pro. That would have been around 2002.
Since then, I haven't had the money to buy a desktop *and* a laptop, so I've been using laptops since then. Now, I finally have the money to build a desktop again.
Use case: mostly word processing and light gaming. (I currently have a laptop with a dual core Core i7-7500U and a Geforce GTX 950M. I can run most of my games on medium settings.) But I occasionally run statistical regressions that take about 5 hours on my 4 core desktop computer at work. My statistical software is highly parallelizable, so it ought to scale almost linearly with core count.
I DO NOT PLAN ON OVERCLOCKING. My main goal is stability and reliability, with performance secondary.
I seriously considered a ThreadRipper 1920X (12 core) or 1950X (16 core), but I decided that I need low thread count performance more often than high thread count. The Ryzen 2700X's XFR2 and Precision Boost 2 will probably benefit me more often than the Threadripper's high core count. (The 2nd generation Threadripper is just too expensive.)
So here's the parts list, with commentary:
Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WIFI
This was tough. I also considered the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi), and the ASRock X470 Taichi. Those are all the top X470 boards from their respective companies. At that range, every motherboard is going to be pretty great. So it was a toss-up. I picked the Gigabyte because it has a heat pipe in the VRM heatsink, and it boasts how many thermal sensors it has all over the board. I was almost flipping a coin to decide.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-Core
Self-explanatory
RAM: here it's tricky. I want ECC, but that gives me a very limited selection. Gigabyte has a list of specifically supported models of memory, but I can't find any of the ECC they list for sale. So here are my choices:
(1) 2x16 GB Samsung M391A1K43BB1-CRC (b-die) - DDR4 2400 ECC. It's only 2400, but it's b-die, so supposedly it's great for Ryzen, and supposedly I can run it at 2666 or faster without a problem.
Samsung is hard to find, but I found it here: https://www.energyitshop.com/product/462?ref=goods_search & https://www.serversupply.com/MEMORY/PC4-19200/16GB/SAMSUNG/M391A2K43BB1-CRC.htm
(2) 2x16 GB Kingston KSM26ED8/16ME - DDR 2666 ECC. Micron memory. It's rated for 2666, so I'm hoping it's compatible and won't require me to overclock. But supposedly, Samsung is the gold standard for Ryzen.
Kingston can be bought direct from manufacturer.
Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W 80+ Titanium Power Supply
Room to upgrade the GPU later, add more hard drives, etc.
Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 CPU cooler
I want to be able to boost as often as possible, with as little noise as possible.
Samsung 970 EVO 2 TB
Random 2 TB mechanical hard drive as backup
MSI Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 RX 570 ARMOR MK2 8G
I have a FreeSync monitor, so I want AMD. Even though I don't heavily game, the 8 GB RX 570 is about the sweet spot in price. (The RX 560 isn't a lot cheaper.) I chose this MSI because it advertises silencing features (e.g. idle fan during low loads, etc.)
Windows 10 Pro
be quiet! DARK BASE 900 ATX Full Tower
I wanted a case with noise dampening insulation. And I didn't want a tempered glass window because I suspect that doesn't dampen noise as well. So that limited me to this case and the Fractal Design Define R6. It was a tough choice between the two of them, but I went with the be quiet! because its side panel can accept a fan aimed at the graphics card.
The case comes preinstalled with two 140 mm intake fans and one 140 mm exhaust fan. I'm hoping for positive pressure to mitigate dust.
This case accepts up to a 185 mm CPU cooler, while the Noctua is only 165 mm. So I should be good there.
Case measurements: https://www.bequiet.com/admin/Image...g=1&force=true&download=true&omitPreview=true
Cooler measurements: https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/specification
Finally, I already have a full set of every screwdriver bit you can imagine, several anti-static wrist straps and mats, a headlamp, and ESD-safe tweezers.
Thanks everyone!!
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