Build Advice New Ryzen 7950X build

[keithth]

Approximate Purchase Date: Immediately for key parts, probably stretch the build/buying process over a month or so.

Budget Range: No strict budget total, guess I might end up around $2k? I don't want to overpay on any one item. I don't really want to exceed $600 on the CPU, and about $500 on the mobo. Perhaps $300 for GPU.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Most common usage will be web browsing, video conferencing (with some GPU-intensive background blurring), but I have some CPU-intensive tasks that include: FPGA compilation, chess stockfish engine, handling large compressed files (say TB-sized zips w/ millions of files), running VMs occasionally, some code editing/compilation. I also play around with imaging external disks, compressing them, and sending them to a NAS. These files can be big. Some of these tasks will absolutely consume every core available if you let them. About once a year, I fire up steam and run ~10 year old titles.

Are you buying a monitor: Not right now.

Parts to Upgrade: New build...

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 11, I'll probably buy a $20 Windows 10 OEM license, and upgrade it if I can make that work.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, B&H Photo Video, Amazon, Provantage

Location: East Coast, US.

Parts Preferences: I've essentially already decided on a Ryzen 7950X, although only recently changed my mind from 14700/14900. So while I'd like to hear some differing opinions, where I need the most help are with mobo recommendations, and I was looking at X670E ones. It sounds like I need A LOT of cooling, I've never strayed outside of fairly standard off-the-shelf Noctua/cooler master air coolers.

Overclocking: Probably not.

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Your Monitor Resolution: I use a dual-monitor setup at 1920x1080.

Additional Comments: I use 10gbps network adapters between a few machines and a NAS box. Between that card, NVME SSD, and a graphics card, I have to play around quite a bit to configure things to run at maximum speeds. I'm running out of lanes. Because I replace the machine so infrequently I usually try to future proof my system by overbuying now because I don't know what I may need 4 or 5 years down the road. So things like DDR5 (which sounds like a given and/or default now?), USB4(maybe?), lots of lanes exposed via PCI-E, fast NVME M.2 slots, fast RAM and so on is important to me. I may not need them now, but they may help later!

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: The machine that this will replace is a i7-4790K, 32GB, Samsung 970 Evo Plus. It runs fairly respectably given that it's an 8-year old machine with a processor from 10 generations ago. It won't run Windows 11, unless I bypass and/or Microsoft relaxes the restrictions. There are now sub-$100 processors that can beat this machine.... it's just time!

 

[Darkbreeze]

I could care less either way, as I have and build, both AMD Ryzen and Intel machines, quite frequently. I have a Ryzen machine in my garage and an Intel machine as my primary desktop, but why exactly if I might ask did you decide to go with the 7950x rather than one of the 14th Gen Intel parts?

It might actually matter depending on your reasoning. Particularly in the area of memory, as even the latest Gen Ryzen parts still have, well, let's call them difficulties, in some aspects when it comes to memory configurations and Intel just doesn't have those. So much of it might depend on how much memory, at what frequency and how many DIMMs you plan to run, as well.

 

[keithth]

I have no religious affiliation either and have built and own systems with both. I've got a few Intel boxes, and a Ryzen 5600 box.

I am not an expert, so these arguments may not be defensible, but here's my thought patterns:

• The 14th gen processors seem to be a re-labeling of 13th gen, with Intel only binning better 13th gen parts, and increasing the clock freqs a couple hundred mhz. This results in a situation where 14900 released a year later, costs more (about $50), but offer really no measurable benchmark improvements.
• This results in a less than ideal price/performance ratio.
• I don't really like rewarding this type of marketing behavior.
• While much of this might be true for the 14900K, it might not be the same for 14700K. In that case, in some benchmarks, the 7950X outperforms the 14700K by as much as 10%. So the 14700K might have better price/perf ratio but I'd rather have a better performer.
• I asked PCBuilder Jason about his thoughts, and and given the choice, he'd go Ryzen due to power considerations.
• Power consumption: the 13900k and 14900k ballpark 300 watts under full load with Ryzen coming in around 250 watts. If you look at power efficiency (total watts used to complete a particular job), the Ryzen is about 20% more efficient as well.

My sources are generally youtube channels like PCBuilder Jason, Jaytwocentz, and Gamers Nexus.

I'm looking for help on compatibility and selection of RAM as part of this build advice, so while I don't know exactly what I'd use I can take a stab at it. My minimum RAM would probably be around 32GB, but it seems affordable 64GB(2x32) DDR5-6000 CL30 kits are about $200. That's right price point for me. I usually check the mobo RAM support list to determine what's officially supported, and then buy that exact RAM part number. I'd buy near the maximum frequency natively supported, and play around with the EXPO to find the fastest stable settings.

I'm avoiding the newer Ryzen X3D parts because of the stability problems related to the mapping of the V-Cache to the CCDs. I only barely understand what this even means, but I'm avoiding them due to exactly this reason.....

Thanks for your help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Since this isn't primarily a gaming machine, the X3D models are probably not a good choice for you anyhow. That is the only place where they really shine.

Are you looking to air or AIO water cooling on the CPU, or do you plan to do a custom open loop setup?

 

[keithth]

I have no experience in the cooling space outside of some bolt on aluminum heat sinks with a couple fans.

It seems my options would be what? An nh-d15 for air? I guess I'd need a lot of room to spare inside the case?

Or a 240mm aio? Which seems sleeker, some pump noise, and a risk of leakage? Never used them before to know whether that makes sense or understand the risks.

I wouldn't attempt a custom setup since I've never even used an off the shelf model.

What would you recommend?

Thanks

 

[Lucky_SLS]

The build might require some tweaks:

7950X cpu

Noctua cooler cuz they have the AM5 offset mounts for more optimised cooling for the 7950X

X670 board with 1 pcie 5.0 ssd and 3 pcie 4.0 ssd slots and 6 sata ports with wifi 6E

64gb ram. Do you need more? if you had more budget i would have suggested a quad channel platform like the threadripper 7960X - good performance gains in file compression and compilation.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7980X & 7970X Review: Revived HEDT Brings More Cores of Zen 4

www.anandtech.com

2tb pcie 5.0 ssd for your work drive and a 4tb pcie 4.0 ssd dump drive. Add other drives as per your requirements.

4060 for all the AI video conference features.

case with included fans, 4 x 3.5" drives and 2 x 2.5" drives.

tier a psu with 10 year warranty.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($538.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black 82.51 CFM CPU Cooler ($109.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO X670-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial T700 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP600 CORE XT 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY VERTO GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card ($289.99 @ B&H)
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.90 @ Newegg Sellers)
Total: $1922.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-25 11:23 EST-0500

 

[keithth]

Thanks @Lucky_SLS for putting this together.

I love Noctua -- have bought so many things from them over the years.

The 7960X is like $1500, so, no that's probably out of budget! I can't really imagine needing more than 64GB.

Most of this looks on-point. I can play with the storage. Because I employ a NAS , which is cloud backed up, I prefer keeping the storage on the various machines light.... but I do need some scratch space. I'm using about 2TB SSD currently, and spinning rust for larger things.

For networking, I won't be using WIFI at all. Just 1gbps copper for main internet connectivity, and then a 10gbps SFP for the NAS via a Mellanox PCIe card.

I'm having trouble understanding what spending more money on a mobo gets me. I see mobos from this price point up to $1k or more. Surely spending 4x more gets you some killer features, but I guess I'm struggling to see what they would be. I guess it's mostly about what interfaces are available internally(so pcie slots, SATA, USB-headers, nvme, RAM) and externally(USB, audio, video connectors for ondie video)?

[EDIT: And I probably won't end up buying an MSI board. A friend recently had serious problems with even getting an RMA approved, and then months later got a different defective board back. It may be anecdotal but I'm staying clear of them for now.]

Thanks again

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, sorry Lucky but I have to point at some flaws in your build. At least in my opinion. Most of it is technically fine, but..............

For a build of this nature, that power supply right off the bat is a poor choice. If I pay 75.00 or more for a power supply it absolutely better have all Japanese caps, and that one does not. It uses Teapo caps on the secondary side and we already know from past experience with MANY units using Teapo caps that they very often begin to fail, in some cases, at about 3-5 years. Sooner in some cases where there is high demand usage. Aris is being VERY nice to Be Quiet when he says "I can't say for sure one way or the other" about the longevity of Teapo caps. He knows damn well there are historically an established pattern of not having long life with units using Teapo caps. These days reviewers tend to be a lot more friendly than some have been in the past because they are trying to tell you what's really up while not sounding like they are throwing that manufacturer under the bus.

That unit also lacks tight voltage regulation, poorly tuned over current protection on all rails, poorly tuned active power factor correction and comparatively short cables which might be a problem for cable management in some larger cases. I agree with Aris that I'd rather pay a bit more to avoid all these potential pitfalls. But is it a total piece of crap? No, it's not a total piece of crap, but for this kind of build it also isn't a very good choice. This is the one component you should be spending a premium on even if it means having to take a hit somewhere else in the build, not the other way around. Granted, the review linked to below is for the 850w model, but the platform and implementation are the same.

be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W PSU Review - Page 11 of 11 - Hardware Busters

Hardware Busters - be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W PSU Review -

hwbusters.com

Regrading the CPU cooler, the D15S is only capable of dissipating ~233w with no power limits while the Thermalright Frost Commander 140 is able to do 240w, and is 59.00 cheaper. It also beats the D15S at a noise normalized 36db by about 2°C. I like Noctua very much but honestly if you are going to go with Noctua for a build of this type, you just go with the regular D15. Yes, it significantly more expensive and only offer marginally better performance than the Frost commander 140, but I think at this point everybody knows that when push comes to shove there still aren't any other air coolers that can beat the D15 without being about 25% louder doing the same job. For me though, since we know the Frost commander is more than sufficient for a 250w load (Which you will never see under normal usage, only when running full all core stress tests) I'll take it at 70 dollars less than the D15 unless money is no option and I simply have to have the best air cooler possible. In reality we could probably even get by with something less like the Peerless assassin 120, but that might be pushing it and it isn't that much cheaper than the Frost commander.

Thermalright Frost Commander 140 Review: Strong Performance, Incredible Value

A whole lot of cooling for $50. But fan noise will be an issue for some.

www.tomshardware.com

I do not like PNY gaming cards. I've worked with them before, both on my bench and on this forum, and unlike their workstation cards I feel like they are the Natty Ice (Natural ice, beer) of the graphics card world. Yes, they get the job done, but you end up with a bad taste in your mouth, and I've seen an unusually high number of them with problems. Their workstation cards are very good. Their gaming cards, in my experience at least there are generally better options. Not a deal breaker, but definitely not my first choice. And the same goes for their memory products, not that you chose PNY memory, but I'll use it if I have to especially on mom and pop style machines, but I would never use it on an enthusiast, gaming or high performance machine. Same with their graphics cards.

@keithth , paying more for a motherboard is sometimes a rocky road. Especially if it's early on in the lifecycle of the chipset. But in general, paying more usually gets you better features and more of them, a thicker PCB which reduces the probably of flex and a higher ability to help dissipate heat from onboard components, better VRMs (Google VRMs explained if you are in doubt about what exactly these are) and more attention to details like integrated I/O shields, better heatsinks on the VRMs, and more thoughtful layouts including clearances between items and how connectors attach, and where. I would rarely suggest paying for a very high end board, but paying for a good upper-mid tier board has usually turned out to be good advice. Of course, boards are ridiculously stupid compared to what they were even a few years ago so when there are budget considerations you sometimes need to simply look at whether the things a board offers are "good enough" and check reviews. If there are no glaring flags for a given model and all else looks ok, that might be the right choice.

I also don't know why Lucky chose a mini ATX case instead of a standard ATX mid tower case. You're going to have one hell of a time assembling in that. It won't be fun I promise that. More important is the fact that the mini ATX 011 dynamic doesn't even support ATX power supplies, which is what he included in his build. It won't work. That case only supports SFX and SFX-L power supplies. They are not compatible with each other.

I don't see where you've mentioned what size or other preferences you have for the case, so a little input on that would be helpful and sorry I didn't get back with you yesterday but I lost my internet for most of the day because we had a snowstorm here in Colorado and somebody wiped out a pole so Comcast was out for like 12 hours.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

few things to point:

the bequiet is a decent enough tier A PSU. for a 450W max load system i think it can handle everything just fine and for a competitive price. But overspeccing the PSU is not a bad idea, so suggest your take.

regarding cpu cooler, i dont know if thermalright has offset mounts like noctua. if so, its definitely the better choice. the Noctua with its offset mounts drop the cpu temps in 7900X and 7950X by 5 to 7c. and currently, no air cooler can beat that. I consider this as a resonable overspecc especially when the OP said he would be utilising his CPU heavily. if this was 7700X or 7800X3D, thermalright all the way.

the mobo MSI X670-P has 14 phase 80A caps. something that is better will cost 300 USD and for what? i see diminishing value for the price premium.

The case is ATX and the mobo is ATX. it also supports ATX psu. Not just SFX. You might want to check again?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, my apologies on the case, you are right. Google tricked me when I checked it and was showing me the 011 mini-X instead of the 011 air mini ATX, and that case only takes SFX form factor power supplies so my bad on that.

I don't disagree on the motherboard really, except that I'm really not a fan of MSI because of their business practices, which surely you've seen discussed in depth by Steve over at GamersNexus, and the fact that periodically MSI still seems to have a hard time getting their quality control sorted out so while one board might review very well two others of the same model have problems. Also, we know for certain that MSI sends out cherry picked samples, much like a lot of manufacturers do, but then retail samples often fail to live up to those findings.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6BXwCJtaZE



And that board does have a 14+2 VRM configuration, but that is among the lowest number of phases for any of the X670 boards. The X670 Aorus Elite AX which admittedly is more expensive, has a 16+2 VRM but they are doubled, so I don't really have a problem with the MSI board here. One thing that IS worth looking at though is the fact that the OP SPECIFICALLY mentioned lanes being a primary concern for them. Now this might not even factor in since currently there aren't many PCIe 5.0 devices out there, but there will be before long, and the X670 boards have 44 usable lanes with only 4 of them being PCIe 5.0 while the X670e boards have 44 usable lanes with 20 of them being PCIe 5.0. That could really be of importance if you should decide to run several PCIe 5.0 M.2 drives or a PCIe 5.0 graphics card at some point. If not, then no big deal but in light of the use case I'd think that for sure having additional PCIe 5.0 lanes in order to run more than one PCIe 5.0 M.2 drive might be an important consideration.

I like the specs of the MSI board and the price, I just dislike the company and the fact that it seems like one out of every ten boards they sell of a given model, especially in the lower tiers, seems to have problems. But for that price I think I'd be ok with taking that chance. Personally if I'm going to go with an MSI board I generally would prefer to look at the Tomahawk and Carbon models but they are significantly more expensive. And, I didn't knock your board selection to begin with, I was simply answering the question the OP had regarding what makes a more expensive board worth paying more for, in general.

I'd probably do something more like this unless the OP wants those additional PCIe 5.0 lanes on the X670e boards, but your build is certainly valid and viable. Although in truth, with what's out there right now and the thermal throttling issues that seem common for most of the existing PCIe 5.0 drives, I'm not even sure that you'd see a benefit for the extra cost of those drives. I think that platform needs to mature a bit more so that we see better controllers like they've been hinting about here recently before I'd make that a priority.

In it’s default configuration, the Frost Commander 140 doesn’t interfere with RAM slots, as the fans are on the back and middle of the unit. However, if you use the fan on the front of the unit, RAM compatibility is limited to 42mm.

Since the Ripjaws S5 modules are low profile at only 33mm tall, you can use the Frost commander cooler with a fan in back OR in front, with no worries about interference.

Thermalright Frost Commander 140 Review: Strong Performance, Incredible Value

A whole lot of cooling for $50. But fan noise will be an issue for some.

www.tomshardware.com

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($538.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK 95.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO X670-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ B&H)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1661.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-25 20:08 EST-0500


Or, if you want to do an AIO, which for this type of configuration isn't the worst idea in the world either but is definitely a little more costly.


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($538.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 72.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($103.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO X670-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ B&H)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1720.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-25 20:10 EST-0500


And if you are not inclined towards an MSI board, I can certainly make another recommendation but it's going to cost a little more, especially if you decide you DO want those additional PCIe 5.0 lanes even if you don't plan to take immediate advantage of them.

 

[keithth]

So much information on these last few posts which is why it's taken me a bit to respond, really appreciate the discussion!

I'm definitely not buying an MSI mobo. Most of my lingering doubts are related to which mobo I should buy. Is there a definitive reference for comparing motherboards? I've used Gigabyte boards in a few builds, and always had good luck with them.

The Corsair power supply sounds good. I replaced a assumed-failing(but actually not) power supply with the RM650x last year. While maybe not much to go on, it seems like a nice enough supply. Thanks for reminding me of the psu tier list --- looked at it last year to pick the RM650x.

I'm inclined to stick with air cooling. I do have some sensitivity to noise --- I run three desktops 24/7 in a home office environment. If Noctua NH-D15 is the best choice re: cooling performance, and also the quietest option, then I'm not going to argue about the increased price. I haven't done enough research to know if that thing is really a monster in terms of size -- to make sure the case will support it, and RAM will clear it. Are those two the key specs?

While fully understanding this is not a gaming PC by any stretch, is buying a 8GB VRAM going to limit me in any meaningful way? I've heard PC Builder Jason recommending 10GB minimum for new purchases.

For me, compatibility, stability, and just general plug-n-play is important to me. I really dislike the back-and-forth of RMA'ing items, ordering replacements, etc. Especially when I can potentially avoid issues by spending an extra 5-10%. I'll just wait a bit longer to afford to buy everything.

Thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

And regarding the 4 vs 20 PCIe 5.0 lanes? Is that a matter of preference for you on the motherboard? As I said, the X670 and X670e boards both have 44 total, usable lanes, but the X670 only has 4 of them for use with PCIe 5.0 devices while the X670e has 20 of them. Those are of course part of the total 44 usable lanes, not in addition to them.

X670e boards ARE a bit more expensive, but if you have any desire to run a PCIe 5.0 graphics card or multiple PCIe 5.0 M.2 NVME drives at any point during the life of this system, then you will want an X670e board and this is where you begin to understand what makes one board more valuable than another in some cases. Other things of consideration for some people are how many fan headers the board has, or how many M.2 slots for storage devices, or whether it has a suitable number of RGB or ARGB headers, even on some boards now there are models with connections or M.2 slots on the back of the board to clean up things aesthetically and reduce clutter. Again, VRM configurations are often an important consideration that varies from board to board. And better boards are generally thicker, with better conformal coatings to protect against scratching or environmental concerns such as humidity or flex, which can impact solder points. There are other things too, but I think that's enough to get the idea. Mainly wondering if the 5.0 lanes matter to you at all. Honestly, most devices at the top of the food chain right now are still 4.0 devices, but that IS going to change sooner rather than later, but that still doesn't mean it's a concern for you because 4.0 devices are plenty fast as it is.

Which isn't to say there aren't 5.0 devices out there right now, especially M.2 storage devices. But the standard isn't particularly mature yet and there are currently some teething pains regarding thermal concerns on many of these devices but not necessarily to the level that makes it a deal breaker for normal use. Generally these problems are only happening during large sustained operations and even factoring them in, they are still faster for the most part than 4.0 devices but they are also, more expensive.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Budget X670E board: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/42...htning-atx-am5-motherboard-x670e-pg-lightning

I honestly think the Pure power 12 750 is fine for a 450W system. But if you want alternatives:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fchFf7/msi-mpg-a750g-pcie5-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-mpg-a750g-pcie5

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6NcG3C/corsair-rm750x-2021-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020199-na

for casual 1080p gaming, 8gb vram is more than enough.

 

[Darkbreeze]

for casual 1080p gaming, 8gb vram is more than enough.

This is not primarily a gaming system. They indicated OTHER GPU intensive processes and VMs, both of which can eat up VRAM, but I would agree that even so, 8GB is probably fine even with multiple 1080p displays. Besides which, the next step up comes with a pretty decent jump in price.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

This is not primarily a gaming system. They indicated OTHER GPU intensive processes and VMs, both of which can eat up VRAM, but I would agree that even so, 8GB is probably fine even with multiple 1080p displays. Besides which, the next step up comes with a pretty decent jump in price.

the main GPU usage i can understand from the OP's post is casual gaming once in a blue moon and video conference blur effects ect, do you think he needs a more powerful GPU than a 4060?

 

[Darkbreeze]

the main GPU usage i can understand from the OP's post is casual gaming once in a blue moon and video conference blur effects ect, do you think he needs a more powerful GPU than a 4060?

What I said.

I would agree that even so, 8GB is probably fine even with multiple 1080p displays.

 

[Darkbreeze]

X670 option, with D15.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($519.79 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($119.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0) ATX AM5 Motherboard ($248.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.98 @ Adorama)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1772.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-26 14:53 EST-0500




X670e option, with D15 and PCIe 5.0 drives. Gives the option to use a PCIe 5.0 graphics card once they become available and TWO PCIe 5.0 M.2 drives now. (Could still opt to just use PCIe 4.0 drives for now, to save money initially and to wait for 5.0 devices to mature)

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($519.79 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($119.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X670E-A GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($376.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial T700 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial T700 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2076.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-26 15:09 EST-0500

 

[Darkbreeze]

Budget X670E board: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/42...htning-atx-am5-motherboard-x670e-pg-lightning

This board only supports PCIe 5.0 devices on the primary x16 slot and on ONE M.2 slot. Kind of defeats the purpose of going with an extreme X670 model IMO, but perhaps not for everybody since many will want it simply for the x16 PCIe 5.0, not that I think it's going to make much difference in graphics performance until further down the road. Storage performance is a different story, to some degree at least.

If were me, buying right now and could afford it, I'd STILL probably just go with a regular X670 board and PCIe 4.0 devices. But I like to make all of the options and reasoning known to give a person the full picture.

 

[keithth]

And regarding the 4 vs 20 PCIe 5.0 lanes? Is that a matter of preference for you on the motherboard? As I said, the X670 and X670e boards both have 44 total, usable lanes, but the X670 only has 4 of them for use with PCIe 5.0 devices while the X670e has 20 of them. Those are of course part of the total 44 usable lanes, not in addition to them.

X670e boards ARE a bit more expensive, but if you have any desire to run a PCIe 5.0 graphics card or multiple PCIe 5.0 M.2 NVME drives at any point during the life of this system, then you will want an X670e board

I know I started this discussion with a concern about lanes, but I'm probably showing my naivete by not knowing what the heck I'd do with them once I get them. I have no real plans to add a PCIe 5.0 graphics card, and I'm not super concerned about running multiple 5.0 NVMEs either. I'll likely start with just a single highest-speed-supported NVME SSD, which does appear to be a 5.0 supported on Gigabyte Elite AX board.

I think my Mellanox Connect-X 2 10-gigabit card is a PCIe 2.0 x8 card, so dropping that into the 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 3.0 and running at x2 (PCIEX2) should do it. Always takes me a minute to wrap my head around the standards/gigatokens/etc.

Anyone else notice the 7950X just dropped to $520 from $538?

I don't see how the X670e gets me very much usable (for my use cases) functionality for the difference in price.....

Thanks to both of you!

 

[Darkbreeze]

It doesn't.

I know you mentioned you are not really worried about storage because mostly you keep things on the NAS. BUT, is your NAS the single place you have important things stored on a daily basis, or do you have multiple places and by that I DO NOT mean a RAID array where if one volume fails the whole thing is toast. Just trying to figure out WHAT you really need. And honestly, not everybody NEEDS some HUGE NVME drive. A regular SATA SSD is plenty good. Even just a HDD if it's for backup. For ongoing operations and saves though, you really DO want an SSD even if it's only a SATA SSD.

Specifics help us to give you good advice. Otherwise we are just guesstimating.

 

[Why_Me]

I came across this vid last week. Take it for what it's worth.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ch1xgUTO0U


Here's the Intel take on your build that includes a case with great airflow.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor ($387.85 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($50.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($203.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Western Digital)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($229.99 @ Adorama)
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Total: $1274.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-27 00:59 EST-0500

A better look at those components.

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-216/

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-Z790-TOMAHAWK-WIFI

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html

https://www.deepcool.com/products/C...formance-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2021/13067.shtml

https://www.gskill.com/product/165/377/1649234605/F5-6000J3040G32GX2-RS5K-F5-6000J3040G32GA2-RS5K

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd?sku=WDS200T2X0E

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ you forgot to include PSU and GPU.

 

[keithth]

It's fairly complicated. Trying to consolidate that organization effort with this build would be impossible. I need to do some analysis work as to what is where, what needs to stick around, what can be handled by other local machines. I have a local SSD pool (mostly steam games and fairly unused virtual machines), a spinning rust pool (for NAS backups), and a larger SATA drive for yet another critical NAS files backup. Those pools use USB-attached external JBODs. The USB pools are plenty fast enough for their purpose. (4) Sata's is enough on that Gigabyte, especially as I have M.2's available.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the X670 option, with D15. I'll opt for a fast NVME SSD, and then delay buying anything else storage-related. I have spare SATA SSDs and HDDs if needed.

Most of this is OT so read below only if you're bored!

---

I have spent a lot of time and money building a custom NAS, and am always working to further optimize the backups. Roughly 200TB raw, but it keeps growing. I use StableBit DrivePool, which is a windows-only drive-pooling solution that layers on top of traditional NTFS file systems. It's significantly better than RAID in most areas, with the exception of performance, because it doesn't use write-striping. It uses a background process to, among other things, automatically duplicate per-folder-configured-number-of-copies and spreads copies of the files across multiple drives. It gives you a single drive letter to access the content. Unlike RAID, or btrfs or zfs, you never lose more data than what was present on the failed drive(s). The actual content always remains natively accessible on the included drives. Just pop a drive out, and attach to a standard Windows machine, content is immediately accessible without any software, including DrivePool itself. Includes a ton of smart features like automatic evacuation of data based on critical SMART parameters failing.

My critical files are duplicated 3x within DrivePool. So any (2) drives can fail without a loss-within-drivepool context. And remember, that even if three drives failed, only the files present on the drives become inaccessible. The rest of the pool remains perfectly operational.

A few things I do to help prevent even a single drive from failing includes:

• Buying 5-year warranted data center drives from Western Digital. So the Golds or the previously-HGST Helium-filled drives. These are high MTBF (2.5 million hour) drives, and knock on wood, are fairly solid. I've occasionally used Seagate's Exos drives.
• Decommissioning out-of-warranty drives around the 5-year mark.
• Regular surface scans, and SMART short and long tests.
• I pull a drive as soon as a a single SMART critical error is detected.

So let's say that lightning zaps the NAS and kills every drive. Oh the horror! This would really suck. But:

• I use cloud-based storage (BackBlaze B2) that gets regularly synced with the NAS. Local encryption.
• I can download the full contents for free, as egress charges are included in the storage price. It would take a few days to get everything back. I can also pay them to physically mail me HDDs or flash drives.
• I have other local copies of all critical files.
• I use a matrix-backup approach between machines.
• I use Acronis True Image to do full(none of this incremental rubbish) backups, which are verified after creation.
• For linux machines, I use both full drive images (for data drives), and targz's for OS drives.
• I maintain both backups(regularly synced from changes), but also archives for the case of ransomware. I discovered an SSD was silently corrupting files due to a firmware bug over a 14 month period. I was able to go back, and obtain copies of the archive before that date. And layer in more recently created files.
• I also maintain SHA1 hash sets of the content to use for integrity checking.

I could tell you more, but that's probably a level of detail you're not interested in. I also have a really nice custom inverter setup for power....

 

[Why_Me]

^ you forgot to include PSU and GPU.

The OP has that covered.

 

[keithth]

The OP has that covered.

I do?