Messages

301

Hardware / Re: Hardware optimization?

« on: 2021-12-16, 12:17:18 »

Thanks @Majeranek,

XMP was not able on the BIOS, you were right: now that it's enable, my RAM runs at 3200MHz, thank you :))

Also, I tried to tweak some settings in the BIOS to overclcok the cpu a bit, but without success: the CPU frequency was stuck at 3.1GHz  :(

So I decided to load the BIOS Optimized Default settings, I re-enabled XMP (actually called DOCP on my BIOS) and I launched Windows: now surprisingly the CPU was hitting 3.8 GHz! Such a surprise as I didn't event touch PBO settings in the BIOS (but, prior to load BIOS Optimized Default settings, I played a bit with Ryzen Master and may be I switched to Auto-OC mode I don't remember, this could explain why the cpu was now running at 3.8GHz).

I launched Cinebench R20 and scored 28380 pts: a 20% performance gain compared to when the cpu was running at 3.1Ghz.
Here is what AMD Ryzen Master said while running Cinebench: CPU temp reached 95 deg Celsius (!), Peak speed 3,800 MHz, PPT hit 84% of 600W, CPU power hit 407W, SOC Power 37W, TDC (CPU) 93% of 400A and EDC (CPU) 100% of 470A.

Although I don't know what all these measures are (particularly PPT, SOC power, TDC and EDC), it seems pretty extreme, especially the cpu temperature reaching 95 deg Celsius which, to my understanding is the maximum the cpu can safely goes up to.

So then I looked for a way to decrease the cpu speed a bit, so that it runs in more acceptable temperature: I launched the Default configuration in Ryzen Master.
I launched Cinebench R20 and scored 23840 pts: a 2% performance gain only compared to when the cpu was running at 3.1Ghz.
And AMD Ryzen Master reported: CPU temp reached 62 deg Celsius, Peak speed 3,600 MHz, PPT hit 98% of 280W, CPU power hit 187W, SOC Power 30W, TDC (CPU) 83% of 215A and EDC (CPU) 96% of 300A.

These values are too low: more cpu power can be achieved without CPU temperature going too high.

To achieve that, I must find a way to tweak Ryzen Master somewhere between the "Default" and the "Auto-OC" configuration, as obviously, my Noctua doesn't cool the cpu enough to have it run in Auto-OC mode in the long term.

302

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Max silently crashes

« on: 2021-12-16, 04:00:24 »

Hi,

I was running latest Corona 7 hotfix1 on 3ds Max 2022 v24.0.0.923 (the latest 3ds Max 2022.3 was not installed yet at that time).
I did Customize > Custom Defaults Switcher > and I chose ame-light instead of DefaultUI Dark theme. But at the next start of 3ds Max, changes were not taken into account: it sticked to Dark theme.

After I've post my issue on the Area forum https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-forum/custom-defaults-switcher-doesn-t-work/m-p/10824849/highlight/false#M198937, I've been advised to uninstall Corona and to reinstall it, which I did. I also installed latest 3ds Max 2022.3 update (v24.3.0.3404).

Now I am able to switch from Dark theme to the light one without problem but, when I want to switch from the Defaut Workspace to something else (Design Standard for example), 3ds Max crashes again.

Are you aware of that problem, and do you plan to implement a fix for it?

Thank you,

303

Hardware / Hardware optimization?

« on: 2021-12-14, 08:38:25 »

Hi everyone,

I come here to gain advice on my machine as at the moment it runs with standard BIOS settings and I want to slightly overclock it to get the most out of my hardware.

Here is my machine specs:

* ASUS PRIME TRX40-PRO S
* AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X
* Noctua NH U14S TR4-SP3, push-pull configuration (with one additional fan)
* Case: Be quiet! Silent Base 802, with 5 x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm Fans
* RAM: 128GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz (4x32GB | 16-18-18-38)
* PSU: Corsair AX1600i
* MSI RTX 3060 Ventus 2X OC - 12GB GPU

Currently the cpu runs at 3100MHz and RAM frequency is 1333MHz.
But AMD claims a Max. Boost Clock of up to 4.3GHz, and G.Skills says that my RAM tested speed is 3200MHz ... I'm far from these values.

Can you tell me what's the best way to get closer to these values?

I've heard of PBO: what's the best way to enable it? By using AMD software 'Ryzen Master' in Windows? Or by tweaking BIOS settings first? Both?


Thanks a lot in advance for your help, much appreciated,

304

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-31, 03:13:15 »

Hi,

Sorry I'm not really knowledgeable, I've lost interest for hardware since I didn't have to upgrade my rig myself, so I'm not going to be able to help you a lot here, but my main advice is about your motherboard: have a look on AsRock website and see if 3970X is compatible with it or not. Also look at the BIOS version you  need to run: some older BIOS versions won't allow your motherboard to recognize your new cpu. In that case you will need to flash your BIOS first.
For the rest of your components, I guess that's fine: I mean if they run well at the moment with your current cpu, they will run well with the 3970X (maybe I'm wrong but I don't see why they wouldn't).
Just pay attention to the cooling part: will your Noctua do a good job on cooling the 3970X? Honestly I can't answer that unfortunately, so do your research or keep asking.
The same applies for your case: will the airflow be sufficient to cool the interior of your rig?
One thing you could do is comparing the TDP of your current cpu and the 3970X.
If they are pretty much the same, then you're probably fine not changing your cpu cooler nor your case.
If the tdp of your current cpu is way lower than the 3970X then you may have issue cooling your machine and you probably want to change either the cpu cooler or your case or both.
If the tdp of your current cpu is significantly higher than the 3970X then you can keep the same case and cpu cooler.
Hopefully it helps, and happy for other guys here to comment on what I said :)

305

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-29, 10:26:22 »

Maybe you should look into the IceGiant's ProSiphon Elite. Supposedly it's doesn't feature the "a leak will kill you" feature but offers pretty much all the benefits.

Btw, does anybody know, what is the verdict on PBO and warranty? Supposedly AMD doesn't allow PBO if you want to keep your warranty but on my motherboard from Asus it came enabled by default.

The IceGiant's ProSiphon was what the store installed at first. But it's so big I didn't have enough clearance to put my SSD on the M.2 slot, plus I didn't have access to RAM sticks as well, which is problematic if I have to troubleshoot a RAM issue and test the RAM sticks one by one. This is why I chose the Noctua instead: it gives access to the M.2 slot, and if needed, I'm also able to remove all the RAM sticks without removing the cpu cooler.

Your question about the warranty is really interesting: I don't know the answer, but I'm really surprised AMD doesn't allow PBO. I thought enabling it was a required condition to push the cpu to its full frequency, the frequency AMD claims its cpu can run at.

306

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-29, 10:19:09 »

Many thanks  @dfcorona,

I just told the store to go for the Noctua as I feel more comfortable with a regular Heat Fan & Sink rather than an AIO (I've never used one): I feel it's just safer, in the sense that the only point of failure is the fans, but it's an easy fix if one of them fails.
Whereas with an AIO, if the pump fails, you run into much bigger troubles, especially if you're on an urgent job and you're close to the deadline. The only solution I can think of in that case is having a spare AIO just for that particular circumstance, which comes with a cost, plus it's not super easy to replace, at least less easy and more expensive than just replacing a defective fan in the case of regular Heat Fan & Sink cooler.

That being said, I definitely want to enable PBO to maximize the rendering power of my cpu so, not sure if the Noctua will be able to cool it down sufficiently or not ... I will keep you updated  :)

Thanks again

the noctua will not be able to do sustained pbo.

Really? Well I will probably have to buy an AIO then.
And keep the Noctua as a spare cooler.

307

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-29, 05:10:56 »

Many thanks  @dfcorona,

I just told the store to go for the Noctua as I feel more comfortable with a regular Heat Fan & Sink rather than an AIO (I've never used one): I feel it's just safer, in the sense that the only point of failure is the fans, but it's an easy fix if one of them fails.
Whereas with an AIO, if the pump fails, you run into much bigger troubles, especially if you're on an urgent job and you're close to the deadline. The only solution I can think of in that case is having a spare AIO just for that particular circumstance, which comes with a cost, plus it's not super easy to replace, at least less easy and more expensive than just replacing a defective fan in the case of regular Heat Fan & Sink cooler.

That being said, I definitely want to enable PBO to maximize the rendering power of my cpu so, not sure if the Noctua will be able to cool it down sufficiently or not ... I will keep you updated  :)

Thanks again

308

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-28, 08:44:56 »

Hi guys,

A quick question: I have to choose one of these 2 CPU coolers:

_ Cooler Master ML360 Mirror TR4
_ Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3

The store's advice is to go for the Cooler Master as they say the Noctua may not be enough to cool my 3990X even in a push-pull configuration.

Which one would you choose?

309

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-10-28, 03:49:04 »

Hi @shoebu23,

1/ I can't answer point 1 unfortunately as I never bought anything from them.

2/ About the RAM, I recently bought a new 128GB RAM workstation dedicated to Archiviz with Corona: I think 128GB is enough unless you really don't optimize your scenes and/or you work on unbelievably complex scenes with many many objects, huge textures etc ... I would say for ArchViz 64GB is the minimum nowadays, and 128GB is absolutely fine. I don't really see the point to go for more than that, unless you're working with simulation software like Houdini or similar, but I'm not an expert.

3/ About the GPU I don't work with UE so I can't give you any relevant advice here.
The only thing I can say is if you work on regular scenes with Corona, I mean again you're not working on totally un-optimized scenes (eg you make use of proxies to keep a decent overall amount of polygons in your scenes so that you don't need a monster GPU to move in your viewports) you should be fine even with a lower-end GPU. I bought a MSI RTX 3060 OC 12GB and I guess I will be fine for regular ArchViz work. I didn't receive my machine yet so I can't be sure yet of what I'm saying here, but it should be enough for my needs AFAIK.
Hope it helps.

310

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-28, 09:26:24 »

Thanks for your feedback @Vuk,

I've read a review of the FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W, although it's a good PSU, it looks like Corsair is doing a better job: so just to be on the safe side, I've chosen the 1600W Corsair AX1600i Digital 80+ Titanium - Modular instead.
Given my GPU is a MSI RTX 3060 Ventus 2X OC - 12GB, the whole machine will have enough power, even when PBO is on.

311

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-25, 05:03:02 »

Thank you for your advice @Nejc Kilar, always good to have the point of view of somebody else :)

I found a really good article about the Threadripper 3990X and the PBO feature: https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3990x-cpu-review/all/1/
It's worth having both a strong cooling system and PSU also: the store I will buy the workstation at is running out of Corsair PSUs at the moment, so I'd have to go for a 1200W FSP 80+ Platinum - Modular instead. As I didn't care too much about hardware stuff until very recently, I've never heard of that brand before. Is FSP good?

312

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-22, 11:38:03 »

Thanks so much for your answer @Necj Kilar,

All of what you're saying makes perfect sense, and yes you're right about the PSU being a bit weak to run both a 3970X and a 3090, but I will probably go for a cheaper GPU afterall: a 3060 should be enough. In that case, do you still think 850W is too low then?

Also I don't know that much about PBO: it looks like a kind of automatic OC isn't it? Is PBO available both on 3070X and 3090X? Are there any prerequisites to enable it?
Any useful links are much appreciated.

About the CPU, I'm still not really decided if I go for a 3070X or a 3090X, but I will probably go for a 3090X even if it's way more costly: I know I could also build a render node with the money I'd save if I go for a 3070X instead, but my office is pretty tiny so I will save space if I have only one 3090X machine instead of a 3070X + one render node (or two?), not to mention I will also save time by not choosing components, building the node, configuring the network, deploying software and plugins updates ... And in the case I have to render very complex scenes and/or very high resolution images, I will hire an online render farm. What's your advice?

Thanks again guys, I do value your help a lot,

313

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-14, 12:00:16 »

Thank you @romullus : done!
You're right, plain text is better

314

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-14, 10:06:00 »

Hi guys,

I would greatly appreciate your insight on my configuration.
Thank you

315

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-09-12, 15:46:37 »

Hi guys,

This is my first post here (second to be honest), so apologies if I'm doing anything wrong here.
First of all, big thank you to all of you for the valuable knowledge you share here, it is highly appreciated.

I'm setting up my new machine which will be dedicated to Arch Viz Corona renderings. I will have someone building the machine for me as I don't want to go through the process myself: I built from scratch a dual Xeon workstation few years ago: in the end it worked really well but I just don't have time to choose each and every component myself, then checking online if they are compatible or not.

So basically I'm coming here to expose the custom setup I've ended with so far, and I hope you guys can give me advice on it.
I ended up with two different setup, a 3970X based, and a 3990X based. The goal is to flag any absurd component choice that could have a negative impact on the overall rendering performance of the machine.

# BUILD 1:
Chassis: be quiet! Silent Base 802 - Black
Motherboard: Asus TRX40 Prime Pro S
CPU: AMD Ryzen ThreadRipper 3990X | 4.3 GHz | 64 Cores 128 Threads
Graphics Card: Gigabyte RTX 3070 Gaming OC V2 - 8GB
RAM: 128GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz (4X32GB | 16-18-18-38)
CPU Cooling System: Noctua NH U14S TR4-SP3
Primary SSD: 500GB Gen4 Aorus M.2 NVME (R: 5000MB/s | W: 2500MB/s)
Secondary SSD: 1TB Gen4 Aorus M.2. NVME (R: 5000MB/s | W: 4400MB/s)
First Hard Drive: 4TB Seagate Ironwolf 5900RPM 3.5"
Chassis Fans: 5 x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm Fans
Power Supply Unit: 1200W FSP 80+ Platinum - Modular

# BUILD 2:
Chassis: be quiet! Silent Base 802 - Black
Motherboard: Asus TRX40 Prime Pro S
CPU: AMD Ryzen ThreadRipper 3970X | 4.5 GHz | 32 Cores 64 Threads
Graphic Cards: Asus RTX 3090 TUF Gaming OC - 24GB
RAM: 128GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz (4X32GB | 16-18-18-38)
Cooling System: Noctua NH U14S TR4-SP3
Primary SSD: 2TB Gen4 Aorus M.2. NVME (R: 5000MB/s | W: 4400MB/s)
Chassis Fans: 5 x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm Fans
Power Supply Unit: 850W MSI MPG 80+ Gold - Modular

The store doesn't have a lot of options to choose from for each component unfortunately: I am mainly concerned about the RAM which is 3200MHz in both cases, whereas you guys in this forum talk more about 3600 if I'm not wrong. I'm not sure why the store doesn't provide an option for 3600, anyway I hope these 3200 RAM sticks will do well.

So I plan to go for one of these two builds, not sure which one yet, unless you guys tell me there's something wrong with them.

I need a pretty strong rendering power as I don't have any render farm at the moment plus I don't plan to rely on cloud rendering solutions neither (or exceptionally e.g. when something goes wrong with a client and I find myself having to render multiple 8k images over a night): so I guess I'll probably go for the 3990X build, but, again, I'm happy to have your thoughts on these builds and your advice on the best strategy for the future as I may want to expand my rendering power gradually as I'll get more jobs.

Thanks in advance for your knowledge and advice!