The MEG board has been out of stock everywhere in the UK for months now so I ended up going with the Zenith Extreme. I'm getting my system built at OCUK and the overclocker 8Pack will be tuning my system. From his testing he recommended the Zenith board over the MEG for 24/7 rendering use at 3.9/4ghz despite the VRM limitations. I'll see how it goes and update you guys when I get the system. I'll also have an extra 120mm Noctua fan pointed at the VRM's (using a custom bracket), just for extra peace of mind.
My plan is to sell on the MEG when it returns from its RMA holiday (unless I'm feeling flush in which case I may just build another system with it). Ended up ordering the Zenith as it seems to manage its temps better than the Gigabyte. I could swap to a monoblock from EK to help cool the VRMs later down the line, but for now I'd rather just get something up and running quick and the RMA will take minimum 2 weeks.
Sorry to jump into this post, theres some great info on this thread so I thought it's the best place to get some help with my new 2990wx build. I built my last pc 5 years ago so im a bit out of the loop. any sugestions/improvements would be greatly appreciated!
so far I have spec'd.
CPU-Threadripper 2990WX
MB-MSI MEG X399 CREATION EATX TR4 (although I just read theres some problems?)
Ram - I have spent a week looking through charts and i'm more confused than when i started (samsung B-dies only?) I may also add another 64gb in the future.
Corsair - Vengeance LED (4 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (CMU64GX4M4C3000C15)
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (CMK64GX4M4A2666C16)
Or if theres any better options that anyone has in there builds? I was looking at the G.Skill Trident Z RGB but its almost twice the price and has rgb...
Cpu Cooler- such a bad selection available but I dont trust my abilities to make a custom loop.
The best option seems to be Thermalright silver arrow TR4, although theres no reviews...and I can only seem to find it on this website
https://www.sotel.de does anyone know if its a legit site?
or theres these options...
Cooler Master Wraith Ripper
Deepcool Fryzen
Noctua - NH-U14S TR4-SP3
Enermax - LIQTECH TR4 II 360 (so many bad reviews for build quality)
GPU- either a 1080ti or 2080, there around the same price so its a tricky one (I would like to play around with fstorm in the near future)
Drive- 970 Evo 500GB M.2-2280
Case- Phanteks ENTHOO EVOLV X GLASS
Psu- SeaSonic PRIME Ultra Titanium 1000W 80+ Titanium (would 1300W be better)
I have a few big projects starting soon so unfortunately I can't hold off on the build anymore. thanks!
That's pretty much the same build I had, and although I had a reliability issue with the MEG, and the public BIOS is crap (can't speak as to the quality of the latest BETA), if it's working for you it's still a good board (make sure you buy from a retailer with a good return policy - I bought from Newegg US and they wouldn't take it, but luckily MSI stepped up). One issue I had was using the Phantexs case (which I really like) meant it was a bit tight getting the case USB panel cable into the socket on the MEG. The case has sliding panels for cable management, but I ended up removing one of them and only just managed to squeeze the cable in due to the framework of the case there.
I went for the 1300w Seasonic too, although I'm not really sure if that was overkill or not and the 1000w might be fine (someone with more knowledge on that may be able to answer, but I had it in my head that 1000+ was the way to go).
Cooler options are an issue if you don't fancy custom water, but that Silver Arrow looks reasonable in that review. Tracking some of these coolers down was a problem for me (which also drove me to try custom).