Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

[mrbig]

Thanks @Pepelecrabb,
my mistake, I was talking about Gigabyte motherboard series... corrected the original post...

[twoheads]

My setup is similar, I'm testing it at the moment.

TRX40 AORUS MASTER
TR 3970X
Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3
Corsair Vengeance 3200 C16 LPX  128gb
AORUS MASTER GTX 1080 ti
meshify s2

I'll let you know in few days how it works.

[mrbig]

Yeah.. Thanks @twoheads... specially regarding the highly debated theme of temperatures...

[twoheads]

In OCCT5 and y-cruncher cpu temp gets stable around 85/87 C so far. I don't know how it will behave in corona yet but as I mentioned I'll let you know.

[twoheads]

Max + corona installed and running but only 32 out of 64 cores are being used? Synthetic tests such OCCT utilize all cores. Any ide what it can be?


update:
So this is strange. I imported old scene from my previous system and as I mentioned before it uses 50% of cpu power. But when I restart max and make some random test scene (teapots + hdri) it uses 100% of cpu power (both interactive and final rendering). Tried other scene from my old computer and it works fine. Interestingly when I import just one object from this corrupted scene it uses 50% power again.

 Is it possible that this particulair scene is indeed somehow corrupted and it behaves that way? 

[David Males]

I don't fully agree with that. To me it looks like (and this is also mentioned in some places other than reddit) that there are conflicts between BIOS, Ryzen Master, and maybe some other thing (power plans?).
Also, if I change the same value in one place (Extreme Tweaker > X) and in another place (Advanced > X), then it works fine in one case, and the PC doesn't boot in the other case. Something is definitely wrong here. The specific value that behaves like this for me is Precision Boost Overdrive set to Enabled.

So if I adjust some values, the system is stable, I am getting faster rendering, lower temperatures, and less noisy fans - then why shouldn't I be doing this, and why isn't it working like this out of the box?

Hm, I too managed to get more suitable performance by abandoning stock settings (3960x).. I didn't really find out what stock voltages are, but they fluctuate somewhere between 1.08 and 1.4 for turbo I guess?
So I disabled auto-OC and PBO and set stable 4000mhz on all cores with 1.112V, and I am getting very stable performance with 5-10 degree less than stock - running Corona,
without any noticeable performance loss on multithreaded (+- same corona benchmark), but I haven't really tested single-thread though as it's not my primary target I guess..
I would probably be able to run 4200 all cores with same temperature outcome as stock, but with performance gain of about 5% on CB..  but I prefer to keep things cooler as that gain is not that great..

So here is a small quick test from this morning:
(same fan settings, same scenes)

Stock:
C R15 - 5950sc - 70c (200-210 single core)
CB - 37sec - 69c
AIDA64 stress test - 84c
Corona test scene - 76c / 85c denoise
PPT - 90% of 280W (measured on ryzen master)

4000mhz all cores(no PBO)
C R15 - 5900sc - 62c (190-195 single core)
CB - 38sec - 60c
AIDA64 stress test - 70c
Corona test scene - 63c/ 72c denoise
PPT - 60% of 280W 

So, what are your thoughts? If I had more time to tinker with voltage/freq a bit more I guess I would be able to run it even faster with lower power consumption and temperatures,
but also at these values I probably prefer the later option, as the power/temperature output is much higher than very very slight performance loss..

[maru]

For now I gave up with tuning voltages and other weird stuff I don't understand. It's just too confusing for me. I left some small undervolt enabled in BIOS (offset -0.15 as far as I remember). If I want to get some extra render performance, I enable the manual mode in Ryzen master with 4200MHz all core and 1,35 max voltage. It is stable, quiet, and runs at low temps. I don't think some of the manufacturers screwed something up (like AMD or ASUS), but it seems some specific hardware combinations are just not running optimally.

I also took out one of the fans, which was screwed to the top of the case, blowing onto the CPU heatsink. The result is that temps dropped to ~63C while rendering, which is perfect for me. Currently I have two fans at the front, one at the back, and a huge NH-D15 on the CPU with a single fan, so the front>back airflow is not interrupted.

(3900x + Meshify C)

[thomaslivings]

A follow up, I hope these notes help someone else planning a similar build:

Ryzen 3990 render node.
Everything bought from Newegg
~$5.5k
It was an easy build, had to update the BIOS on the MSI TRX40 Creator as it bluescreened trying to install windows. BIOS update fixed the problem, that was my only issue.
Disabled PCB in BIOS (thats an auto overclock under load. Not suitable for air cooling under constant load)
Bumped up the RAM speed from the default in BIOS to the 3600 on the label.
Cinebench score: 23129

CPU: Ryzen 3990X
MB: MSI TRX40 Creator
PSU: Corsair HX1200
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3
SSD: Samsung Evo Plus 500GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 128GB (4 x 32) DDR4 3600
CASE: Antec Performance Series 120 Crystal
OTHER: 2x case fans from Noctua

The machine is built to render only, not as a workstation or to play games. So the GPU is a laughably hopeless GeForce 210 pulled from an old node. Funny spending this much money on a machine that can barely display windows....
The case is a pleasant surprise. It looks good and was cheap compared to similar E-ATX options. Fits the large cooler comfortably. Very sleek, looks good. Good internal layout.
The BIOS Click 5 on the MB is easy to work with.
The machine is practcally silent, even under load. We'll see how long the fan bearings last.
This could easily do double duty as a server in a small studio, the MB comes with a M.2 expander. You could have a whole array of M.2 drives in RAID, disable a couple of cores from rendering, take advantage of the 10G network capability.

You guys gave the info to make it happen, I have built around 30 PC's before but not for a few years.....the $ commitment here is pretty huge!
So a massive thanks,
Tom.

[mattspaeth]

Hi guys, I'm building a 3990x system. Looking through this thread, I see that the ASUS ROG ZENITH II EXTREME ALPHA is the best. What makes it better than other motherboards like the MSI Creator TRX40?

[Juraj]

Best only in terms of VRM due to it having 90amp mosfets, while all other have 70amp.

Features & Layout are still depending on what you need & prefer.

[mattspaeth]

Thanks Juraj. I appreciate all the help you've provided on this thread.

I like the spacing of the PCie slots on the Asus TRX40 Creator for putting in 4 dual slot GPUs, but I am using an IceGiant and I just realized that if I stuff in 4 GPUs that it will interfere with the airflow to the IceGiant's fans. Looks like I would have to go with with a custom watercooling loop if I want to make this rig GPU-render capable as well.

Here's the current list:
3990X
ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha TRX40
IceGiant ProSiphon Elite (they're sending me a test unit)
4 - EVGA 1080Ti FTW3 Hybrids from my current system (would like to get these all in if possible, but not a priority)
EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2, 80+ TITANIUM 1600W

My main question now is RAM. I have 64GB of G.SKILL TridentZ Series 64GB (4 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) in my old workstation.

I am looking to get at least 128GB and would rather wait for the G.SKILL TridentZ Neo 32GB DIMMS. I see their 256GB 3600 package is coming out in Q2.

Will my old RAM be ok until the Neo 32GB DIMMS come out?

I'm also open to building a custom loop instead of the IceGiant, but a little intimidated doing so with expensive hardware in case a leak happens.

EDIT: The 256GB 3600 package is available on Newegg! Just ordered it. https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-256gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374001?Item=N82E16820374001

[shortcirkuit]

Hi guys

wanting your professional opinion on a setup im looking at getting:
Threadripper 3970x
128 Gig Ram - G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3200MHz Gaming RAM
Main Harddrive where programs are installed - Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB NVMe PCIe SSD
secondary HDD - 10TB SkyHawk Surveillance HDD 3.5" SATA 7200RPM
Power - Corsair 850W RMX 80+ Gold Fully Modular
GFX Card - using my existing gtx 1080 strix 8gig vram
Gigabyte TRX40 AORUS PRO
Cooling - i was recommended to get the Noctua NH-U14S but a user on this forum is saying he is getting 100c temps on a stress test?
A friend of mine bought the Coolermaster MasterLiquid ML360 RGB TR4 EDITION and is saying under coroan rendering, never goes above 65c which is great i guess.  It has 3x120mm fans.

Some questions and notes:
Regarding the 3970x - i read somewhere that someone compared it to a 3900 and it was only 1.5 times quicker... is there any merit to this?
As for the cooling
Possibly thinking the 3990x - i would have to get a loan haha!  But for those that have it, is it twice as fast as the 3970 given twice as many cores?

In terms of general use, I usually just install my programs on my main NVMe  hard drive and my assets on a secondary HDD (mechanical)  A friend of mine suggested using the NVMe main drive (or even a NVMe  secondary) for scene projects and regular use assets (ie megascans/poliigon) - is there any merit to this as to whether its best practice for loading times?

I would appreciate any guidance and assistance as i have limited PC hardware knowledge compared to some of you experts here.

Thanks

[twoheads]

As I wrote in your topic I reached 100C in aida64 test not corona. Corona sets pretty stable somewhere between 77C - 80C . Temperature around 80 is fine in my opinion and I would be more than happy to see such temps during hot summer days, but I'm afraid it's pipe dream...

[mattspaeth]

What cooler are you using?

[twoheads]

I use NH-U14S TR4-SP3

I'll run aida again and confirm my results.