Threadripper & Ryzen builds

[mase]

Wow, what a great timing on that review @kittste.

I'm currently considering a new worskation build and looking into very similar components. I was also hoping that someone could give some insight whether anything is missing or there's some major mistakes there. Attaching a screenshot of parts (doesn't show the amount of parts but going for 4 sticks of 32gb ram)

[Nejc Kilar]

Wow, what a great timing on that review @kittste.

I'm currently considering a new worskation build and looking into very similar components. I was also hoping that someone could give some insight whether anything is missing or there's some major mistakes there. Attaching a screenshot of parts (doesn't show the amount of parts but going for 4 sticks of 32gb ram)

Looks good to me with a note to double check if that RAM is RDIMM (Registered) and of course that you have 2x of them for at least 64GB (32GB seems rather low for such a build unless you're working on really small scenes) :)

[mase]

Wow, what a great timing on that review @kittste.

I'm currently considering a new worskation build and looking into very similar components. I was also hoping that someone could give some insight whether anything is missing or there's some major mistakes there. Attaching a screenshot of parts (doesn't show the amount of parts but going for 4 sticks of 32gb ram)

Looks good to me with a note to double check if that RAM is RDIMM (Registered) and of course that you have 2x of them for at least 64GB (32GB seems rather low for such a build unless you're working on really small scenes) :)

RAM is RDIMM indeed and I cropped out the quantities, there should be 4x32GB sticks of RAM in the build. Already running 128GB of RAM in current workstation and some large scenes eat up even more. Perhaps 256GB would be a more future-proof option.

[Nejc Kilar]

Wow, what a great timing on that review @kittste.

I'm currently considering a new worskation build and looking into very similar components. I was also hoping that someone could give some insight whether anything is missing or there's some major mistakes there. Attaching a screenshot of parts (doesn't show the amount of parts but going for 4 sticks of 32gb ram)

Looks good to me with a note to double check if that RAM is RDIMM (Registered) and of course that you have 2x of them for at least 64GB (32GB seems rather low for such a build unless you're working on really small scenes) :)

RAM is RDIMM indeed and I cropped out the quantities, there should be 4x32GB sticks of RAM in the build. Already running 128GB of RAM in current workstation and some large scenes eat up even more. Perhaps 256GB would be a more future-proof option.

Sweet and awesome!

Maybe just another consideration, if you're going to put in a 4090 I would personally consider bumping the PSU up to 1200W. With a full load CPU and full load GPU you're already at 750W plus you also need to account for the motherboard and all the other things...
Just a thought :)

[mase]

Maybe just another consideration, if you're going to put in a 4090 I would personally consider bumping the PSU up to 1200W. With a full load CPU and full load GPU you're already at 750W plus you also need to account for the motherboard and all the other things...
Just a thought :)

Probably going for 4070, mostly because don't need that much GPU power. I checked PSU calculator online and with all the components added it measured around 800W. I will do a final calculation in the end again though (and I've read you need to add about +15-20% to your PSU from the actual wattage, right?)

[Juraj]

Ignore online PSU calculators, there are many more aspects to it than that, biggest being transient spikes and PSU current protections.

In short, you're PC can consume just 800W, but the GPU alone can for split-second consume 400-600 (depending on GPU tier) and trip the PSU.
Good PSUs allow for over-draw, but high-end ones can also be very protective, Seasonic in particular.

PSU also run at maximum efficiency at around 50perc, and most of them will run passively (fanless) at that point.

So 1200Watt is reasonable default choice for workstation today.

[kittste]

Wow, what a great timing on that review @kittste.

I'm currently considering a new worskation build and looking into very similar components. I was also hoping that someone could give some insight whether anything is missing or there's some major mistakes there. Attaching a screenshot of parts (doesn't show the amount of parts but going for 4 sticks of 32gb ram)

Hello, just one comment - if you can pick up the NH-U14S TR5 SP6 then that will go straight on the motherboard. 7970X & 7980X are TR5 socket (https://www.amd.com/en/support/downloads/drivers.html/processors/ryzen-threadripper/ryzen-threadripper-7000-series/amd-ryzen-threadripper-7970x.html).

If you buy the NH-U14S TR4 SP3 I believe you will need an adapter to fit it to the TRX50 motherboard.

[mase]

Ignore online PSU calculators, there are many more aspects to it than that, biggest being transient spikes and PSU current protections.

In short, you're PC can consume just 800W, but the GPU alone can for split-second consume 400-600 (depending on GPU tier) and trip the PSU.
Good PSUs allow for over-draw, but high-end ones can also be very protective, Seasonic in particular.

PSU also run at maximum efficiency at around 50perc, and most of them will run passively (fanless) at that point.

So 1200Watt is reasonable default choice for workstation today.

Was not aware of the power spikes, thanks for this info. Also, with the efficiency thing in mind would it make sense to even go higher than 1200W and have PSU always run at around 50% (so something around 1600W)? Are there any downsides to this?

I really want to have a reliable system and if that requires a more powerful but perhaps slightly more expensive PSU then it's an easy decision. Overall, this increase in price would be minimal compared to the rest of the components.

[mase]

Hello, just one comment - if you can pick up the NH-U14S TR5 SP6 then that will go straight on the motherboard. 7970X & 7980X are TR5 socket (https://www.amd.com/en/support/downloads/drivers.html/processors/ryzen-threadripper/ryzen-threadripper-7000-series/amd-ryzen-threadripper-7970x.html).

If you buy the NH-U14S TR4 SP3 I believe you will need an adapter to fit it to the TRX50 motherboard.

Great, a very useful piece of information. Thanks!

[Juraj]

Overall, this increase in price would be minimal compared to the rest of the components.

Exactly! People always try to save money on PSU, arguably the single most important part of PC that can save you from losing hours of work and your house burning down ;- ). Not being sarcastic, for workstation, it's always good idea to just get the best PSU and sleep soundly.

There is no downside to having Platinum+ 1500W PSU from big boys like Seasonic, BeQuit, SuperFlower, EVGA, Corsair, etc.. except the cost. But for Threadripper/Xeon builds, that cost is fairly small chunk of the overall build.
For <32- core & sub/= 4080 type of builds, 1200 Watts is reasonable choice. For 64-96 core + 4090, I would opt for 1500 Watts PSU.

[Specto3d]

Hi everyone, I'm planning to build a new workstation. I'm interested in getting
ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI motherboard and pairing it with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3995WX processor. and 64 gb udimm memory.

My main goal is to achieve a responsive 3ds Max viewport and fast interactive rendering within Corona.
I was hoping to get some feedback from the community on this configuration. Would this be a good setup for my needs?
Are there any potential bottlenecks or compatibility issues I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[Nejc Kilar]

Hi everyone, I'm planning to build a new workstation. I'm interested in getting
ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI motherboard and pairing it with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3995WX processor. and 64 gb udimm memory.

My main goal is to achieve a responsive 3ds Max viewport and fast interactive rendering within Corona.
I was hoping to get some feedback from the community on this configuration. Would this be a good setup for my needs?
Are there any potential bottlenecks or compatibility issues I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

To be totally honest I'd personally rather look at the Zen 4 7970x (32 cores) as the centerpiece of the build. Why?

- The 7970x is a highly clocked 32 core CPU compared to the slower clocked 3995wx. The 7970x is also based on Zen 4 rather than Zen 2 which is somewhat old at this point and so there's IPC improvements there alone. Based on the benchmark the 7970x seems ~about as fast as the 3995wx for rendering plus it should be quite a lot quicker in single threaded tasks (interactivity of everything that doesn't require "shit ton of cores" aka viewport stuff).

- On top of that the WRX80 is a tremendous platform but only if you need it. If you don't need the extra PCI-E slots (for multiple GPUs and extra NVME or network or capture cards) then it is imho money wasted.
I'm running 3x NVMEs, 2x 4090 GPUs and I'm still not really taking full advantage of the platform. I could probably get away with a very similar setup on a TRX50 platform (plus the GPUs are so big you can't really slot much else in there except another set of NVMEs via a NVME card).

TRX50 does need RDIMMs though and its DDR5 which will bring the costs up but then on the flip side WRX80 is AFAIK still more expensive for the motherboard alone. Also, looking at the prices the 3995wx is more expensive than the 7970x.

So with the above in mind I'd configure two builds and see which one is cheaper or more fitting for your needs.
My _guess_ would be that TRX50 is going to give you a better overall experience for less money.

[Juraj]

My main goal is to achieve a responsive 3ds Max viewport and fast interactive rendering within Corona.

I can echo everything Nejc said. But in particular for your above request, run away from 3xxx Threadrippers :- ). Their performance in responsiveness in Max/Corona is questionable, particularly the high-core (64) models. It's debatable how much of that is platform, the CPU, the Max/Corona architecture, Windows Scheduler, etc.. the reality is it's just sluggish.

32-core 7970X would be the best for the particular task.

[Specto3d]

Thanks for your input guys! Greatly appreciated.
While the 7970X seems like a powerful option, considering the price difference compared to the 3995WX (at least in Croatia), I'm leaning towards the 7960X for now.
This should still provide good performance for 3ds Max and Corona while staying within my budget.
The only thing that worries me a bit is the limited availability of Corona benchmark results for the 7960X. Are people avoiding it for some reason?

Is there anything else I should consider when making this decision, or any specific recommendations for RAM or other components to pair with the 7960X for my workstation build?

[Nejc Kilar]

Thanks for your input guys! Greatly appreciated.
While the 7970X seems like a powerful option, considering the price difference compared to the 3995WX (at least in Croatia), I'm leaning towards the 7960X for now.
This should still provide good performance for 3ds Max and Corona while staying within my budget.
The only thing that worries me a bit is the limited availability of Corona benchmark results for the 7960X. Are people avoiding it for some reason?

Is there anything else I should consider when making this decision, or any specific recommendations for RAM or other components to pair with the 7960X for my workstation build?

Well well, pozdravljen sosed :)

The 7960x (24 core) is a bit harder to tame than the 7970x (32 core) and especially the 7980x (64 core). Its mainly got to do with the fact that you've got less cores that are consuming more power and so it basically comes down to the fact that you're cooling 350W in a rather smaller area because there's less cores (that are hotter) compared to the higher core count designs.

People seem to recommend an AIO for this chip, I'd probably still stick a Noctua on it and I also wonder what Juraj would do :)

As to why there aren't that many results I do not know, maybe its the above or maybe peeps just opt for the higher core counts. You can also try checking the V-Ray benchmark, it isn't exactly 1:1 with the Corona benchmark but it can still give you a general idea of the performance imho.

And also, since you're in Croatia, if you're comfortable putting the parts together yourself I'd maybe suggest looking into Caseking or Computeruniverse as the place of purchase. They typically have nice deals although do keep in mind you'll have to ship your parts to Germany / Austria in case of an RMA. I fortunately haven't had one yet but besides that they are treating me real nicely so far at those stores (no affiliation, just sharing my personal experience) :)