New Build After 8 Years.

[Aquinus]

I can't speak for the MEG mobo as I have the Taichi which I have had no issues with other than the UEFI being clunky as hell.

I've actually been pretty happy with the BIOS on my P9X79 Deluxe which was a motivator to stick with ASUS. My previous experience with non-UEFI MSI BIOS is that they were a little clunky, same with ASRock, but as I understand it ASRock has gotten a lot better. I just haven't decided to take a leap of faith on that front.

I know money isn't an issue and neither is storage but I didn't buy Samsung for my build for the first time this go round. I went with the Adata XPG 8200 Pro and I got 2 x 1TB for $250. I think the 2TB single stick one was even $299 so I just have a hard time recommending the Sammy's anymore. These are pretty much neck and neck with everything Samsung so perhaps take a look.

I was thinking about that. I could take the 512GB 960 Pro I already have out of this machine, then do as you suggest and put a larger capacity but not as fast NVMe in the second slot. Then you kind of have the best of both worlds, because the Samsung SSDs really are fast. I can put root on the Sammy and games on the other. That's definitely a good cost saving option that I'm not entirely opposed to. I might actually swap out the 970 Pro 1TB with the Adata XPG 8200 Pro 2TB.

I wouldn't really get hung up on brands. I am using a full XSPC build at the moment. The Photon D5 pump/res and a 240 rad. Specifically, the block is the Raystorm Pro and is pretty much solid copper. It gets pretty good reviews, near the top of the ones I looked at anyway and is fairly affordable. I am also using EK ZMT tubing (the opaque black stuff) because I had tons of problems with plasticizer in my first couple go rounds. It bends well but is considered costly. I use straight water with a drop of Mayhem's Biocide+. I think the plus also has anti-corrosion stuff in it. With this setup, I change out the water every 2 years or so.

Thanks for the input. I figured that I would just go with EKWB for the blocks and a 360 radiator that i'd mount to the side or top of the chassis, but that's about as much as I've decided so far. I need to do some research on that front, but I definitely appreciate the suggestions and telling me what you've done yourself.

All the $300+ boards are really good and sorta overbuilt even for the 16 Core it really just comes down to feature set/asthetics

I would look at the Msi Meg Unify and compare it to the Asus board to see which one better fits your needs. In the next price category up I would either go Aorus Master/Hero 8

The chipset fan on my Aorus Master only comes on during boot I would imagine other high end x570 boards are the same.

Ehh. I don't really need flashy. As long as the board is solid and handles the 3900X well, I'll be happy. I'm not really chasing records, so that's a thing too.

 

[biffzinker]

I'm not as young as I used to be.

/offtopic
Being 31 is old, and not as young as I used to be? What does that make me at 41? Decrepit?

 

[Aquinus]

/offtopic
Being 31 is old, and not as young as I used to be? What does that make me at 41? Decrepit?

There are things that are telling me that I'm getting old. In reality, I'm just lazier. I used to love pushing my hardware to the limits and now I just want it to be fast and work. In that sense, I feel like I've gotten old. Oh, and my daughter. She makes me feel old too.

If I lose my overclock on my current machine, I get all pissy because I have to redo it all again or else I get to suffer with stock SBe clocks, which aren't great on the 3930k.

 

[moproblems99]

I understand it ASRock has gotten a lot better.

If that is true, I can't imagine what they were like before. I said clunky, but that was being nice. I have gotten used to it over time but damn.

I was thinking about that. I could take the 512GB 960 Pro I already have out of this machine, then do as you suggest and put a larger capacity but not as fast NVMe in the second slot. Then you kind of have the best of both worlds, because the Samsung SSDs really are fast. I can put root on the Sammy and games on the other. That's definitely a good cost saving option that I'm not entirely opposed to. I might actually swap out the 970 Pro 1TB with the Adata XPG 8200 Pro 2TB.

I think speeds are very similar other than some of the different queue depths. Honestly, it has been several months since I looked at any of this so I could be wrong. That said, the Sammy was always faster, it just wasn't faster enough to justify the nearly double price (to me anyway).

There are things that are telling me that I'm getting old. In reality, I'm just lazier. I used to love pushing my hardware to the limits and now I just want it to be fast and work. In that sense, I feel like I've gotten old. Oh, and my daughter. She makes me feel old too.

If I lose my overclock on my current machine, I get all pissy because I have to redo it all again or else I get to suffer with stock SBe clocks, which aren't great on the 3930k.

I know the feeling.

 

[biffzinker]

You could go with a 12 core EYPC 7272. ServeTheHome just posted up a review.

AMD EPYC 7272 Review 12 Cores of Rome

Our AMD EPYC 7272 review shows what 12 cores of AMD's latest "Rome" architecture can do in a power and price optimized processor

www.servethehome.com

 

[Aquinus]

If that is true, I can't imagine what they were like before. I said clunky, but that was being nice. I have gotten used to it over time but damn.

The last ASRock motherboard I bought, I hated because it didn't freaking have CPU voltage control. Voltage control on literally everything else, but not the freaking CPU. This was back during LGA775 Pentium 4 days, before the Core 2 series came out. I think I had a Pentium 4 630 at the time. As I said, it was some time ago.

You could go with a 12 core EYPC 7272. ServeTheHome just posted up a review.

AMD EPYC 7272 Review 12 Cores of Rome

Our AMD EPYC 7272 review shows what 12 cores of AMD's latest "Rome" architecture can do in a power and price optimized processor

www.servethehome.com

Only 3.2Ghz boost though. If I needed a server with a lot of I/O, that'd be great. Not quite what I need though.

 

[biffzinker]

Only 3.2Ghz boost though. If I needed a server with a lot of I/O, that'd be great. Not quite what I need though.

You get a quad channel memory bus though besides the expanded I/O.

 

[Aquinus]

You do get a quad channel memory bus though.

I doubt it makes up for the boost that's 1Ghz lower. I do need single-threaded applications to work well. I don't only do multi-threaded workloads.

Edit:
Update
Changed SSD to: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kQ...-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-asx8200pnp-2tt-c
Changed Case to: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y4n8TW/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-2-atx-full-tower-case-ph-es719ltg_bk

 

[Hyderz]

firstly *salute* on knocking out debts out of your life , no small feat well done
i like the parts you have chosen, what gpu you gonna pair with?

 

[JackCarver]

Changed Case to: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y4n8TW/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-2-atx-full-tower-case-ph-es719ltg_bk

That case is really nice, especially for water cooling and is also in consideration for my next case.

The VRM setup looks very similar between the two. They're both 6+2 with two IR3555 60A for each phase.

Yes the ASUS has two IR3555 for each phase, the MSI uses doubler here. So the MSI setup is more like a real 12 phase board, with the drawback that the pwm signal gets halved by the doublers. The ASUS board has 6 phases and for each phase two power stages, so they both charge at the same time. The stages of the MSI board have an offset here so that only 1 power stage charge at the same time. That said when you have for example a total current load of 120A the load of the ASUS board is split over 6 phases whereas the load of the MSI board is split over 12 phases. So 20A per phase for ASUS, 10A per phase for MSI. As the ASUS board uses 2 power stages per phase they can also split the load. But as you can see at the power loss vs output current graph of the IR3550 (also a IR 60A Stage) this graph is not linear:

So with rising output current the two stages of the 6 phase ASUS board have to handle a little more power loss than the one stage of the doubled 12 phase MSI board. I won‘t say that this is a big issue but the MSI board should be a little more efficient at higher output current.

 

[eidairaman1]

If that is true, I can't imagine what they were like before. I said clunky, but that was being nice. I have gotten used to it over time but damn.



I think speeds are very similar other than some of the different queue depths. Honestly, it has been several months since I looked at any of this so I could be wrong. That said, the Sammy was always faster, it just wasn't faster enough to justify the nearly double price (to me anyway).



I know the feeling.

Hmm the uefi on a 970 Extreme 4 was practicsl and intuitive

 

[Melvis]

 

[TheLostSwede]

Ehh. I don't really need flashy. As long as the board is solid and handles the 3900X well, I'll be happy. I'm not really chasing records, so that's a thing too.

In all honesty, it's worth spending a bit more on these boards, as it's a big difference in terms of features between the base models and the ones around the $300 mark. Obviously no need to go insane either, but I guess it also comes down to how future proof you want your system to be in terms of M.2 expansion and USB 3.x ports, since those are in general the two things you need to do a trade-off on when it comes to the cheaper boards. Maybe I feel differently about motherboards, but I've never been one for cheap boards, as they always end up causing problems in the end.

 

[ne6togadno]

Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

Gigabyte X570 AORUS MASTER ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

Gigabyte X570 AORUS ULTRA ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

 

[Aquinus]

firstly *salute* on knocking out debts out of your life , no small feat well done

Thanks. Between the car and student loans, it was a hefty sum every month. I was also paying both ahead. Ended up paying them both off a year and half-ish early.

i like the parts you have chosen, what gpu you gonna pair with?

I'm going to reuse my Vega 64. I'm pretty happy with it already when it's not CPU, power, or thermally constrained, but those are problems that can be fixed.

In all honesty, it's worth spending a bit more on these boards, as it's a big difference in terms of features between the base models and the ones around the $300 mark. Obviously no need to go insane either, but I guess it also comes down to how future proof you want your system to be in terms of M.2 expansion and USB 3.x ports, since those are in general the two things you need to do a trade-off on when it comes to the cheaper boards. Maybe I feel differently about motherboards, but I've never been one for cheap boards, as they always end up causing problems in the end.

Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

Gigabyte X570 AORUS MASTER ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

Gigabyte X570 AORUS ULTRA ATX AM4 Motherboard

pcpartpicker.com

I'm reluctant to invest in Gigabyte, however it sounds like the Aorus boards are pretty good. In the past I've heard horror stories about the quality of their products. If I go with a nicer board, I'm leaning towards the Crosshair VIII Hero.

 

[JackCarver]

No MSI MEG Godlike in this list

I'm reluctant to invest in Gigabyte, however it sounds like the Aorus boards are pretty good. In the past I've heard horror stories about the quality of their products.

The Aorus Master has a monster vrm. But I‘m also rather a MSI/ASUS guy. Wouldn‘t go for the Hero as you only get one phase more for vcore and price is a lot higher. If you are not for oc records the ACE is sufficient.
Consider also the MSI MEG Unify, it‘s a little cheaper than the ASUS ACE and vrm is nearly the same except that MSI uses doubler.

When it comes to usb/sound/m2, nothing you can‘t add later on with an expansion card. Nearly every soundcard has a better sound than those integrated Mainboard sounds and so on. What you can‘t change is the vrm.

 

[ne6togadno]

iirc in one of buldzoid's mb round up videos he mentioned that GB aouris x570 boards are actually good. their 1st and 2nd gen boards were mediocre at best but x570 are well designed and build for the price.
not 100% sure for the source thou. it was either review or mb round up but i cant remember exactly atm.

 

[JackCarver]

GB aouris x570 boards are actually good.

The Aorus Master is one of the only X570 boards with 12 real VCore phases, besides the Aorus Xtreme with 14. That‘s really impressive as all others need doublers here.
They use a new pwm controller from Infineon, the XDPE132G5C which is capable of 16 signals to control up to 16 real phases vcore/soc

 

[EarthDog]

Aquinas, looks good for the most part, man! Though I question putting an older Vega64 card under water at this point. I'd save that for a new GPU, personally.

than the X570 one which requires active cooling which I personally hate.

Why? Have you owned one before? An overwhelming majority of these you cannot hear the fan over anything else in your system. I've reviewed nearly a dozen of these boards from budget to high-end... couldn't hear any of them during testing.

...

 

[Aquinus]

When it comes to usb/sound/m2, nothing you can‘t add later on with an expansion card. Nearly every soundcard has a better sound than those integrated Mainboard sounds and so on. What you can‘t change is the vrm.

I didn't mention it, but I already have a portable DAC/Headphone amp when I'm not listening through the speakers. I do actually have a good number of USB 3.0 devices, so the number of USB ports might actually make a difference for me. I didn't really need to add expansion cards with the P9X79 Deluxe beyond the NVMe adapter and that's something I'd prefer if at all possible. Between USB and good WiFi (particularly if it's supported well in Linux,) might be worth it though.

Aquinas, looks good for the most part, man! Though I question putting an older Vega64 card under water at this point. I'd save that for a new GPU, personally.

I don't want to run a nVidia card and I would like to support AMD's efforts since they're actually making some pretty valuable contributions to the Linux kernel (not to mention I get OOTB support through the kernel which is fantastic.) I considered getting a Navi chip, but it's not that much more performance and its been having issues. Plus, it works well enough for me now. It's not something I feel that I need to replace yet. I also got it late in the game, so it's really not all that old either.

 

[JackCarver]

I don't want to run a nVidia card and I would like to support AMD's efforts since they're actually making some pretty valuable contributions to the Linux kernel

Years ago it was a pain in the ass to run an ATI card under Linux . Their fglrx module sucked, Nvidia was way better here with their proprietary Linux drivers but that seems better now. Personally and only in my opinion, Linux is one of the best Server systems but I‘m not that convinced when it comes to the desktop. I‘m running an OVH Linux Server with Debian for several tasks like Webhosting/VPN/FTP and as Mailserver but at home I‘m using windows and OSX. Linux at home is only a testsystem for the server. But the new systems like Mint seem to be really good nowadays.
The Navi cards out there aren‘t that better compared to your Vega, as you already said.
I would wait if the new AMD cards provide the needed extra performance and hopefully RTX. It looks really impressive in games.

 

[EarthDog]

I don't want to run a nVidia card and I would like to support AMD's efforts since they're actually making some pretty valuable contributions to the Linux kernel (not to mention I get OOTB support through the kernel which is fantastic.) I considered getting a Navi chip, but it's not that much more performance and its been having issues. Plus, it works well enough for me now. It's not something I feel that I need to replace yet. I also got it late in the game, so it's really not all that old either.

Maybe wait for big Navi... or this year's offerings and see how they shape up. I'd hate to put a block on such a card at this point in its life cycle.

 

[Aquinus]

Maybe wait for big Navi... or this year's offerings and see how they shape up. I'd hate to put a block on such a card at this point in its life cycle.

I don't game like I used to. I might not touch the GPU for another year or two. My main complaint at this point is noise, not performance. Plus Vega 64 support is really pretty good in the Linux kernel now. I'll ride that wave as long as I can. I'm not worried about the cost of buying a block for a card I might only have for another year, but it very well could be longer than that. That really depends on what AMD does and if it turns out well.

 

[Aquinus]

Switched the motherboard to the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero with Wi-Fi.
Reasons:

1. The Wi-Fi choice on the board (Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX200) is one with Linux support (Intel is usually pretty good about that.) This will let me retire my aging Linksys AE4200 acting as a wireless network bridge for my tower without relying on a finicky USB device or using a PCIe 1x slot for a card I'd have to purchase anyways.
2. USB ports. I'm using 7 on my current machine so there being 11 type-A ports and one type C port on this board is nice. The ACE only has 6 type A ports and 1 type C port. The ACE uses that space for HDMI and DisplayPort which I don't care about since I won't have a CPU with an iGPU.
3. The second M.2 slot on the Hero can use up to 4 lanes to the chipset. The WS X570-ACE only can do two. This matters because I'll be using two 4-lane NVMe cards. It also has a heatsink for the second NVMe slot.
4. The board has BIOS Flashback. I have this on my P9X79 Deluxe and it's great. It is the sole reason why I didn't have issues when I first built my X79 machine (memory wasn't supported on the BIOS it shipped with.) The ACE doesn't have it.

 

[moproblems99]

The Wi-Fi choice on the board (Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX200) is one with Linux support (Intel is usually pretty good about that.) This will let me retire my aging Linksys AE4200 acting as a wireless network bridge for my tower without relying on a finicky USB device or using a PCIe 1x slot for a card I'd have to purchase anyways.

My Taichi came with WiFi but my office is hard wired anyway. I wonder why these expensive AM4 bother with video outs. However, the real coup de Grace was the Taichi came with a brilliant, beautifully hand crafted unlabeled pocket screw driver. Convertible from flat to phillips even.