Question Advice on Threadripper 3960x Build (Hardware Selections)

dsc106

Senior member
May 31, 2012
320
10
81
Current system is in sig. I am thinking to repurpose a few things (my 1080 TI, HDDs, etc.). Looking for advice on the best parts to get (specifically, down to specific make/model) and anything to watch out for (i.e. I've heard things in passing, like getting RAM with Samsung dies, a cooler that covers the entire threadripper surface area, etc.). Much thanks for the assistance!

Budget is of secondary concern... no reason to burn money, but I am building the system around quality and performance first. I selected the 3960x because it has slighter faster single core clock speeds and the extra cores seem mostly pointless right now, so I think I will get better performance with that chip over the 3970x and thus it doesn't seem to make sense to spend $600 more. Motherboard has 10gb ethernet which I need for an external RAID 6 8-bay QNAP server (for video editing), and plenty of I/O and expandability.

Here is what I am thinking, and totally open to feedback and input (please! :)):

  • AMD Threadripper 3960x ($1399, once price stabilizes and stock reappears)
  • ASUS Zenith II Extreme ($850)
  • 128gb RAM (??? ($700-$1500?) 4x32gb vs 8x16gb? 3600 C16 vs 3200 C14? I can't seem to find an obvious kit/brand to select here).
  • Corsair MP600 1TB for Boot Drive ($185)
  • Power Supply (I want plenty of headroom for future upgrades and top quality parts. Not sure how much power or which brand to get. Was thinking EVGA or Corsair, but I don't know. Likewise, how 1000w vs 1200w? Etc.? Was leaning towards a higher end plat/titanium model at 1000w or higher) ($300-$500?)
  • COOLER - Was thinking AIO Liquid from Corsair or other, but I want a good match to Threadripper. I also have some space considerations with my current Lian Li case (in sig)... leading to... ($150?)
  • CASE - I love my current case and would prefer to keep it. However, if it is going to be problematic on cooling options, I am open to a replacement. Not looking for something flashy, rather professional and understated. ($0-$400?)

Use case = everything, but emphasis on video editing in Premiere Pro. Secondary, photoshop, AE. Also, VR, sim racing, sim flying. And gaming. So, yup, everything.


What would you recommend/change? What gotchas I need to be aware of here when building the system?

Thank you!! :)
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
25,483
14,434
136
The only cooler for AIO that has a full contact with the HSF, and everyone I have bought died. That is 24 cores. I have a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, Premium CPU Cooler for AMD sTRX4/TR4/SP3, but add a second fan. It cools a 24 core 2970wx just fine, I am sure your 3960x will be fine on one.

PSU, yes, EVGA or Corsair or Sesonic, 1000 watt minimum, platinum or titanium rated.

Ram ? you want 3600 and the lowest timings you can find. I have not research 16 or 32 gig kits myself, I only have 64 gig. I like Gskill for the ram.

Motherboard ? That seems a little high. I like ASRock Taichi myself. $500

I have 2 of the Corsair MP600 drives, 1 tb, typing on one right now. The other one is in my EPYC box.
 

dlerious

Golden Member
Mar 4, 2004
1,772
719
136
Ram ? you want 3600 and the lowest timings you can find. I have not research 16 or 32 gig kits myself, I only have 64 gig. I like Gskill for the ram.

Motherboard ? That seems a little high. I like ASRock Taichi myself. $500
Holy crap. My X399 Zenith Extreme was around $550 when it came out. I think 4x32GB would have higher possible frequencies like 4x16GB vs 8x8GB. The 32GB sticks I've seen have loose timings. There's 2 different C16 from Gskill, a 16-16-16-36 and 16-19-19-39. I have the slower sticks and they are Hynix d-die - $100 cheaper.
 

dsc106

Senior member
May 31, 2012
320
10
81
Thanks! I thought the official memory for Threadripper was 3200? Why do I want 3600? And, isn't 3200 with lower C# very close to 3600 with a higher C# for performance?

I'm really dissapointed with cooler options for Threadripper. You've got the Enermax AIO which sucks, the Coolermaster AIO but its not an enlarged cooling block, just a bigger base plate, so it also sucks (and also the reviews aren't as good). No proper block from Corsair or any others even after all these years? It does seem Noctua is the only decent choice right now.
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
25,483
14,434
136
Memory is as fast as you can get. 3200 low CL is fine. But for the 3960x, you can probably go higher.
 

Spikeysonic

Junior Member
Jan 4, 2020
3
0
6
Current system is in sig. I am thinking to repurpose a few things (my 1080 TI, HDDs, etc.). Looking for advice on the best parts to get (specifically, down to specific make/model) and anything to watch out for (i.e. I've heard things in passing, like getting RAM with Samsung dies, a cooler that covers the entire threadripper surface area, etc.). Much thanks for the assistance!

Budget is of secondary concern... no reason to burn money, but I am building the system around quality and performance first. I selected the 3960x because it has slighter faster single core clock speeds and the extra cores seem mostly pointless right now, so I think I will get better performance with that chip over the 3970x and thus it doesn't seem to make sense to spend $600 more. Motherboard has 10gb ethernet which I need for an external RAID 6 8-bay QNAP server (for video editing), and plenty of I/O and expandability.

Here is what I am thinking, and totally open to feedback and input (please! :)):

  • AMD Threadripper 3960x ($1399, once price stabilizes and stock reappears)
  • ASUS Zenith II Extreme ($850)
  • 128gb RAM (??? ($700-$1500?) 4x32gb vs 8x16gb? 3600 C16 vs 3200 C14? I can't seem to find an obvious kit/brand to select here).
  • Corsair MP600 1TB for Boot Drive ($185)
  • Power Supply (I want plenty of headroom for future upgrades and top quality parts. Not sure how much power or which brand to get. Was thinking EVGA or Corsair, but I don't know. Likewise, how 1000w vs 1200w? Etc.? Was leaning towards a higher end plat/titanium model at 1000w or higher) ($300-$500?)
  • COOLER - Was thinking AIO Liquid from Corsair or other, but I want a good match to Threadripper. I also have some space considerations with my current Lian Li case (in sig)... leading to... ($150?)
  • CASE - I love my current case and would prefer to keep it. However, if it is going to be problematic on cooling options, I am open to a replacement. Not looking for something flashy, rather professional and understated. ($0-$400?)

Use case = everything, but emphasis on video editing in Premiere Pro. Secondary, photoshop, AE. Also, VR, sim racing, sim flying. And gaming. So, yup, everything.


What would you recommend/change? What gotchas I need to be aware of here when building the system?

Thank you!! :)


Hi there.

I an planning on a similar build, for a similar multi use and curious why the ASUS Zeneth Extreme II over the MSI TRX40 Creator and its in built Creator Centre which :

allows users to configure unique performance settings for a variety of content creation programs, including a large selection of Adobe, MAGIX, and Corel software titles.


Its a toss up between the two as looking for similar multi use of CAD, 3d Modelling, 3d Animation, 3D Characters, Editing and Visual Effects, rendering, encoding and content creation all in one which has been proving a right ***** component selection and dealing with custom builders such as Scan Uk with things like Geforce or Quadro card choice.


Currently I should be selecting:

  • Case: Fractal Design Define R6, White, Tempered Glass,
    (Second choice being the Corsair Graphite series 780T White)
  • Processor: AMD Threadripper 3960x
  • Motherboard: ASUS TRX40 Zeneth II Extreme or MSI TRX40 Creator
  • PSU: 3XS Only Corsair RM1000x 1000w Gold Modular PSU
  • GPU: Nvida Quadro 4000x
  • RAM: 64GB 3200ghz Corsair Vengence LPX
  • Operating System Drive: 1TB Corsair Force MP600 (Open to the 1TB Gigabyte AORUS SSD or Firecuda if better)
  • Storage Drive: 2x Seagate Ironwolf Pro 4TB Hard Drives in a RAID 1 array.
  • DVD Drive: ASUS DRW 24D5MT
  • Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64bit



Current issue is which of the motherboards

(ASUS TRX40 Zeneth Extreme II or MSI TRX40 Creator)

and which CPU cooler:


Scan uk are offering the
  • Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 RGB TR4 Edition
PC Specialist are offering the :

  • MasterLiquid ML360 RGB TR4 Edition all-in-one liquid
  • CORSAIR Hydro Series H150i PRO
  • CORSAIR Hydro H100i Addressable RGB PLATINUM Liquid/Water Intel/AMD CPU Cooler
Plus air coolers

  • COOLERMASTER WRAITH RIPPER
  • Noctura NH-U14S and here the
  • Dark Rock Pro TR4 is good

The latest suggestion I had from Amari for an
Which initially sounded great with a contact block completely covering the CPU block and producing excellent cooling in the 42 degree zone till according to lots of reviews it builds up corrosive gunk, leaks and fails in a few months which I really dont want happening in £4300 of kit.

Any suggestions for the cooler from your end, why the zenenth over MSI creator MB and is the Corsair Graphite Series 78
The only cooler for AIO that has a full contact with the HSF, and everyone I have bought died. That is 24 cores. I have a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, Premium CPU Cooler for AMD sTRX4/TR4/SP3, but add a second fan. It cools a 24 core 2970wx just fine, I am sure your 3960x will be fine on one.

PSU, yes, EVGA or Corsair or Sesonic, 1000 watt minimum, platinum or titanium rated.

Ram ? you want 3600 and the lowest timings you can find. I have not research 16 or 32 gig kits myself, I only have 64 gig. I like Gskill for the ram.

Motherboard ? That seems a little high. I like ASRock Taichi myself. $500

I have 2 of the Corsair MP600 drives, 1 tb, typing on one right now. The other one is in my EPYC box.

0T the better case other than size ie is it quieter.?
 

Spikeysonic

Junior Member
Jan 4, 2020
3
0
6
The only cooler for AIO that has a full contact with the HSF, and everyone I have bought died. That is 24 cores. I have a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, Premium CPU Cooler for AMD sTRX4/TR4/SP3, but add a second fan. It cools a 24 core 2970wx just fine, I am sure your 3960x will be fine on one.

PSU, yes, EVGA or Corsair or Sesonic, 1000 watt minimum, platinum or titanium rated.

Ram ? you want 3600 and the lowest timings you can find. I have not research 16 or 32 gig kits myself, I only have 64 gig. I like Gskill for the ram.

Motherboard ? That seems a little high. I like ASRock Taichi myself. $500

I have 2 of the Corsair MP600 drives, 1 tb, typing on one right now. The other one is in my EPYC box.


Why 3600 gz ram in particular and what do you mean by timings?

I heard the auto boost works better than manual over clock on this. is 3600gz a safe no instability, crashes or long term damage speed? and is that the ram or an over clock via the motherboard speed.?
 

Spikeysonic

Junior Member
Jan 4, 2020
3
0
6
The only cooler for AIO that has a full contact with the HSF, and everyone I have bought died. That is 24 cores. I have a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, Premium CPU Cooler for AMD sTRX4/TR4/SP3, but add a second fan. It cools a 24 core 2970wx just fine, I am sure your 3960x will be fine on one.

PSU, yes, EVGA or Corsair or Sesonic, 1000 watt minimum, platinum or titanium rated.

Ram ? you want 3600 and the lowest timings you can find. I have not research 16 or 32 gig kits myself, I only have 64 gig. I like Gskill for the ram.

Motherboard ? That seems a little high. I like ASRock Taichi myself. $500

I have 2 of the Corsair MP600 drives, 1 tb, typing on one right now. The other one is in my EPYC box.



Do you know anything about TRX80 or is it WXS80 motherboards for the TR 3960x?
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
25,483
14,434
136
Why 3600 gz ram in particular and what do you mean by timings?

I heard the auto boost works better than manual over clock on this. is 3600gz a safe no instability, crashes or long term damage speed? and is that the ram or an over clock via the motherboard speed.?
3600 is the ram designation, DDR4 3600 to be exact. I think it run at an actual speed is 1.8 ghz. Ram has timings in addition to the speed. I don't want to write a letter here, so you need to read up.