- Aug 26, 2014
- 1,792
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So I believe I've been "planning" (read: thinking aloud about) this build off and on on these forums for something like the past two years. Anyhow, thanks to an unexpected windfall, she told me she wanted to finally buy the thing. Also, Threadripper CPUs were 20% off for Black Friday, bringing them within budget range. Now I'm really just looking for confirmation that this build makes sense.
The use case: 4K video editing in Adobe Premiere. General desktop usage, and some Civilization and similar games.
Main concerns: performance (duh), longevity. I want it to be quiet (it'll be in the same room as my gaming PC), she doesn't care much.
CPU: Threadripper 1920X 12c24t
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X399-E
CPU Cooler: Enermax Liqtech 240mm TR4 edition
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3400MHz c16
GPU: Asus GTX 970 (already owned)
PSU: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 850W
OS Drive: Samsung 960 Evo 500GB
Bulk storage drive: Seagate Barracuda 4TB
Case: Corsair Carbide 400Q
Case Fans: 2x Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM
Total price (including 25% VAT and shipping): NOK 20 739 ($2545 directly converted)
My main concern was cooling a build like this in the 400Q, but from skimming some reviews, it shouldn't be an issue. Am I wrong here? Added the two extra fans just in case (har har, pun not intended), either as intakes or as a lopsided push-pull setup on the rad (don't think that's necessary, though). If there's room, the AIO will go in the top of the case as an exhaust. 64GB of RAM would have added way too much to the budget, so it wasn't an option (RAM prices are ludicrous!), even if it probably could have been used. Cheapest 32GB kit I could find at or above 2933MT/s - and I believe they're Samsung B-die, which is of course nice.
Threadripper/X399 was chosen for three reasons: crazy rendering performance, the possibility of adding more SSDs and other expansion cards down the line, and longevity: a crazy 12c24t CPU should last her longer than an 8c16t, and there's always the option of finding a nice used 1950X in 3-4-5 years if needed. In time a 5/10GBE NIC will be added to hook up to a future NAS. The motherboard was chosen as the cheapest option that still had WiFi (nice as a backup in case of outages) and decent-looking VRM cooling that won't interfere with a top-mounted radiator. Saw no reason to add 50% to the motherboard cost for features she doesn't want/need. A bit bummed by it only having two m.2 slots, but riser cards are cheap, and we're only filling one anyhow. I actually wanted to use a big air cooler for this build, but I haven't seen any really good ones for TR4 that I trust to handle multi-hour renders quietly, and the Enermax AIOs get great reviews.
The GPU is of course rather weak, but it's free, CUDA enabled, and she likely won't be using a lot of GPU-accelerated filters and the like. From what I've been able to figure out, having a GPU is more important than it being great when it comes to Premiere. Given OklahomaWolf's ravings over at JonnyGuru, the PSU seems like a no-brainer. Probably won't OC the CPU, and if so, not by much. Stability is key here. A single storage drive is of course not secure at all, but everything will be constantly backed up both on and off site.
Also: redacted, I get to build a Threadripper PC. I did not think that (or anything similar) would ever happen.
Edit: whoops, sorry mods, got a bit carried away there.
The use case: 4K video editing in Adobe Premiere. General desktop usage, and some Civilization and similar games.
Main concerns: performance (duh), longevity. I want it to be quiet (it'll be in the same room as my gaming PC), she doesn't care much.
CPU: Threadripper 1920X 12c24t
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X399-E
CPU Cooler: Enermax Liqtech 240mm TR4 edition
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3400MHz c16
GPU: Asus GTX 970 (already owned)
PSU: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 850W
OS Drive: Samsung 960 Evo 500GB
Bulk storage drive: Seagate Barracuda 4TB
Case: Corsair Carbide 400Q
Case Fans: 2x Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM
Total price (including 25% VAT and shipping): NOK 20 739 ($2545 directly converted)
My main concern was cooling a build like this in the 400Q, but from skimming some reviews, it shouldn't be an issue. Am I wrong here? Added the two extra fans just in case (har har, pun not intended), either as intakes or as a lopsided push-pull setup on the rad (don't think that's necessary, though). If there's room, the AIO will go in the top of the case as an exhaust. 64GB of RAM would have added way too much to the budget, so it wasn't an option (RAM prices are ludicrous!), even if it probably could have been used. Cheapest 32GB kit I could find at or above 2933MT/s - and I believe they're Samsung B-die, which is of course nice.
Threadripper/X399 was chosen for three reasons: crazy rendering performance, the possibility of adding more SSDs and other expansion cards down the line, and longevity: a crazy 12c24t CPU should last her longer than an 8c16t, and there's always the option of finding a nice used 1950X in 3-4-5 years if needed. In time a 5/10GBE NIC will be added to hook up to a future NAS. The motherboard was chosen as the cheapest option that still had WiFi (nice as a backup in case of outages) and decent-looking VRM cooling that won't interfere with a top-mounted radiator. Saw no reason to add 50% to the motherboard cost for features she doesn't want/need. A bit bummed by it only having two m.2 slots, but riser cards are cheap, and we're only filling one anyhow. I actually wanted to use a big air cooler for this build, but I haven't seen any really good ones for TR4 that I trust to handle multi-hour renders quietly, and the Enermax AIOs get great reviews.
The GPU is of course rather weak, but it's free, CUDA enabled, and she likely won't be using a lot of GPU-accelerated filters and the like. From what I've been able to figure out, having a GPU is more important than it being great when it comes to Premiere. Given OklahomaWolf's ravings over at JonnyGuru, the PSU seems like a no-brainer. Probably won't OC the CPU, and if so, not by much. Stability is key here. A single storage drive is of course not secure at all, but everything will be constantly backed up both on and off site.
Also: redacted, I get to build a Threadripper PC. I did not think that (or anything similar) would ever happen.
Edit: whoops, sorry mods, got a bit carried away there.
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