Question New Ryzen 27000X build

[Mikewind Dale]

Hi everyone. I'm putting together a parts list for a new Ryzen 7 2700X system, and I want to make sure I'm not forgetting something.

I've built a computer before, but it's been a long time. The last computer I built was an Athlon XP 2400+ with an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard and a Radeon 9500 Pro. That would have been around 2002.

Since then, I haven't had the money to buy a desktop *and* a laptop, so I've been using laptops since then. Now, I finally have the money to build a desktop again.

Use case: mostly word processing and light gaming. (I currently have a laptop with a dual core Core i7-7500U and a Geforce GTX 950M. I can run most of my games on medium settings.) But I occasionally run statistical regressions that take about 5 hours on my 4 core desktop computer at work. My statistical software is highly parallelizable, so it ought to scale almost linearly with core count.

I DO NOT PLAN ON OVERCLOCKING. My main goal is stability and reliability, with performance secondary.

I seriously considered a ThreadRipper 1920X (12 core) or 1950X (16 core), but I decided that I need low thread count performance more often than high thread count. The Ryzen 2700X's XFR2 and Precision Boost 2 will probably benefit me more often than the Threadripper's high core count. (The 2nd generation Threadripper is just too expensive.)

So here's the parts list, with commentary:

Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WIFI
This was tough. I also considered the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi), and the ASRock X470 Taichi. Those are all the top X470 boards from their respective companies. At that range, every motherboard is going to be pretty great. So it was a toss-up. I picked the Gigabyte because it has a heat pipe in the VRM heatsink, and it boasts how many thermal sensors it has all over the board. I was almost flipping a coin to decide.

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-Core
Self-explanatory

RAM: here it's tricky. I want ECC, but that gives me a very limited selection. Gigabyte has a list of specifically supported models of memory, but I can't find any of the ECC they list for sale. So here are my choices:
(1) 2x16 GB Samsung M391A1K43BB1-CRC (b-die) - DDR4 2400 ECC. It's only 2400, but it's b-die, so supposedly it's great for Ryzen, and supposedly I can run it at 2666 or faster without a problem.
Samsung is hard to find, but I found it here: https://www.energyitshop.com/product/462?ref=goods_search & https://www.serversupply.com/MEMORY/PC4-19200/16GB/SAMSUNG/M391A2K43BB1-CRC.htm
(2) 2x16 GB Kingston KSM26ED8/16ME - DDR 2666 ECC. Micron memory. It's rated for 2666, so I'm hoping it's compatible and won't require me to overclock. But supposedly, Samsung is the gold standard for Ryzen.
Kingston can be bought direct from manufacturer.

Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W 80+ Titanium Power Supply
Room to upgrade the GPU later, add more hard drives, etc.

Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 CPU cooler
I want to be able to boost as often as possible, with as little noise as possible.

Samsung 970 EVO 2 TB

Random 2 TB mechanical hard drive as backup

MSI Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 RX 570 ARMOR MK2 8G
I have a FreeSync monitor, so I want AMD. Even though I don't heavily game, the 8 GB RX 570 is about the sweet spot in price. (The RX 560 isn't a lot cheaper.) I chose this MSI because it advertises silencing features (e.g. idle fan during low loads, etc.)

Windows 10 Pro

be quiet! DARK BASE 900 ATX Full Tower
I wanted a case with noise dampening insulation. And I didn't want a tempered glass window because I suspect that doesn't dampen noise as well. So that limited me to this case and the Fractal Design Define R6. It was a tough choice between the two of them, but I went with the be quiet! because its side panel can accept a fan aimed at the graphics card.

The case comes preinstalled with two 140 mm intake fans and one 140 mm exhaust fan. I'm hoping for positive pressure to mitigate dust.

This case accepts up to a 185 mm CPU cooler, while the Noctua is only 165 mm. So I should be good there.
Case measurements: https://www.bequiet.com/admin/Image...g=1&force=true&download=true&omitPreview=true
Cooler measurements: https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/specification

Finally, I already have a full set of every screwdriver bit you can imagine, several anti-static wrist straps and mats, a headlamp, and ESD-safe tweezers.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[KentState]

You can probably get by easily with the Ryzen 5 2600 and a B450 motherboard. Also, skip the ECC memory if you are doing word processing and light gaming the majority of the time. The PSU is also overkill by 250W. The case is also very expensive compared to your build and it's been shown that a good airflow case with the fans turned down may be just as quiet at the DB 900.

 

[UsandThem]

You can probably get by easily with the Ryzen 5 2600 and a B450 motherboard. Also, skip the ECC memory if you are doing word processing and light gaming the majority of the time. The PSU is also overkill by 250W. The case is also very expensive compared to your build and it's been shown that a good airflow case with the fans turned down may be just as quiet at the DB 900.

The Dark Base 900 is a great case. But it's even better when you get it on sale from Newegg (which they do every now and then).

That said, I also have a couple Fractal Design R5 cases I got when they were on sale for $70 I think, and they very are good cases as well. It's just that I like the Be Quiet case just a little bit better.

It was a tough choice between the two of them, but I went with the be quiet! because its side panel can accept a fan aimed at the graphics card.

You can actually install two fans on the side that are pointing at the GPU area. However, I didn't do that because it's really not needed at all unless you are running multiple GPUs (or maybe just one AMD RX Vega 64 ).

I ended up removing the 5.25" drive bay, and added another 140mm fan in the front (I moved the other Silent Wings 3 fan there). I then installed two Noctua 140mm fans (one in the back, one in the top). It's really quiet and it keeps my GTX 1080ti nice and cool, and keeps the cards fans from having to run at higher RPMs, which are the noisiest fans in my PC when they go too high.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Just did a mini-ITX 2700X build, with the following:

2700X
Asrock Fatality B450 ITX motherboard
Noctua NH-U14S with AM4 adapter kit as the CPU cooler.
16 GB G-Skill 3200 CL14 RAM
1TB 970 EVO SSD
2 TB Micron 1100 SSD
Nvidia RTX 2080
Meshify-C Mini Case
Seasonic Titanium 650 PSU

I have 2X 140mm fans in the front of the case (along with the 120mm rear fan) connected to a fan header which in turn is connected to the motherboard. I use the motherboard fan profiles to control all three fans together at ~700 RPM. Everything runs very cool, and it is almost silent. I think tempered glass actually dampens sound quite well because it is so stiff compared to the sheetmetal used in most cases. On the meshify case that I have, it is the open front that allows fan noise to come through, but it is also the open front that allows low restriction airflow so i can run the fans on a very slow speed. Overall I prefer the less restrictive airflow than a more closed-off case.

The RAM worked perfectly with the XMP profile enabled.

One thing I noticed using Ryzen Master is that the CPU current limit is what typically limits the clockspeed. Ryzen Master lets you boost that from 140A to 168A (and maybe higher than that), but I only did a quick test @ 150A before backing down to stock. Not sure what the VRMs on the motherboard can handle, so i didn't care to push things. That may be something you can do with a higher end motherboard.

The NH-U14S does ramp up a bit when the CPU runs full tilt, but the temps stay very low. I don't think temps are a limiting factor in boost clockspeed, but rather the current limits. In any case, the D15 is even stronger than the U14 and should do a great job with cooling.

What is the benefit of the ECC memory for your application? Will it reduce the chance of crashes, or prevent some type of calculation error? I am only asking because it seems non-ECC memory might be much easier to find, and if the consequences of using non-ECC are relatively minor it might be a useful tradeoff.

I agree that your PSU choice is higher than necessary in power capability, but if the cost isn't much different than the 650, it might make sense to go for the 850.

Your build sounds great overall, and I think it will work out very well. You might reconsider the need for ECC RAM, which would simplify things, and maybe the PSU, but I don't see anything wrong with what you have selected.

-AG