Threadripper questions

[IndyColtsFan]

I know these questions have been asked before, though I am not sure if they have been revisited lately. I'm considering building a Threadripper system as a secondary server. I have the following questions:

1. The last I knew, there were no X399 boards that officially supported more than 128 GB of RAM. Is that true? I'd probably start off small with 32 GB of RAM initially and expand as RAM prices drop. My existing server (dual Xeon) has 256 GB of RAM and I'd like that capability if possible. If not, I'm assuming one of the X399 Taichi models is still the recommendation of the forum? I have a Z370 Taichi and an X370 Taichi and have generally been pleased.
2. What is the cooler situation for Threadripper? I would not be overclocking the system at all. I know there have been issues with the Enermax AIO and I know Noctua makes some air coolers, but is there anything else out there? I need a cooler which can keep the CPU cool (assume that I'm building a 1950x system) at stock clocks/voltages that doesn't weight a metric ton like the Noctua coolers typically do. Lower profile would be nice, but not if it blocks RAM slots.
3. Any known issues running Windows 2012-2019 on the x399 platform?
4. How is the heat output from a stock Threadripper system? Am I looking at a system which will heat a small room even at stock?

Thanks

Thread moved from the motherboard forum as requested.

Daveybrat
AT Moderator

 

[Joseph Combs]

I bought the Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme and X2950 Threadripper and love it, solid as a rock .... I am running Windows 10 latest release as well

System Specs:
GIGABYTE X399 AORUS XTREME sTR4 AMD X399 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD 2nd Gen Ryzen Threadripper 2950X, 16-Core, 32-Thread, 4.4 GHz Max Boost (3.5 GHz Base), Socket sTR4 180W
G.SKILL TridentZ Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Intel Z370 Platform Desktop F4-3200C14Q-32GTZ
Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W 80+ Titanium Power Supply
SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2 2280 1TB PCIe Gen3. X4, NVMe 1.3 64L V-NAND 3-bit MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Arctic Freezer 33TR - Tower CPU Cooler for AMD Ryzen Threadripper sTR4 -WHITE

 

[ub4ty]

I know these questions have been asked before, though I am not sure if they have been revisited lately. I'm considering building a Threadripper system as a secondary server. I have the following questions:

1. The last I knew, there were no X399 boards that officially supported more than 128 GB of RAM. Is that true? I'd probably start off small with 32 GB of RAM initially and expand as RAM prices drop. My existing server (dual Xeon) has 256 GB of RAM and I'd like that capability if possible. If not, I'm assuming one of the X399 Taichi models is still the recommendation of the forum? I have a Z370 Taichi and an X370 Taichi and have generally been pleased.
2. What is the cooler situation for Threadripper? I would not be overclocking the system at all. I know there have been issues with the Enermax AIO and I know Noctua makes some air coolers, but is there anything else out there? I need a cooler which can keep the CPU cool (assume that I'm building a 1950x system) at stock clocks/voltages that doesn't weight a metric ton like the Noctua coolers typically do. Lower profile would be nice, but not if it blocks RAM slots.
3. Any known issues running Windows 2012-2019 on the x399 platform?
4. How is the heat output from a stock Threadripper system? Am I looking at a system which will heat a small room even at stock?

Thanks

Thread moved from the motherboard forum as requested.

Daveybrat
AT Moderator

1.) Correct. Max is 128GB of RAM. Unless you're crossing into over 128GB in your current use case, it's a non-issue. Get an NVME drive and use tiered caching. It's unlikely you need more than 128GB in main memory unless you're allocating portions for a ram drive. NVME drives and tiered storage are where its at now. No reason to get over-kill with RAM. I have a X399 Taichi and, from what I have read, I rate it as one of the best X399 boards. Asrock in general is the way to go. The PCI-E spacing is wonky on other motherboards, E-ATX is a joke and has even worse layout. Bios/stability are worse with other brands along w/ other quirks. Go for an X399 Taichi.
2.) Don't touch water cooling if you're not overlcocking. I have a 1950x and it runs fine on the Noctua air even w/ a mild OC that pushes power utilization to 250Watts. Don't worry about weight. All sufficient air coolers are going to have the same weight. The socket is server grade w/ a pretty hefty back-plate. Nothing's going to happen w/ a heavy cooler. Noctua has a range of coolers for Threadripper of varying sizes. Read various reviews on the reduction in cooling capacity you get for lower weight/low profile aesthetics.
3.) None that I know of. All of the quirks have been ironed out. I run linux.
4.) Idle wattage on 1950x is around 45W. I have a pretty loaded system w/ 8 fans, 3nvme, 2 GPus, and other PCIE cards plus an OC on my theadripper and it idles around 115W. Not bad really. Not heat inducing. A human being outputs about 100W in heat. So it's like having a 2nd person in a room idle. If I slam my setup, I can push north of 650Watts. That's with 250W ceiling on the threadripper vs. stock of 170W. You'll be fine IMO. It likely consumes less power than your Xeon server.

Might pick up another Threadripper rig w/ the processor (1950x) going for about $450 on thanksgiving sale. Cheaper than Intel's stupid priced 8 core.

 

[lightmanek]

TR 1920X and X399 Taichi user here.
I have Enermax TR360 and while it works, it's great! Cools my CPU extremely well, but there are several great air coolers for TR4 as well. Check out:
- https://www.scan.co.uk/products/arc...QGhEP1aKqhFht4Wu2gzFkFVdSm-VQGtUaAnUQEALw_wcB - cheap AC Freezer
- https://www.scan.co.uk/products/be-quiet!-dark-rock-pro-tr4-cpu-cooler-120-135mm-fans-push-pull-dual-tower-7x-copper-heatpipes-amd-t?gclid=Cj0KCQiA_s7fBRDrARIsAGEvF8RM8rVCAl9UYvOaxhVEqAgWcOxElc7rmilichnc9yjbxiX4v8I4tgQaAhRhEALw_wcB - beQuiet monster cooler
- https://www.amazon.co.uk/DEEPCOOL-Fryzen-All-aluminum-Double-bladed-Motherboard/dp/B07D4DNLKH - Fryzen
- http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/masterair-ma621p-tr4-edition/ - CoolerMaster new addition for TR4
- http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/wraith-ripper/ - finally CoolerMaster WraithRipper

Currently Threadripper supports up to 1TB or RAM, but motherboard makers only validated up to 128GB of RAM due to lack of 32GB DDR4 DIMMs. Once these high capacity modules start appearing, there will be high probability of creating 8x32GB RAM system.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Currently Threadripper supports up to 1TB or RAM, but motherboard makers only validated up to 128GB of RAM due to lack of 32GB DDR4 DIMMs. Once these high capacity modules start appearing, there will be high probability of creating 8x32GB RAM system.

That would be AMAZING for a web-browsing machine. 16C/32T, 1TB RAM, LOLOTS of tabs!!!

(I've had 380-400 tabs on my 16GB Ryzen 5 1600 6C/12T rig. Recently upgraded both to 32GB because of that.)

 

[StinkyPinky]

Wouldn't it be easier to just close some tabs?

 

[eek2121]

1.) Correct. Max is 128GB of RAM. Unless you're crossing into over 128GB in your current use case, it's a non-issue. Get an NVME drive and use tiered caching. It's unlikely you need more than 128GB in main memory unless you're allocating portions for a ram drive. NVME drives and tiered storage are where its at now. No reason to get over-kill with RAM. I have a X399 Taichi and, from what I have read, I rate it as one of the best X399 boards. Asrock in general is the way to go. The PCI-E spacing is wonky on other motherboards, E-ATX is a joke and has even worse layout. Bios/stability are worse with other brands along w/ other quirks. Go for an X399 Taichi.
2.) Don't touch water cooling if you're not overlcocking. I have a 1950x and it runs fine on the Noctua air even w/ a mild OC that pushes power utilization to 250Watts. Don't worry about weight. All sufficient air coolers are going to have the same weight. The socket is server grade w/ a pretty hefty back-plate. Nothing's going to happen w/ a heavy cooler. Noctua has a range of coolers for Threadripper of varying sizes. Read various reviews on the reduction in cooling capacity you get for lower weight/low profile aesthetics.
3.) None that I know of. All of the quirks have been ironed out. I run linux.
4.) Idle wattage on 1950x is around 45W. I have a pretty loaded system w/ 8 fans, 3nvme, 2 GPus, and other PCIE cards plus an OC on my theadripper and it idles around 115W. Not bad really. Not heat inducing. A human being outputs about 100W in heat. So it's like having a 2nd person in a room idle. If I slam my setup, I can push north of 650Watts. That's with 250W ceiling on the threadripper vs. stock of 170W. You'll be fine IMO. It likely consumes less power than your Xeon server.

Might pick up another Threadripper rig w/ the processor (1950x) going for about $450 on thanksgiving sale. Cheaper than Intel's stupid priced 8 core.

Regarding water cooling, not true. At stock my AiO is silent unless the load is really pushed to the limit. There are reasons for water cooling other than overclocking. Also my machine tends to maintain higher clocks when gaming than the Noctua did.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

That would be AMAZING for a web-browsing machine. 16C/32T, 1TB RAM, LOLOTS of tabs!!!

(I've had 380-400 tabs on my 16GB Ryzen 5 1600 6C/12T rig. Recently upgraded both to 32GB because of that.)

I have to ask - why do you need that many tabs open? I do professional work on the 8700k in my sig below with O365 development and I may have 30-50 tabs open at max, 10-15 of which are personal sites (such as AT).

 

[Fir]

TR4 is desktop platform.
Either look into EPYC or stick with Xeon for a proper server. ECC Registered memory support is a must as you have now.