#1

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by kriesel

And oversize the PSU. Max efficiency is near 50% of max output.

What would the payback for the increased efficiency be? If it is longer than the life of the box....

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

What would the payback for the increased efficiency be? If it is longer than the life of the box....

There are two paybacks.
1) Here, every watt avoided works out to $1/year. Each 1% x 1000W x 5 years x $1/watt-year = $50.
2) I've seen my workstations support fewer gpus over time than ran successfully initially. I think that is power supply aging from 24/7 high percentage of max output usage. One more gpu per box would let me use fewer boxes for the same total throughput, and each used system I deploy costs at least as much to purchase as a good new high efficiency high capacity power supply. I've had systems initially capable of running 4gpus droop to where what is stable is limited to 2.

[Xyzzy]

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...-cpu,5183.html

[Xyzzy]

AMD Zen info: https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/amd/microarchitectures/zen

[Xyzzy]

We have chosen the 1920X CPU for this build.

+ Great price!
+ 12 cores and 24 threads should be enough!
+ Quad-channel memory!
+ Known for being easy to cool.

- Motherboards are kinda expensive.

We tend to use Noctua coolers on all of the computers we build. They are reliable and perform great. If you have an alternative suggestion let us know. We will order a cooler in a few days.

We are not in a rush to complete this box.

PS - We have updated the first post in this thread with a brief description of what we are doing.

[Xyzzy]

If we went with 64GB of memory, we could save some room and use this mATX motherboard:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/X399M%20Taichi/index.asp
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...oard,5898.html

Edit: Apparently it can take ECC memory.

https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compa...k/x399m-taichi
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/x399m-taichi/CT12387363

[Xyzzy]

How about this build using ECC memory?

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1920X 3.5 GHz 12-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S TR4-SP3 54.97 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X399M Taichi Micro ATX sTR4 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME Ultra Platinum 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.98 @ Newegg)

[preda]

I would not go with a 550W PSU, too limiting for any future expansion. IMO 850W or 750W are a sweet-spot of price vs. flexibility.

That motherboard has only 4 RAM slots; others have 8 slots, which would theoretically allow you to double the RAM in the future simply by adding four more of the same sticks. Being mATX may also limit the number of GPUs that you can add directly on the MB in the future.

Anyway, if you don't have a specific need for mATX, you may as well go with ATX.

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

How about this build using ECC memory?

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1920X 3.5 GHz 12-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S TR4-SP3 54.97 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X399M Taichi Micro ATX sTR4 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME Ultra Platinum 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.98 @ Newegg)

[Xyzzy]

Originally Posted by preda

I would not go with a 550W PSU, too limiting for any future expansion. IMO 850W or 750W are a sweet-spot of price vs. flexibility.

The system will draw ~300W. At 50% draw, the PSU will be 92% efficient.

We have absolutely no intention of putting any video cards in it.

The only selling point for the ATX size is the ability to go to 128GB and the fact that it will be easier to work on.

[Xyzzy]

Proposed mATX build:

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1920X 3.5 GHz 12-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S TR4-SP3 54.97 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X399M Taichi Micro ATX sTR4 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($110.99 @ Crucial)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV TG MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME Ultra Platinum 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.98 @ Newegg)

PS - We added the case.
PPS - ATX or mATX AKA 64GB or 128GB?

[masser]

Do your workloads require ECC memory? Is there a benefit that justifies the considerable increase in cost?