Spec me a professional desktop system

Cromulent · 18 Aug 2021 at 09:37

I'm looking for my next computer upgrade and need a decent build. My budget is around £3,500.

I'll be using it for general programming, machine learning, game development and running virtual machines. Thus I need 64GB of RAM and a fast GPU. I was thinking of a Threadripper system as having lots of threads will help.

mickyflinn · 18 Aug 2021 at 13:08

Threadripper 16 core starts at £1000 the 5950x mite be a better option being a newer architecture unless you can take advsntage of quad channel memory and more pcie lanes

Admetos · 18 Aug 2021 at 14:35

It's a question of how professional you want to go.

For a workstation the priority is

1) Reliability, as these machines they could be left running for days at a time. The best computers are the ones that turn-on and function everyday.
2) Low noise, as you will be working next to them for many hours.
3) Reliable data storage, so storage that can withstand high writes, and won't corrupt the project / data your working on.

My workstation uses a AMD 9 3700X, I'm using ECC memory, Nvidia Quadro, Western Digital enterprise HDD drives as I do a lot of SQL, Seasonic Titanium PSU. Using Silverstone FT-02 case that has great air-flow / sound proofing.

Cromulent · 19 Aug 2021 at 21:13

JasonM said:
It's a question of how professional you want to go.

For a workstation the priority is

1) Reliability, as these machines they could be left running for days at a time. The best computers are the ones that turn-on and function everyday.
2) Low noise, as you will be working next to them for many hours.
3) Reliable data storage, so storage that can withstand high writes, and won't corrupt the project / data your working on.

My workstation uses a AMD 9 3700X, I'm using ECC memory, Nvidia Quadro, Western Digital enterprise HDD drives as I do a lot of SQL, Seasonic Titanium PSU. Using Silverstone FT-02 case that has great air-flow / sound proofing.

I can't afford to go full on professional but if I did I'd either go Threadripper Pro or EPYC for the CPU. Likewise a Quadro would be.a good choice. I guess what I am trying to say is that I need something that is near to professional with decent performance but not ultra high end.

Admetos · 19 Aug 2021 at 21:39

Cromulent said:
I can't afford to go full on professional but if I did I'd either go Threadripper Pro or EPYC for the CPU. Likewise a Quadro would be.a good choice. I guess what I am trying to say is that I need something that is near to professional with decent performance but not ultra high end.

This is the issue, once you go ECC memory and things like Quadro the costs go very high.

My Quadro is only a P620!, but I'm not doing any processing work on the card.

Cromulent · 19 Aug 2021 at 22:10

JasonM said:
This is the issue, once you go ECC memory and things like Quadro the costs go very high.

My Quadro is only a P620!, but I'm not doing any processing work on the card.

I'm still waiting for the next generation of Threadripper to be released before I upgrade anyway so I guess I have plenty of time to make up my mind on a new system.

Admetos · 20 Aug 2021 at 00:15

Cromulent said:
I'm still waiting for the next generation of Threadripper to be released before I upgrade anyway so I guess I have plenty of time to make up my mind on a new system.

Yes I would wait for new Threadripper now, makes sense.

When building workstation computers there are other simple things that are often overlooked. For example I use Artic Cooling CO (continuous operation) fans. There a little bit more money, but there more reliable, other things to consider is dust filtering as the computer will be on for long periods.