Threadripper 3970X build advice sought.

[Paul Rallyfan]

Hi, I’m after some advice on putting together a number simulation machine around a 3970X Amd Threadripper.


A couple of months ago I asked about about this type of setup with a 256GB RAM configuration, and I’ve asked a few companies to quote as I’m now looking at a purchase now we’ve gone over the financial year boundary. My application will use all 32 cores and can be memory intensive - that being said, info and opinions on low latency SSD buffers such as Optane or others are of interest to speed up non sequential drive access.

Again, advice sought.


As I’m also considering building it myself I’m also after opinions on system components, pros and cons, and general advice.


So basically a broad overview of the ‘general configuration’ would be:


Processor AMD 3970X

RAM 256 GB of type tbd?

High speed SSD : m.2 in raid 0 perhaps ?

Storage : SSD ?

Motherboard : tbd ?

PSU : tbd ?

Cooling : tbd ?

Decent high speed LAN : tbd ?

Case : tbd


And I’m sure loads of other things - please help me out.


GPU : not sure what I can afford : good bang per buck essential.



Thanks for looking and advice


Paul

 

[Paul Rallyfan]

Probably £4k - £5k
The GPU acceleration improvements with this particular software is limited, so using a significant portion of the budget on a GPU isn’t the way to go here.

Originally I’d hoped to get a 1TB system based on a Threadripper, and asked that question in a previous thread : some details on the software here if interested.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...h-1tb-memory-capacity.18877044/#post-33342330

 

[Paul Rallyfan]

Self financed S tart up business that just happens to coincide with the Covid issues, so I just don’t have the cash flow for that. I’m also expecting that 4 off 3970X systems might give an Epic a run for its money.

Anyway, if in future I got the work to justify an Epic I would probably just go ahead and get one at that point. Currently I have a 32 core solve licence, and trust me, software from any of the simulation vendors is expensive - thankfully Altair Engineering are being very generous

 

[Paul Rallyfan]

Really appreciate all the input - thanks folks, this thread and others I’ve asked questions on have been a great help.
Paul

 

[Paul Rallyfan]

Finally pulled the trigger on the base configuration today:

Motherboard ROG ZENITH II EXTREME ALPHA
Storage 1. Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME
Storage 2. Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME
CPU 3970X
CPU Cooler ASUS ROG Ryujin 360
Case be quiet! Silent Base 801 Midi-Tower
Case Fan BE QUIET! SHADOW WINGS 2 fan
Heatsink Compound Thermalright TF8
Powersupply KOLINK Continuum 1200W 80+ Platinum
RAM CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 256GB (8x32GB)

 

[Paul Rallyfan]

Well that’s a bit of a mess up on my part - I was expecting a Threadripper shaped contact pad with the ASUS ROG Ryujin 360 cooler (because it’s compatible with the sTRX4), seems that you get a circular pad... Not ideal for cooling the chiplets...