So I already physically have the parts from the link (apart from the CPU) - I would like to kindly ask for help with missing parts:
1/ Motherboard - my biggest pain! It’s very hard to understand both the specs and the manufacturer posture in terms of quality of the software/firmware and hardware. I think about Asrock or MSI (maybe I could use one software for mobo and graphic card)?
I would like it to have USB 4/TB 4 so I can use maybe some KVM switch (I want to have 2 4k monitors, one with 240Hz).
2,5 gbps or 10 gbps would be future proof.
Dont care about audio, got seperate DAC etc.
I already bought ssd with radiator, not sure if I can take it off, so would be nice to have option to install it without issues (I know some MB have this big “shields” on everything, not a fan of that, but maybe it helps someone.
2 or more SATA would be helpful
I might at one point install extra card for computing, but that’s not very likely
good software (fans and monitoring) is really welcomed
my case is rather big (77 L) so I got some estate for bigger ones
dont need RGB
Wifi dont care. I mean, would be nice to have to do some adhoc hotspots etc, but really not required.
2/ RAM - likely 64 GB or even 128 (because I can, but maybe I would use ram disk in future) in 2 sticks to support higher clock speeds stability (I know this CPU can be picky). And I plan to do some more Virtual Machines.
3/ CPU Cooler - I’m affraid that I wont fit any AIO that makes sense in this case (already got one for 4090), so looking to get something quiet and efficient.
As visible, mostly the issue is motherboard. It’s a key component that is hardest to change, so I really would appreciate your advice.
You are welcome to roast any part of the build, but note that apart from CPU, I already have these. I decided to go with 7950x3d cause I could it’s both a lot of cores (VMs, AI, just playing with some tools) and fast for gaming. I like my unzips fast Plus with the 1gbps internet I noticed that sometimes CPU gets busy as well when downloading.
While there are some quirks between vendors and models, motherboards are pretty similar. I’ve always treated features like slot locations and ports as more important than board vendor. If you have too much money, maybe look at the aorus extreme line - I’ve heard good things about them.
The only gotcha is that if you want TB4, find a board with a Intel Maple Ridge JHL8540 (or similar) controller. It may be listed as USB4 due to trademarks.
IMO if you have the money, buy more ram now.
A few CPU cools that could work, A Noctua U14S, Bequiet Dark Rock series, among some others.
Dear @MazeFrame this is something I already have just as a games storage. I would rather not throw it away, it still serves it’s purpose. I can use it for games I use infrequently, or just big data sets with read only.
Thanks! Yes, physical layout maybe be important. I will look for the mobo with that chip.
Gigabyte had some issues with cracking 4090 PCB, and was unwilling to respect warranty, so I’m a bit afraid to go with them.
I have to admit they seem to have good stats for warranty:
You shouldn’t let a failure in one product impact your choice in another product line from the same vendor. It’s all different teams, different production lines, etc. In fact a failure like that is likely isolated to a specific model manufactured in a specific time frame. Once you start talking about design defects, manufacturing defects etc, it can get complicated.
It’s also possible to get very unlucky with DoA units. I once had a laptop that I had to get replaced three times within a few months, then on the third replacement it ran perfectly for a decade. Bad design? Unlucky failures? No way of knowing TBH.
Well, they still have the same top level policies, also I assume they will act similarly. If they dont care about their reputation, this will likely reflect in all warranty claims.
ASUS ProArt X670E-Creator Wifi What do think about this one? PCIe slots times 3, DP IN, wifi, 4 M2, 2 Ethernets. It’s not full TB, but maybe the USB 4 will do.
Thanks for your comment! I used this sheet as well.
I will get my tomorrow and read the manual to understand, if I can populate slot one with pcie 16x, slot two with pcie 4x and slot three with pcie 2x. This would make sense, but I read somewhere that you would get max 8x+8x+2x, which is a bit poor.
It depends how the board allocates the pcie lines. USB4 controllers consume 4 pcie lines, even it is integrated on the board. I prefer just giving me a x4 slot so that I can be more flexible.
Is the board asus x670e hero?
That board is ok for your purposes.
Some asrock Taichi variants convert one of cpu m.2 into USB4. You loose one cpu m.2. For those, I would avoid that.
It will be painful to use on AM5 platform, unless you have the X670 you don’t have that kind of pcie lane budget if GPU is in play. And If you do X670, then its switched.
I am really curious what kind of failure modes will that adapter exhibit once it is slotted in only available x1 PCI4 slot that is switched by one or two chipset switches.
Asus puts USB4 controller under one of the chipsets.
AsRock Taichi(s) put USB4 controller directly under CPU.
If you want to use external GPU with USB4, AsRock’s approach is better.
For a simple USB4 docking station, I prefer ASUS’s approach. You free up a Gen5 nvme.
Well yeah it kinda depends on which other futures would be a necessity for you.
I mean if you are fine with 2.5G nic than you could also get a cheaper board,
and a TB4 usb4 addin card those are generally a pcie 3.0 x4 interface.
For example the Asrock X670E Steel legend has the second pci-e slot wired directly into,
the cpu being a pci-e 3.0 4x slot electrically.
That slot could be used for the usb4 / TB4 card and it won´t steal any lanes from,
the m.2 drives or main gpu slot or what not.
The only downside with the Steel Legend is that it only comes with 1Gbe and 2.5Gbe nic´s onboard.
If you just want it all than pretty much the Asus Pro Art X670E Creator wifi,
would be the better choice probably.
Plus with the 1gbps internet I noticed that sometimes CPU gets busy as well when downloading.
