Always hear Wendel say to share your build on the forums, but always forget to do it. Doing now before I forget again.
New Parts:
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X
Lian Li O11 Dynamic Black
Enermax LiqTech TR4 II 360 RGB
Corsair HD 120s (Additional)
Corsair HX1200i
CableMod Carbon Extensions
Cablemod Right Angle USB 3.0 Header Extension
2nd Commander Pro
2x 40mm IC Graphite Pads
Existing Parts:
2x Asus STRIX GTX 1080 Ti
128GB Corsair 16GB RGB DDR4 3200
Samsung 970 Pro 512GB
2x Samsung 960 Evo 500GB
2x 8TB Seagate Ironwolf Pro
Zotac 1 Slot HB SLI Bridge
Corsair HD 120s
Corsair Addressable LED Strips
Corsair Commander Pro
This is iteration #3 of my Threadripper system. The previous build used the 1950X, but I was very impressed with what Precision Boost Overdrive brought to the table after seeing a few reviews. I’ve also cut down from 6 drives to two by moving to a NAS now that everything in my home has been upgraded to 10 gigabit ethernet. This meant I could move to a smaller case. I also had a pump failure on my Gen 1 Enermax AIO, so the cards really just lined up for a rebuild. They were nice enough to send me a 2nd Gen cooler which has RGB, so I didn’t have to theme around white this time.
Things I loved about the build:
Options! The first time around, I was limited by my part choice, but it is really nice to see more modern cases with EATX support.
Seeing AMD grow! I really do like where AMD is headed. When Intel releases their iterative chips, we’d been forced to just take a minor clock speed bump, but now with real competition comes real upgrades. The performance boost over the 1950X on paper seems like nothing much, but I see many cores boosting higher and single threaded application feel much faster. Precision boost overdrive really makes a difference. There’s only a 250~ point difference between it and my all core (4.275GHz) Cinebench score.
Aesthetics! My 760T was good looking and all, but this O11 Dynamic is really a show stopper of a case while maintaining great thermals. Being smaller, I can have it up on my desk to enjoy.
Cable management! It’s been great in this case. I used Cablemod extensions with Mod-One shorty cables. It was MUCH cheaper than getting a full set of custom cables and looks just as good. Lots of room to manage in this case… or be a bit messy if you choose.
IC Graphite pads! These were quick to install and saved me from having to clean up a mess of paste when I change to the upcoming ROG cooler and 2990WX once the windows bugs are worked out.
Challenges:
As with the first time I used this board, the Zenith Extreme has one of those Foxconn retention brackets that’s is insanely difficult to work with. You end up getting all 3 screws in if you ignore the order listed on the socket, but still have to use way more for than you’re comfortable with on $1400 worth of parts.
The diagnostic screen died. A bit of a bummer on a year-old board. I don’t feel like RMAing just for that.
I use this PC for the Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, VMs, deep learning experiments, gaming, and everything things. It’s my main rig. Even when I’m at my office, I use it remotely. I use it more for creative & workstation tasks than gaming.
Bottom intake, side and top exhaust. Going for aesthetics since there was only about a 3 degree difference in the variation I tried.
The Enermax is great. Handles itself very well even with a 4.275 all core OC. I don’t leave it like that though. I have it setup for Precision Boost Overdrive and it does extremely well. Feels much snappier than my 1950X did.
I will say that this is an RMA replacement because my Gen 1 had a pump problem. That said, they overnighted the replacement and didn’t make me bother with shipping the Gen 1 back.
What’s the use case? Of course “just because” is a totally valid answer as well!
I would like to upgrade in the next twelve months (No M.2 on my M/B) but I still don’t really tax my i7-4930K unless I am running several VMs in a lab or encoding video. Neither of these tasks is done on a daily basis.
It’s my own personal Skunkworks (Jayztwocents just because build).
I’ve split off most of the tasks I used to do with it to other machines about 6 months into the 1950X version, so I could have gotten away w/ just using my 2700X or 8700K builds. That’s no fun though. I’ll keep up with Threadripper until the upgrade path is dead.
To answer the question though: Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, VMs, deep learning experiments, infrequent gaming, etc…
This looks like a great build! I’m planning to do a similar build. Do you think the enermax radiator would fit on the side vertical fan slots? Also would it be possible to move the tubes so it doesn’t obstruct the RGB rams?
Thanks! Should fit. There’s about a 2in gap above my top fan. As far as tubes, not really. They would have needed to do what Corsair did w/ the H150i Pro and make them adjustable.
Thanks for the response. Its so hard to find a good cooler for threadripper. The O11 Dynamic also excludes the big air coolers as well. I’m deciding if its worth going through the hassle to do custom loop.
I am looking to replace my Enermax LiqTEch II 360 as well.
I like the look of the ML360, especially because it’s one of the only other AIO’s with a larger contact area. But there are some complaints about the build quality ( esp the mounting hardware breaking ).
It’s “fine.” Nothing really special. Temps are acceptable, leaning towards good. Build quality is a valid concern. I knew beforehand to be careful, so I didn’t encounter issues, but it was flimsy.
