Considering a 1920x for a truenas/vm

Hardware Build a PC
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Hello everyone, I recently found out you can get first-gen threadripper 1920x for around 185$ so I’m thinking of buying one but first here’s what I have today:
(you can skip to the bottom for my questions)

Hardware and software:
I7 3770 that reaches peaks of 4.3ghz but sustained is more like 4.065ghz
32GB DDR3 1600
running windows 10

What I use it for:
Video transcoding with HandBrake
Video Editing with VSDC
Storage
Streaming with NFS share to my tv box
Network shares for programs and other stuff

What I was thinking:
Get the threadripper and install TrueNas on it, make the current windows install into a VM image for things I can’t run directly on the TrueNas, and use Handbrake and other things directly on TrueNas and since I’ll have 12 cores I’ll be able to do all this much easier than on my 4 cores 8 threads.

Links to what I thought to buy:
ECC RAM at least 2 sticks

OR

Asus ROG STRIX X399-E GAMING

NVME for TrueNas OS (I know it can run from a USB, but I plan on getting a USB as well and cloning the NVME to it every day as a backup of the os in case of failure)

The Processor

My Big Questions:

  1. what do you think of this build, is it worth it? am I missing something or doing something wrong?
  2. regarding cooling, I could go with a Noctua NH-U12S but I have an Antec Kuler that the pump died on and I want to convert to a custom loop, so I have the rad and the fans but I’ll need a pump a res and a CPU plate, plus I’ll need to convert the tubes from the aio rad to a normal g1/4 connection which I’m not sure how that’ll work.

For Reference this is the dead AIO:

Those are my main questions, I’d love to hear what you have to say especially regarding reusing the dead AIO since I don’t want to throw it away.

Thanks for reading this far, and have a great day!

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If you’re going to the point of using ecc, you should probably stay away from ghetto liquid cooling

I would recommend the U12S or the artic freezer 50 TR, it’s fairly affordable and performs very well, you’ll be using ecc ram so that will fit under the heatsink, both of these will keep the CPU cool and liquid cooling wouldn’t really offer a benefit

As far as VMs idk someone more knowledgeable could answer that

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Truenas core uses bsd and hence the b-hyve hypervisor. It is just not that good and you may be disappointed by the VM experience, especially if you want a GPU passthrough. A better option would be to use a Linux hypervisor like proxmox and pass through a couple of HBAs for your truenas instance. Then you can run a windows VM from the hypervisor, rather than within truenas.

Threadripper is quad channel. First gen with ecc tops out at 2933MHz (this is what I run at home) so you would be better getting more sticks if you can afford it.

Not recommended any more. The latest builds will trash a usb drive in a few months due to high write volume. Your name plan is sensible, although a sata ssd would be just fine.

Your call. I daily drive first gen threadripper and it is great, but not power efficient for a server and may be overkill for what you are doing. You can get 12 cores on a consumer board these days.
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Don’t water cool servers, unless your name is Linus Sebastian or you have a death wish.

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First off thank you for the reply, it’s very detailed and easy to read. now for my responses/questions.

especially if you want a GPU passthrough

I don’t need a GPU pass-through, as I said the main uses for this computer today are video transcoding, email storage, data storage, and network shares.
The only reason I would spin up a VM would be to download new mail from pop3, video edit with a free software that encodes with CPU, scan a document or open one in LibreOffice, and run ember media once in a while. and also download games from steam and epic games.

so overall none of those need a GPU or a really good VM manager.

First-gen with ECC tops out at 2933MHz

I’ve researched that a bit, on AMD’s website it said 2666 which is why I went with that, can you point me in the right direction where it says it supports that specific speed?
I thought I’d start with 2 sticks and add later if needed, I don’t see a reason to go above 32GB in this use case, it’s what I have today and I’m barely using 8.

Not recommended any more

Good to know, which is another reason it’s good i went with an NVME.

Your call. I daily drive first gen threadripper and it is great, but not power efficient for a server and may be overkill for what you are doing. You can get 12 cores on a consumer board these days.

Well, compared to what i use today, i think this would be a massive jump. my current rig isn’t power efficient either, and it’s also a small furnace and a mirical that i got it to go above 4GHZ on a non-k CPU.
It may be overkill, but it’s the cheapest option right now, and it will allow me to run servers like bitwarden and other services locally, consumer boards with the same number of cores or even the same performance are sky high right now and rarely available.

Don’t water cool servers, unless your name is Linus Sebastian or you have a death wish.

Well, it’s not a “server” in the classic sense, it’s a computer that currently sits in my bedroom and i need to sleep with the noise it makes, also forgot to mention it’s in a normal mid tower case.

from what i gathered this chip runs hot, and needs a good cooling solution, and that AIO i have is just laying around gathering dust. plus that noctua cooler is quite expensive, same as the arctic, are they performing well enough with chips like these?

by well enough i mean keeping it in the 70’s tops, that’s what my current CPU reaches, and it heats up the area it’s in quite a bit.

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The dimm stick model number looks like Registered memory.

I don’t think threadripper does registered?

Check motherboard support just in case?

I could be plain wrong…

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I’ve had experience with FreeNas and kingston ECC, but that was on a 3600 with an asus motherboard as well.

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correct they need to be UDIMMs.

I’m running four sticks of Crucial CT16G4WFD8266 . They clock to 2933 fully stable (stress tested).

Not what I see. My 1920x is currently at 52C with 2 work VMs running and Civ6 running on the host (don’t tell the boss). I am using a 240MM AIO, but its a workstation and I wanted it quiet. It sounds like your use case is similar, so a simple AIO is fine. Given it is in your bedroom you can keep an eye on it. If it were going in a closet, then an air cooler is better.

Check your x399 board will fit. My Define r5 is roomy but the motherboard takes up all the space. Most x399 boards are bordering eATX size.

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67$ for the artic freezer 50 tr will be significantly cheaper than a pump and threadripper block, fittings and tubes, it’s one of the best performing budget coolers out there, can cool a 64 core 3990X

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I’m not sure noise is a great reason to get into watercooling these days in general. Back in the day, sure, but now there’s plenty of whacking huge heatsinks like that with fans which are probably going to be inaudible in a typical room anyway.

It’s also just more stuff to fail which is fine in a machine that can be easily replaced, but I wouldn’t want to try watercooling anything in my rack either. I’ll indulge my inner mad scientist with the workstation instead, because I’d rather lose some expensive hardware than to lose my data.

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Seconding this, water cooling adds complexity and cost, and doesn’t really perform better in either temps or sound than a proper air cooler these days.

The only reason I ever got into water cooling a few years was so I could literally stick the fans/radiator on the other side of the window so my tiny rented room wouldn’t heat up as much. I’m currently all air.

Just get an overkill air cooler and some noctua or a pile of these, it’ll practically be passive for a 1920x at idle.

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Likes of the programs + a VM will be gnawing away at memory [even if periodic] - better to think about closer to 32.-- 2666 be the ceiling [when occupying up the ram limit of 128GB, or particular memory combinations]. Pretty sure @Wendell mentioned more than once, on getting his TR handling 2933 memory comfortably [+ squeaking in, some tighter timings].

For your cooling, perhaps look at newer air-cooled HSs* [sTRX4 ready] or any of Noctuas offerings, as the heat piping contact be of a greater HS area coverage [thanks to TR3s chiplets spread, being nearly across the substrate].

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they do that with DOCP or did you manually clock them that way?

Which? you need TR4 specific models, and the base plate needs to be large enough to cover the whole processor.

that is an excellent point that I did not consider. thank you, I will check.

this is so far the cheapest option I found, on Amazon it’s 60$

yea last time I tried to fiddle with memory timings i had a rough experience. granted, this was on ddr3 and this would be ddr4, but still, if it could do it out of the box and be stable I would much prefer that.

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via DOCP. just selected in thew dropdown

Its just a H110i. Quite old now. the 1920x comes with an adapter for asertek pumps and it just slipped on to the corsair pump. it doesnt cover the full heat spreader but its a good 60% and my temps are ok. If i didnt already have the AIO I would have gone air cooler.

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I overclocked my 2400mhz ECC ram (which doesn’t have XMP/DOCP) in my 1950x to 2933mhz with timings at 16 manually. I initially did it for fun/curiosity, but eventually the Ryzen ram calculator came out which gave working settings right away. Note that simply setting everything and rebooting likely won’t work, you’ll have to do it in steps, setting frequency and stability settings first, reboot (so the memory can train), set the primary timings, reboot, set the rest of the timings.

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It’s a shame both of his tools are only made for windows though, this means I need to run windows (I’m guessing not in a VM) and run both, and once that’s stable install the config I want.

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Exactly as you say. It’s annoying, but setting up a system and poking at performance requires bouncing between windows and linux.

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that was a good call, the motherboard I found was E-ATX and this is my case:

so I doubt it will fit. I do however have an Antec p183 which will be terrible for cooling, and now that I look at this page I doubt it will fit as well.

well, thanks for trying everyone and thanks for saving me from buying all those things and ending up buying a new case for it as well.

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To be sure, the chip might be older, but I still use one in my daily workstation, and it’s held up well for first get

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So i’ve been doing a bit of research and thanks to anandtech and their handbrake benchmark list I saw that I can get better performance with a 3700x which is only a bit more than the threadripper i saw, plus I save a lot on the motherboard.

now with that in mind, would you recommend a b550, considering the usage described, or x570?

EDIT: actually forget that it’s x570 now I need to find out which ECC memory this Asus board supports.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X570-P/

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