Move to sTR4

I am roughly at majority%, where I would want to be, in addressing a movement to a newer platform… Linux rig wise

Keeping with pace, for new internal components. I will be using long awaited X399 Platform (Mainboard, CPU, Boot M.2, HS) [PSU, GPU and a 2.5in HDD are carryover bits]. I should be a kid, coming from the candy store, lugging a BIGG bag home…But, I’m actually not too eager to re-position, due to my AM3 system that was crafted/revived <<1yr ago [using my O.G. CPU, Which was my previous Daily Driver Chip… and this rig is TIDY-AF]

With that said, I’m looking for early T+E advice, from those that have used X399, regardless of ongoing / short term basis.

Legacy Mode(s):
I do entertain running some older games [IF applicable], which have been observed having bigly problems, to newer processing [particluarly more cores/threads, than EVER foreseen back when]. I’m looking at Legacy / non-SMT toggles, especially that I’m NOT running anything THAT level of power, in the immediate future [CPU wise]–>

  • Would CPU wattage draw be reduced? If yes, is it sizeable or menial?
  • Would OC boosting capacity of CPU, be sustained for a longer period?

Memory
When it comes to idyllic memory volume / freq., is their any sweet spot to be obtained? 4x8GB [32GB total], is what I’m currently plotting to put in at start [Baseline-XMP a/o PBO-I.F. applicable]

Dem PCIe Lanes:
I’m contemplating one of those multi-M.2 card docks, towards an x16 slot later [for tidier storage esp.]. Has any dock proven being non-haggle, regardless of motherboard involved?.. Maybe a Capture card? [idk-HTF to Stream!?]… Maybe another VGA, IF I consider Looking Glass?

Thermals:
I know this is a bigg ol’ honkin’ chip, but looking at from a system thermals OV. Were you able to arrange rig, into a conventional sized ATX case? Or was their actual greater cooling demands, needing a more accommodating case? (more fans / A I R R R ! ?)

Any constructive inputs, would be greatly welcomed

I’m not convinced that the price/perf is there for X399. Sure, the mobo prices are lower than TRX40 but you’ll be stuck on Zen or Zen+.

I personally run a 1950X on my Zenith Extreme. I got the CPU at Microcenter for i think it was $630 way back when. It’s a very solid system, but as a builder after the first 3 or so pc’s i built ten+ years ago I’ve not found it hard to at least eventually get all my systems to a state where they’re solid and dependable…

I also happen to have an 8700K system I built a few months before I put together the 1950X rig. I went hardcore with the 8700K: I delidded it, used conductonaut under the IHS, and used conductonaut between the IHS and the NH-D15, and it’s been pegged at 5Ghz (200mhz AVX offset) for 3 years.

The 1950X can’t hold a candle to Coffee Lake at 5Ghz whether or not I overclock it. It starts to suck up a lot of power once you pass 4Ghz and Zen 1 is well behind on IPC. Naturally, then, my 3080 is plugged into the 8700K. I got the 1950X because 16 cores and 32 threads was unthinkable at the time. It was just a different era. And I needed more horsepower for some rendering I was doing for work.

I run 96GB of ECC UDIMMs in it so it seems different from what you’re going for. I was planning to transplant the zenith extreme into my NAS case that can house all my hard drives… but that’s still something I haven’t got around to! The NAS is perfectly capable with its X99 5820K setup. So I’ve been using the threadripper exclusively as my work machine.

My zenith extreme board has a curious problem where the pciex16 slot I use (the top one is covered by my HSF) does not link up faster than 8x. I looked at it and there dont seem to be any problems in the slot. It pisses me off a lot but isn’t preventing anything from working and the system is rock solid. So it’s just annoying to me. I contacted ASUS but they gave me the runaround. Yeah there’s a lot of pcie lanes, but you’ll get way more with TRX40…

Cooling is fine. The Noctua U14S TR4-SP3 air cooler is the most capable air cooler on the market. it wipes the floor with every other compatible air cooler, even the much larger ones. Surprising but true. My rig is in a corsair 460X “compact mid tower” case, the U14S just barely fits in there.

Personally I’m eagerly awaiting Zen 3 threadripper and Noctua’s TR compatible D15 revision. Might decide to go custom loop or thermosiphon for it too. But it’s hard to decide. I suspect 5950X chips will become possible to obtain soon in the next few months. I am not sure that I can hold out for Zen 3 TR. As much as I love 8 DIMM slots and salivating over quad or octo channel memory… realistically the benefit I’m getting out of these is for compiling code. Wide memory bandwidth is sexy for sure but I still don’t see that many opportunities to take advantage of it.

Again, i must emphasize, unless you really need the additional pcie lanes and double the memory bandwidth and more DIMM slots, in every other way a 3950x will demolish an X299 setup, even if you put a 2990WX in it!!! I highly recommend you consider an AM4 approach. As far as I can tell you just want to run games, and the name of the game there is single thread performance, and you want at least 6 cores, preferably 8 cores. Just get a 5800X or 5900X dude.

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This is the NUMA issue, not really an issue on Linux and mostly solved now on windows. If you are gaming in a VM on your Windows machine you can set core affinity and this won’t be an issue at all.

Reduced compared to what? Compared to AM3… Probably similar power draw, but compared to consumer zen, way more power hungry. For comparison I have a 1920x that uses similar power to my old PhenomII

I would not buy first gen Threadripper for overclocking. It is not the use case. Threadripper is good for many high performance cores, with workstation stability. If you want high clocks and high frame rates, go Intel or consumer Ryzen.

I ran 3200Mhz on 4x8GB sticks but it crashed once a week. Swapped to ECC ram at 2933Mhz and it has been solid as a rock. First gen Threadripper is poor for high speed memory. 2nd gen solved it but if you want speed, go consumer.

First gen Threadripper is now 3 years old. The last bios update for my motherboard was in January 2020. They won’t get any more agesa updates.

Unless you get one second hand and cheap, don’t buy one new. Go consumer Ryzen for up to 16 cores, even zen1 /2 in a modern board will give you upgrade paths. It will support everything first gen Threadripper does, including plenty of m.2.

That said, I love my workstation for running all day, stable, with two windows vms running for work and still having all the cores left over. It was a good investment 3 years ago, just not where I would spend money today.

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Following up, with your inputs:

  1. Error on my part – Processing cores* [yes, the whole NUMA thing]
    2a) Power Draw, as in comparing baseline [full core/threads available] vs legacy mode(s) [reduced core/thread counts].
    2b) If by reducing thermal buildup sources [in turn dialing back the temp. buildup], would the native OC/Boost, hold up for longer period? [or is another overriding element, like say an internal timer, restrain that kinda opportunity]
  2. Don’t worry-- was looking at TR Gen.2, from the start [20X / 50X]
  3. That, is an interesting side effect, from your conventional DDR4… On the dot assured? Would it happen,regardless of speed setting applied? I know Wendell, has mentioned on a few odd occasions, about AMD having ECC support [but were never explicitly calling it out]. Think I recall seeing Crucial, listing a few denser ECC DIMMs, supposedly suitable to X399.

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