Would love that to be the case here. For a single low end threadripper cpu and board (no RAM or anything else) I can build 1.5x am5 systems where I live.
Also, scaling out to N Systems will get further than a single expensive threadripper box.
Caveats as above re additional complexity, workload distribution etc of course.
Threadripper Pro is crazy here in Canada. I guess we pay a premium for location.
5955WX 16-Core is going for $1500-$2000, 5965WX 24-Core is going for $3999, and the prices just get crazier the higher the core count.
64-Core is $9999. Plus 15% taxes where I live.
These are just processor without the motherboard. WRX80 motherboards here are $1400-$1900.
The prices seem to be going up with inflation over the past year.
Yup not too far off the pricing here. I guess those who need it will pay but it’s a pretty steep ask. Way more expensive than the old intel HEDT platforms.
How things have changed since threadripper 1000 series.
I recently priced out the Intel W2400/W3400 vs Threadripper Pro for a new workstation.
The TRPro system was $20,000 and the Intel system was $13,000.
So I went with Intel. I’m an equal platform user, I just go with the best deal. I have both Intel and AMD systems.
The 24-Core Intel outperforms the 24-Core TRPro in multi-thread, and is on par with the 32-Core TRPro in multi-thread.
Single-thread the Intel easily beats the TRPro. I’m not a power user though, I just got it for the 512GB of memory.
I’m not 100% happy with the ASUS Pro WS W790 motherboard, but that is another story, it’s “just ok”.
id get a 32core genoa qs for like 800$ on ebay, and asrock/supermicro atx motherboard and call it a day.
gonna be hard to beat that value.
Actually planning to do this myself. already use a server board for my current workstation, i dont miss the lack of soundcard(use a usb dac anyways) and the lack of usb ports can be solved with a pcie card or usb hub.
I am documenting my genoa build here:
Amd sp5 genoa motherboards from the usa now available on newegg - Hardware / Motherboards - Level1Techs Forums
I just posted the geekbench results from within windows 11. I have:
supermicro sp5 motherboard eatx with dual 10g
96GB ddr5-4800, 9 slots still available
rtx 4070 (only covers 2 slots)
dual 118gb optane + 1TBhdd,
Lost somewhere in the house that is intended for this computer is 64GB ddr5, a tpm module and 512gb ssd. Though I have been working with stable diffusion and collecting models. I may need more storage.
Just be aware from what I hear a lot(?) of OEM EPYC processors are vendor fused. Or were with prior gen?
If it came out of a dell or whatever it maybe won’t work in a third party board.
Or so I heard.
ref:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/ipz2xt/amd_epyc_cpus_getting_locked_to_computer_vendor/
Do you have an idea what stepping those are running? I’ve been checking out those but they’re all lacking some basic info.
I’m either going to cut down on my pcie requirements and go with the 7950x or go all in on an xeon w7-2475X and w790 system. I’m currently leaning towards the 7950x as it will be 40% of the cost of the w790 platform whilst the performance is comparable and without having to sell off my 5950x to counter the costs.
I think i might invest some time and effort into getting gpu sharing working on the 5950x, create a kubernetes setup over my different machines and save up for an extra gpu, maybe amd for some rocm development on the main desktop and leave the consolidation for a future system 
Maybe oems, never heard of a locked qs cpu, not sure if they even work in oem mother boards. My current workstation/server is a dual 7742 epyc system.
They have been great value since epyc Naples, but i have no experience with genoa qs cpus, and Theres not much info online
Generally qs cpu run slightly lower turbo speeds than retail, but in the past they have been unlocked so overclockable to faster than stock. Not sure if thats the case anymore though so wouldnt bet on it. But looks like they turbo just a few hundred MHz under retail.
Hopefully i can test a one soon, i also considered the 7950x but need the PCIe lanes
I got one of these 10GB for my Threadripper Pro build and ASUS Mobo. Comes in RJ45 variant as well ($86 on Amazon today) if you don’t want the SFP+. Was under $100 if memory serves. Works natively on Windows 10 and all the Linux Distros I run. Aquantia chipset.
I use Twinax cables as I could get three of them for one SFP+ RJ45 converter or SFP+ fiber.
if you are getting 7xxx series cpus many are vendor locked. The way they become vendor locked is to put it in a motherboard of a vendor who locks their CPUs. So don’t test the epyc cpu for your future supermicro build in your work dell or lenovo server.
Also, something to be aware of regarding second hand eBay CPUs…
When I was printing epyc systems this spring the 7xx3 cpus cost more than $1200.
The 7xx2 cpus started at $400.
The pcie4 motherboards were the same price as the Genoa Motherboards.
After testing the genoa 16 core cpu at $1100 it has double the single core performance of the 7xx2 cpus.
I think the Genoa systems are superior to the 7xxx system.
If someone is going to spend a few thousand on a new epyc system why get the one that is slower, less expandable and more expensive?
Not everyone has those couple thousands to spend. I got 2 full EPYC 7551P systems for €2k-ish. A Genoa CPU by itself is already more then double that price. And I don’t need the performance of a Genoa CPU, it’s way overkill for my use case. Heck, even the 7551P’s will be idling pretty much all of the time.
I got my CPU from here:
the motherboard is $800.
so 2K.
get the ram on eBay, people part out boxes of 25 dimms. 32GB dimms are about $80.
Then you are out the same amount as your pair of 7xx1 systems, except you have more than double the single threaded performance, the genoa 16 core multi threaded is the same speed as the 7xx1 64 core multithreaded and the system has 4 times the IO bandwidth.
And the system uses much less power at idle, and much less power when running full bore. And if you need more CPU than that, there are CPUs available capable of much higher speeds.
I went TR Pro, though this was back when the first gen had just come out to retail (mid 2021-ish) - it was a no-brainer thanks to a deal that brought the MB+CPU to ~$1400 bucks (M12SWA + 3955WX). I needed more cores, but figured to use the one it came with to tide me over till the 5975WX came out, and thankfully it did.
My biggest gripe is frankly the aquantia NIC… And it’s not even that there’s anything wrong with it, just that I wanted something with SR-IOV so I wouldn’t have to use one of the slots for a NIC. Seemed like the only supermicro board I’d ever personally laid hands on that had 10Gb that wasn’t Intel lol. The other options that were available at the time were fairly limited, and I figured I’d eventually want 25/40Gb at some point, so I’d be using a slot down the line regardless.
The main reason I’d go TR Pro today is memory costs honestly. When you can pick up 64GB DIMMs for less than $100 a pop (FAR less if you’re patient), as long as you don’t need DDR5, it’s a good way to save some significant $$. Otherwise, I’d either wait for the 7000WX release (whenever the hell that’s gonna end up being), or more likely, pick up one of those shiny new Xeon W’s and likely save yourself a ton of coin on the processor side of things. With how many PCIe lanes you’re needing, along with the seeming need for high clocks, I’d be looking at the W3400 series and pairing it with something like supermicro’s X13SWA-TF. All depends on how much you wanna spend, and how pressing the need is (meaning, do you wait to see what AMD’s 7000WX shakes out like and buy ‘whomever wins out’)
My biggest hope is that Intel’s re-entry into the workstation market brings AMD back from their money-printing level pricing to something a bit more reasonable. It already seems to have had an affect, as the same M12SWA that was going for ~$1100-1200 6 months ago is once again selling for ~$750, so there’s hope!
Hello guys,
I am also considering building my own server/workstation build for home usage(or when on vacation) for deep learning purposes. I am considering the Supermicro H13SSL-N motheboard and epyc 9124 cpu for start and will pair it with several gpu-s. I plan to upgrade as many gpus as I can, so my question is, can I go on more than 3 gpus on this motheboard?
It has 3 pcie x16 slots but 2 x8 slots? I have heard about riser cables but can it be safely used in pair with ‘normally’ plugged gpus?
Is it worth going with pcie 5.0 build at this point at all for my purpose? I am planning on using double rtx 3090 for start and later add some a6000 and so on.
I picked this option since epyc provides more pcie lanes than tr mobos do.
Do I need ddr5 ecc memory for starters or I can go with regular ddr5 memory?
What is the reason this motheboard is cheaper than the others? Is there some other detail I should watch at?
Is the ‘cheaper’ build with milan gen better bfb at this point?
Thanks alot!
You certainly can install more than 3 GPUs, but I think the question you’ll want to answer to start is “where the hell am I going to fit all this stuff” lol - look for a chassis that’ll fit everything you want to put into the build (generically I mean, x GPUs, etc), and then find the rest of the components that suit the need.
There are cables / adapters / risers for just about everything of course, but you’d likely be best suited to sort out your requirements prior to making hardware choices; just a little research will help get you on your way.
Once youve got the fundamentals ironed out, then you’ll at least have enough information to know what questions might still be lingering / need help with, and you can start up a new thread with them laid out so others can try to chime in to help 
Thank you for answer, BVD. At this point while writting I came up with 5 additional questions… It does not seem like a lot of people build their own servers for AI specifically, so not much can be found online. I just don’t want to overspend on something which won’t be useful to me, e.g. going for genoa if I can go with second gen with more cores, if I can get more from additional cores then gen difference…There is just too many questions to answer so I want to simply ask for a reccomendation of a lets say low mid and high end/pricewise (cpu+mobo) up to my budget of like 2k(for those two components). Thanks alot.