AMD Threadripper rig, good choice?

V-Ray V-Ray Common Off-topic
1

Hey guys,

Thinking about building an AMD Threadripper rig for rendering. First time DIY a PC here, so kinda excited and hope not step wrong steps. I use pcpartpicker for computability check but want to check with you 3D gurus to see if the rig is solid for day-to-day rendering of personal projects and upgrade potential for adding two or three GPUs in the future for GPU rendering.
Trying to keep the budget under $2000 and hence the GTX 1060 and 32GB of RAM.

Main concern: capability and stability for OC to 4GHz with the cooler…

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4GHz 16-Core Processor ($799.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U9 TR4-SP3 78.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - X399 Taichi ATX TR4 Motherboard ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1963.84 USD

Any comment will be appreciated.

cheers,
Jason

2

Seems great!
You will have 4 more RAM slots free for future RAM upgrade.

Best,
Blago.

3

Thanks Blago! That’s the plan for sure… :slight_smile: I am also a bit concerned the CPU cooler fan will be in the way of the closest GPU slot, making me surrender that slot forever. Then I can only put 3 GPUs maximum in the future…
It’s hard to tell based on the measurement/spec.

4

Hi Jason
I would go for water cooling on the Threadripper if you can.
I’ve been working on one the last 4 weeks and we got it with Corsair Hydro H110i, shouldn’t be much more expensive and no issues with space around the CPU.

5

Yeah Gavin, I was debating between water cooling Corsair H80i v2 (due to budget) and air cooling Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3. I was kinda convinced to go with air cooling after viewing this review on Youtube.

But then the size of air cooling does worry me if one day I need to crank a GPU using the slot closest to the CPU…

Are you OC your 1950x to 4.0+GHz with the Corsair Hydro H110i? If yes, has it been stable?

6

Very interested in something like this but ideally in a small form factor!

7

I would definitely splurge on the All In One liquid cooler if you can. It will keep temps slightly lower but it is also much quieter.

8

We did overclock but ran into problems with the motherboard having temperature issues before the CPU. It’s an MSI Carbon and apparently, MSI is working on a fix.
And as Jason said it is definitely much quieter.

9

hopefully a manufacturer will release a micro ATX board

10

That I would like to see considering the Threadripper CPU is almost the size of a business card lol

11

To the OP I hope its a good investment as I just build my first Threadripper lol. So far I’m very happy with the performance but time will tell…

12

Thanks guys! I have received everything except the motherboard. I missed the deal to snap a $250 ASRock Taichi…went with his bigger brother ASRock Pro Gaming motherboard…