Threadripper build, lots of questions about cooling and storage

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
K

kemijo

Commendable
Nov 6, 2017
5
0
1,510
Hi all, I'm building my first DIY rig in about 15 years, primarily for VFX/content creation and occasional gaming, should last me awhile.

Here are the parts:

Fractal Design Define S
Threadripper 1950x (I intend to do a low-to-moderate overclock)
G.Skill TridentZ 128gb Memory
MSI GTX 1080Ti Duke (may add more cards way in the future)
Corsair HX1000i PSU (overkill but see above)
Asrock Taichi x399
Enermax Liqtech 360 AIO
Crucial MX300 M.2 as system drive
Samsung 960 Evo 1Tb M.2 NVME as storage drive

I think I have most of it down but I'm still a bit foggy on cooling and M.2 storage.

Cooling

I intend to put the CPU AIO cooler in the top of the case, which comes stock with a front intake fan and a rear exhaust fan. Do I need more? Should I swap out the stock case fans for, say, the newer (better?) Fractal Design Venturi fans? What about the fans that come with the AIO? Is there an easy way to check airflow efficiency without using fog or incense? I assume I need high pressure fans for the front intake because of the filter, correct? Is there any advantage to adding a radiator to the front? I'm in SoCal 2.5 miles from the beach. Quite warm in the summer but bearable without AC. Should that be a consideration?

M.2 Storage and PCI-E

I've read conflicting things about how they can affect the available bandwidth of the PCI-E lanes. I don't think there's an issue initially but if I were to add more GPUs or other components in the future, at what point, if any, would performance be impacted? Is this only relevant for the Samsung NVME? I have heard there are heat issues on M.2 storage, is this true?

Any insight appreciated. Also if there's anything else that looks like it might be an issue or conflict feel free to enlighten me :)
 
Solution
Vic 40
The cpu has 64 pcie lanes to adress so no limitations there. And see no limitations on the board side as well,so no pcie lanes are restricted by using M.2 slots/drives even when using four pcie slots.The M.2 are pcie x4 and the max all pcie slots can use is 48 lanes in total with the cpu having 64 available.

I would reconsider the MX300 as bootdrive since a normal sata drive in the end. Why not use two Samsung 960 drives since spending so much money on this build.Or use a normal sata ssd drive for storage (doesn't have to be M.2) and use the NVME 960 as bootdrive.

For the fans could you at first use the two fans that come with the case in the front for intake and use the cooler for outtake. If you want more fans could you of course...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Vic 40

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Oct 22, 2013
20,885
994
87,990
The cpu has 64 pcie lanes to adress so no limitations there. And see no limitations on the board side as well,so no pcie lanes are restricted by using M.2 slots/drives even when using four pcie slots.The M.2 are pcie x4 and the max all pcie slots can use is 48 lanes in total with the cpu having 64 available.

I would reconsider the MX300 as bootdrive since a normal sata drive in the end. Why not use two Samsung 960 drives since spending so much money on this build.Or use a normal sata ssd drive for storage (doesn't have to be M.2) and use the NVME 960 as bootdrive.

For the fans could you at first use the two fans that come with the case in the front for intake and use the cooler for outtake. If you want more fans could you of course also choose to get three nice new fans in the front (or add two),but i'm not the one to ask about what ones.Just looking at specs would the Venturi HF-14 probably be a nice choice unless you want pwm controlled fans.Can also check the Corsair Fan AF140L for instance and many more to read about.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
K

kemijo

Commendable
Nov 6, 2017
5
0
1,510


I knew of custom cooling setups but I had not researched monoblocks, I thought damn I missed something! But I won't be doing a heavy overclock, just under whatever is stable with an AIO. It's already going to be a huge jump up from my 2008 Mac Pro, I'll be happy. Thanks for the info!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

kemijo

Commendable
Nov 6, 2017
5
0
1,510


That answers my PCI-e questions, thanks!

I had considered what you are suggesting for the two drive...using the faster Samsung as my boot would get me faster load times and application opening but those are already fast enough for me on a SATA SSD. Where I need the speed and space is loading large single and sequential files. I am an FX artist so when I run simulations the sim geometry files can easily be hundreds of gb per frame. The faster the drive, the faster they will write while simming, load when playing back/previewing, renders go faster, etc. Fast sequential I/O should be great for VFX work. Yes I could have gotten two but it doesn't hurt to save a little bit of money somewhere :) Perhaps if I find a really good deal.

The info about fans gives me something to consider, I wasn't sure the top radiator would be enough for exhaust but I'll try a few things. I also didn't realize the Venturi were not PWM controlled. I'll continue looking into this, thanks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Vic 40

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Oct 22, 2013
20,885
994
87,990

You're welcome.:D



Am not into that so didn't realize what the performance impact on your work would be.I do own sata and nvme bootdrives and the second does really boot windows abit faster,more important is the loading of programs.To me at least it seems that way. ;) I also like the looks on the motherboard with the 960 being black,but that's a personal thing.:D




There are pwm Venturi fans as well,just for the purpose these i mentioned seemed fine.
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/casefans/venturi-series
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom