New mobile workstation

[Giona]

You should consider SSD for everything if you have money for it.

Thanks for the explanation.
This morning I went to get a quote at my local shop, and they convinced me to avoid the too compact cases.

About the storage they said that SSD can be faulty when used with a lot of read and write tasks. So basically they suggested ssd (m.2) for OS, another ssd to be used while working with projects, and then 2 HDD in raid for backup. I should move the projects files to the HDD when I finish to work on them.
It seems a quite strange setup to me..

If I want a Ryzen 3950X it could be really difficult to find 128gb of ram, because of the 4 dimm on the motherboards. Especially if I want to follow the qvl list.
In fact they have none at the moment.

For the Threadripper 3960X they proposed an Asus Prime x399-A motherboard. It seems to be the cheapest option, but is it good enough?
For cooling they suggested the Coolermaster ML240 TR4. Can it work or is better to look elsewhere?

[twoheads]

As Dell Precision M6800 long time user (5 years +) I can write few things about it:

If you don't need to buy "laptop" just don't, unless you really, really need it and want to travel with it. Working in max, modeling and rendering is possible but let's be frank it's pain in the ass.

Not familiar with new generation of dell's mobile workstations but previous is really solid (metal brick solid so to speak) it's built to last. I'm sure you'll be able to leave it to your grandchildren.

It's huge and heavy compared to regular laptops. But it's possible to fly with this brick though. We are talking about 4kg+ here so please keep that in mind :)



cheers

[Juraj]

So..lot of things :- )

- Longevity of SSDs is no longer an issue. Most of them have minimum "full-rewrite" of hundreds terabytes. That's just minimum guarantee, they will absolutely go much longer. They will survive longer than HDDs, don't worry about that.
- But expensive SSDs will live longer because of their higher-end NAND flash memory (SLC for corporate grade, MLC/TLC for everyday use, and QLC for budget oriented storage). Alternatively, 3D XPoint/Optane for super ultra corporate high-end.

- QLV lists are almost worthless, they barely test anything useful. You will find very few 64/128/256GB kits being tested.
128 (4x16GB) is no problem at all for 3950X, I run it like that. I bought two kits of Corsair 3200 CL16 2x32GB, and it runs super stable at 3200 CL16 at 4x32GB on Asus Strix-E X570.

- Are you sure they proposed X399 Prime and not TRX40 Prime? You need TRX40 board for 3rd gen Threadripper, not X399 which is last generation.
- Every single TRX40 board is good enough to run both Threadrippers, even Asus Prime.

- ML240 TR4 is not a good a cooler. The reason is that while it has copper plate that covers the full heatspreader of TR4 socket CPUs, internally the cold-plate (where the water touches the surface) is still under-sized because it's the same Asetek patented one as every single other on market. This cooler only pretends to be better, but is not.

There are the only TR4 designed coolers: Noctua UH14s TR4 (Excellent), Arctic Freezer 50 TR4 (Good), Wraithripper (Good), SilverArrow TR4 (Very good) and single water AIO Enermax Liqtech TR4 (Excellent cooling, very poor quality).

If any shop suggests something else, they don't know enough about Threadrippers.

[Giona]

As Dell Precision M6800 long time user (5 years +) I can write few things about it:

If you don't need to buy "laptop" just don't, unless you really, really need it and want to travel with it. Working in max, modeling and rendering is possible but let's be frank it's pain in the ass.

Not familiar with new generation of dell's mobile workstations but previous is really solid (metal brick solid so to speak) it's built to last. I'm sure you'll be able to leave it to your grandchildren.

It's huge and heavy compared to regular laptops. But it's possible to fly with this brick though. We are talking about 4kg+ here so please keep that in mind :)



cheers

Yes, I know really well those mobile workstations because I owned the M6500 and still using the M6800 :)
The M6800 was a beast back in the days and I did a lot of works with it. Keeping it rendering overnight. They're made really well.
In the past these kind of laptop were absolutely necessary, but nowdays I probably need less portability.
So I changed idea and probably I'll buy a standard workstation.

[Giona]

- QLV lists are almost worthless, they barely test anything useful. You will find very few 64/128/256GB kits being tested.
128 (4x16GB) is no problem at all for 3950X, I run it like that. I bought two kits of Corsair 3200 CL16 2x32GB, and it runs super stable at 3200 CL16 at 4x32GB on Asus Strix-E X570.

- ML240 TR4 is not a good a cooler. The reason is that while it has copper plate that covers the full heatspreader of TR4 socket CPUs, internally the cold-plate (where the water touches the surface) is still under-sized because it's the same Asetek patented one as every single other on market. This cooler only pretends to be better, but is not.

I'll ask to the shop guy to try to find the Corsair Kit3200 CL16 4x32GB, because my first choice would be to build a Ryzen 3950X workstation. The Threadripper 3960X is quite expensive.
If I'll opt for the TR I'll go with the Noctua UH14s TR4.

- Are you sure they proposed X399 Prime and not TRX40 Prime? You need TRX40 board for 3rd gen Threadripper, not X399 which is last generation.
- Every single TRX40 board is good enough to run both Threadrippers, even Asus Prime.

Yes, in the quote they wrote Asus MB Prime X399-A. They made a quick search just to give me a rough idea of the prices.
I'll report this to the guy in order to select the correct one, the Asus TRX40-Pro. It looks far superior to the X399-A.

[Juraj]

It's not about superior, you can't use X399 :- ) It's old generation, they are not compatible. X399 is for 1/2xxx Threadrippers only. TRX40 is only for 3xxx. It can't be combined in different way.

You can use 4x32 even for Threadripper, 4x32 is better than 8x16 because it puts less stress on CPU and allows you to upgrade to 8x32 in future.
So you should buy 32GB modules in any case, regardless of going with Ryzen, Threadripper, or Intel.

The 3200/CL16 4-kit is only available in little more expensive Corsair RGB Pro modules, which have worse compatibility with air coolers.
If you want the low-profile Corsair LPX, Corsair doesn't make it in 4-kit. That's why you have to buy 2x 2-kit. It's the same result..

[Giona]

It's not about superior, you can't use X399 :- ) It's old generation, they are not compatible. X399 is for 1/2xxx Threadrippers only. TRX40 is only for 3xxx. It can't be combined in different way.

You can use 4x32 even for Threadripper, 4x32 is better than 8x16 because it puts less stress on CPU and allows you to upgrade to 8x32 in future.
So you should buy 32GB modules in any case, regardless of going with Ryzen, Threadripper, or Intel.

The 3200/CL16 4-kit is only available in little more expensive Corsair RGB Pro modules, which have worse compatibility with air coolers.
If you want the low-profile Corsair LPX, Corsair doesn't make it in 4-kit. That's why you have to buy 2x 2-kit. It's the same result..

Hi Juraj, in your recent build with Ryzen 3950X are you using this memory kit? https://www.corsair.com/it/it/Categorie/Prodotti/Memoria/Vengeance-PRO-RGB-Black/p/CMW128GX4M4E3200C16

I'm asking because I'd like to buy the same kit that you already tested as working with the Asus Rog Strix x570-E mainboard.

The low profile Corsair LPX seems to be available in 4x32 3600MHz CL18, or 2666 C16. Otherwise, as you said, there is the 2x32 3200 C16.

Are you using the Noctua NH-D15 without problems with these kit of memory?

Thanks!

[Juraj]

Yes exactly those. Corsair doesn't have all memory kits even on website btw, there is like twice as many more ;- ) It's odd.

Yes, NH-D15 fits over every low-profile memory with no issue. And the updates (D15S? or both) have cutout that covers even taller ram. But it's still better to buy low profile because of fans that still have to sit on top (otherwise necessary to swap for 120mm)."
But D15 is not available for Threadripper, just in case, only Ryzen.

[Giona]

Ok great.
I'll see if the shop can find the low profile kit. Have you ever tested those on some of your pc?

[Juraj]

What ?

[Giona]

I was wondering if you tested also the Corsair LPX kit, or just the RGB Pro kit.

[Juraj]

I was wondering if you tested also the Corsair LPX kit, or just the RGB Pro kit.

The above photo is PC I built with the LPX kit. The RGB Pro I have on build with water loops.

Internally it's the same memory they just sell it with different heatsinks and I always buy what is available/cheaper at the moment.

[Giona]

Hi Juraj, I have one last question about RAM compatibility :)
The shop is able to find a kit o 4x32gb Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 3.200 Mhz, CL16.
Do you think it will work on the Asus Rog strix x570-E?
I know that you're using the Vengeance kit, I would prefer to buy the same, but seems difficult to find..

Thanks!

[Philip kelly]

Juraj
Can I ask whats rendering are you doing with Graphics Card worth €2,500.
Are you GPU based or CPU, I thought you only really used Corona?
Lovely looking machine build.

[Juraj]

I did not pay so much for them :- ). There are lot of Quadros on Auctions like eBay (brand-new) from system integrators within companies.

It's for the memory, we really need 16GB Vram. For multiple 3dsMax scenes open at same time mainly. Viewport, no GPU rendering for us :- ).