New Build - Windows 11 TR Pro / EPYC Workstation

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lunadesign

Active Member
Aug 7, 2013
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I'm looking to build my first workstation in 8 years (currently on Supermicro X9SRE-F / E5-1650). My key goals are very good performance (prefer more GHz over more cores) but relatively quiet.
  • Supermicro M12SWA-TF or H12SSL-NT
  • Threadripper PRO 5955WX or EPYC 7343
  • Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 CPU cooler (blowing towards motherboard top)
  • 128GB DDR4-3200 ECC RAM (2 x 64GB MEM-DR464L-HL02-ER32 RDIMMs)
  • 2 x Samsung 990 PRO M.2 (configured in HW or SW mirror) for OS & apps
  • ASUS Nvidia RTX 3070 Noctua OC Edition
  • Seasonic Prime TX-1000 (???)
  • Fractal Design Define 7 XL
  • Noctua NF-A14 FLX case fans
  • 40/50/100 GB NIC for accessing storage on ZFS server via iSCSI/iSER/NVMe-oF
  • SoundBlaster card (if using server board)
  • Windows 11
My preference is to go the M12SWA-TF & TR Pro route but I'm still nervous about the TR Pro idle power consumption and noisy PCH fan. On the other hand, I have experience with H12SSL & EPYC but realize there can be surprises when deploying a server board in a workstation config.

Specific questions:
  1. What size PSU? I'm thinking 1000W might be appropriate?
  2. Will mounting a 2nd fan on the CPU cooler make a significant difference?
  3. Windows 10 or 11?
  4. Any issues / alternative ideas I should be aware of?
Thank you!!!
 
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i386

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Mar 18, 2016
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Epyc + certain Windows 10/11 isos will Crash with bsods. Use the newest ISO you find.
Reason: Microsoft Had Bad/faulty stuff for the SP3 stuff
 
L

lunadesign

Active Member
Aug 7, 2013
256
34
28
lunadesign said:
I'm looking to build my first workstation in 8 years (currently on Supermicro X9SRE-F / E5-1650). My key goals are very good performance (prefer more GHz over more cores) but relatively quiet.
  • Supermicro M12SWA-TF or H12SSL-NT
  • Threadripper PRO 5955WX or EPYC 7343
  • Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 CPU cooler (blowing towards motherboard top)
  • 128GB DDR4-3200 ECC RAM (2 x 64GB MEM-DR464L-HL02-ER32 RDIMMs)
  • 2 x Samsung 990 PRO M.2 (configured in HW or SW mirror) for OS & apps
  • ASUS Nvidia RTX 3070 Noctua OC Edition
  • Seasonic Prime TX-1000 (???)
  • Fractal Design Define 7 XL
  • Noctua NF-A14 FLX case fans
  • 40/50/100 GB NIC for accessing storage on ZFS server via iSCSI/iSER/NVMe-oF
  • SoundBlaster card (if using server board)
  • Windows 11
My preference is to go the M12SWA-TF & TR Pro route but I'm still nervous about the TR Pro idle power consumption and noisy PCH fan. On the other hand, I have experience with H12SSL & EPYC but realize there can be surprises when deploying a server board in a workstation config.

Specific questions:
  1. What size PSU? I'm thinking 1000W might be appropriate?
  2. Will mounting a 2nd fan on the CPU cooler make a significant difference?
  3. Windows 10 or 11?
  4. Any issues / alternative ideas I should be aware of?
Thank you!!!
Click to expand...
Does anyone have any thoughts on #1 (PSU size) or #2 (2nd fan on heatsink) above?

I'd definitely appreciate some quick guidance on #1 as PSUs are getting harder to find.
 
I

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
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For the threadripper pro + m12swa you need at least 600 watt psu for cpu intesive stuff. If you (want to) add a gpu get a 900+ watt psu (I don't game regularly anymore or do gpu intesive stuff so the 900 watt are just an estimation)
My experience with two fans on a noctua heatsink was better cooling performance. But I always used the industrial 3000 fans :D
 
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lunadesign

Active Member
Aug 7, 2013
256
34
28
i386 said:
For the threadripper pro + m12swa you need at least 600 watt psu for cpu intesive stuff. If you (want to) add a gpu get a 900+ watt psu (I don't game regularly anymore or do gpu intesive stuff so the 900 watt are just an estimation)
Click to expand...
Good to know. It sounds like I'm in the ballpark with a 1000W PSU. While it's tempting to oversize this, I know that PSU efficiency isn't very good if you lightly load a big PSU.

i386 said:
My experience with two fans on a noctua heatsink was better cooling performance. But I always used the industrial 3000 fans :D
Click to expand...
3000 RPMs? I take it that box isn't in the same room as you? :p
 
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i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
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lunadesign said:
3000 RPMs? I take it that box isn't in the same room as you? :p
Click to expand...
The workstation is little bit more than 1m away from me. Thanks to pwm the 3000rpm are not loud in most scenarios and kept at 1k rpm the cpu (the previous workstation with a xeon e5 v4, not the current tr pro system!) temperatures at bay and the noise down
 
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