Build’s Name: 128core epyc windows Build
Operating System: Win 10 Pro workstation/ubuntu
CPU: 2 x 7742 epyc 64cores
GPU: rtx3090+2080ti 1080ti
Motherboard: gigabyte MZ72-HB0
Chassis: Lian Li 011D XL Fractal Design 7 XL
Drives: 900p optane, samsung 970
RAM: 256gb 16x16gb 3200mhz samsung dual rank M393A2K43DB3-CWE
Cooler: watercool heat killer tr4 NH-U14S TR4-SP3
Add-in Cards:
pcie usb3 card
asus hyper m.2 x16 card for some extra slots.
Power Supply: corsair i1600w
Update with some WRs:cinebench r23
corona benchmark
RandomX(monero mining)
Other information
This build was inspired by the epyc overclocking thread on this forum, the plan was to replace my dual workstation setup (7960x and a 1950x) with one system, the sane thing would be to go for a 3970x, but i wanted some more headroom, so then looking at the 3990x its closer closer to 5k euro here and I realized i could build a dual epyc system with 2nd hand ES/oem cpus for less. With the downside that there's no real workstation board for dual epycs, no official windows 10 support and generally very little information on it except in this forum!
Initial supermicro build
Being fully aware i would probably run into problems and this build requiring a lot of tinkering i ordered the cpus on ebay for 3500$ wich still feels like a steal for pretty close to stock speeds and the ability to OC(AMD EPYC 64 Core ROME 7742 100-100000053-04 2.00GHz(3.2GHz Turbo) 225W)
initially I got a h11dsi rev1 board i found locally, but i could never get it to work even with the custom bios(i suspect i might have shorted it in the case or it was just doa, more on that later)
Replaced it with a new h11dsi-nt rev2 board where after a lot of fiddling with bios settings, using the correct bios and windows10 version reading countless pages on here about this board, i finally had a working system a few days later(oculink ports only detected nvm disks with the latest bios). But i was never completely happy with this board, my gfx card barely fit, i could not get 2gpus to work, no pcie 4.0, the m.2 slot is x2.
I had a full writeup of all my issues getting the supermicro to work but managed to lose it before posting it, doh. but there are a few other threads on here where people have figured it out. Overall though the supermicro board was solid at stock speeds when i finally got it working and performed well for my tasks for the few months i've been using it, i was just looking for those extra features it lacked. the only caveat is for people planning 100% cpu usage with avx/fpu load on top where the vrm will overheat almost instantly and cause throttling/shutdowns, several users on here can verify this issue.
Gigabyte MZ72-HB0 rebuild
So i started looking for a new board with pcie 4.0, the asrock rome2d16-2t board looked like the best option but its still months away and the gigabyte board was out first and looks very similar, so i put in an order to switch over. Surprisingly it worked right out of the box, i didn't even go into the bios it just booted straight into the same windows install after an automatic configuration by windows, ram at correct speeds all nvme disks detected correctly. way to go gigabyte!
All the IO ports are positioned cleverly to not block any long pcie cards, there's a usb3 header, hurray! The IPMI software is a little more modern with gui for custom fan curves based on whatever temp sensor you want, so you could have a specific vrm fan ramp up based on vrm temps etc.(another issue with the sm board was the fan would ramp up and down all the time because of the default low RPM alarm, although it was fixable with console commands). bios also has the full AMD CBS menu if you feel adventurous with tweaking.
To test vrm temps i ran some monero mining at stock speeds and without any vrm fans, and my kinda temporary case fan setup(waiting for some more front fans) the vrms settled at around 88c doing 77khs, this would overheat the SM board. the cpus are chilling at 64c with the noctua u14s tr4 single fan. pulling about 750w from the wall stock full load, during one of the OC runs I saw 950w
I have not played around too much with overclocking yet as i won't need it for my day to day use, but the little i tried i could not recreate the 47k corona benchmark i managed on the SM board(that was def not running stable though and scores would fluctuate massively) or the 34866 C20 score. best i've seen so far is 43k corona and 31hk ish cinebench, fine by me!
Future plans:
I want to eventually watercool this, but i am waiting to decide on the gpu setup, 3080/3090 most likely unless amd comes up with something better soon, i did try a radeon vii but had some driver issues and the 1080ti was working better for me.
Before switching out the motherboard, the AMD reference cards sure look good.
You can see two issues with the first build here, gfx card longer than 268mm will rest on the storage ports or be blocked completely if something is plugged in, both oculink and sata. Can also see the electrical tape I had to use on the lip of the motherboard tray as it would come in contact with the board if not, case says it supports SSI-EEB so its abit strange there's a raised lip at the end that potentially can come in contact with long boards. I didnt wanna take any chances after the first board wouldn't boot, so I made sure to use plenty of electrical tape.
Upgrade time, everything feels more modern about this motherboard including the colors
assembled
Management
You can see two issues with the first build here, gfx card longer than 268mm will rest on the storage ports or be blocked completely if something is plugged in, both oculink and sata. Can also see the electrical tape I had to use on the lip of the motherboard tray as it would come in contact with the board if not, case says it supports SSI-EEB so its abit strange there's a raised lip at the end that potentially can come in contact with long boards. I didnt wanna take any chances after the first board wouldn't boot, so I made sure to use plenty of electrical tape.
Upgrade time, everything feels more modern about this motherboard including the colors
assembled
Management
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