A new build for a new decade

So having just hit 40, I reckon I'd better get going on my midlife crisis, and what better way to do so than to retire my good old (emphasis on both) i5-2500k.

The main thing I'm presently butting my head against is running multiple relatively large workloads simultaneously. I write software that targets the JVMs. At the moment a typical stack will involve one Linux VM running the app and a second running a Postgres database, plus of course the IDE, any documentation I have open, plus whatever apps and other browser tabs I have open. If I give the two VMs 4GB of RAM each that leaves 8 for Windows and everything else I'm using.

So with that in mind, I figure here are my priorities, in order of most to least important to me:

• A somewhat excessive number of cores so I can dedicate several to each VM and have plenty left over for myself.
• Likewise, enough memory that I have plenty to dedicate to VMs and for my own use.
• Fast storage, and as much as I can swing. Running multiple operating systems at the same time takes up some space, to say nothing of today's 20-80+ GB games.
• Price. This is meant to be a workstation-class machine, so of course this is gonna be expensive, but that doesn't mean that spending twice as much on something for minor performance improvements makes sense.
• Game performance. Nothing I play currently is actually taxing my system, but the next-gen consoles look like they're going to completely eclipse it and I expect games to start taking advantage of that.
• Space is a consideration--smaller is better. I have no particular need for more than one optical drive and mechanical storage will be relegated to a NAS in another room.

Two things to note: first, the video card is basically there just so I could size the PSU appropriately. I'll actually be waiting for the new Ampere cards to come out since that's going to shake things up to say the least.

Second, I'm pretty on the fence about that motherboard. It's well-recommended, but as an ITX board it's got fuck all for expandability and I'll be completely reliant on USB 3 for any addons I ever want.

Spoiler: Original Part List

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($709.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($223.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($369.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($369.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($699.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: *Cooler Master Silencio S400 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($96.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *Fractal Design Ion SFX-L 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply ($127.98 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: *LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($53.48 @ Other World Computing)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.88 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $3002.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-05 20:16 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($709.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($269.00 @ B&H)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($699.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 ATX Mid Tower Case ($159.99 @ Walmart)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 760 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: *LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($53.48 @ Other World Computing)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.88 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $3182.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-09 13:20 EDT-0400

 

I would like to point out that while it is not typical, the air coolers for the Ryzen chips are actually damn impressive. Unless you're going to upgrade to liquid cooling it may not actually be necessary to upgrade it. (you can feel the pull from a good few inches over the fan)

 

Yeah, I saw that. It's on the list chiefly because I'm not 100% sure the actual SKU is one that includes a stock HSF, and if it doesn't that's probably what I will go with. I did consider going with a liquid cooling setup this time but ultimately decided I just want to plug everything together and be done rather than futz around with plumbing.

 

All of the Ryzen chipsets come with the heatsink and fan comparable to the one I got (Ryzen 7 3800X) so unless it's some aftermarket jobber that removes the existing packaging (would not trust) it should come with it.

 

I shed a little tear when I said goodbye to my 2500K last year....

 

Right? Not to worry though, it’s just moving down to my living room to enjoy a relaxing life playing couch coop games and all the chillest Twitch streams.

 

But will it be able to run Linux and windows at the same time (is that even possible?)

 

The 2500k can do that now, actually. I just lack enough cores, RAM and storage for the actual things I’m running in each OS these days.

 

yes.

 

Why not go with a mid tower and get a regular ATX board. That way if you want to expand it is much more wallet friendly down the line. If you had gone water cooling the micro tower would be good but it could be a little on the small side for just fans and trying to push the operating limits.

though.. Im the type of person to get a full size tower and have literally ALL the fans.

You can run linux through a virtual machine on windows. The great thing about running it through a virtual machine is how it can be setup. It can be done to act like a normal computer. Or always start fresh at the point you want it. Having it start fresh all the time is something hackers use a lot because it will always start fresh and clean no matter what virus infected the virtually operated machine. Just make sure to have two modems on the computer if you want windows and linux to have internet access at the same time.

 

Yeah, I'm trying to decide whether I value the smaller footprint or the increased expandability more. It'd suck to find myself painted into a corner, but really other than a PCI-E SSD carrier (which is no longer necessary) the only thing I've ever actually bothered installing is a GPU. More desk space is always immediately useful though.

 

As you say, don't paint yourself into a corner. Go bigger and find some space somewhere.

I moved mine onto an IKEA Lack table next to my desk and it's been great. Just the right height to poke above the top of the desk and space left beside the case for some other stuff (like tucking away controllers).
I used the small white one out of this set:
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/lack-nest-of-tables-set-of-2-black-white-40349263/

 

Talked me into it--swapped the motherboard for a X570 AORUS PRO. And threw another 32GB of RAM in because fuck it, DOWNLOAD ALL THE RAM!

Yep, I was looking at those just last night actually since prices have leaked since I put this list together. I will probably go with a 3080 unless by the time I start buying components AMD has a really compelling answer to that sucker.

 

It's a sweet rig you're getting built - that feeling when doing your work is ever so much easier and streamlined...

 

I looked briefly at pre-built workstations if only for the warranty, but you get shockingly little bang for your buck. Figured it'd be at least competitive with perhaps a price premium but nope, it's not even worth considering unless you really, really don't want to spend the trivial amount of time it takes to plug everything in.

 

If I can get like 90% of the components from same place without much difference in the price I'll have them also assemble it for me... Because I'm lazy and my hands shake like mad. I had to solder a couple of components for a project that I didn't know to be "solder yourself" and man, *component in hand goes trrrt trrrt*.

Then again if them assembling it delays the order by a couple of days you'll have it up and running faster than the shop since you won't put it on hold at some desk for 2 days.

 

You are not going to overclock the Ryzen processors much, the essentially run as fast as they can and stay under a certain threshold, much like a graphics card. So I am not sure how much an aftermarket cooler is worth it, but things may have changed. Also the Ryzen 4000 are going to be coming out soon.

 

Yeah, it's really just on the list just in case I do need one. I don't plan on overclocking anyway since stability and longevity of the parts are worth more to me than a few extra FPS. If I really wanted just game performance this wouldn't be a great build anyway, since games still don't benefit as much from extra cores as they do from extra clock cycles.

I think I lucked out in terms of product launches. I started looking just because I was hitting a performance wall just on my own hobby projects, and like the next day here comes Nvidia and AMD announcing major updates that'll either give me an even better platform or reduce the cost of the one I picked already. All of which will hit the market right about when I've finished saving up to pay for it, too. Suffice to say I'm subscribed to a lot of enthusiast channels on YouTube now.

 

One of my main requirements for an aftermarket cooler was to reduce noise.