TruckFighter

I wouldn't mind going with a thermal pad however I'm not sure if there is a size that will fit the thread ripper die

What is the best TIM for long term use that is non conductive? This would be for a Threadripper processor and would not be overclocked. Just looking for a nonconductive solution that won't break down or turn nasty for 5-10 years.

Hello All, I work mainly out of my house and rely heavily on a consumer based server for a multitude of activities such as file storage, virtualization, programming, transcoding etc...I've been collecting parts for the past few months for my new sever build and would like to get 10-12 years out of this new system. I've been out of the loop on new hardware for quite some time and lot has changed. My current build is limping along (AMD FX-8150 with 32GB of DDR3-1600, a nothing fancy video card and several hard drives). I don't currently and have no plans to overclock. This new build is primarily going to be used for virtualization, so high core counts and lots of RAM are really what I need. In addition its going to run 24/7 so I need stability and reliability over anything else and it needs to be on a budget. I prefer AMD simply based on price and based on all of the research I've been doing it sounds like AMD has really stepped up their game this year. I know you are going to ask why not just get a refurb Dell R710 on Amazon for $600? While the pricing is nice I can't bank on it lasting another 10 years. I've spent plenty of time in datacenters and I've seen how nasty those boxes get over a couple of years of use. I'd rather spend that $600+ on new hardware even if its not commercial grade. So here is what I have and what I've collected so far... - 2x Samsung 970 EVO+ NVMe 500GB drives (One for host OS and one for VM's) - 4x Legacy high capacity HDD's for storage and backups - 2x Legacy SATA III SSD's for whatever - 1x Legacy PCI 4x REVO HDD (Was using this for transcoding, may incorporate it into the build) - 1x Legacy Dual 10GB NIC - 1x Legacy Quad 1GB NIC - Legacy PCI-E video card (Again nothing fancy. I realize that a nicer video card may help with operations such as transcoding but its not in the budget as of right now but may be something I add down the road) - EVGA G3 850 Watt PSU What I'm considering for the main build... - Ryzen Threadripper (Model TBD, the prices keep fluctuating and I keep hearing rumors that the 3rd Gens will launch in a month or two, rumors are rumors though) - 64GB DDR4 3200 RAM (I don't need ECC, dont care about LED's for my purposes. They look cool but this will sit in my basement so nobody but my cat will be dazzled by them) - I'm down to three motherboard options based on price vs options, see below in questions. I'd be ok with getting a Threadripper workstation board but none of them seem to have all the items I want; Multiple NIC's, preferably one that is 10GB, Multiple PCI slots, Get 2 USB 3.1 Header, 6x or more SATA ports. dont have a need for and would prefer not to have wifi although it seems like thats a commonly included item now. - Noctua NH-U14s TR4-SP3 CPU cooler with added secondary fan. I'd prefer to do an air cooler for three reasons; 1. I've never used water cooling before, I'm not afraid fo the unknown but dont want to take a chance on screwing something up with the new hardware. 2. This is going to sit in my basement and I won't look at it more than once every couple of months so if something goes sideways with and AIO or custom loop I won't know until its too late. 3. Again I'm looking for this to last 10-12 years with minimal hardware maintenance. If a fan craps out on the air cooler that's an easy fix. - TIM...??? I"m kind of at a loss on this one. I want something with good thermal transfer but I dont want it to break down. Again longevity. Once the cooler is mounted I dont want to touch it until the system needs to be replaced. I've read up on LM but would prefer to stay away from conductive materials. OS... - Main OS will likely be Ubuntu or some flavor there of. Questions: - Any feedback on the Threadripper platform, specifically anything I should be concerned about with using Linux as my main OS? - Any suggestions on Threadripper model? I'm aiming for the $300-$400 price point. Microcenter has the 2920x for $299 right now. if the 3rd gen is really on the way I'm hoping that the 2950x is going to come down a bit as well. - Any suggestions on RAM? I'm currently looking at Ballistix Sport AT BLS4K16G4D32AEST - The three motherboards I'm considering are ASRock Taichi for low end, the ASRock Fatal1y, and the Gigabyte Aorus Extreme. The latter two have native 10GB NIC ports in addition to two dual 1G ports. Network connectivity is going to be a key factor for me with virtualization. Any suggestions? Again I'd like to keep costs for the board around the $350 or less mark. The Gigabyte board was just on sale for $330 so I'm thinking Black Friday or Cyber Monday may produce some solid deals. - I specifically like the Noctua CPU cooler for the 6 year warranty and the MTBF cycle on the fans. seems like a good choice for longevity but welcome opinions. - What thermal paste should I be looking at for this build? Again I want to apply it once and have it last 10+ years without service and I want it to do its job with minimal degradation over that time period. I realize I may not have entirely realistic expectations on the life span of this build however this is the goal not the hard line. Please let me know where I can approve. Thank you for your comments...