Buying 3950X, looking for Motherboard for specific use case

[Daniel644]

So I'm going to Microcenter to pickup the 3950X, I reserved on launch day, in the morning, I want to pickup an X570 Mobo while i'm there but I want one with a really good VRM that can handle being under heavy load for months on end without any direct airflow over the VRM, the 3950X will be under a waterblock and I'm going to use this machine to encode my DVD/Bluray Library (which is several HUNDRED discs deep) into x265 so I can digitize my entire library, because of this the machine will be under heavy load 24/7, so i'm looking for a really good VRM but I also don't want to buy some $700 Mobo.

 

Mobo should be an ATX because this is also my gaming rig and so I need space for the GPU and the Vive Wireless PCI Card.

[Jurrunio]

so good VRM is your only need?

[WereCat]

 

[Daniel644]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

so good VRM is your only need?

good VRM and ATX form factor are the only real requirements, something that has Bluetooth built in would be a bonus so I can use the bluetooth keyboard I have for my Shield TV for when I'm on the couch and want to navigate to a movie.

[FloRolf]

For a 24/7 machine I wouldn't really watercool. If your loop has an issue you might overheat) leak without noticing. 

A little airflow over the VRM's is also very nice to have, even if it's just a random fan there for the 24/7 periods. 

[Daniel644]

1 minute ago, FloRolf said:

For a 24/7 machine I wouldn't really watercool. If your loop has an issue you might overheat) leak without noticing. 

A little airflow over the VRM's is also very nice to have, even if it's just a random fan there for the 24/7 periods. 

rig is ALREADY watercooled and has been for some time, also AMD suggest Watercooling for 3950X anyway. this is a Mobo and CPU swap on an existing rig.

[Juular]

With no airflow ? Like in completely enclosed metal box or what ? If you have even most choked case on the earth there will be at least some airflow if you'll add some case fans. Or get a good air-flow case like FD Meshify C or Phanteks P400A. That said most X570 boards (excluding most sub-ATX ones and sub 300$ MSI boards) will be okay even with little airflow, i'd recommend ASUS TUF or ASRock Taichi.

[Daniel644]

Just now, Juular said:

With no airflow ? Like in completely enclosed metal box or what ? If you have even most choked case on the earth there will be at least some airflow if you'll add some case fans. Or get a good air-flow case like FD Meshify C or Phanteks P400A. That said most X570 boards (excluding most sub-ATX ones and sub 300$ MSI boards) will be okay even with little airflow, i'd recommend ASUS TUF or ASRock Taichi.

No DIRECT airflow, case is a Corsair 570X (see picture) with a 360 rad in the front pulling air in using the stock RGB fans and a 240 rad with the EK Vardar fans in the top exhausting out and an exhaust on the rear, but fan speeds are tuned to be relatively reasonable noise levels as the system is in the living room. Between the Res and the fan speed there is very little airflow coming through the front. Spending more for something that is measurably better is fine, I don't mind doing that, I just don't want to be spending stupid money like the Aurous Extreme at $700, the video above from Der8auer kinda has me leaning toward the Hero VIII, temps and efficiencies are pretty in line with the Extreme but at half the price, I was previously considering the Meg ACE but seeing it more in line with the TUF temp wise is definitely steering me away from that one, because why pay over a $100 more for the same performance, the TUF is kinda my fallback if I can't find something I like better, I've already built a 3900X build for the office I do contract work for using that board and it's even cheaper now at Microcenter then it was back in August when I did that build (after the sale price and the $30 discount when you buy a Mobo and CPU at the same time, it's only $150, which even after taxes will keep me in the target, not fixed, budget of $1,000 for CPU and Mobo), as for the Taichi, I just don't like the look of it, it doesn't jive with look i'm ultimately going for (which will include converting to hardline at some point).

[Juular]

9 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

No DIRECT airflow,

EK Vardar fans in the top exhausting out

Then there are direct airflow, it doesn't matter if it's blowing on the VRM or sucking air through it out, temps with any X570 would be fine. ASUS TUF got to 66° C in his tests, there's still a plenty of headroom for R9 3950X 250-300W of power draw so it's still my recommendation, i don't see the point in paying 200$ more for ASUS Crosshair VII.

[Jurrunio]

2 hours ago, Daniel644 said:

good VRM and ATX form factor are the only real requirements, something that has Bluetooth built in would be a bonus so I can use the bluetooth keyboard I have for my Shield TV for when I'm on the couch and want to navigate to a movie.

Do PCPP.com prices apply to you?

[Daniel644]

5 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Do PCPP.com prices apply to you?

buying from Microcenter because with the discount on Mobo's there it comes out cheaper then online.

[Jurrunio]

12 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

buying from Microcenter because with the discount on Mobo's there it comes out cheaper then online.

ok. the Aorus Ultra should be the cheapest board for what you asked for (better heatsink than the Pro WiFi, extra M.2 slot), but if you're ok with spending more the MSI Unify will do. Basically the Ace with none of the RGB or gold fancy stuff while cheaper than everything cvompetiting with it like the Asus X570-E (unless Microcenter special pricing) or anything like that.

[Daniel644]

5 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

ok. the Aorus Ultra should be the cheapest board for what you asked for (better heatsink than the Pro WiFi, extra M.2 slot), but if you're ok with spending more the MSI Unify will do. Basically the Ace with none of the RGB or gold fancy stuff while cheaper than everything cvompetiting with it like the Asus X570-E (unless Microcenter special pricing) or anything like that.

they don't have the Unify, I am aware of that one though, I'm not part of the Anti-RGB crowd, I like having lighting in the case, I don't do the rainbow puke (FYI I can't control the RGB of the RAM on this pre-AURA Z170 board in the picture above) here is the boards my Microcenter has https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966996+4294818900+4294810816&NTX=&NR=&filterProperty=&NTT=&NTK=all&page=1&sortby=pricehigh&SortNow=Go

If it doesn't set the store choose the Marietta, GA store and remember I get an additional $30 off the prices listed on the website if I buy the board at the same time as the CPU.

 

Buildzoid, isn't much of a fan of the X570-E he says they are just too pricey for what you get, either step down to the TUF or go up to the Hero VII, I kinda like the dedicated W Pump header instead of just an AIO Pump header on the VIII vs. the TUF, plus the VIII has more USB ports and other higher end features, I guess at this point I just have to decide if the extra 100-200 for the Hero VIII is worth it for my ultimate goals of the computer. the Meg ACE is actually discounted enough that it comes in cheaper then the Unify at Newegg, but i've pretty much ruled that one out anyway. I'm gonna rewatch the video again in the morning while i'm getting ready to head south to the store. This is likely to be my last post for the next 5-6 hours as I need to go get some sleep.

[Jurrunio]

8 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

I like having lighting in the case

I do think it has RGB headers, just no onboard LEDs.

 

10 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

 

Buildzoid, isn't much of a fan of the X570-E he says they are just too pricey for what you get,

Depends on the price. X570-E is the Crossahir 8 Hero Wifi without the pro-grade overclocking features really, the extra phase for the VRM dont really matter since it's already so overkill.