Silent Workstation Build (3900X, Thunderbolt)

[LuxBit]

Budget (including currency): 2250€

Country: Germany

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

Triple Boot System (QEMU + KVM)

- macOS: Main OS, Programming, XCode, Photoshop, Illustrator

- Ubuntu: Testing environment (Docker, Kubernetes, PyTorch,...)

- Windows: Solidworks, light gaming (eSports)

 

Other details 

This machine should replace my triple boot MacBook Pro 15" Mid 2014 + Thunderbolt eGPU + 2 4K displays

 

- Thunderbolt required, as macOS will be mounted from Macbook in Target Disk Mode (I hate syncing environments  )

- AMD GPU to avoid Linux and macOS driver issues

- GPU should have 3 Displayports for 4K displays (2x60Hz, 1x144Hz)  as I will probably get a 3rd display as I will be losing the MacBook screen

- No need for RGB, tempered glass, a stealthy black box is fine

- As silent as possible 

 

 

I tried to put something together, but failed pretty badly:

- I think Ryzen 3900X is the best CPU choice, however I can't find any AM4 Motherboard with Thunderbolt except a Mini ITX one. I would like a simple ATX board for upgradeability. Are there any AMD compatible PCIE Thunderbolt cards?

- What is the best memory choice?

- I have no idea which components are silent (CPU Cooler, Case, GPU). The fanless PSU seems nice, but it is expensive for 600W and I'm pretty sure another component will be louder than a PSU fan anyway

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/M9Hqn7

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  (€415.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (€106.80 @ Alza) 
Motherboard: ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING-ITX/TB3 Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  (€246.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (€278.20 @ Mindfactory) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (€279.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB THICC III Ultra Video Card  (€427.99 @ Mindfactory) 
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case  (€88.23 @ Mindfactory) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME Titanium 600 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular Fanless ATX Power Supply  (€216.89 @ Alternate) 
Total: €2060.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-18 14:53 CEST+0200

 

Thanks for your help

[marmour]

16 minutes ago, LuxBit said:

 

Looks like a decent selection. As you say, psu fan will almost certainly be quieter than anything else so it may be better getting a cheaper unit. 5700XT is definitely the GPU to go for (unless you want to wait for RDNA2). However, I would avoid that XFX model as it will run hot and load. Look at something like the Nitro+ from Sapphire, or if thats too expensive, something like the Sapphire Pulse or Gigabyte Gaming OC. If you make this change, so long as you get some good quality case fans, you should have a very quiet build thanks to that huge noctua cooler.

 

Im afraid I can't really help with thunderbolt 3, but I know there are very few AMD options, partly due to it being an Intel designed interface.

 

Also, try and get 3600mhz ram if its not much more expensive. Will give you a slight performance increase, but only worth it if the price increase is minimal

 

Hope this is helpful

[Mateyyy]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	€415.00 @ Amazon Deutschland
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	€249.90 @ ARLT
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	€278.20 @ Mindfactory
Storage	Sabrent Rocket 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	€279.95 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING X Video Card	€437.99 @ Mindfactory
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	€101.89 @ Alternate
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	€107.85 @ Mindfactory
Case Fan	be quiet! SilentWings 3 59.5 CFM 140 mm Fan	€21.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Case Fan	be quiet! SilentWings 3 59.5 CFM 140 mm Fan	€21.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€2014.48
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-18 15:59 CEST+0200

X570 boards with onboard Thunderbolt 3 are very scarce. In fact, if I'm not mistaken there's the ITX board you selected and then there's Asrock's X570 Creator, which comes in at a cool $500 MSRP, so you'll probably have to look for a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe add-in card.

 

Something like this should turn out very quiet, with the NH-D15, 5700XT Gaming X, RM550x and a couple of Silent Wings 3 fans along with the two that come with the case (I'd put these two as intakes in the front and the included fans as exhausts - one in the rear and one at the top).

 

A fanless PSU really isn't necessary imo when you've options like Corsair's RMx (and their other higher-end models) or be quiet's Straight Power 11 or Dark Power Pro 11 which will be really quiet even at full load (which you won't reach with those components, referring to the 550W models of these PSUs). Also, regarding the memory, 3600MHz CL16 is ideal for Zen 2, but at 2x32GB you'd be paying quite a premium for that speed. 3200MHz CL16 is also a great option, as is 3600MHz CL18 also.

[LuxBit]

5 hours ago, marmour said:

(unless you want to wait for RDNA2

Yeah, waiting for RDNA2 and Zen3 might be worth it, however then I might be waiting until end of the year

 

 

I found this gem of a Thunderbolt card GC-TITAN RIDGE 1.0 CARD, which seems to work fine on AMD.

Now I can get a nice motherboard:

4 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Motherboard Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard €249.90 @ ARLT

 

I also went with 4x16GB @ 3600MHz, it is cheaper than the 2 32GB dimms.

 

This build seems quite nice to me:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/VNYfBZ

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  (€415.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€249.90 @ ARLT) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  (€285.99 @ Alternate) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (€279.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card  (€447.99 @ Mindfactory) 
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case  (€88.23 @ Mindfactory) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€124.89 @ Alternate) 
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 3 59.5 CFM 140 mm Fan  (€21.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 3 59.5 CFM 140 mm Fan  (€21.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Custom: GC-TITAN RIDGE 1.0 CARD, Adapter  (€86.89 @ Alternate) 
Total: €2122.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-18 16:30 CEST+0200

 

Thank you very much for your excellent help

[Michl]

I am also looking to build a QEMU + KVM system to boot OSX.

 

Can tell me how it went? Is the motherboard support fine (incl. the topic of USB controller pass through)?

 

The Target Disk Mode is an ingenious idea!!! Could you make it work?

 

Cheers,

Michael