Machine Learning PC Build

MachineLearningist · May 30, 2022

Budget (including currency): ~3.5k euros

Country: Greece

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

Hello fellow PC builders!

Seeing as prices have been decreasing in the last couple of months I decided to start planning my own build and I would like your help. This is my first one, so I had to spend some time researching about everything and I think I have a good initial list of parts. I will be mainly using it for machine/deep learning (initially GANs/image processing and some NLP a bit later). The games I play are not that GPU heavy and I don't care that much about having max FPS everywhere, so gaming is not a priority. My list is below:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/f7dygb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($548.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($109.95 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX-4 2019 Edition 4 g Thermal Paste ($7.29 @ MemoryC)
Motherboard: MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($266.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($154.05 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB STRIX GAMING OC Video Card ($1852.13 @ Amazon)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.89 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($197.50 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST A-RGB 0dB 48.8 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $3636.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-05-29 20:40 EDT-0400

I'll explain my thought process and then ask for a bit of advice.

CPU (5950x): Top of the line AMD goodness. I've seen it's pretty much standard for higher-end builds and I will be taking advantage of its multicore capabilities. I was thinking about the 12900k but I believe the performance boost I'd get for my use does not justify the higher power consumption and thermals.

Cooler (NH-D15): Standard pairing with 5950x. I was also considering Dark Rock Pro 4 but decide to go with Noctua. As for AIOs, maybe I'll try one in a future build, but for now I think this will be enough and last long.

Motherboard (MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI): While looking around I found many people saying that it's easy to overspend on a mobo without an increase in performance, so I tried to just get the features I need. I think this will serve me well and accommodate the rest of the parts.

Memory (Corsair Vengeance 2x32GB): I know this might be a bit overkill and 32GB might be enough. However, there have been a couple of time at my work (data scientist) where we had to upgrade our cloud machines from 32GB to 64GB for certain deep learning projects.

Storage (970 Evo 1TB/980 Pro 1TB/Barracuda 2TB): 970 goes on the PCIe 3 slot on the mobo and 980 on the PCIe 4 slot. I will be dual booting Windows and Linux and wanted to do it on separate drives to be safe if something goes wrong or I want to replace just one of the SSDs. The HDD is just for storage.

GPU (ASUS STRIX 3090): In general, I would be considering a 3070/3080/3080ti but unfortunately the 3090 is the only one that has remotely enough memory for what I want to do. I've gone with the ASUS STRIX build since I've read very good things and it's also among the cheapest 3090s I can find.

Case (be quiet! Pure Base 500DX): A couple of friends told me very good things and I've also read good reviews online. It seems to have good airflow and fit all the parts.

PSU (SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 1000 W 80+): I thought I might be ok with 800W but opted for 1000W just to be safe. I went for Seasonic because it's pretty much on par with Corsair but I found it a bit cheaper.

Fans (3x Arctic P12): The case already has 3x Pure wings 2, from which I'll put 2 on top and 1 on the back as exhaust. The 3x Arctic P12 will be going on the front as intake.

What about the build?

Here I'd like like to ask what you think about the build. Is it good as as? Will everything fit in the case? Do you think there is anything I could or should change both from a technical and a machine learning perspective? Any other comments?

What about next gen?

I've seen all the new things coming out in the near future, RTX 40 series, AMD Zen 4, DDR5, PCIe 5, etc. I was thinking of maybe waiting but on second though I believe its better to buy now. All the new things will come with the early adopter risks and higher TDPs (electricity has also gone a bit more expensive) and prices. And it's also not sure that I'll be able to get my hands on them when they come out.

What about protection?

I really don't want any power outages ruining my build. We usually have around 2-3 outages a year where I live but I would like to be extra safe. Looking around I found that my 2 options are either a surge protector or a UPS. I also read that a UPS is pretty much a surge protector with a battery. Assuming that I don't really have anything important to lose with a sudden shutdown (I always checkpoint my work), is there any good reason, in terms of protection, to chose a UPS over a surge protector other than just having a bit of extra time to save and do a proper shutdown?

Thank you very much for your time !

brob · May 30, 2022

A UPS can provide for the safe automatic shutdown of a system. In rare worst cases drive data can be entirely lost and in the case of HDD actually damaged.

A stock i9-12900K running with power limits is not excessively power hungry or hot. I'm not suggesting the cpu would be a better choice for your use case, just that the arguments presented against its consideration are based on faulty premise.

svmlegacy · May 30, 2022

43 minutes ago, brob said:

A UPS can provide for the safe automatic shutdown of a system. In rare worst cases drive data can be entirely lost and in the case of HDD actually damaged.

A stock i9-12900K running with power limits is not excessively power hungry or hot. I'm not suggesting the cpu would be a better choice for your use case, just that the arguments presented against its consideration are based on faulty premise.

Agreed with this statement. The 5950X can and will become a hot and thirsty mess with PBO on, just like the 12900K with power limits removed.

That being said, my experience with a 3950X is that it is a complete beast for multi-core workloads, and the 5950X would only be better. I do think it is the right CPU for the job, but fully expect it to thermal throttle if you decide to put PBO on.

MachineLearningist · May 30, 2022

7 hours ago, brob said:

A UPS can provide for the safe automatic shutdown of a system. In rare worst cases drive data can be entirely lost and in the case of HDD actually damaged.

A stock i9-12900K running with power limits is not excessively power hungry or hot. I'm not suggesting the cpu would be a better choice for your use case, just that the arguments presented against its consideration are based on faulty premise.

Ah, I see.

About the UPS, I will most likely go for it. Just wondering if I could avoid an extra 300$-400$ if a simple surge protector could do the job.

As for the 12900k, I was just picking based on a few reviews and benchmark I've read online, but if I could actually put some limits I will maybe reconsider. It's also slightly more pricey along with the change in the mobo chipset.

7 hours ago, svmlegacy said:

Agreed with this statement. The 5950X can and will become a hot and thirsty mess with PBO on, just like the 12900K with power limits removed.

That being said, my experience with a 3950X is that it is a complete beast for multi-core workloads, and the 5950X would only be better. I do think it is the right CPU for the job, but fully expect it to thermal throttle if you decide to put PBO on.

I don't see me overclocking in the foreseeable future. So I assume I won't have any issues with the 5950x paired with the NH-D15.

brob · May 30, 2022

1 hour ago, MachineLearningist said:

As for the 12900k, I was just picking based on a few reviews and benchmark I've read online, but if I could actually put some limits I will maybe reconsider. It's also slightly more pricey along with the change in the mobo chipset.

I'm not advocating the i9-12900K in this use case. If you can find some benchmarks that relate directly to your intended usage, they would offer guidance.