help for 1st build

[UserXY]

Hello guys, I hope you can give me some tipps for this project. This is my 1st build.

 

1. Budget & Location

1000 - 1500 €, I live in Portugal

2. Aim

The software I am working with performs parallel / brute-force processing for FPGA development (It‘s a private PC, I‘ll use it for every day things, too).

capture traffic at 10 Gb Ethernet using Wireshark https://www.wireshark.org/

Diamond : http://www.latticesemi.com/view_document?document_id=37380

AHDL https://www.aldec.com/files/products/Active-HDL_Datasheet_rv2017.07.26.pdf

Vivado: https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/backgrounders/vivado-hlx.pdf

lots of single-threaded compilation

linux/android kernel cross-compilation.

multiple OS, virtual OS

 

 

3. Monitors

I have 1 Monitor 1080p, I plan using another in the future with this build, 1080p

4. Peripherals

Keyboard

OS not needed

5. Existing hardware

Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB

6. Case

no Mini-ITX, cheap

7. Overclocking

no OC

 

Software:

Ressource utilization depends heavily on project. Recomended for some scenarios:

• Diamond: 1 GB RAM / core, the more cores the better

• Vivado: 8 GB RAM, the more the better

There are different discussions for different software. The first statement is quite simple. As for the 2nd, they say that for this software more that 4 cores shouldn‘t make much difference in performance unless you have enough bandwidth. Instead, prioritize more RAM (16/32 GB). Users reported crashes on 8 GB. Best performance increases are with very large L2 cache per CPU.

I am regularely running tasks for several hours. I also have a lot of browser taps open.

CPU

I chose the Ryzen 7 1700X. It has 16 threads. Total L2 C = 4 MB.

GPU

It should be powerful enough for 2 1080p Resolution Monitors.

RAM

Ryzen supports 2667MHz DDR4, 2 channel. I‘ll go for 2x8 GB for now.

 

Ryzen 2400G part list:  https://pcpartpicker.com/user/User2234442/saved/mk7JVn

 

Ryzen 7 part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/User2234442/saved/X7Z3FT

 

here are the parts i chose : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LPpLr6

[UserXY]

1st question: i read on a site the Ryzen 7 has 64b support. What does this mean? The Zen architecture is a x86-64 architecture, so 64bit architecture, correct?

[UserXY]

here are the parts i chose : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LPpLr6

 

I simply took an existing list and modified it. Consider it a draft, it's not complete and I have to research about my changes.

 

How do I pick a good mainboard?

[cesarbg]

I would choose a better GPU. You will have 16gigs of ram, and a R7, and a crappy GPU. It will cause bottle necks. I'd go for a 1050, which is not soooo overpriced and totally kill the 710.

[cesarbg]

You're also missing the case. Is this a gaming pc or just a very basic workstation? If the latter, why bother to have such good components?

[UserXY]

hello @cesarbg

Thank you for your reply. It is not for gaming at all. It's a workstation. Many of my tasks take a couple of hours to complete. Occasionally a bunch of them running over night. Main goal is to increase productivity. Not sure if this CPU is a good selection for non-gaming tasks.

[deXxterlab97]

1. Just get 1700 non X. 
2. If you do not do hardcore overclocking get 1700 and a stock cooler and a cheaper board. Too much money wasted there.
3. Ryzen likes fast ram, at least 3000Mhz
4. Cooler comes with thermal paste. Always. No need extra.
5. No need for 750w PSU unless you plan to put 2x1080Ti in SLI. If your plan is single GPU get a 550w. Powerful up to a single 1080Ti.

[jeffmeyer5295]

Almost any CPU you buy right now will be 64 bit, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. From what you describe, you do not need a lot of hardware and unless you are gaming/doing some pretty intense stuff the Ryzen 7 is a waist of money. Get one of the Ryzen APU's, 8-16 gbs of ram and an SSD. Don't waist your money if you aren't going to use the hardware. 

[cesarbg]

25 minutes ago, jeffmeyer5295 said:

Almost any CPU you buy right now will be 64 bit, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. From what you describe, you do not need a lot of hardware and unless you are gaming/doing some pretty intense stuff the Ryzen 7 is a waist of money. Get one of the Ryzen APU's, 8-16 gbs of ram and an SSD. Don't waist your money if you aren't going to use the hardware. 

Totally agree with you. If you are using this pc as a workstation, buy the new Ryzen APUs, very cheap, and according to new benchmarks, faster than the equivalents with no graphics. But good ram, fast ram. Get a cheap B350 or even a A300 series chipset motherboard, you won't need overclocking, so buying more than needed is useless. Use the money to get good ram, good SSD and a cheaper APU. I have a Ryzen 5 1400, GTX1050, 1 SSD and 1 HDD, and I have more than enough with my EVGA 500W, not using even half of it.

[UserXY]

I was researching and the softwares do not support GPU assisted computing. I may be underestimating the importance of GPU but I assume a better GPU was adviced since I was selecting the Ryzen 7. I think an APU will not cause bottlenecks for my GPU requirements.

 

The CPU was the 1st thing I chose, I was looking for 8 core. Soon later I discovered that fast RAM has a lot higher priority over cores. So you are probably right about the APU beeing better option. But I have doubts:

 

In a certain development stage I let the software calculate different scenarios. These tasks are CPU intense and take a lot of time. Then I compare results and pick the best tradeoff (think of it like A/B split-testing). I can choose how many threads to use. I can clearly see the time difference in creating 8 solutions in parallel instead of sequential single-thread. The softwares uses a lot of multi-threading. Rarely, I have to create 100 solutions, sometimes there is no solution at all and I have to re-work.

 

 

[UserXY]

Ryzen 5 1400 is not an APU, it sais: "discrete graphic card required".

Ryzen 5 2400G is.

Ryzen supports 2667MHz, why do you recommend 3000MHz RAM? Is this important for overclocking?

[DragonTamer1]

3 hours ago, UserXY said:

Ryzen 5 1400 is not an APU, it sais: "discrete graphic card required".

Ryzen 5 1600 is.

Ryzen supports 2667MHz, why do you recommend 3000MHz RAM? Is this important for overclocking?

Ryzen runs better with higher speed RAM. It may officially support 2667 but a lot of people are able to get to 2933 on over-clocks with 3000 or 3200 speed sticks.

[Herman Mcpootis]

what software are you using?

[cesarbg]

1 hour ago, herman mcpootis said:

what software are you using?

This is important. What are you exactly going to do with the pc then?

[UserXY]

A while ago, I was capturing 10 Gb Ethernet at maximum MTU using Wireshark https://www.wireshark.org/

At the same time I had some jobs running in Diamond : http://www.latticesemi.com/view_document?document_id=37380

and was working on a simulation on AHDL https://www.aldec.com/files/products/Active-HDL_Datasheet_rv2017.07.26.pdf

 

I also use Vivado: https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/backgrounders/vivado-hlx.pdf

 

 

 

other tasks I frequently do:

a lot of single-threaded compilation, linux/android kernel cross-compilation.

multiple OS, virtual OS

 

most compile stuff is single-threaded, many tasks specializing in multi-threading and there is close to no GPU assisted computing. I think I can buy a GPU once I identify it as bottleneck.

 

likely tasks in the near future: 10GbE, PCIe development. For this I need to capture and dump fully saturated bandwidh to memory while I do other stuff.

 

many thanks,

Markus

[UserXY]

this might be misleading, though. I don't need expensive hardware to cut down hours of compilation time. I am still staring at the monitor for whatever time it takes.

 

Where it hurts most are tasks that scale nicely with multi threading: If I am looking at 10 solutions after a single run I have a better understanding of tradeoffs than 5 solutions. I can tweak settings sooner and can avoid going for the 100 solutions. On another design step I have couple of 100 compilations, 80 % take < 5 min each. Multithreading cuts down a lot here, too. These 2 things I do several times a day and here it hurts doing other things until it is finished.

 

I am favoring multi-threading for now over performance. 

1st I need some experience on what my requirements are and

2nd the less I spend now the more I can spend later specifically for the next project.

[UserXY]

did I embarras myself? I posted some completely wrong information (I deleted it )

 

Can you help me with my motherboard for Ryzen 2400G? The ASRock AM4 AB350 Pro4 should be fine with the Ryzen 2400G but I have a compatibility issue. Same with Gigabyte - GA-AB350M . It sais:

Quote

Some AMD B350 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Raven Ridge CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.

Edit: I found my answer here: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/263872-psa-ryzen-motherboards-older-firmware-wont-boot-ryzen-apus

 

 

I am still thinking between the 2 processors, can you suggest a cheaper case for the Ryzen 7? I was looking for the Corsair - Carbide Series 200R but it's not listed in PCPartPicker.

 

I placed 2 new part lists in my 1st post (at the end, red text). Can you please comment, is it a good setup?