Motherboard and System Reviews

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
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I expect to post a couple of

I expect to post a couple of MB reviews on my Asus b450-f and on the Asus ROG Stix x570-E gaming WiFi II (which was crunching at 4.2 Mhz and has been unexpectedly promoted into also running 3 rtx 3080 ti gpus.

But today was too busy/tiring.  Mayana (sp)? (Tomorrow)

Tom M

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
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I promised reviews of x570

I promised reviews of x570 and b450-f MB's.  But it isn't quite that simple.  So here is my tale mixed all together with (count them) 4 different MB's.

The Asus ROG Strix x570-E Gaming WiFi II is a 3 long slot MB with X570 (and Pcie 4.0/Gen4) support.

I originally bought it as the "fast" PCIe replacement for my successful run of Asus b450-f MB's.

But I also bought an Asus Prime x570-P expecting it to have all the LLC widgets (LLC, Phase Power Control etc) that I was missing in my attempt to Over Clock my 3950x to 4.3 GHz (or near that).

The Asus Prime X570-P is a very nice looking 2 long slot MB that will push any PCIe 4.0/Gen4 GPU along quite nicely.  It is reliable, good looking and it can't sustain my 3950x CPU past 4.125 GHz.

So I turned to the Gaming WiFi II MB.  After discovering that an Q Code "OC" error doesn't effect processing at all I believe I figured out the settings to get it to 4.2 GHz.  I did this with the extensive help of Keith Myers publicly and via PM.  So it is "happily" (or at least without getting a really hot cpu) crunching along.

About this time I had an apparently working but damaged MSI MEG x570 Godlike MB.  So I installed it in place of the last remaining BOINC processing Asus b450-f MB.

I had the Godlike up to 3 gpus when it promptly reverted to its "Over volt error, shutdown in 15 seconds" mode.  I had previously speculated that I might be able to combine 3 gpus and serious U@H crunching (with over clocking the CPU) on the Gaming WiFi II MB.

After dinking around and discovering that yet another flat ribbon cable (part of a 90 degree with a base that can stand up a GPU vertically on my table top) I managed to get the 3 Rtx 3080 ti's installed, booted and running. 

Since I wanted to be careful I had taken the OC on the CPU back to pure "auto".  Fine it was running.  I went to put back in the 4.2 GHz and it stalled during booting.

After finally getting the AIO turned on again and various other mistakes I left it running at 4.2 GHz while pushing the 3 gpus with Gamma Ray #1 tasks and went to bed (Friday night).

It failed over night.  Locked up.  So I have backed the CPU down to 4.125 GHz while I am getting organized this morning.

I expect to re-install an Asus b450-f MB as my primary 3 GPU cruncher today (since I have had a 2nd EPYC MB failure).

And continue testing the Gaming WiFi II MB at 4.2 GHz where I think it is stable.  Still looking to try to get close to the 4.3 GHz limit that AMD published for this CPU.

That is the situation this Saturday morning.

Tom M

 

 

 

 

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
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Credit: 9615600175
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https://www.tomshardware.com/

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/x670e-valkyrie-biostar-computex-announcement

Seems to be a 3 slot am5 socket MB.

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

Keith Myers
Keith Myers
Joined: 11 Feb 11
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As long as you stay away from

As long as you stay away from the top level boards with all the bling, the mid-level boards all have 3 PCIe slots so that they can be occupied with gpus.

 

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
Posts: 6504
Credit: 9615600175
RAC: 3422235

Keith Myers wrote: As long

Keith Myers wrote:

As long as you stay away from the top level boards with all the bling, the mid-level boards all have 3 PCIe slots so that they can be occupied with gpus.

I missed that.  All the announcements I read up to now had 2 slots on the MB.  Hmm.....  that means there is a mid-level Asus socket Am5 with three long slots?

Tom M

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

Keith Myers
Keith Myers
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A couple.  ASUS Prime H670

A couple.  ASUS Prime H670 Plus D4 and ASUS ProArt. The ProArt is the one I have my eye on.  No bling or RGB.  Just functional motherboard.

 

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
Posts: 6504
Credit: 9615600175
RAC: 3422235

I would like to restart this

I would like to restart this thread on a closely related topic.

Epyc Motherboard Cpu coolers.

The story so far.

I have an Epyc 7742 QS (Quality Sample) (64c/128t) CPU.  The air cooler I have is insufficient to keep it cool if I let the CPU run on "auto" or 240 watts.  

I bought a recommended AIO liquid cooler.

  1. It really cools the CPU.
  2. I have limited experience with installing liquid CPU coolers.
    1. It was an extremely awkward install.
    2. Turns out I will need to (probably) replace the rattling radiator fans.
    3. Removed pending re-install/replacement

The "best" Air Cooled CPU cooler is, of course, from NOCTUA.  (Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3)

  1. It is designed for a ThreadRipper MB but will fit an Epyc MB (same socket design)
  2. It is designed for the TR socket orientation.  This means it will blow across the Epyc MB rather than "front to back".
    1. I think the default fan install would cause it to blow hot air on the gpus.
    2. I think I can reverse the fan airflow to blow out the "top" of the case which would take the hot air off the GPU(s).
  3. I have a refund parked at Paypal that would pay for this cooler.
  4. It will be MUCH less aggravating to install.  But likely the CPU will run hotter than the liquid cooling solution.

I will be studying my current liquid cooler.  And trying to see if I can perform a less awkward install.  But I really want to switch back to an Air Cooled solution.

Comments?

Tom M

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

GWGeorge007
GWGeorge007
Joined: 8 Jan 18
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Tom M wrote:I have an Epyc

Tom M wrote:

I have an Epyc 7742 QS (Quality Sample) (64c/128t) CPU.  The air cooler I have is insufficient to keep it cool if I let the CPU run on "auto" or 240 watts.  

...snip...

The "best" Air Cooled CPU cooler is, of course, from NOCTUA.  (Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3)

...snip...

I think I can reverse the fan airflow to blow out the "top" of the case which would take the hot air off the GPU(s).

...snip...

Comments?

Go ahead and try it, but be forewarned...  the TR cooler on an EPYC "may" be enough to cool your PC, but you are correct...  It may run hotter than with the AIO.  How much hotter?  Who knows...  I certainly don't.

Once again, you need to take into consideration Noctua's thoughts on CPU wattage's.

https://noctua.at/en/noctua-standardised-performance-rating

In short:


The Noctua Standardised Performance Rating (NSPR)

Noctua’s Standardised Performance Rating (NSPR) is a platform-independent classification system that allows customers to assess and compare the efficiency of Noctua CPU coolers at a glance: The higher the NSPR score, the better the heatsink’s performance. For example, high end coolers such as the NH-D15 will reach a NSPR score of more than 150 whereas compact low-profile coolers will score below 50. Mid-range models such as the NH-U12S will fall somewhere in between:

CPU Cooler                                   NSPR

NH-D15 (chromax.black / SE-AM4)                      183

NH-D15S (chromax.black)                                       167

NH-D14                                                                       161

NH-U12A                                                                     169

NH-U14S (TR4-SP3 / DX-3647                      162


Translation:  The NSPR rating does not convert directly to watts, it is only an indicator of a performance value.   In addition, the "240 Watts" rating of the EPYC CPU system is not a true representation of the actual watts, but AMD's perception of total watts.

George

Proud member of the Old Farts Association

Tom M
Tom M
Joined: 2 Feb 06
Posts: 6504
Credit: 9615600175
RAC: 3422235

Thank you George. Ran

Thank you George.

Ran across a review

A Proud member of the O.F.A.  (Old Farts Association).  Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)  I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!

Mr P Hucker
Mr P Hucker
Joined: 12 Aug 06
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Tom M wrote:The "best" Air

Tom M wrote:
The "best" Air Cooled CPU cooler is, of course, from NOCTUA.  (Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3)

Contrarywise, that thing looks feeble, get a Zalman CNPS20X.  Two fans for a start.

Tom M wrote:
I think the default fan install would cause it to blow hot air on the gpus.

From the picture I saw, it blows perpendicular to the motherboard, like my Zalman, and you can aim it in any of 4 directions.  I aim mine towards the back of the case (where there's a chassis fan/gap).  I may be wrong and I can only choose 2, but if so they're forwards and backwards.  If the Noctua blows up or down, that's a very stupid design, unless they assume you will always blow it up with convection helping (but some cases don't have a vent there).

Tom M wrote:
But likely the CPU will run hotter than the liquid cooling solution.

My Ryzen is 24T and produces 120W.  I don't think air cooling on 240W is possible.  The heatsink would have to be massive or have a seriously fast and noisy fan.

Tom M wrote:
I will be studying my current liquid cooler.  And trying to see if I can perform a less awkward install.  But I really want to switch back to an Air Cooled solution.

Liquid cooling is quiet, and leaves more room around the CPU to get at RAM, NVME, etc.  But the pumps do fail after a few years, which means changing the whole thing (assuming you bought a ready-sealed unit).  Once you've got it in it should be fine.  As long as your case is big enough at the top to house the radiator, it should be easy enough to fit (unless you didn't buy a ready sealed unit).  I tried that once.  I ended up with water under the northbridge.

 

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