Question Zen 4 builders thread

[Markfw]

I know its early, but as someone pointed out, I better get my ram now before the scalpers are all over it.

To go with a 7950x, what do you think of this ram:

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr5-sdram/p/N82E16820374369?Item=N82E16820374369

(edited for my best recommendation, 12/5/2023)

 

[dccc]

Looking for a good 32 gb kit. I'm currently looking at either adata or teamgroup.

If you do not need ARGB, kingston fury beast CL36 EXPO are hynix A-dies. At their price, there are no cheaper A-dies kit at this moment

 

[Timmah!]

I am going to build the system tommorow finally, after having the stuff in boxes since late December. Wish me luck there would be no faulty or downright DOA components, especially the essential ones like mobo, CPU, RAM or system SSD. Ultimately i set myself up, that i can keep using my current computer - originally i intended move some of the drives to the new one, thats why the delay in the first place - but because of work this proved to be impossible, so i am not waiting any further, bought one additional SSD instead. I would still like to use the new machine as soon as possible, and not wait couple of weeks for some RMA, obviously. So, fingers crossed.

I do have few final general questions:

- for system and apps aside of games, i am gonna use Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. Should i partition it for Windows and apps separately, or its OK to be on the same partition? I mean, is there anything to gain from having them separated, in case of some Windows corruption and need to reinstall, could this save me from having to reinstall all the apps as well? Or thats unavoidable, so its the same thing.

- recently learned about the SSD caching thing. I am bit stupid, this never crossed my mind. And in my current computer i actually do rely on mechanical drive heavily, my work projects are stored on 2TB WD Black drive from 2011 (i kept across 3 systems at this point). I have to access it everytime i do some work, so i have to often deal with longer opening times in 3Dsmax or Octane, or simply when the heads on the drive are "parked" and i need to wait for few seconds for the disk to awake. I could have used my secondary M2, which has some free space for caching, if i werent oblivious to this possibility, LOL. But its mostly moot point now.

Anyway, i am replacing said WD Black with 4TB SATA SSD (Crucial MX500) - will move all the current content in there. The question is, should i still consider this SSD caching thing on one of the M2 drives? I mean caching the data from said Crucial drive, since M2 is still faster than SATA? Or that did make sense only in case of mechanical HDD usage, but in real world, the difference between M2 and SATA drive would be negligible?

- finally, only drive i intend to keep from current machine is WD Gold 6TB. I keep there some movies and TV shows, like entire 90s Star Trek . It will be accessed only infrequently. However, i want to set it up as a back-up drive for my WORK directory on the Crucial drive. I would like that directory to be automatically backed-up to this HDD, maybe periodically or when computer is otherwise idle, i dont know what options are in there... would anyone care to advise the best possible way to do so? Do i need some third-party app, or can i somehow set it up in Windows?

Many thanks.

 

[biostud]

If you

I am going to build the system tommorow finally, after having the stuff in boxes since late December. Wish me luck there would be no faulty or downright DOA components, especially the essential ones like mobo, CPU, RAM or system SSD. Ultimately i set myself up, that i can keep using my current computer - originally i intended move some of the drives to the new one, thats why the delay in the first place - but because of work this proved to be impossible, so i am not waiting any further, bought one additional SSD instead. I would still like to use the new machine as soon as possible, and not wait couple of weeks for some RMA, obviously. So, fingers crossed.

I do have few final general questions:

- for system and apps aside of games, i am gonna use Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. Should i partition it for Windows and apps separately, or its OK to be on the same partition? I mean, is there anything to gain from having them separated, in case of some Windows corruption and need to reinstall, could this save me from having to reinstall all the apps as well? Or thats unavoidable, so its the same thing.

- recently learned about the SSD caching thing. I am bit stupid, this never crossed my mind. And in my current computer i actually do rely on mechanical drive heavily, my work projects are stored on 2TB WD Black drive from 2011 (i kept across 3 systems at this point). I have to access it everytime i do some work, so i have to often deal with longer opening times in 3Dsmax or Octane, or simply when the heads on the drive are "parked" and i need to wait for few seconds for the disk to awake. I could have used my secondary M2, which has some free space for caching, if i werent oblivious to this possibility, LOL. But its mostly moot point now.

Anyway, i am replacing said WD Black with 4TB SATA SSD (Crucial MX500) - will move all the current content in there. The question is, should i still consider this SSD caching thing on one of the M2 drives? I mean caching the data from said Crucial drive, since M2 is still faster than SATA? Or that did make sense only in case of mechanical HDD usage, but in real world, the difference between M2 and SATA drive would be negligible?

- finally, only drive i intend to keep from current machine is WD Gold 6TB. I keep there some movies and TV shows, like entire 90s Star Trek . It will be accessed only infrequently. However, i want to set it up as a back-up drive for my WORK directory on the Crucial drive. I would like that directory to be automatically backed-up to this HDD, maybe periodically or when computer is otherwise idle, i dont know what options are in there... would anyone care to advise the best possible way to do so? Do i need some third-party app, or can i somehow set it up in Windows?

Many thanks.

If you want to do backups, you should put the harddrive in external enclosure.

 

[A///]

I'm using this kit of Teamgroup at 6200C30 with Buildzoid's timings. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3HGJ4V7?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

If you do not need ARGB, kingston fury beast CL36 EXPO are hynix A-dies. At their price, there are no cheaper A-dies kit at this moment

Thanks in2, I was looking at that kit on newegg. Any teething issues?

@dccc no but don't mind the rgb. I've seen those sticks online and in store but I was cautious about the higher cl and can't find the first word latency for that kit.

I'd eventually need 3-4 builds but will go 7950x3d and a good x670e motherboard for the main and opt for the cheaper 7950x and b650 boards for the other 2-3 builds.

 

[Markfw]

This is great stuff... I paid way more than this for my kit. $130 CL30 expo 6000

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb/p/N82E16820374457?Item=N82E16820374457

 

[In2Photos]

Thanks in2, I was looking at that kit on newegg. Any teething issues?

@dccc no but don't mind the rgb. I've seen those sticks online and in store but I was cautious about the higher cl and can't find the first word latency for that kit.

I'd eventually need 3-4 builds but will go 7950x3d and a good x670e motherboard for the main and opt for the cheaper 7950x and b650 boards for the other 2-3 builds.

Not that I recall. It was listed on the QVL for my motherboard so I didn't expect any issues. I enabled XMP and that went well. I then tried 6200 at XMP timings and that worked too. 6400 wouldn't post. I then tried Buildzoid's timings and that worked too.

My daughter has an EXPO GSkill kit that worked fine as well once I updated the BIOS for her Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX.

 

[A///]

This is great stuff... I paid way more than this for my kit. $130 CL30 expo 6000

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb/p/N82E16820374457?Item=N82E16820374457

those aren't bad. They're not the best dies but i am not expecting amd to improve their imc for zen 5 much or i am wrong and they do but past history has taught us not to expect too much of a bump in performance. thank you, Mark. I'd say 50 per kit going with the flares.

 

[DrMrLordX]

@CP5670

You don't absolutely need EXPO. It's a one-click solution for memOC, so if you don't want to play with memory timings then it's nice to have.

 

[dccc]

Thanks in2, I was looking at that kit on newegg. Any teething issues?

@dccc no but don't mind the rgb. I've seen those sticks online and in store but I was cautious about the higher cl and can't find the first word latency for that kit.

I'd eventually need 3-4 builds but will go 7950x3d and a good x670e motherboard for the main and opt for the cheaper 7950x and b650 boards for the other 2-3 builds.

No teething issues, clocks like any A-die, just look for newest stocks with at least 5600 cl36-38-38-80 @ 1.25v.

https://www.newegg.com/kingston-32gb/p/N82E16820242741?Description=KF556C36BBEK2-32&cm_re=KF556C36BBEK2-32-_-20-242-741-_-Product&quicklink=true

KF556C36BBEK2-32
KF556C36BBEAK2-32
The A is the ARGB version

The 5200 sticks have a chance of A-die from Micron or Hynix.

 

[CP5670]

@CP5670

You don't absolutely need EXPO. It's a one-click solution for memOC, so if you don't want to play with memory timings then it's nice to have.

I got the Expo memory anyway, as it was only $20 more.

For the board, I was going to get the X670E Carbon but the new Tomahawk might be a better deal. The Carbon only has a few minor features but costs $150 more, and doesn't even look as snazzy as past Carbon boards. I don't like the shared M.2 slot on the Tomahawk though, although it's at least not shared with the main PCIE slot. The Carbon's QVL list is much larger, but I'm guessing the Tomahawk works with the same memory and the list is not updated yet since it just came out.

 

[AdamK47]

Playing around with CO on my 7950X3D since I felt like inflicting some pain into my life.

The 1003 BIOS for my Asus X670E Crosshair Extreme would pass CoreCyler Prime95 and YCruncher at all core -20 CO. Then I would play Days Gone and within 10 minutes I would get a system reboot.

BIOS 1004 has been going good so far with -20. So far it passes CoreCycler tests along with playing games without sudden system reboots. Played Days Gone for 3 hours yesterday without issue.

I'll see if it holds.

 

[Timmah!]

Guys, i am at loss with the ARGB stuff. The computer is put together, it would boot and get into BIOS, so so far, so good. Hopefully thats a good sign that everything will be working as intended. Now got to install windows and update the BIOS (there is 05xx something in there out of the box).

Anyway, the only part i could not resolve is the pesky lighting. The board (Hero) has 3 ARGB headers apparently, but naturally, 2 of them are on the bottom, and they are covered by the bottom GPU. So i am left i guess by the single remaining one in the upper right corner. However, i need to plug into it multiple fans. What do i do? Buy some hub? Or are there splitter cables?

The other thing, i have Arctic Liquid Freezer 420, the ARGB one, mounted upfront. Now ignoring the rest of the fans elswhere in the case i need/want to plug, I dont know how to plug the fans already on this one. I see there are some daisy chained cables on the fans themselves. Then i see one cable running along the tubes into the pump. It seem to go into the pump. And then one cable goes out of the pump, which we plugged into CPU-FAN header. I dont see any other cable going out to be plugged into ARGB header. As the cables are daisy-chained though, on the middle fan i see 2 of those plugs, i guess male and female, those are unplugged - do i plug some extension cable in there and then into the mobo?

And anyway, would there be any lighting in BIOS or do i need windows for that? The board and RAM are glowing though, so it should be working already.

 

[In2Photos]

Guys, i am at loss with the ARGB stuff. The computer is put together, it would boot and get into BIOS, so so far, so good. Hopefully thats a good sign that everything will be working as intended. Now got to install windows and update the BIOS (there is 05xx something in there out of the box).

Anyway, the only part i could not resolve is the pesky lighting. The board (Hero) has 3 ARGB headers apparently, but naturally, 2 of them are on the bottom, and they are covered by the bottom GPU. So i am left i guess by the single remaining one in the upper right corner. However, i need to plug into it multiple fans. What do i do? Buy some hub? Or are there splitter cables?

The other thing, i have Arctic Liquid Freezer 420, the ARGB one, mounted upfront. Now ignoring the rest of the fans elswhere in the case i need/want to plug, I dont know how to plug the fans already on this one. I see there are some daisy chained cables on the fans themselves. Then i see one cable running along the tubes into the pump. It seem to go into the pump. And then one cable goes out of the pump, which we plugged into CPU-FAN header. I dont see any other cable going out to be plugged into ARGB header. As the cables are daisy-chained though, on the middle fan i see 2 of those plugs, i guess male and female, those are unplugged - do i plug some extension cable in there and then into the mobo?

And anyway, would there be any lighting in BIOS or do i need windows for that? The board and RAM are glowing though, so it should be working already.

You can get a RGB hub or use splitters. Note that just like fans you can overload an RGB header if you connect too many devices as well. If you have a lot of devices a hub may be the way to go. If it's just a few fans splitters should work fine.

On your AIO, the fans all daisy chain together and connect to the header on the radiator. So you only have one fan header to connect to the motherboard. This controls both the pump and fans. Looks like you did that correctly. Did your model come with an A-RGB hub or not? If not, the rgb should also be daisy chained and connected to the header on the radiator. You then have a single header at the pump end that needs to connect to the motherboard.

You'll need to use ASUS Armory Crate to control the RGB.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Finally got some new storage for this machine which will be built any day now (hah, yeah right). Got the 990 Pro on sale for $180. By now the new firmware should be fully proliferated, and it's still nearly impossible to find any PCIe 5.0 drives. There's one Inland TD510 for sale on eBay for $380. No local microcenter so . . . meh.

Also there is a review of the Inland TD510 which should also serve as a stand-in for the Aorus Gen5 10000 (same controller):

inland TD510 2TB SSD Review - Gen5 Powerhouse

Micro Center is bringing value to Gen5 NVMe SSDs with its 10,000 MB/s speedster, the inland TD510 2TB, powered by Phison's E26 controller.

www.tweaktown.com

It's not hugely faster than the 990 Pro except in some sequential read situations, so I don't think I missed out on too much.

 

[Timmah!]

You can get a RGB hub or use splitters. Note that just like fans you can overload an RGB header if you connect too many devices as well. If you have a lot of devices a hub may be the way to go. If it's just a few fans splitters should work fine.

On your AIO, the fans all daisy chain together and connect to the header on the radiator. So you only have one fan header to connect to the motherboard. This controls both the pump and fans. Looks like you did that correctly. Did your model come with an A-RGB hub or not? If not, the rgb should also be daisy chained and connected to the header on the radiator. You then have a single header at the pump end that needs to connect to the motherboard.

You'll need to use ASUS Armory Crate to control the RGB.

Its ARGB version of the cooler, but there was no RGB hub. I see only one cable coming out of the pump, though it seems there should be 2 of them, the other one for ARGB?

Interestingly, from what i could gather, the cables from the fans on the rad, should have been routed under the braided clothing of the tubes. I can however see a cable outside of the tubing, running alongside them and being held in place, next to them, by those plasticky things, linear pieces you can knot, dont know english word for it.

I may post some photos, if it helps.

 

[In2Photos]

Its ARGB version of the cooler, but there was no RGB hub. I see only one cable coming out of the pump, though it seems there should be 2 of them, the other one for ARGB?

Interestingly, from what i could gather, the cables from the fans on the rad, should have been routed under the braided clothing of the tubes. I can however see a cable outside of the tubing, running alongside them and being held in place, next to them, by those plasticky things, linear pieces you can knot, dont know english word for it.

I may post some photos, if it helps.

All of the info I have seen about the ARGB version is that there is 2 wires on the pump, a 4 pin fan header, and the ARGB header, which has 3 of 4 pins as shown here:



I believe zip ties is the word you might be looking for. Definitely post some photos if you can!

 

[IEC]

Finally got some new storage for this machine which will be built any day now (hah, yeah right). Got the 990 Pro on sale for $180. By now the new firmware should be fully proliferated, and it's still nearly impossible to find any PCIe 5.0 drives. There's one Inland TD510 for sale on eBay for $380. No local microcenter so . . . meh.

Also there is a review of the Inland TD510 which should also serve as a stand-in for the Aorus Gen5 10000 (same controller):

inland TD510 2TB SSD Review - Gen5 Powerhouse

Micro Center is bringing value to Gen5 NVMe SSDs with its 10,000 MB/s speedster, the inland TD510 2TB, powered by Phison's E26 controller.

www.tweaktown.com

It's not hugely faster than the 990 Pro except in some sequential read situations, so I don't think I missed out on too much.

Hynix P41 is currrently $157/2TB on Amazon. That's my go-to for high performance PCIe 4.0 drives at the moment.

But it's still hard to recommend with plenty of "good enough" Gen4 drives in the $110-120 range and at the budget end a 2TB Intel 670p being about $80.

 

[Markfw]

where is the memory setup for ASUS bios for voltage and speed ? I tried 6000 (on 6600 memory, non-expo) 2000 and 1.4 vddp I think it is, and it won't post. At default it wants 4800

 

[AdamK47]

Finally got some new storage for this machine which will be built any day now (hah, yeah right). Got the 990 Pro on sale for $180. By now the new firmware should be fully proliferated, and it's still nearly impossible to find any PCIe 5.0 drives. There's one Inland TD510 for sale on eBay for $380. No local microcenter so . . . meh.

Also there is a review of the Inland TD510 which should also serve as a stand-in for the Aorus Gen5 10000 (same controller):

inland TD510 2TB SSD Review - Gen5 Powerhouse

Micro Center is bringing value to Gen5 NVMe SSDs with its 10,000 MB/s speedster, the inland TD510 2TB, powered by Phison's E26 controller.

www.tweaktown.com

It's not hugely faster than the 990 Pro except in some sequential read situations, so I don't think I missed out on too much.

Got my 2TB TD510 for $300. Bought it for $350 at MC and the next day they lowered it to $300. They refunded me $50.

Are you using the heatsink/fan that came with it? I'm not. That's the only bad part of it.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Got my 2TB TD510 for $300. Bought it for $350 at MC and the next day they lowered it to $300. They refunded me $50.

Are you using the heatsink/fan that came with it? I'm not. That's the only bad part of it.

I didn't get the Inland drive, I got the 990 Pro instead. Not sure if I'll use the included heatsink since the 990 Pro runs pretty cool.

 

[AdamK47]

I didn't get the Inland drive, I got the 990 Pro instead. Not sure if I'll use the included heatsink since the 990 Pro runs pretty cool.

That's what I get for paying half attention. You did say you got the 990 Pro. At least that drive doesn't come with janky cooling.

 

[igor_kavinski]

At default it wants 4800

Some RAM kits are pretty stubborn. You have to start going up from 4800.

My example: 5600 EXPO kit. Defaults to 3600 on my Z790 mobo. Max I was able to coax out of it was 4600 @ CL28-30-30-60

 

[Markfw]

Some RAM kits are pretty stubborn. You have to start going up from 4800.

My example: 5600 EXPO kit. Defaults to 3600 on my Z790 mobo. Max I was able to coax out of it was 4600 @ CL28-30-30-60

but where is the EXPO/EXP setting in bios ? I sure like ASRock a lot more. This is my last ASUS Zen 4 mobo.

 

[Markfw]

well, I found AI overclock tuner, and docp 1 failed. Trying docp ii

 

[igor_kavinski]

I sure like ASRock a lot more.

Me too. Their BIOS is relatively user friendly.