My first quad-GPU + Dual Xeons + Kitchen Sink Home Built PC

@gustojunk, i’d say if you really want to go with water cooling, use a complete system with one large pump to avoid that overkill. It may get hard to find proper mounting positions for all these radiators as the tubes are sometimes pretty short and do not allow for similar flexibility compared to a custom built water cooling system.

btw. also read here about the H100 fan issue.

@Micha, i am on air too but i do only have 2x80W XEON and a single gpu in a horizontal chenbro sr109 server case.

c.

ahhh @clement, I’m terrified by the thought of installing my own watercooling on $10K of parts. Also I have no idea of how to even make something that run well for 2 CPUs (and are you also suggesting the 4 GPUs?)

You are right that the link on one experience you showed on H100 sounds bad. But looking at the amazon rating of 4.5 starts on almost 3000 reviews gives me some confidence.

I could also consider the Enermax Liqtech 240, has one really good vidoe review here: Enermax LIQTECH 240 Watercooler Review - It's like a freaking TANK! - YouTube but then not enough amazon reviews to judge how good it could be.

Regarding reach for mounting all, I was thinking that the Core X9 case will have plenty of placement options on top, bottom, sides so I could find places that reach.

also if I go all water cool, what do I do about video cards? would I go with something like this? ZOTAC GTX 1080 ArcticStorm - Watercooled GTX 1080 - YouTube

I don’t know, I thought about it and it sounds tempting, but it seems too risky. I’m thinking going with this system, and if things don’t reach to mounting places, or if it’s too loud, I’ll reconsider.

G

I think if this is your first watercooling built, you should start with a simple setup and not with 2 CPUs and 4 GPUs. (Even if i know you have a slight hang for overkill)

Amazon rating does not count too much (at least for me) since most of the users are average and share their experience with eg. a Core i7 with 91Watts and slight overclock. Handling 160W x 2 and 4 GPUS under load and keeping it silent is a different ballpark. I guess such a system is probably done best with a large water circuit, powerful pump, good control panel and huge external radiator. Again such a configuration is not suited for a first water cooling built, unless you got someone with experience to help you assemble it. The only pro side of your multi-circuit solution is that if one thing fails, you do not have to open the circuit. This means shorter down-time.

Go in a shop and try to handle the tubes attached to the H100 and similar. They do not really bend so well. If you cannot place them properly or if tubes are too short, there is almost no way to change that. In a custom circuit you simply would cut your own tube, with desired length. Custom tubes are thicker and allow more water flow, custom pumps are more reliable and really silent. In short, if you really want to use the H100 x 2 i would not try to watercool the gpus from the beginning. Btw. i’ve read that even INTEL seems to suggest to watercool these CPUs :wink:

If it is still too loud using air for the GPUs, you can unmount the air coolers and attach custom watercooling later like smicha did. I would start with 2 GPUs first and buy more if everything runs ok.

c.

Great feedback Clement, you are absolutely right, I will start with 2 GPUs and see how things go. Then if all good, I’ll add number 3. If all good I’ll add number 4. This will also let me test the performance difference between 2-4 GPUs. If it’s not that noticeable I can spare the cost, heat and noise in each build.

I’ll try to order everything next week and start building. I’ll keep you posted with progress.

G

Hi All,

Time flies, I was looking at building hardware in February, and we are in October and still nothing. I’ve been busy traveling, and growing the business, even visited McNeel HQ to crack the whip on the WIP. …but now this computer build is my fall project. Ready to build!

Since February a few things have changed: most notably Nvidia has a newer/faster ti version of the 1080s, and Intel has some new processors thta might make more sense than my previous choice?.

This is my current list:

2X Intel Xeon E5-2687WV4 3 GHz 12-Core Processor - 30 MB
2X Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
ASRock Rack Motherboard EP2C612 WS
4X Crucial - DDR4 - 32 GB - DIMM 288-pin - 2400 MHz
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
Samsung 850 EVO 2TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
4X EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 HYBRID GAMING, 11GB GDDR5X
Thermaltake Core X9 case
EVGA 1600W P2 with eco semipassive mode and 9 gpu connectors
Windows 10 Pro 64bit - USB Flash Drive? Or how I install?
9X Noctua NF-S12A PWM 120mm Fan (just to have spares and play a bit with airflow between these and stock fans of the X9 case)
Dell Ultra HD 4k Monitor P2715Q 27-Inch
ANEWKODI 600Mbps USB Wifi Adapter
Avantree USB Bluetooth Adapter
Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard

You can view the Google Sheets spreadsheet (with links to vendors, mostly amazon) here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JZlFjvtZYlwh1w2R2OcOB3_P8WrfPywW0dPfX1UW6iA/edit

So before I start buying, 2 quick question:

  1. Changing from 1080 to 1080ti makes any other impact I shoudl keep in mind? (motehrboard, power supply, etc?)

  2. My current choice of Xeons is the following:

2A: Intel Xeon E5-2687WV4 3 GHz x 12-Core x 2 cpus= total rendering power 72 Ghz / total cost for 2 $4252 or $59 for each Ghz

…but I’m considering newer model instead:
2B: Intel Xeon 22 Core Processor E5-2696v4 2.2GHZ 55MB x 2 CPU?= total rendering power 96.8 Ghz / total cost for 2 $3598 or $37 for each Ghz

similar is the Intel Xeon 22 Core Processor E5-2699 v42.20GHz 55MB x 2CPU= total rendering power 96.8 Ghz / total cost for 2 $3310 or $34 for each Ghz

So unless I’m missing something, the dual 22 cores is a better option? I know it’s only 2.2Ghz,but for single processor tasks (like working in Rhino) turbo kicks in up to 3.6Ghz vs. 3.5Ghz turbo in the 12core/3Ghz one. So this is fine then?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Gustavo

Sounds like you are going for performance, You are aware that pci3 interface is the latest hot ticket for SSD interface, aren’t you? This means you would need a motherboard with plenty of pci3 slots for the memory and display boards…
Also thought I’d mention that the latest Dell catalog shows an 8K 32" monitor. You could be the first in your neighborhood. Of course, it ain’t cheap.

I’m going after performance/price ratio. notice how I highlighted this:

For me design and design visualization are a business. I have fun with it, but I don’t make purchases decisions based on either lowest price or bleeding edge. Neither makes any business sense most of the times IMO. I leave my ‘having fun’ money for traveling and motorcycles. Computers are not that exciting.

I just checked that Dell:

This is for total suckers. I have one of these 27" 4K ones I listed already, and they are amazing. If I wanted to see more content I’d get dual 4Ks at 2X the price, not 8K at 8X the price.

Sorry for being so boring.

yeah those are great, excellent point, they make a lot of sense in a laptop, but for this desktop the mobo’s PCI slots will all be used (or physically blocked) by the 4GPUs’ space:

I’ll settle w/ Sata III SSDs instead. HHD speed shoudl be plenty fast, if I understand correctly, it is only important to launch apps, open/save files. But in constant use, if I have enough ram nothing is more instant than that. So my money is going instead to fast/plenty of RAM.

I think you figured out I was just messing with you. :smile:

My understanding is that the pci3 interface is significantly faster than Sata3, but as you point out, there’s nothing faster than RAM. I’ve always opted for ECC RAM myself and my computer always retains data flawlessly between boots, which usually is 6-8 months, sometimes more.

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I’m using a Samsung U32D970Q since more than one year and would recommend you to look for a larger screen. 32" is a really good size, not to large.

Lovely that’s a biiiit too large for me:

I normally work on a standing desk at 23" from screen, and to take a close look I lean forward about 10" so “ll be looking at 13” away. I would be seeing giant pixelation! :rofl::rofl::rofl: … I know I’m very picky about this stuff.

Also I plan to add a second monitor to this setup later. so 27" is more manageable.

What else? keep finding holes in the plan, come on! There’s gotta be something we missed.

Relative IMO.

I have both a 32" BenQ at the exact 137.68ppi spec above, as well as a 27" 5k iMac.

Thought the BenQ was clutch when first arrived and loved it over ‘non-4k.’

Then came the 5k iMac. MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer to look at it now over the BenQ. I perceive a significant difference at any usable distance, but especially inside 25".

Now give me a future 32" 8K at $1000 or so, and you can have the BenQ…:wink:

My guess is this will happen by early 2019. But I still question its utility. I rather see Dell making a 5K (4K content plus toolbars & knick-knacks) for $500ish and use two of these. Or make a 2X5K ultrawide (like 2 5K monitors side by side, but in one monitor, with good split window management) and print money away.

I’m so sorry dude.

Hey, but it said “designer” on the box…:stuck_out_tongue:

http://www.benq.us/product/monitor/pd3200u/

I can’t do two displays. It’s too unbalanced. !@#$s-up my mind. (this could be a personal problem…)

Give me 3 equal displays or just 1 big one!

images

You are now attempting to make me throw all my rationality and business-sense argument out of the window. This would be soooo nice.

Wow.

One thing for the motherboard, not sure what would be an alternative, but the Z170 chipset may not be compatible with 8th gen intel chips. For future upgrade consideration.

Hi Toshiaki,

The processors and motherboard I chose seems compatible with each other:


http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EP2C612%20WS#CPU

I’m not sure about what future upgrades you are referring to. Are you thinking that I will want to pull these processors out and place newer/faster ones in place, in same system?

Hi Gustojunk, yep I was thinking about just that.
Now that the 8th gen intels are starting to come out.
I see reviews that even though sockets are same they aren’t compatible… unless if it’s something the bios upgrade can handle…

Woops my bad, I didn’t see the below latest specs(I just saw the ASUS Z170-WS ATX LGA1151):

I see. I’m not worried about processor upgreadability. We we build systems like these they are usually useful for 5+ years, since CPU speeds evolve very slowly these days. So end of usable life of processor might equal end of usable life of the entire main system (mobo/CPUs/ram/GPUs/HHDs) and we might just keep the box and fans to replace with new guts.

I do anticipate to upgrade GPU’s. These are evolving fast every year and the used market is very fluid. It’s hard to sell used a Xeon CPU, but very easy to sell a used GPU, especially one sought after by gamers. So we can see pulling cards out, sell them, and put in faster model a year from now.