Advice 2020 home workstation build

sranderle

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 11, 2020
6
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I am looking to move on from my 10 year old AMD Phenom II X6 1055T with 16 GB of memory. The machine has served as my desktop as well as a household media and data server. We stream content from this machine to all of our TVs. It currently sports 9 hard drives, mostly Western Digital Red drives. It will continue to serve as the household media and data server.

Here is what I'm thinking about building.

My Current PCPartPicker build

I am going to try the XTIA Xproto open case. The new PC will simply be my personal workstation. I may drop down to the Ryzen 9 3900XT, or if availability improves, a new Ryzen 9 59xx.

My biggest issue with my current machine is that it just can't handle editing photos in GIMP and/or RawTherapee.


Your insight is appreciated!
 

DrLeroy

Noob Saibot
May 15, 2020
186
117
Fixed the private parts list by creating a new version.

2020 New SFF Workstation
I would go for a 5900x or 5950x over the 3950x if you can get one. <- but check compatibility Ali (Optimum Tech on youtube and on this forum) had some issues with 5950/5900 on the strix x570i board.
on that note, B550 is more than enough, i would go a B550 over the x570, If i had my time again and or didnt purchase before B550 and 5000 series, i would go a b550 and 5900x over my x570 and 3950x
the 5700xt might also be worth waiting on 6000 series amd cards
windows can be had for around $15 from cd key stores etc, so save some money here.
 

sranderle

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 11, 2020
6
0
Thanks for the insight.

I've been watching a lot of Ali's Optimum Tech stuff. Excellent channel!!

My main interest in the x570 is more rear usb ports. As a main PC, a have a lot of stuff to connect. But I will take a look at the B550 boards. Recommendations?
 

DrLeroy

Noob Saibot
May 15, 2020
186
117
If the USB port count is one of the things that is important to you, then that does help make your choice, to me the 2.5g ethernet on a b550i strix would be a better positive for me. personally, I only use a single USB port on my machine personally, hooked toi a 4 port USB switch (so i can change between precision 5540 laptop and my desktop) and connected to it is my headset, mouse and keyboard receivers, though i jsut got a new keyboard which is bluetooth for multiple devices, so ill not be needing that slot going forward anymore either.

that siad, the gigabyte boards get a good wrap on the forum here, but i think that's more due to the bifurcation support.
 

sranderle

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 11, 2020
6
0
One of the questions I have is whether the Ryzen 9 39xx/59xx CPU and the Noctua NH-D15 in the Xproto will provide enough cooling.

Thoughts?
 

DrLeroy

Noob Saibot
May 15, 2020
186
117
One of the questions I have is whether the Ryzen 9 39xx/59xx CPU and the Noctua NH-D15 in the Xproto will provide enough cooling.

Thoughts?
its open air, so should be plenty, 3950x in eco mode here inside a Dan A4 with a C7g cooler, its toasty, but has not thermal throttled on me. you will be plenty fine, its still only a 105w TDP. . .
 

DrLeroy

Noob Saibot
May 15, 2020
186
117
Another question, is a 750W PSU needed for this build, or would a 600W PSU suffice?
SF600 would be fine, but if you have the extra to spend, depending on where you live, the 750 should run fanless for longer, so if that's a consideration for you then Id go the 750w, I run the SF600 Gold as i purchased before the SF750 platinum was out, and my SX700 platinum SFX-L from Silverstone was too tight a fit in the A4. go the platinum regardless though, don't bother with the gold, the platinum has nicer sleeved cables, with the right tools you can re size them also and save on custom cables.
 
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sranderle

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 11, 2020
6
0
Continuing to research this build as I'm waiting for new product to be in stock.

Using an XProto open chassis, do you think that a Noctua NH-C14S with one or two fans would adequately cool one of the new Ryzen 9 58xx processors? I am not a gamer. My biggest push of the system would be photo editing.

Thanks