Discussion Need help with my first sffpc

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Building my first sffpc to move away from my Helios 300 laptop, some questions

Requirements:

Full time software dev, I run vms for testing, so 16 core with high single core performance is needed.

Must run my oculus rift fine and general 1080p gaming

2x m.2 + sata ssd (optional)

32gb ram

As small as possible. Plan on traveling a lot.


Budget:

Plan on using this build for next 5 years with a gpu upgrade if required, so money isn't tight.

2k to 3k$




This is what I have decided on




Case: Velka 3

Cpu: R9 5950x

Cpu cooler: Noctua L9a AM4

Mobo: Asus Strix 570i

Gpu: Rtx 2070 mini (Might not buy now but later when in stock)

Psu: Silverstone 500 or Fxp 400, please recommend.

Ram: 32x1 or 16x2? Please recommend.

References:




Questions:

1. How much performance am I compromising compared to a same but full sized build?

2. What would be the best psu for me in terms of noise. Optimum tech recommended fsp 400, but linus used a Silverstone 500.

3. Will the R9 5950x bottleneck with my mentioned cpu cooler or psu

4. Can I run 2 external monitors with my Asus 570i without a dedicated gpu? I see it has hdmi and dp ports.



5. None of these parts are available in my country and I'm importing all of it, so if you can verify my build is compatible or suggest an alternate build which definitely is, I'd really appreciate it.


Thank you for reading my long post. I appreciate your time.
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Quick comment to Q3 and Q4:-
A3. Noctua L9a AM4 will not even be able to handle 5950X at base clock, according to Noctua

A4. 5950X does not have integrated graphics, meaning the mobo cannot support any monitor at all, even though the mobo has the output ports.
 

Freeks

Chassis Packer
Apr 7, 2018
19
16
Hi,
1. I couldn't find anything about the 5950x (105W tdp) with the L9a (65W tdp) but you probably have to undervolt it (Noctua reference). As a developer myself I'm not so sure the clock-speed is as important as the core-count for virtual machines, which again would work in your favor when undervolting. But switching from mobile to desktop processor should be a big bump in performance anyway.
2. Optimum Tech made a good case for switching the fan of a noisy PSU. Also did that myself and it's silent but I'm running only a 1030 with a 2700x as workstation.
4. @tinyitx answered that. No iGPU with the 5950x only the APUs can do that.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Quick comment to Q3 and Q4:-
A3. Noctua L9a AM4 will not even be able to handle 5950X at base clock, according to Noctua

A4. 5950X does not have integrated graphics, meaning the mobo cannot support any monitor at all, even though the mobo has the output ports.
Thanks for mentioning these, wouldn't have been such a waste of money with these issues. I have went with this setup.

 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Hi,
1. I couldn't find anything about the 5950x (105W tdp) with the L9a (65W tdp) but you probably have to undervolt it (Noctua reference). As a developer myself I'm not so sure the clock-speed is as important as the core-count for virtual machines, which again would work in your favor when undervolting. But switching from mobile to desktop processor should be a big bump in performance anyway.
2. Optimum Tech made a good case for switching the fan of a noisy PSU. Also did that myself and it's silent but I'm running only a 1030 with a 2700x as workstation.
4. @tinyitx answered that. No iGPU with the 5950x only the APUs can do that.
Clock speed isn't as important for sure. But I have had issues with emulators. Thanks for responding, I have went with this setup.


 

Freeks

Chassis Packer
Apr 7, 2018
19
16
Thanks for mentioning these, wouldn't have been such a waste of money with these issues. I have went with this setup.

Be careful with the chipset cooler on that motherboard and the style of CPU cooler. The bended heatpipes in one direction and the fins in the other on the Blackridge as well as the L-12S get blocked by the chipset cooler. I have the older, passively-cooled version of that board and had to bend the 12s a bit to fit.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Requirements:
Full time software dev, I run vms for testing, so 16 core with high single core performance is needed.
Must run my oculus rift fine and general 1080p gaming
2x m.2 + sata ssd (optional)
32gb ram
As small as possible. Plan on traveling a lot.


Budget:
Plan on using this build for next 5 years with a gpu upgrade if required, so money isn't tight.
2k to 3k$


This is what I'm deciding on

Case: Velka 7


I already have my old RX 480 gpu. Hoping to use it in this build until gpu crisis blows over and I can buy a Rtx 2080.


None of these parts are available in my country so I'm importing them all. If you can verify compatibility or even some feedback, I'd much appreciate it.

Thank you.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
You can't use the TridenZ ram with the Blackridge, you need something like Corsair Vengeance LPX. You only have 33mm clearance for ram.
 

Skripka

Cat-Dog Perch Manager
May 18, 2020
443
543
Clock speed isn't as important for sure. But I have had issues with emulators. Thanks for responding, I have went with this setup.



AFAIK none of the Velka casa uses SFX PSUs. Per mssr rfarmer, your RAM is too tall as well.

The problem with running any of the '105W' TDP cpus from AMD and low profile downdraft coolers....you have to cripple their clock performance to not have them overheat. You won't even get rated base clocks. At which point, why bother? That 105W number is actually base clock power. For example IRL my 5800X, also a 105W 'TDP' part pulls 125W at boost clock power out of the box without touching anything.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
AFAIK none of the Velka casa uses SFX PSUs. Per mssr rfarmer, your RAM is too tall as well.

The problem with running any of the '105W' TDP cpus from AMD and low profile downdraft coolers....you have to cripple their clock performance to not have them overheat. You won't even get rated base clocks. At which point, why bother? That 105W number is actually base clock power. For example IRL my 5800X, also a 105W 'TDP' part pulls 125W at boost clock power out of the box without touching anything.
Velka 7 uses SFX as per their website.

Fair point about the cpu. Would you be able to recommend a cooler and a case for my 5950x+asus x570i?
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
You can't use the TridenZ ram with the Blackridge, you need something like Corsair Vengeance LPX. You only have 33mm clearance for ram.
Thanks for pointing it out. Can you recommend one from the options below for the 5950x?

32gbx1 3000 c16
16gbx2 3200 c16
16gbx2 3000 c16
16gbx2 3000 c15
16gbx2 3600 c18
16gbx2 2400 c14

I know I should go for lowest c rating but the clock is reduced to 2400.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
Thanks for pointing it out. Can you recommend one from the options below for the 5950x?

32gbx1 3000 c16
16gbx2 3200 c16
16gbx2 3000 c16
16gbx2 3000 c15
16gbx2 3600 c18
16gbx2 2400 c14

I know I should go for lowest c rating but the clock is reduced to 2400.
I would go for the 3200 c16.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Be careful with the chipset cooler on that motherboard and the style of CPU cooler. The bended heatpipes in one direction and the fins in the other on the Blackridge as well as the L-12S get blocked by the chipset cooler. I have the older, passively-cooled version of that board and had to bend the 12s a bit to fit.
Here if I'm not wrong optimum tech is using blackridge with asus x570i

Near 3:35 mark and he didn't even mention anything. I'm really confused.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
AFAIK none of the Velka casa uses SFX PSUs. Per mssr rfarmer, your RAM is too tall as well.

The problem with running any of the '105W' TDP cpus from AMD and low profile downdraft coolers....you have to cripple their clock performance to not have them overheat. You won't even get rated base clocks. At which point, why bother? That 105W number is actually base clock power. For example IRL my 5800X, also a 105W 'TDP' part pulls 125W at boost clock power out of the box without touching anything.

Near the 6 minute mark I see his clocks are hitting 4.4ghz though at 90c.

So maybe it can hit those speeds but not for extended times. Which is fine for my use case. Or am I missing something here?
 

Skripka

Cat-Dog Perch Manager
May 18, 2020
443
543

Near the 6 minute mark I see his clocks are hitting 4.4ghz though at 90c.

So maybe it can hit those speeds but not for extended times. Which is fine for my use case. Or am I missing something here?

Well, yes and no. If you watch his HWINFO instance you can see his clock speeds dropping (AKA thermal throttling is occuring) during an all-core Cinebench run...which with all the splicing and on-screen-capture mouse-scrolling is hard to track the behavior of. Given how CPUs behave like GPUs now--validating the frequency behavior as well as the score is needed, and isn't provided here....which given his conclusion about the proc being too hot for the cooler, makes sense he didn't really bother.

  1. At 6:11 at the very beginning of the run, he's getting 4.4gHz
  2. At 6:13, under a 1/4th of the way through the run he's getting about 4.35gHz..at which point he's hit 90C within a few seconds of load.
  3. At 6:29, the system is throttling back more to 4.28gHz
And ofc, Cinebench on a 8c/16t system is a fast load. It is over in under a minute.

I tried his undervolting video. Didn't care for the outcome; I get better compute results with my AIO and letting the board/CPU manage itself. But I have a 240mm AIO; although I'm now running in a FormD T1. To each their own, go for it--but know you're setting yourself up for a challenge to get it to run well under sustained load. My 5800X under gaming load with a 240mm AIO hits 75C; but it is boosting to 4.85gHz because it has thermal room to do so.
 

Rootzero

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 11, 2021
22
2
Thank you for such a detailed explanation. I really appreciate it.

Right now I'm using a helios 300 laptop with i7 9750h at 2.6g base clock.

So for me even throttled this will be a huge upgrade? Or am I missing something?

I could go for a cheaper cpu but I need 8 plus cores. 5900x was an option but that's out of stock.


I run a couple of vms so ideally having more cores running even at slower clock speeds should reduce my cpu ready times.

During compiles, sure it won't be able to hit boost clock speeds at sustained load but these workloads are rather short, now finished in less than 5 minutes in my laptop.


During gaming, I'll probably run into issues as you have mentioned. Unless game is completely unplayable I can live with it given the portability and power this system will provide.


I'm a total noob with sffpc builds and have basic experience in building pc in general. So I just wanted to explain my thought process in case my assumptions are way off.