A while back I made a thread inquiring about a Threadripper 3990x build (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/4...build-1769634/)

I gather you guys know a thing or two about hardware.

While I've decided that such a build would be total overkill, I am in the market for a new machine.

At this point, I have a huge library of game trees and I still rent a server--so having a ton of RAM and an ultra-fast processor for running sims isn't really so important for me anymore.

But I do have a large dataset of hand histories that I want to do analysis on. So I can't just totally cheap out on the processor, either

Basically I want a machine that:

1. Has a fast enough processor to handle an extremely large database of hands (over 100 million) but isn't egregiously expensive

2. Has WiFi (my understanding is motherboards with "ac" in the name are WiFi-inclusive) and Bluetooth

3. Cheapest graphics card that supports 4 monitors--I don't play video games so the graphics aren't too important to me. The only thing I really care about is that I can use 4 monitors

I have the following proposed build:

https://www.clxgaming.com/gaming-pc/...?id=_ph1ga0w2m


Based on my criteria, does this proposed build look solid?

Would anyone be so kind as to recommend any changes or additions that they think would improve this proposed build's performance, durability, and lifespan?

Thanks!

That looks like a bad build. It is the typical gamer build with a great graphics card, a really good CPU, a flashy case and cheaping out on all the rest

Processor is excellent and relatively cheap for what it does. Either Ryzen 3600(X) or 2700(X) are really good value for money

A320M motherboard is fairly bad. I would prefer a B450M, at least

Graphics card is total overkill for what you need. Also it will contribute to about half of the price.

The SSD is too small and for almost no extra money you have an SSD M.2 NVMe that is 4x faster.

The power supply isn't named, so it is probably terrible

What monitor inputs do you have on your monitors? HDMI, Displayport, other?

Also lol 1728 USD

I could probably build what you need for less than 500€ with sh components.

Well, that's why I'm here. I'm a hardware n00b.

Can you propose something?

I have HDMI monitor inputs

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/P2C...710-4h-sl-2gd5

this one drives 4 x 4k monitors (and any lower res)

so I'd recommend the newer B550 Ryzen platform, with access to fast PCIe 4.0 storage, which will very much come in handy when handling 100M hands in HEM/PT

you're saying you have a huge library of trees, if those trees are very complex, they'll need a buttload of ram just to load in memory so you can view them

can you clarify that and in general what you plan to do with the pc so we can figure out best value

For a shitty 2GB GPU with no active cooling, it surely impresses me handling that amount of monitors.

If you wish to go for the fastest storage available and abuse PCIE 4.0, you will not only need a B550 motherboard (or B520M, X570), but also a 3XXX or 5XXX Ryzen processor and of course a PCIE 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

That means that Ryzen 2700(X) is not an option.

so ye, depending on how demanding those trees are you can go as low as a R5 3600 (if you're going to play around with locking turns and rivers) , with 32gb ram and a B550/X570 boards and a pcie 4.0 ssd (again size wise you know what you need) and one of these pcs you can build yourself for ~1k$

if you need more ram, mby step up to a R7, <=1.5k

I can put together the list of parts once you decide, are you in the US?

Quick thoughts on PC builds in general:
1) Only budget constrained/corner case builds should use Ryzen older than 5xxx. These are available at MSRP or sometimes lower now and the generational performance lift is solid.

2) 32GB should be the baseline for a performance desktop at this point. 64GB is now doable in 2 modules and is where I went for an "Enthusiast" class build.

3) 500GB SSD is generally the smallest SSD I'd put in a Windows box as boot drive. NVME drives are available at reasonable prices and your boot drive should be NVME.
*Specific to this build: Adding a second NVME drive for the database to use is a solid option, not just for space but to dedicate IOPS availability to SQL. 64GB RAM is also more desirable with a large DB. SQL loves RAM, any query that can hit RAM cache will return way faster than hitting even the fastest SSD.

4) Backups: 3-2-1 rule applies. 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite. I'd suggest buying 2 USB HDDs to rotate for backups and using OneDrive or Google Drive for the offsite copy. You get 1TB of OneDrive included with Office 365 home subscription (~$100 a year last I looked). Don't cheap out or skip this. I assume the 100 mil hand DB has value to you. Also RAID is not backup, it offers better uptime and that's it.

5)GPU market is still nutso. Recycle a card from your current build if it meets your needs or consider a working pull business graphics card (used to be Quadro NVS) that can drive the monitors you want it to (this assumes no gaming usage).

For a highish end build, I'd grab a 5900x/5950x, 64GB RAM, 2x1TB PCIe 4.0 TLC NVME SSD (1 for OS and apps, 1 for SQL DB files). I'm partial to 240/280mm AIO liquid coolers but a moderately priced air cooler can do well too. Fractal Design and Nzxt make cases I like these days, but there are lots of options based on your needs and aesthetic preferences.

a R5 5600x, my bad, it's like a 20$ difference
and listen to HT when it comes to backups

Intel is coming out with a new cpu that's predicted to be competitive with AMD this November 19. Motherboards could even possibly support 256GB of DDR5.

I would wait until then.

wouldn't hold my breath for DDR5 coming anytime soon
new Intel chips won't be high core/thread count

Alder Lake is going to have 24 threads and is beating 5950x.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/in...0k-geekbenched

Also, why wouldn't DDR5 be here anytime soon? If there are going to be Intel mobos supporting DDR5, they should memory sticks on sale to put on the slots.

I mean DDR5 was announced in 2018, still nothing yet and the world's chip shortage doesn't look much better than last year

OP says that the Threadripper 3990x would be complete overkill, so I would not wait for some kind of epic new intel CPU coming in the future. The wait may be long and the price will be premium

I'm pretty sure a Ryzen 7 or 9 from 3000/5000 series can be found that fits the requirements