snowboardjoe Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Time to upgrade as I'm running out of RAM and want to add a few more Docker containers. Current motherboard only supports 8GB. It's been a great system for 6 years, but time to move on now. Current system only runs unRAID and 14 Docker containers. New system will do all of that plus a few more containers and Plex server (decommissioning existing, dedicated Plex server). Not running any other virtualization and don't plan to. Current configuration Mobo: Asus M5A78L-M LX Plus (6 years old) CPU: AMD FX-4100 Quad-core RAM: 8GB (at capacity and main reason for upgrading) SATA: Syba SI-PEX40064 4 port SATA III (mobo has 6 SATA ports) Storage: 6 x 6TB WD Red (parity and data), 2 x 1TB WD Red (cache, mirrored) Proposed configuration Mobo: Asus X370-Pro CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 RAM: Crucial 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 UDIMM - CT2K8G4DFD824A (may double this) Video: EVGA GeForce 8400 GS DDR3 (using an old one due to Ryzen CPU) SATA: No expansion cards since mobo has 8 ports on board Storage: No change Any thoughts or comments about this new configuration? Quote Link to comment
Tybio Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Only comment is to think about upping the RAM speed, Ryzen is very very sensitive to that, when looking at benchmarks make sure you consider the ram speed used...it can have a large impact. Not as much as on TR from what I understand, but AMD is a lot more sensitive to RAM speed than Intel. Granted, in your use-case that might not be important, but wanted to put it out there for consideration! Quote Link to comment
snowboardjoe Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Tybio said: Only comment is to think about upping the RAM speed, Ryzen is very very sensitive to that, when looking at benchmarks make sure you consider the ram speed used...it can have a large impact. Not as much as on TR from what I understand, but AMD is a lot more sensitive to RAM speed than Intel. Granted, in your use-case that might not be important, but wanted to put it out there for consideration! Hmmm, ok, will look at that again. That was the recommended speed from Critical. I saw the clock speeds from the specs here: 4 x DIMM, max. 64GB DDR4 3200(O.C.)/2933(O.C.)2666/2400/2133 MHz, ECC and non-ECC, un-buffered memory From that information I take it I could use 2666 (ignoring the overclocking speeds), but I see looking at the CPU specs they recommend 2933 which I did not consider yet. What speed should I use at this point? What's the significance of using 2933 on the motherboard since it mentions 2933 as an overlocking speed? Maybe I'm misinterpreting something here. I've been doing IT for decades, but rarely get into fine details like this on custom PC systems. Quote Link to comment
Tybio Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I'm not an expert by any means, as I use ECC ram so don't overclock it. But my understanding is that most all DDR4 RAM over 2666 is "Overclocked", even if you get a 3200 kit you have to turn on XMP in the BIOS to "try" to run at that speed. In other words, we are at another one of those transitional times in the tech world, AMD processors are hungry for fast ram, but fast ram is just now coming into the market (and even then, at absurd prices). If you are just doing some dockers and NAS functions, then it likely will not matter. But if you ever want to do VMs or a desktop replacement then it may well be a factor. At this point, I'm going to hope one of the Ryzen experts jumps in and takes it from here, as I'd be slightly out of my depth past this point ;). Quote Link to comment
snowboardjoe Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 From what I see in the specs for the RAM I chose, the speed is 2400. I'm assuming a lower speed won't be an issue for the CPU, but will be patient and wait for others to chime in as well here. And, yes, only unRAID and docker containers. No interest in running any VM's here. I have other hardware I could use for that if needed, but would still likely stick with docker. Quote Link to comment
snowboardjoe Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 Did some more research into this and now realizing how complicated it can be. The choice of Ryzen CPU, motherboard and memory is very tricky. I found the QVL document for what is supported for the Auss X370 Pro: https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_QVL/ It's a long PDF and takes some time to understand how things are sorted there. The goal is to find the maximum speed supported by all components and your budget. So far, this appears to fit my budget and it's available (can run at 3000 with Ryzen 5 2600): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232498 G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Memory (Desktop Memory) Model F4-3000C16D-16GTZR Still digging around some more, but appears this may be the one. The QVL spreadsheet is still damn confusing. Quote Link to comment
jang430 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 @snowboardjoeJust wondering whether you've gone through your upgrade already. Taking a look at your previous motherboard, it says it supports up to 16 GB memory. If that is your only concern, why not source for cheap used memory on ebay? Quote Link to comment
snowboardjoe Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 9 hours ago, jang430 said: @snowboardjoeJust wondering whether you've gone through your upgrade already. Taking a look at your previous motherboard, it says it supports up to 16 GB memory. If that is your only concern, why not source for cheap used memory on ebay? Yeah, the documentation is confusing for that. 8GB is definitely the max. New system is running great and very happy so far. 1 Quote Link to comment
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