Which X399 for my new 2950x?

[gtroyp]

I am starting the build of my next server, and I am building around my new Threadripper 2950x. Looking at Asrock's Taichi and Gigabyte's Designare boards right now, but open to suggestions. What boards work well under unraid? Who has good support for IOMMU? Looking forward to getting started....

[meep]

I have the same processor. 

 

When I was building, I’d researched extensively and chosen the Designaire, though they are very close in features etc. however, in the end, I found a lightly used cpu/mb combo for sale locally that was just too much of a bargain to pass up., so I ended up with a taichi x399.

 

im happy to answer any questions you might have about the board, I’ve gotten to know it very well! You might like to check out my blog (see sig.), a lot of the recent articles include build notes around this system.

 

The taichi is brilliant at iommu groups, I have A LOT of expansion devices , and it breaks them out no bother without ACS override. 

 

One advantage that the designaire has is the ability to choose your boot gpu. The taichi insists on booting to the first gpu it finds, and you can’t change that.

 

ive also have an issue recently with memory. I’ve had 64gb in 16gb modules since build and it’s been rock solid. I recently added 4x 8GB sticks of otherwise identical RAM and things went to pot with constant crashing. I haven’t been able to fully test if the issue Is bad ram, a bad slot or just general incompatibility but those new sticks are now out of the system and it’s stable again.

 

apart from that though, I’m super happy with the taichi. If I was doing it again, and pricing was equal, I’d likely go for the gigabyte, just for the gpu selection capability. You can’t really go wrong with either though. Just spec as much (known compatible!) Ram as you can if you intend using VMs - and why wouldn’t you with all those cores! And get heat sinks for any nvme drives you might be using - those puppies run hot.

 

heres a peek at my iommu grouping, I’d you’re interested.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r2oTe5mm9T0Kc7HIDAwGGIpXHs1drHza/view?usp=sharing

 

GOOD LUCK

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by meep
Typos, what else!?

[meep]

Also, if you haven’t seen it already, check out The Black Bear build thread. @testdasi has documented his designaire build, and is super helpful on the forums, so I’m sure he can answer any specifics you have on that board.

 

 

[gtroyp]

FWIW, I went with the Designare. I am having sticker shock for this build, but it's spent....