Threadripper 3970X owners.

[MikeB]

latest SF code with large pages enabled, modestly ov to ~3.85 Ghz using the Ryzen Master app
temps touched 73C - which is way below the 95C. Spoke to both the builder and AMD they both assured me that best practice is to keep it under 80C, however the specs does allow it to go to 95C. 95C is actually pretty damn hot and that cannot possibly be good.

Was able to achieve the 73C temp simply by tuning with the AMD Ryzen Master app. (I know that is not a great temp by some standards, but I was re-assured it is fine. I have it set so that the temps do not go over 75C, so one it hots 75C a throttling process take place, so after 5 minutes , it's down to around 3.82 Ghz and there it holds pretty steady. Again, nothing to brag about , but I'm fine with this.

Update: After 10 minutes, it was still holding steady at 38.2 ghz and 75C.


MichaelB7@VM-894787 MINGW64 /c/Users/MichaelB7/home/Github/Stockfish/src
MichaelB7@VM-894787 MINGW64 /c/Users/MichaelB7/home/Github/Stockfish/src
# Stockfish-022920 b 2048 64 26 >/dev/null
info string Hash LargePages 256 Mb
info string Hash LargePages 2048 Mb

Position: 1/46
Nodes/Second: 85540k

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Nodes/Second: 81960k

===========================
Total time (ms) : 69889
Nodes searched : 6816204481
Nodes/second : 97529002


single thread ( with default bench hash)
===========================
Total time (ms) : 1891
Nodes searched : 4923286
Nodes/second : 2603535

Exe for threadrippers - large pages enabled , will auto dis-enabled off if no large pages are found.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h30ocx4xjij38 ... s.zip?dl=0
source will be updated at github shortly.

[Leo]

I originally wanted at least 128GB of RAM for my build but was unable to find any sticks with fast timings in the larger capacities. I put 64GB of memory into my build as a place holder as I waited for availability. I know Dann Corbit and others had interest also in having more than 64GB.

A few days ago I ordered https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-128gb-28 ... 6820232334 from Newegg.

When ordering large sticks (16GB and 32GB) there is no guarantee your machine will handle low latency or higher clocks unless your motherboard manufacturer specifically lists the RAM as "approved." High density modules stress the system in ways the smaller modules don't. It is also a lot harder to get high clocks if you fill more slots. Four slots are harder to push high clocks than 2, 8 slots harder than 4, etc.

I want those that are interested to know, I installed these yesterday and they work flawlessly at 3200Mhz 14-14-14-34. I may test later pushing to 3266mhz to see if they are stable at this speed like the old 64GB kit was. I run the ASRock Taichi sTRX4 motherboard. I will run them at 3200Mhz, the test is only to know how much headroom I have running at 3200.

So if you are looking for more memory, these are in stock and have passed memtests on my motherboard.
YMMV,
Mike

Your really going all out on your system. What do you do with it?

[Leo]

https://www.micron.com/products/dram/ddr5-sdram

[cma6]

Thanks to Mike and mbab for the insights. BTW, what are the "blower versions" of the Nvidia cards?

Using average of high & low nps for the two TR 3 chips, I have 3970X @ 102,000,000 and 3960X @ 74,000,000 with prices of $1900 and $1400. Former is 38% faster and 36% more costly. I did not expect that justification for the higher cost of 3970X.

BTW, what about the idea of using a separate system with good GPU on one's LAN to run lc0 and feed the output over the LAN to the main system built around a TR chip but without good GPU? Would that work?

[mbabigian]

Thanks to Mike and mbab for the insights. BTW, what are the "blower versions" of the Nvidia cards?

There are two styles of video card designs. One has a big heatsink and fans that blow on that heatsink and the waste heat blows off right inside your case. This type can really heat up the inside of your computer especially if you have several cards. There is a second type that has a channel in it and the fans blow air through the channel and heatsink and out the back of the card. This pulls air from inside the case and vents the heat out the back slot. These cards are better for multi-card configurations, but often do not cool the card as well.

I do know people that build systems just for GPUs. Modest processor, server case with 4 or more GPU cards and use these just for GPU work. Often apps require fast CPU or GPU but not both. What is right for you depends on what you use the computer for.

To answer the other gentleman's question of "what I use my computer for," all I can say is what don't I use it for. I have been a programmer for many decades, but most of my career has been doing network engineering. My hobbies all require science, math, electronics, etc. I am a ham radio operator for example. I've spent days of computer time optimizing antenna designs via computer before building. One of my friends when seeing how much I was spending on the new computer asked a similar question. I said, "the average user has no use for a computer like this, but for the problems I ask it to solve, if it were 10 times faster, it would still be too slow." Playing chess is just one of many hobbies or profession related topics that benefit from a fast computer (cryptanalysis, simulations, etc all have benefited from building expensive rigs over the years). In addition, the other answer to why build such an expensive computer I believe came from Dann. To paraphrase "because I can."

[MikeB]

Thanks to Mike and mbab for the insights. BTW, what are the "blower versions" of the Nvidia cards?

Using average of high & low nps for the two TR 3 chips, I have 3970X @ 102,000,000 and 3960X @ 74,000,000 with prices of $1900 and $1400. Former is 38% faster and 36% more costly. I did not expect that justification for the higher cost of 3970X.

BTW, what about the idea of using a separate system with good GPU on one's LAN to run lc0 and feed the output over the LAN to the main system built around a TR chip but without good GPU? Would that work?

Evey one has a different pain point as the what the machine is worth to them. For me knowing I was spending $5K+ in total, what''s another $500? On the other hand, when I heard that the 3990 was going to be $4k - 2x the 3970 - that's when I knew I was getting the 3970.

[jp]

latest SF code with large pages enabled, modestly ov to ~3.85 Ghz using the Ryzen Master app
===========================
Nodes/second : 97529002

For comparison, Tom's Hardware reports
TR 3970X 97433344 nps,
which is very close to Mike's result.

The winner is dual-socket EPYC 7742 server. I'll leave others here to tell me what that is, what it costs, etc...
I assume it's very expensive.

[Dann Corbit]

I was looking at building a AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3 3960X system. For you 3970X guys, how much faster is the 3970X for the extra $500?

Also, do you guys also have a fast GPU card in the system for Lc0?

I have 2 2080 supers

[MikeB]

latest SF code with large pages enabled, modestly ov to ~3.85 Ghz using the Ryzen Master app
===========================
Nodes/second : 97529002

For comparison, Tom's Hardware reports
TR 3970X 97433344 nps,
which is very close to Mike's result.

The winner is dual-socket EPYC 7742 server. I'll leave others here to tell me what that is, what it costs, etc...
I assume it's very expensive.

The EPYC CPU are enterprise grade designed for commercial use. The Enterprise class is totally different than comsumber grade as far as testing, reliability costs as wellas the other components that got with such a CPU. The CPU alones starts off at ~$7500 and by the time you add all the other pieces as well as profit margin for the builder, you are talking probably at least $20000. Now it would be true, that once could build for themselves at probably less than $15000 - but that would not be the faint hearted. Now it's obvious to me we have real DIY'ers here on this board who tackled that job - but they are the rare few in today's world.

[cma6]

"There are two styles of video card designs. One has a big heatsink and fans that blow on that heatsink and the waste heat blows off right inside your case. This type can really heat up the inside of your computer especially if you have several cards. There is a second type that has a channel in it and the fans blow air through the channel and heatsink and out the back of the card."
You seem to be recommending the 2nd type of card?
How does one know which type of card one is buying?