Threadripper 7980X Workstation for 3D (CPU and GPU ) Rendering

[DeyanDesign]

Hello,

I have been waiting for almost a year for the new threadripper CPUs to come out before upgrading my workstation and now that they are here I am finally looking at configuring my new computer. (Upgrading from a 2990wx Threadripper)

I do architectural visualisations and use V-ray for CPU rendering and Unreal engine for GPU rendering.

For the CPU I have gone for the 7980X as it shows to be about 40% faster than the 7970 although I do worry slightly about the lower base speed (most software seem to only use single core so my 3D software can sometime feel slugish on that base speed but I am hoping the GPU to make up for that)

For the GPU I have opted for the highest memory of a RTX6000 as the models can get quite large

In the future I would like to add a second GPU. However I am not sure if the 1500W power supply will enable me to do that
(currently the website calculate around 1200 W power consumption and the extra card would be another 300W)

Any thoughts on the below configuration is much appreciated.

Anything I am missing , or have overlooked?

Case
PHANTEKS Enthoo 719 Black DRGB Full TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7980X 64 Core CPU (3.2GHz - 5.1GHz, 320MB CACHE)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRO WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI (TRX50, ECC RDIMM, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
128GB Kingston DDR5 5600MHz ECC Registered (4 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
48GB PNY QUADRO RTX 6000 GDDR6, 18176 CUDA CORES 4 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR MP600 PRO NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6850 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1500W HXi SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre IEC C19 UK Power Cable
Processor Cooling
ENERMAX LIQTECH TR4 II 360mm
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
4 x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fans
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
1 x 10GbE + 1 x 2.5GbE ONBOARD ETHERNET PORT
Wireless Network Card
ONBOARD Wi-Fi 7
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 8 X USB PORTS (MOBO DEPENDANT) @ BACK PANEL + FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
48 HOUR INSURED PALLET DELIVERY TO UK (MON-FRI, INC. HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £14,977.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-trx50-pc/!Cvje4SmtK/

 

[DeyanDesign]

After some thought I am now considering changing some of the elepemts.

I might be going with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X as I am worried about single core tasks with the 7980X.
The software i use is Rhino 3D and its viewport is highly dependent on a single core speed. I would hate it if i spend 5K on a CPU and rhino ends up running slower than it does on my current cpu (also running at 3.2 Ghz)


As po powersupply I am thinking of optiong out all the way to 1600W which should allow me to install a second PNY RTX 6000 in time.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[SpyderTracks]

After some thought I am now considering changing some of the elepemts.

I might be going with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X as I am worried about single core tasks with the 7980X.
The software i use is Rhino 3D and its viewport is highly dependent on a single core speed. I would hate it if i spend 5K on a CPU and rhino ends up running slower than it does on my current cpu (also running at 3.2 Ghz)


As po powersupply I am thinking of optiong out all the way to 1600W which should allow me to install a second PNY RTX 6000 in time.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks

Just worth mentioning, from early tests, the 7000 threadrippers are extremely easily overclockable and because they’re so crazy efficient, cooling isn’t much of an issue either.

So say a 4.8GHz overlock on all cores using AI trading or even just a standard PBO overclock applied in the bios with a toggle switch and you’ll get far higher than your current single core speeds.

The 7980x tops out at 5.1GHz single core, I'm not saying you'll get that high, but 4.8 on all cores should be easily doable.

This is the standard PBO overclock, bear in mind this is using a 360mm radiator which isn't even designed for the 7980x, so the heatsink doesn't fully cover the IHS, so with a proper cooler, expect even better temps. Skip to 21:20 for the PBO bit. But yeah, 1600W would definitely be a good idea.

These are unlike previous threadrippers in that respect where overclocking just immediately caused instability unless you had krygenic cooling

 

[sck451]

The fact that both CPUs are at the same clock speed doesn't mean they'll perform the same. Threadripper 2000 is on Zen 1+; 7000 is on Zen 4. That's a much more recent architecture with way, way higher performance for a given clock speed (referred to as instructions per clock or IPC).

For single-threaded tasks I'd expect it to be at least 50% faster and maybe considerably more than that. And that's without overclocking.

 

[SpyderTracks]

The fact that both CPUs are at the same clock speed doesn't mean they'll perform the same. Threadripper 2000 is on Zen 1+; 7000 is on Zen 4. That's a much more recent architecture with way, way higher performance for a given clock speed (referred to as instructions per clock or IPC).

For single-threaded tasks I'd expect it to be at least 50% faster and maybe considerably more than that. And that's without overclocking.

Very good point, IPC combined with frequency is the only metric. Frequency on its own doesn’t really mean anything between architectures.

 

[DeyanDesign]

I see what you are saying! Thank you for your thoughts - really apreciate any extra info on this build.


It does seem like the 7980X has a lot of headroom for overclocking, but given the fact I use the machine to render almost 24/7 I would prefer to avoid the need for overclocking for a hope of longevity. (Just the as the idea of thinkering with the CPU scares me as it will have to last me the next 4 years for work) Does overclokcing void the manufacturewrs waranty? Is it an option for PC specialists to do it as a form of gurantee?

I would be tempted if its possible to overclock just one core (for example core 0 or something) to increase single threaded performance on some software. However when I am monitoring my current cpu when using Rhino 3D is that which core is the most active one always changes.

Nevertheless you are right, with the new architecture I am sure it will blow mu current CPU out of the water even in single core tasks.
I am tempted as the 40% higher efficiency of the 7980 means about a quarter less time when rendering... which is a lot.

But that would be putting everything on multi-threaded performance. I see the 7970 as the more balanced approch, and the CPU already seems to be maxed out so no need or room for overclocking.

I am still undecided - wish I could try both cpus just for a day to see which matches my workflow better lol.
As benchmarks alone for render time are clear, but not for how software runs with particular kind of models
(Which are all slighlty differently made to use the hardware)