AMD based server build

[MarcelNL]

I wonder if there is any point in having a separate thread for AMD based servers. There is a large enough part of folks here busy with Intel / Windows based servers HTPC's, I do not see that much traffoc about AMD/Linux based systems (not that AMD necessitates Windows but the combo is said to work better).

 

For me it would be nice to be able to chat about BIOS settings, what CPU is preferred, RAM, andsoforth....surely there is a large overlap between Intel based MoBo's yet there also are large enough differences.

 

 

Just testing the water here, if there is any take up I will modify the title or open a new Thread.

 

 

[Wopin]

Hello MarcelNL,

 

Thanks for opening this new thread, this will be the first time I write in the forum and it encourages me to tell you that I would be one of those interested in having a separate thread specializing in AMD. I think it is worth it. 

 

I'll tell you my experience, which is little and recent.
After months of studying this and other dedicated forums I created in November my first DIY music server based on AMD.
I made the decision to use an AMD APU because I also want to use the server as a video player to watch 4K/60Hz content.

 

This is the setup I currently have:

AMD Ryzen™ 7 PRO 4750G 45-65W
Gigabyte X570S AERO G (just put in yesterday, replaces Asus Pro WS X570-ACE which has the problem of having a fan on the southbridge and is very noisy)
4 x Apacer D31.23185S.001 4GB
HP Intel Optane SSD 905P 380GB NVMe SSD
JCAT NET Card FEMTO
Ghentaudio Neotech UPOCC Copper 18AWG ATX
Ghentaudio Neotech 7N Copper 18AWG CPU 8P-8P
HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX Converter
HDPLEX H5 2nd Gen Fanless PC Case
Windows 10 LTSC

 

About BIOS parameters, right now I've changed just the right ones:
SMT OFF (Hyperthreading)
Turbo OFF 
C State OFF
Disable all components that use the southbridge (WIFI, SATA, LAN, Bluetooth, HD Audio)

 

Today I did a test and I like the result with the new board. It sounds as good as the asus and I even think it will sound better in the future when I finish burn in as I have changed also the CPU and ATX cables.

That's all for now.

 

[MarcelNL]

Thanks for that report! I almost expected there is nobody using AMD, except Pink Faun perhaps ;-)

 

Interesting, on my previous Aorus Elite the Optane did not work.....reminds me to try on this board. (just a 16Gb stick but want to use it for the OS.

IME the Optane sounds best but the Samsung EVO plus comes close, would be interesting if the Optane works so I can compare the Darkforce NVME femto clock against Optane and Samsung Evo.

 

 

 

[Wopin]

I would love to be able to compare with another server built with Intel Xeon but it is impossible for me.

I remember that the NVME Optane didn't work the first time on the Asus motherboard. I had to change some parameters but I don't remember which one.

With the gigabyte I didn't have to do anything, it recognized it without changing anything in the bios.

 

It is very likely that the Darkforce NVME femto clock sounds better than Optane.

I normally use a NAS via ethernet but transferring my favourite music to the Optane and using the rewrite data software I noticed an improvement in SQ. 
I would like in the future to get another optane pci express to store the music there as I have read that it is better to have the music on a hard drive that is not the same as the OS. But is very expensive.

 

I'm sure there are more people using AMD. I hope more people will join us.

[MarcelNL]

if you can try a Ryzen 9 for sound, I found the jump is massive, as if you zoom in on all music AND get double the dynamics somehow. it sounds SO vibrant yet musically organic that I'm a convert.

 

 

 

 

 

[MarcelNL]

anyway , let me describe my current situation:

 

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x

Aorus Master

Corsair AX1200i (fan never kicks in)

Pink Faun I2S OCXO on LPS

Apacer 4*4Gb D31.23185S.001

Samsung Evo Plus 1Tb

DIY Neotech UPOCC 18AWG solid core in PVC (I avoid teflon when possible, would love neotech in silk or cotton) ATX

DIY Neotech UPOCC 18AWG solid core in PVC 8PIN EPS (need another one, cable is on its way)

Daphile latest RT kernel loaded in RAM, cores set to max speed, filter, linear filter, steep filter, bitperfect

 

need to verify the BIOS but I recall switching all the LED bling off and:

Turbo off,

networks off

Audio off

SATA off

manual fan scheme for both fans

rest I need to verify

 

The passive cooling is waiting on finding a large enough heatsink to attach the heat pipe kit to.

 

 

 

[Wopin]

20 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

if you can try a Ryzen 9 for sound, I found the jump is massive, as if you zoom in on all music AND get double the dynamics somehow. it sounds SO vibrant yet musically organic that I'm a convert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

anyway , let me describe my current situation:

 

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x

Aorus Master

Corsair AX1200i (fan never kicks in)

Pink Faun I2S OCXO on LPS

Apacer 4*4Gb D31.23185S.001

Samsung Evo Plus 1Tb

DIY Neotech UPOCC 18AWG solid core in PVC (I avoid teflon when possible, would love neotech in silk or cotton) ATX

DIY Neotech UPOCC 18AWG solid core in PVC 8PIN EPS (need another one, cable is on its way)

Daphile latest RT kernel loaded in RAM, cores set to max speed, filter, linear filter, steep filter, bitperfect

 

need to verify the BIOS but I recall switching all the LED bling off and:

Turbo off,

networks off

Audio off

SATA off

manual fan scheme for both fans

rest I need to verify

 

The passive cooling is waiting on finding a large enough heatsink to attach the heat pipe kit to.

 

 

 

I would love to try a ryzen 9 5900x but I would lose the ability to have video output. I think I'll wait for the zen 4 generation.
Have you considered powering the pc with an lps? That gave me a sq increase. 
As soon as I can I'll post some images of my bios so I can compare parameters with you.

[MarcelNL]

Yeah the power supply is the next battleground, somehow making a high current Linear PSU seems a bit of a big hassle, so I am still on the fence if I am going to buy a Taiko DC DC convertor...OR have another custom choke made and go linear...trouble is I don't like paralleling regulators as the noise adds up and the current demand is rididulous.

 

 

[MarcelNL]

I'm chuckling a bit when I read about unregulated PSU's, I brough up that suggestion a good while ago and it was laughed off. I'm not sure if the CPU load is constant when I set the speed to max, as that would make the current draw constant which makes life easier for an unregulated PSU

[Wopin]

I see that unregulated LPS are the latest fad on the forum. 
About constant power consumption, I think it all depends on the work done by the CPU. Yes, put in the bios a constant speed and voltages but the cpu will consume less if you do nothing and more if you are doing some kind of work on it.

It's on demand.

 

By the way, have you tried any m2 to pcie adapter?

 

https://www.newegg.com/riitop-model-ngftpce-bk-pci-express-controller-card/p/17Z-0061-00018?Description=m.2 pcie adapter&cm_re=m.2_pcie adapter-_-9SIA6V85HC8902-_-Product

I don't know about adding a second hard drive like yours to store the music. I have a NAS with which I receive music and it sounds great, but I don't know if it will sound a bit better with something like that. Music from the optane does sound better but it's the one I use as a hard drive for the OS.

 

[MarcelNL]

I was already suspecting the CPU power demands are too dynamic ...

I haven't tried a NMVE to PCIe adapter, I want to try one with external power, so I can compare (should the Optane work) Optane vs Samsung Evo plus, and the darkforce femto NVME I will be able to test.

 

Today I ordered heatsinks to try passive cooling of the CPU...fingers crossed as it's quite a beast.

 

I am planning to dig into single phase recitfying for the LPSU, yet I suspect that the required current is a showstopper.

[botrytis]

Well, the Next Gen Intel processors (Alder Lake) might really look like power hogs....

 

[MarcelNL]

6 hours ago, botrytis said:

Well, the Next Gen Intel processors (Alder Lake) might really look like power hogs....

 

suits me fine, I am not that interested to be honest...too busy getting this build finished.

 

The extra 18AWG UP OCC  8 Pin EPS cable is finished and in situ....breaking in as we speak and the initial impression is that it adds a smidgen of ease and control.

 

EDIT: delete the 'smidgen' , the change is not so subtle anymore....WOW.

 

 

[botrytis]

1 hour ago, MarcelNL said:

suits me fine, I am not that interested to be honest...too busy getting this build finished.

 

The extra 18AWG UP OCC  8 Pin EPS cable is finished and in situ....breaking in as we speak and the initial impression is that it adds a smidgen of ease and control.

 

EDIT: delete the 'smidgen' , the change is not so subtle anymore....WOW.

 

 

 

Well, I should have pointed out that AMD doesn't seem to have that issue with CPU's but GPU's yes.

 

The next gen Ryzen will be on a different socket and will no longer have pins....

 

AMD Zen 4 Release Date, Devices and Spec News (techadvisor.com)

[AudioDoctor]

31 minutes ago, botrytis said:

Well, I should have pointed out that AMD doesn't seem to have that issue with CPU's but GPU's yes.

 

 

Nvidia GPUs use even more power than AMD GPUs.

[botrytis]

28 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

Nvidia GPUs use even more power than AMD GPUs.

 

The New 4060 - 4070 - 4080 for NVidia are supposed to draw 500 - 750 watts!

 

The newer AMD's draw about the same as the 3070's.

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, botrytis said:

 

The New 4060 - 4070 - 4080 for NVidia are supposed to draw 500 - 750 watts!

 

The newer AMD's draw about the same as the 3070's.

 

I am not an expert, but here is a perfect example... these two computers are IDENTICAL except for two differences.  One has a 3090, and one has a 6900XT. The 3090 version has a 1000w power supply, the 6900xt version has an 850w power supply.

 

https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-fluid-gaming-pc-295-conquest

https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-fluid-gaming-pc-295-vanquish

[AudioDoctor]

On 8/2/2021 at 11:38 AM, MarcelNL said:

need to verify the BIOS but I recall switching all the LED bling off and:

Turbo off,

networks off

Audio off

SATA off

manual fan scheme for both fans

rest I need to verify

 

What benefit do you get turning turbo off?
How do you connect to it by turning networks off?
Audio off seems ok, does it make any difference?
SATA off? Then I would have no HDDs and no music...
Manual fan? 

[MarcelNL]

I'd like to keep discussing video cards out of this thread if we can ;-)

 

Turbo off somehow sounds better, but I need to tinker with that more once the build is stable.

Networks off is only possible using the Solarflare 8552 fiberoptics card.

Audio off, not really evaluated but it should save a few amps of current.

SATA off, I'm using the NVME option, still thinking about how I can feed that by LPS but I have a femto NVME on its way from Darkforce (test)

On the GB MoBo you can manually set CPU and system fan schemes, or use pre configured fan curves.

[botrytis]

My desktop system (2 yrs old now) is a Ryzen 5 2600 with 32 GB RAM - I am using a Samsung 980 1 TB SSD drive for the OS (Win 11 Beta). I am using JRiver 28 and so far have not measured noise from my system. 

[Wopin]

13 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

What benefit do you get turning turbo off?
How do you connect to it by turning networks off?
Audio off seems ok, does it make any difference?
SATA off? Then I would have no HDDs and no music...
Manual fan? 

The main reason for disabling audio, sata, bluetooth, on board lan... Is the overall consumption of the system. The lower the power consumption, the lower the noise, the less jitter is generated and the better it sounds. It is always advisable to disable what you don't use. 

 

By the way Marce, do you use Minority Clean?

[MarcelNL]

@Wopin NOPE, Daphile takes care of a LOT already (not even sure but Minority Clean is Windows right?) ...I have compared various Windows configurations and audio players, Audiolinux, Euphony and Daphile, so far Daphile sounds most organic and true to me on my system.

BTW: Daphile is headless, it switches off the video card etc...

 

 

[MarcelNL]

I just installed the Elfidelity PCIe and fan filters, on a whim....and also because those cards probably provide a very useful test bed to stick my own trusted caps in (extremely exotic stuff) 😁

I'll give it  few hours to settle before I pass any preliminary judgement.

 

 

IME so far in the PC clean and plentiful POWER is king too...components need to behave and be up to spec and low jitter is nice but I have a  faint feeling the impact of jitter in a PC is as much exaggerated as it used to be for DACs. 

 

I am tossing around the idea for a Tube rectified 12V PSU...mad as heck I know.

 

Today the Darkforce NVME arrived....

[MarcelNL]

Hyperthreading off in Daphile also makes a clear difference, it's in the realm of nuances bit still.

[botrytis]

I have not seen that with my Ryzen, when I loaded Daphile on it.