Looking for PC MoBo with lots of memory and PCIe slots

Discussion in 'PC' started by Pure Energy, Dec 2, 2020.

  1. Pure Energy

    Pure Energy Producer

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2020
    Messages:
    380
    Likes Received:
    101
    I am looking to buy PC MoBo with lots of memory and PCIe slots DDR4 etc

    going to build as my chrismas present

     
  2.  
  3. WillyA

    WillyA Producer

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2019
    Messages:
    218
    Likes Received:
    97
    Look on Amazon, you can get good bargains there. I bought an ASUS Prime B250 Pro complete with i5 CPU and fan for under 100 Euros. There are no moving parts that wear out on a motherboard (except the fan - but mine was fine). I've bought quite a lot of 2nd hand boards, CPU's and memory over the years and some of them are still going strong. I've always found ASUS components to be top quality and excellent support.

    Most new motherboards don't have many PCIe slots, usually 2 or three. My B250 has three as does my wife's ASUS H110m-k

    If I had the cash for a new board, I would go for this :
    https://www.asus.com/microsite/motherboard/Intel-Z390/ROG/
    Being able to throw 128GB RAM at it should sort you out, Not a lot of PCIe slots though
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  4. Moleman

    Moleman Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2013
    Messages:
    400
    Likes Received:
    186
    Location:
    Springfield
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
    • List
  5. WillyA

    WillyA Producer

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2019
    Messages:
    218
    Likes Received:
    97
    I looked at the specs, I only see TWO PCIe and 6 x SATA
     
  6. Oops2k

    Oops2k Noisemaker

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2020
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    4
    But there are 4 free PCIe slots (one is for GFX card). And if you use internal one - you have all 5 free.
     
  7. Pure Energy

    Pure Energy Producer

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2020
    Messages:
    380
    Likes Received:
    101
    hmmm it looks like im going to have to go for a supermicronics server board with more memory and lots
     
  8. quadcore64

    quadcore64 Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2011
    Messages:
    1,862
    Likes Received:
    1,029
    Take a look at the ASROCK Rack series. Server Boards (Intel & AMD) or Workstation Boards (Intel)

    I have a build plan based on the EPYCD8-2T. 8 PCIe slots & 8 memory slots (1ch for testing, 2ch, 4ch, 8ch), ECC 3200.

    8 & 16 core CPUs for this board have a U.S. list price below $1000. Anandtech has a few articles on the AMD EPYC 7002 series. Start with this one: AMD EPYC 7f52 Reviewed.

    The board I was really thinking about - ASROCK Rack ROMED8-2T.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2020
  9. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2016
    Messages:
    2,234
    Likes Received:
    2,346
    Location:
    Studio 54
    It actually has 6 pci-e gen.3.
    2 x16 physical size, config'd at either 1x16 or 2x8. It also has another x16 physical size only it runs at x4 from the chipset. And another 3 x1 pci-e slots.
    @quadcore64 The ASRock EPYCD8-2T is a very nice mobo. I also like the Supermicro H12SSL-CT. In Europe it costs 470+VAT :
    Supermicro Epyc Rome.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
    • Like Like x 3
    • Interesting Interesting x 3
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • List
  10. Moleman

    Moleman Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2013
    Messages:
    400
    Likes Received:
    186
    Location:
    Springfield
    did you check how much max memory supports the amd cpu you are going for? since im only an intel guy, the i9-10900k supports max 128gb ram, so 4 ports is just enough. tbh there is no need for more ram in pro audio/daw, unless u really want to use the same pc to run some sick ass server or else that requires a lot of ram.
     
  11. Pure Energy

    Pure Energy Producer

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2020
    Messages:
    380
    Likes Received:
    101
    ASRock EPYCD8-2T thats a cutie I love it that is what im looking for THANK YOU will now investigate further
    but im on the right track
     
  12. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2016
    Messages:
    2,234
    Likes Received:
    2,346
    Location:
    Studio 54
    Nobody should buy this now. If you want to go Intel no matter, the (100mhz less in core clock and tb, otherwise identical) 10850K at about 70-100 dlrs less is the smart choice for simple desktop cpu:winker:
    He wants to go big with a bang, so lemme place some more info here.
    - AMD Epyc mobos like the ASRock and Supermicro posted can go up to 2 tb of ECC DDR4 ram.
    - AMD Epyc 7002 series cpus come with 128 pci-e gen.4 lanes per cpu, out of the box and technically support up to 4tb of ECC ram. Typical build examples would be 4 gpus and 16 nvme ssds, lol. Or 3 gpus, 16 nvme ssds and a bunch of USB expansions + audio interface(s) for the workstation musician who also make their own videos.
    - Btw, the Epyc 16 core/32 threads 7f52 has a base of 3.5 ghz and boosts up to 3.9. It has 256mb L3 cache lol. Costs about 3000 dlrs.
    Speaking logically this is a huge investment, but one that may pay off in time considering the expandability of the system.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  13. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2016
    Messages:
    3,626
    Likes Received:
    2,224
    Location:
    Heart of Europe
    MacPro has most of these actually and there's no PC/Windows counterparts to build from sadly
     
  14. Polomo

    Polomo Guest

    It´s not true
    But the Mac Pro is impressive with the 12 RAM slots and 8 PCI-E (if my counting is correct XD)
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    But
    this is on the next level 11 PCI-E and 16 RAM Slots (as well 2 CPU sockets )
    Supermicro X11DPX-T bulk (saidly it´s Intel :thumbsup:)
    [​IMG]

    And most RAM goes to ( 24Slots)
    Intel S2600WFQR

    [​IMG]

    Or Single Socket nearly on par with the MAC
    Supermicro X11SPA-T
    [​IMG]

    If it makes sense to go for this is a different question :winker:

    Personal I share the opinion with
    taskforce that an AMD Epic build is the most interesting ATM (PCI-E 4.0 and more Powerful CPU’s to name just 2 Points)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 11, 2020
    • Like Like x 2
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  15. Xupito

    Xupito Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2012
    Messages:
    7,231
    Likes Received:
    3,995
    Location:
    Europe
    Some of those last mobos are incredible but are designed for slim rack-mounted servers. Well, like you almost said.
    Only VGA output, no room for GPU, and incredibly noisy.

    I think pretty much anything past 8 RAM slots is strictly for servers but probably there're a few exceptions for desktop workstations.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
    • List
  16. Moleman

    Moleman Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2013
    Messages:
    400
    Likes Received:
    186
    Location:
    Springfield
    lol why do u need 2tb of ram for?
     
  17. Qrchack

    Qrchack Rock Star

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2015
    Messages:
    797
    Likes Received:
    338
    Location:
    Poland
    Most PC builders don't need or even want PCIe slots, so that's why. Also the H110m is a Micro ATX, it's reasonable to only have two 1x expansion slots + one 16x for the GPU. Both of these are entry level cheap and cheerful boards btw, if you want good stuff you gotta up the budget a bit.
    Z390-based boards force you to go with 9th-gen Intel which is a terrible idea in 2020. Anything made in the last several years gives you 64 or 128 gigs, and you don't need more for desktop workloads, especially audio. Unless you're doing orchestral soundtracks, but then you're probably going to end up setting up several server machines anyway.
    6x SATA is what you'll find on pretty much everything, there's a 6-port SATA controller in the chipset. Adding more would require them to purchase one more controller chip and find space for it. Most people wouldn't want to pay $25 more for 4 more SATA ports, so they don't bother. BTW you can get the same additional SATA controller on a PCIe card, look up SATA/SAS HBA cards.
    Have fun waiting 15 minutes for your computer to start, server boards are a different beast from your regular desktop ones.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • List
  18. joem

    joem Producer

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2011
    Messages:
    440
    Likes Received:
    124
    what your telling me ion this day and age your going to need for music more than 128 gigs of ram, my system has 64 gigs and im not going anywhere near it
     
  19. Voo

    Voo Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2011
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    175
    I went Ryzen 5900x, Rx 6800 & 32 GB ram
    Motherboard is Asrock X570 Pg Velocita.. it has 2 nvme, 8 Satas, a Thunderbolt header, High quality sound.
     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
  20. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2016
    Messages:
    2,234
    Likes Received:
    2,346
    Location:
    Studio 54
    Best Answer
    I will refer to 1 tb ram and you can make your own assumption.
    The best thing for pro musicians (and enthusiasts) who work heavily with sample based instruments like Kontakt is software ramdisk. This simple soft takes a portion of your ram and turns it to a virtual ssd. When you need to shut down you will need to flush the contents of the ramdisk to a physical drive or data is lost. So it goes like this.
    1) Have a nice 1 tb fast ssd for the shutdown backup
    2) Install ramdisk soft (there are 3-4 around, even AMD had one too) and give the soft 750gb space out of 1 tb. It should be enough for the most demanding libs that ordinarily take time to load even from fast ssds. Set the paths so Kontakt recognizes the libs on the ramdisk, load some libs and hold your jaw because it's fucking instant. Or a matter of a few ms. The actual latency of the virtual drive is a little more than the ddr4 is, about 30-40 ns or 0,003 ms which is at least 10 times faster than the fastest ssds (Optane 905P, Samsung 980 Pro) .
    3) The only catch with this is you have to flush the contents of the virtual drive to a physical drive but that's also as fast as the backup ssd can handle. Also it's a bitch too if for some reason you need to restart hehehe...

    Another very interesting tech to which i have refered in the past is Intel's Optane Persistent Memory and as the name implies,the tech is only available to a few top tier Intel workstation/server mobos. It essentially is dimm modules that work both as DDR and SSD with capacities up to 512 gb per dimm and very expensive. It represents a different tier of performance, it sits just between the dram and the ssd :

    EDIT: @Polomo : The actual Supermicro X11SPA-T you posted supports Intel Persistent memory. Checking carefully the memory spec it supports DCPMM which is the official name of the specific Optane based dimms :) . The catch with any such mobo is that you need a top tier Xeon Scalable to make DCPMM avail and not just any Xeon...
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
    • Like Like x 2
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Interesting Interesting x 2
    • List
  21. quadcore64

    quadcore64 Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2011
    Messages:
    1,862
    Likes Received:
    1,029
    The Supermicro boards are interesting but, tend to lag behind in feature development such as PCIe 4.0 & Thunderbolt. Especially for AMD platform. The ASROCK Rack EPYCD8-2T was the only board with a full feature set plus PCIe 4.0 & Thunderbolt 3 when I started my build plan.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
Loading...
Similar Threads - Looking MoBo lots Forum Date
Looking for Software i can't seem to find the name Software Wednesday at 11:28 AM
Looking for Ableton Live 11 suite Selling / Buying Wednesday at 2:10 AM
Looking for autotune efx 3 Selling / Buying Tuesday at 2:16 PM
Looking for list of Loud Rock speciality Radio Shows Internet for Musician Oct 28, 2024
Looking for studio one Pro Selling / Buying Oct 15, 2024
Loading...