maximumpc.com MAR 2020 MAXIMUMPC 71
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THERE’S ONE DEFINING FACTOR when it comes to picking gear
for this build: the intention to use hardware from the Maximum PC
cupboard that won’t be needed elsewhere. This pretty much
crosses off anything that has just been released; and indeed favors
gear that is no longer available. The sor t of stuff you can pick up on
special offer from online retailers, or eBay if you’re brave enough.
The plan is to embrace the multithreaded landscape of all
tomorrow’s parties, so we start by grabbing a Threadripper CPU.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX, to be exact. This last-gen
chip may lack the raw bandwidth of Gen4 PCIe, but it still boasts an
incredible 24 cores, or 4 8 threads, and of fers the kind of power that
was unheard of only a few years ago. Such CPUs are still widely
available, and there are bargains to be had if you shop around.
The next obvious component is the motherboard, and here we
turn to the Asus Prime X399-A, a solid option. We did need to upgrade
its BIOS for it to support the second-gen Threadripper—something
to bear in mind if you’re looking to replicate such a build—but
having first-gen chips to hand made this a straightforward task.
As for the graphics card, upgrading from a GeForce GTX 1080
is a big ask, but we happened to have a GeForce RTX 2080 that has
been retired since the introduction of the Super rendition of the
card, so this was a great opportunity to put the original 2080 to
long-term use.
The rest of the components fell into place after this, with 32GB of
colorful HyperX Predator RAM, a slightly aging 1TB Samsung 960
Pro M.2 drive, and Cooler Master’s ML240P Mirage AIO CPU cooler
representing the most up-to-date component in the machine. This
was used mainly because we don’t have a lot of TR4-compatible
coolers available, but also because it’s a really good cooler.
WE START as we always do with any build—by stripping
down the case to its bare skeleton. As this case houses
a whole system already, this is slightly more convoluted
than normal, but still isn’t too tricky. We start by releasing
the two thumbscrews that hold the retention bar over the
expansion slots, and then unscrew the two thumbscrews
holding the graphics card in place. Release the clip at the
bottom of the card, disconnect the two power cables, and
the card slides out with ease. We also remove the rear
fan at this point, and set it aside for later.NEXT WE SET ABOUT removing the old motherboard.
We disconnect the power connectors, along with any
other cables that are easy to unclip, before unscrewing
the nine screws holding the motherboard in place (a
magnetic screwdriver is your friend here), and easing
the motherboard out gently, setting it to one side. The
front panel of the Phanteks P400 case pops off easily,
affording easier access to what’s left inside. We initially
left the two fans at the front of the case in place, but
as you’ll see, had to scrap that idea in the end, and we
should have removed them from the star t. The only thing
left in the case at this stage should be the PSU.OUT WITH THE OLD CLEAR THE DECKS
INGREDIENTSPART STREET PRICECase Phanteks P400 (Glacial White) Tempered Glass Edition $N/AMotherboard Asus Prime X399-A $317CPU AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970W X $1,249CPU Cooler Cooler Master MasterLiquid
ML240P Mirage
$160Memory 32GB (4x 8GB) HyperX Predator RGB
DDR4 2,933MHz
$233GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080
Founders Edition
$799PSU BeQuiet Straight Power 11 850W $N/ASSD Samsung 960 Pro M.2 1TB $346HDD Western Digital 3TB Red $N/AOS Windows 10 Home 64-bit $N/ATot al $3,104OFF THE CUTTING EDGE