maximumpc.com SEP 2020 MAXIMUM PC 81
use it for currently is to open
PDFs I download on Firefox,
and that’s about it.
Interesting to know you can
get rid of it entirely by delving
into Linux. I might have to get
the guys in the lab to write
something up on that.The Ultimate Data
Scientist’s Rig
I read the letter from Tali
Kadosh in your June 2020
issue, and I'd like to make
a similar request. Like Tali,
I’m not into gaming, but I
enjoy reading your magazine
to keep up with the latest
developments. I've never done
my own build, but would like
to do so in the next year or so.
I’m glad to know you have
an issue coming out soon
that will feature a build not
necessarily targeted at
gamers, but I would like to
suggest another specific build
for a future issue. My interest
is in the field of data science,
and my suggestion is to
feature a build worthy of being
called “The Ultimate Data
Scientist’s Rig.”
Many of the tasks data
scientists perform are
incredibly resource-intensive.
Beyond performing traditional
statistical analysis on large
datasets, a PC’s limits can
really be put to the test by
machine learning and deep
learning models. Not only
is there a need for a great
deal of processing capacity
and memory, but results
often need to be displayed
in sophisticated data
visualizations. Therefore,
graphics processing capability
is also a concern, although
perhaps not as much as it is
for your gamers.
Given that “Data Scientist”
was considered the #1 job in
America four years in a row by
Glassdoor, and is still ranked
#3 in 2020, I’m sure such a
feature would be very well-
received. And I’m guessing
your crew would enjoy doing
this type of build very much!
–Vincent ThompsonEDITOR ZAK STOREY
RESPONDS: I will thank you in
advance, because we’re goingto cover this topic next issue
on the back of your email. It’s
quite the interesting build
you’ve recommended, and I’ve
been chatting with Christian a
lot about how best to do this.
We’ve been seeing what parts
we can get in, and currently
have a build list sitting at
around the $3,000-$4,000
mark, which I know sounds a
bit pricey, but should hit the
nail on the head for superior
dataset performance.
Threadripper’s going to
be at that heart of this build,
I won’t give too much away
about the rest of the spec,
but we’re looking at pairing
AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper
3970X—which gives us
access to 32 cores and 64
threads —with 128GB of
high-speed DDR4. Although
it's worth noting that this
isn’t going to be ECC memory
or anything along those
lines (way too expensive), so
you’d need to recheck your
calculations on a “proper”
data analysis system. We’re
also going to offer some ideas
for downgrades and otheroptions you could pick if the
price seems a bit insane.
This also gave me some
inspiration during our
benchmark recalibration
for the coming year. You’ll
notice we’re including a
protein-folding benchmark,
and CompuBench’s N-Body
simulation test as well.No Microsoft Teams?
I’ve been a long-time
subscriber and gadget wonk.
I’ve been building PCs and
servers for ages, and I enjoy
your magazine.
I was reading through my
July 2020 issue and Christian
Guyton’s work-from-home
primer. As an IT consultant
for years and a work-from-
home regular, I enjoyed
Christian’s article but was
surprised by his failure to
mention Microsoft Teams as a
UC (unified communications)
tool/platform. Teams evolved
out of Skype for Business,
and it is the primary way
through which many of us
communicate and do remote
business these days. I sawthat Zoom was mentioned
and described, but many IT
organizations positively forbid
the use of Zoom in business-
related dealings due to recent
(and significant) security gaps.
Teams comes with just about
every Microsoft 365 (formerly
Office 365) subscription, so
it’s ubiquitous and readily
available to most work-from-
home people.
As a long-time supporter
of Microsoft (and recently
renewed Microsoft MVP),
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point
out this apparent oversight.
Several of us in the MVP
community host a regular
twice-weekly webcast (bit.
ly/39heZyS) and maintain a
Facebook group page (bit.
ly/2WIapod) to help people
understand and use Teams
more effectively, as well
as answer any questions. I
would be eternally grateful
if you spent a little time
raising awareness of Teams
in a future issue. Keep up the
awesome work, and steer
clear of Rona!
–Sean McDonoughEDITOR ZAK STOREY
RESPONDS: I think really it’s
just a lack of experience
on our part. Our publishing
house in particular is a
Google House, so neither
myself nor Christian have
much experience when it
comes to using Microsoft
Teams in a professional
manner. However, I do agree
with you, it’s something we
should cover going forward.
I don’t really see life
changing that much at this
point. I think this new normal of
ours, and working from home,
is only going to accelerate
going forward, especially as
so many companies are finding
that the vast majority of their
staff can effectively work from
home for far less cost to them.
That's great news for anyone
in the PC industry.
We’ve already planned the
next issue, but I will schedule
a tutorial for the issue after,
going through how to use
teams, it will be beneficial for
everyone I think—even the
Maximum PC team![NOW ONLINE]CORE I9-9900K VS.
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