Building a Server PC (Ryzen 3990x)
Wow.... I ended up changing my server computer this time, and thought I'd write about it.. (Shouldn't I be doing development work instead of spending time writi
GGAMI
Wow.... I ended up changing my server computer this time, and thought I'd write about it.. (Shouldn't I be doing development work instead of spending time writi
Contents
Wow.... I ended up changing my server computer this time, and thought I'd write about it..
(Shouldn't I be doing development work instead of spending time writing something like this?)
CPU - Threadripper 3990wx
Cooler - be quiet DARK ROCK Pro TR4
Motherboard - ASUS ROG ZENITH II EXTREME ALPHA IIBORA
Memory [8 sticks] - Samsung 32GB (256GB)
Graphics card - ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 5700 XT O8G GAMING D6 8GB Daewon CTS
SSD [2 drives] - Samsung Electronics 970 EVO Plus M.2 2280 (1TB)
Hard drive - Western Digital 10TB Ultrastar DC HC330 WUS721010ALE6L4 package (SATA3/7200/256M)
Case - Fractal Design Define 7 XL
Power supply - Seasonic PRIME 1300 Platinum SSR-1300PD Full Modular
Coolers [3] - Fractal Dynamic X2 GP-14 cooling fans
Coolers [5] - Thermalright TY-147B
I built a server computer like the one above, and people have things to say about it... like, why so much...
Hmm.. I do think about it from time to time, but I'm the type who doesn't skimp on computers or equipment, and I consider it an investment... I think computer parts that come out with better performance every year are the perfect value-for-money products, certainly more so than products that focus only on pointless design.
(That doesn't mean I'm criticizing design or designers; I just don't like it when a product prioritizes design but puts cheap components inside for its features or specs.)
All the parts I ordered arrived. To be honest, I was so nervous about assembling such an expensive computer, but when would I get another chance to build one like this? I'd better give it my best shot..
But one thing was a little different: at first, I bought
Case - Cooler Master MasterBox H500P MESH WHITE ARGB
Power supply - Cooler Master PLATINUM V1300 FULL MODULAR
.
However, the Cooler Master case made it a little tricky to install that motherboard, so I ended up ordering the Fractal Design 7 XL instead.. (In the end, I never even got to assemble that case and sold it on Joonggonara for 170,000 won :) )
The magnificent.. Ryzen 3990X
Apparently, you apply the thermal paste using the dot method.. I saw a Japanese blogger's post about it... so later I switched to the dot method..
Since I was going to use it as a server anyway and planned to install CentOS 8, I got the non-retail version.
Well, after taking this gorgeous photo, I was downloading the BIOS update file so I could update the BIOS...
Bang!?
Ah... I can't believe it... The motherboard's mini LCD display was still showing properly, but I immediately switched off the power button on the back of the PSU and unplugged its power cable.
Then came a very ominous, dark smell of burning that jolted the cells inside my nose awake...
I'd spent hours... assembling it... (reversing the front door on the Fractal Design 7 XL, tidying things up... installing the cooler, taking it off again because it didn't fit, putting it back on, and repeating the whole thing endlessly..)
That's right, I was fucked. The power supply had just died.. Sigh.... A deep wave of rage washed over me..
I'd bought it because it was supposedly a Delta OEM product...
After asking in a group chat full of computer experts, they said that since it was such an expensive product, I should get it inspected.
So I decided to have the motherboard, CPU, and graphics card checked...
I tested that HDD in my main computer, and it really was fine.
And just like that... my Cooler Master power supply was gone..
And so, a day passed. (Honestly, I barely slept at all... I was worried that if something else turned out to be wrong, it would be a real headache...)
And so, I arrived at the service center and had the CPU inspected first.
Yeah, they said it was dead... (It wouldn't boot... the blue screen appeared.)
At that point, I really thought I might have to get compensation from the power supply company, which would make the whole process take longer and be incredibly difficult. But the technician at the service center said they would handle it as a defective product. (They did ask what power supply I was using... I told them it was a Cooler Master.)
But they were out of stock, so they said they would ship one to me the next day. I said okay, wrote down my home address, and left.
One thing that seemed a little odd, though, was that after I had assembled everything and entered the BIOS, it kept stuttering, almost as if the mouse were lagging. So I asked the technician at the service center about it, but they said it might not be a problem.
Anyway, thankfully, they said they would send me a CPU as soon as new stock came in the next day...
All that remained now were the motherboard and graphics card.
I went to the motherboard service center to have it checked. (They said there was no problem...)
...!? The CPU was definitely... faulty, so how could there be nothing wrong with the motherboard? I wondered, but there wasn't much I could say when they told me it was fine.
(Some people did say that if the CPU had died, then surely something on the motherboard must have been damaged too, and that I should get it replaced since it could cause problems. But if they say there's nothing wrong with it, there's no way I could get it replaced...)
And last, the graphics card...
They said there was nothing wrong with that either...
So the two things that had died were the power supply and the CPU... (Can that really happen? This was a first for me, too.)
But there was another thing that bothered me: after the second assembly, a small H-shaped mark appeared on the desktop and then disappeared... Ah... wasn't that a bit ominous?? But since they said there was no problem, there was nothing I could do about that either...
So, they checked everything... (There wasn't as much to the inspection as I expected: they tested whether it worked, ran 3DMark, checked whether the RAM and drives showed up properly in the motherboard BIOS, went into Windows, and that was it...)
On my way home... there was a Kakao T taxi sitting there looking cute... So I took a picture and got in...
It's reserved.
Ah, they said it was reserved... So I got out... hid my awkwardly exposed expression... took the next taxi... and went home.
I assembled it successfully. Honestly... I can't explain how much pressure I felt assembling it after the power supply had died once and the CPU had died too.
Those expensive components had died so easily... I was trembling. Honestly, I was worried the power supply might blow again... (This time, I bought a Seasonic power supply.)
So, after installing everything and running the tests...
Somehow... it seemed like I was the only one getting a low score? So I tried increasing the clock speeds, too.
I ran 3DMark, too... but it didn't give me a score. Maybe I didn't install it properly through Steam? Hmm...
So, after setting up the BIOS properly...
Anyway, since I planned to run it on CentOS 8, I chose the low-power settings.
I ran the RAM tests and stress tests (was it two hours...?) and everything... There were no problems, so I shut it down properly...
My old computer is running CentOS 6... I had only ever installed and used CentOS 8 on hosting servers, but now I'm finally installing it on my own computer.
And so... I successfully installed CentOS 8... I also installed testing programs on Linux and ran RAM and CPU tests, and there were no problems. (I think there weren't any... Maybe it froze once? Hmm....)
Wow... It's impressive that I put together such an expensive computer, but when the PSU blew at first, it was a real disaster... Anyway, in the end I replaced both the Cooler Master case and the Cooler Master PSU. I guess Cooler Master just isn't a good fit for me.
The person in charge handled the PSU refund right away, so everything was resolved without any issues,
and the CPU was also replaced, so that was resolved smoothly.
Anyway, I'm glad it all worked out without me taking a loss.
However, they say the motherboard or hard drive may have been damaged, but since there's really no way to prove it, I think that's difficult... So I'll just assume it's fine...
(Please... I hope there aren't any problems.)
So, it's currently been running fine for 14 days and 3 hours without a reboot..
All the services that were running on my old computer have now been Dockerized and are running on the new server computer. As expected, Seasonic is the way to go for PSUs... right..? :)
I don't plan to boot it at all for about the next 30 to 45 days...
Since I only boot it and do updates about once every 30 to 60 days..
I need to quickly Dockerize and put up the rest of the things I'm working on, too...
You'd think I could've spent the time writing this post developing instead, but these days I don't do much development because of COVID... (Wow, seriously, what am I going to do...)
The temperature in my room is rising.. It's almost sauna-level....
I'm starting to dread this summer...