Ryzen Time! Suggestions for the new build

[Citizen229]

Since you have win installed, did you update the bios to the most recent version?
Are you absolutely sure you have secure boot disabled? If you go back one page in this thread, Asus made it stupidly complicated. I have no doubt gigabyte did as well.
Are you running in legacy mode for Linux only boot?

[mr_raider]

Sounds like could be an issue. If it won't load or run update to get the 4.10 Kernel..... I am a complete newb at Linux, so compiling Kernels is beyond my extremely modest talents.

4.10 kernel for the ryzen and 375 drivers from driver manager for the gtx 1060.

Mint 18.1 boots fine for me on 4.4. I switched the kernel afterwards. I am also using an Nvme drive.

I would try the live cd and see how it goes.

[MurphCID]

Thanks, as soon as I get home from St. Louis, I will give it a try. Yes, I have the latest BIOS, and think I turned off secure boot...I think. I'll check that as soon as I get home as well. I really want a dual boot box. I think Linux Mint would scream on an 8 core processor.

Sounds like could be an issue. If it won't load or run update to get the 4.10 Kernel..... I am a complete newb at Linux, so compiling Kernels is beyond my extremely modest talents.

4.10 kernel for the ryzen and 375 drivers from driver manager for the gtx 1060.

Mint 18.1 boots fine for me on 4.4. I switched the kernel afterwards. I am also using an Nvme drive.

I would try the live cd and see how it goes.

[wutsinterweb]

Ok, I have some thoughts here as a hardware freak for many years, but one that rarely had the budget to do what my peers could do.

GET AN SSD! Get a few of them if you can.

Use an SSD for your bootup operating system and essential softwares at least.

If you are going to run VMs, get plenty of RAM, but if not, and if no heavy scientific or gaming work is going to be done, 8 GB or 16 GB is ok. I have 32 GB since I built my system years ago and jumped to get the RAM before DDR3 would start going back up in price.

As far as the Ryzen, indeed, you don't need to get the 1800x, the 1700x would be pretty much just as good just overclocked which you'd want to do anyways, and a tower cooler such as a CM Evo, which I have, is adequate.

Or, well, wait, because threadripper is coming, it will cost a lot more, but if you want to run VMs and do multithreaded stuff, Threadripper is expected to really shake things up for the price. Imagine for less than 3 grand a system with 64 PCI Express lanes.

Mind you, I cannot afford it myself, but I am looking at a possible change to my economy and may end up able to go threadripper myself next year.

But rather than run a RAID, get a separate hardware solution for storage if you can.

FWIW, I have a downrev system but it's pretty decent, it's the first time I had a higher end system build in a timly manner ever in my history, a Devil's Canyon i5 with 32 GB RAM on a Z97 motherboard and I have owned a 480GB SSD for a couple months now, I cheap one, but it was well worth it!

Now with that said, I expect SSD prices to start going back down by late fall, they've stayed relatively high due to high demand and cutbacks in the MHDD manufacturing sector.

I'd advise waiting until or during the school shopping crunch when there are sales and threadripper hits the market if it does. Ryzen will drop more in price then.

[coffee412]

Well, I am extremely happy with my system. I did go out and buy the best processor; I have the x1800. I also have the RX480. But how I setup my system is the key here IMHO.

I have a SSD 250 gig for the system. Then I bought a rackmount case with five hotswap bays. I have my home directory on a RAID1 with regular mechanical drives. They are 2tb in size - seagate. I also have a external drive box with 3 drives running RAID5. I back up to this also. It would be nice to have a tape drive to back up too but they are pretty darn expensive. So, I figure with the two raids I should be atleast 80 percent safe in case of a failure. I am running with 32 gigs of ram and also run a windows 7 VM for accounting purposes. I did plan on running centOS for a test bed for some software - Icewarp, An exchange replacement.

My case:

https://www.newegg.com/product/product. ... ptcha=pass

[mr_raider]

You guys are nuts!

Seriously, I would place home and root on the SSD to speed up the OS, since a lot of your config file are in /home.

I would create a partition on your RAID 1 HDDs, mount it somewhere convenient, and create separate folders for your Videos, pIcs, etc, Then I would symlink them back to your home directory. That way your OS resides on the SSD, and most of your data on your RAID 1 array.

[coffee412]

You guys are nuts!

Seriously, I would place home and root on the SSD to speed up the OS, since a lot of your config file are in /home.

I would create a partition on your RAID 1 HDDs, mount it somewhere convenient, and create separate folders for your Videos, pIcs, etc, Then I would symlink them back to your home directory. That way your OS resides on the SSD, and most of your data on your RAID 1 array.

Too much R/W on the SSD for my home to be on it.

As for the RAID1 that is essentially what I said I was doing. IMO, Mechanical drives at this point last longer than SSDs on constant reads and writes. But I cannot prove that and its just an opinion.

Nothing wrong with what I am doing as it works great for me. I have no issues and it gets the job done quite well. Afterall, I am not running Amazon on my system

[ZakGordon]

An SSD for boot makes a nice difference to general system snappiness, but i also keep my really important data on traditional HDD's, only using HGST currently as they have the best endurance in the business currently (and the best warranty time).

My Ryzen build will be a dual-boot (rather than going the VM route) as i just like a true native environment for specific software i will be using, so the boot SSD will need to be bigger than the current 250GB i use on my gaming system, mostly just for the fully loaded Windows 7 i plan to use (it is big).

Motherboards are a bit meh currently in general, so i'm hoping we might see some nicer rev1.1's or some such, and at least the Bios will be much more robust down the road.

Memory is a pain, you don't need to buy the 3200Mhz rated stuff, as most people will not be able to actually run at that, and i've been reading that the smart thing to do is buy lower clocked ram and OC it to the more likely 2933Mhz that most should be able to hit. Performance ratings i've read on this show little to no difference vs running at 3200Mhz.

GPU's are currently getting inflated prices due to a bitcoin mining thing that has kicked off, so hold of on buying a new one if your looking in the range of 1060's, 1070's and the cheapest 1080's (and AMD equivalents).

The next big sale season could be the perfect time to go for it, if you have not already.

[Citizen229]

I would actually argue the opposite of your RAM argument. I have always used RAM at a lower clock than the advertised speeds. This adds longevity to the component. This same reason is why I do not overclock my CPU's anymore.

In terms of GPU's, Vega will launch soon. 30th i believe. This could spur gamers who think they need the best gpu to start selling off 10 series Nvidias. In a few weeks you might see some 1060-6gb/1070 on craigslist for around sub 200300.

[mr_raider]

For ryzen, I wouldn't pay a dime more than ddr4-2400 kits. Very few kits can successfully run 2933, let alone 3200 for now. I have a Corsair 2666 kit and it runs at 2400. That's the best I can do without massive voltage bumps.

[ZakGordon]

I would actually argue the opposite of your RAM argument. I have always used RAM at a lower clock than the advertised speeds. This adds longevity to the component. This same reason is why I do not overclock my CPU's anymore.

OC'ing is in general always for the 'leet gaming crowd', and as those are being targeted by the 'buy fastest RAM for Ryzen' stuff (3200 kits etc), the tip was to offer a cheaper approach. A decent stick of 2666 or 2400 should be fine for a little OC, and most RAM comes with lifetime cover. I'd probably go for a 2666 stick on Ryzen and leave it at that, but if i did notice a difference in my games responsiveness i'd feel comfortable with trying to run it at 2933 (if i could).

But in general these days i don't OC my hardware often (maybe just to test it out), not like back in the FX-90 days! Cool and stable is my preferred operating status these days.

[MurphCID]

Still having massive troubles with my Ryzen build, to the point where I hate my new system. However, that being said, is there any consensus within the forum right now on the best Kernel for Ryzen? Also those who have built a Ryzen/Linux Mint 18.1 system, how is gaming (specifically Steam gaming)? Also does Mint use all the cores/threads for efficiency? Also is there an LED app for Linux Mint to allow the LED control on my motherboard (Gigabyte X370, Gaming K7)? Also fan control since I have at this point an aircooled system.

[coffee412]

Still having massive troubles with my Ryzen build, to the point where I hate my new system. However, that being said, is there any consensus within the forum right now on the best Kernel for Ryzen? Also those who have built a Ryzen/Linux Mint 18.1 system, how is gaming (specifically Steam gaming)? Also does Mint use all the cores/threads for efficiency? Also is there an LED app for Linux Mint to allow the LED control on my motherboard (Gigabyte X370, Gaming K7)? Also fan control since I have at this point an aircooled system.

If it were me, I would return the MB and pick up the Asus x370 prime. I run that and have no issues. I see all threads and they appear to be well utilized in Mint 18.1 .

I do not game much except for Warzone2100 - cant help you there.

Fan control seems to be fine. I control that thru the bios. I just set it and forget it. Nice graphical fan speed layout on the Asus.

[mr_raider]

Still having massive troubles with my Ryzen build, to the point where I hate my new system. However, that being said, is there any consensus within the forum right now on the best Kernel for Ryzen? Also those who have built a Ryzen/Linux Mint 18.1 system, how is gaming (specifically Steam gaming)? Also does Mint use all the cores/threads for efficiency? Also is there an LED app for Linux Mint to allow the LED control on my motherboard (Gigabyte X370, Gaming K7)? Also fan control since I have at this point an aircooled system.

I'm using 4.10. Mint uses all 16 threads, check my folding stats.

I can run steam games like divinity original sin or pillars of eternity. But that is a function of your gpu mostly.

[MurphCID]

I think I have just about got it down to the Video Card or video card driver. I HATE THIS! Yesterday it went into an endless series of BSOD reboots, and I had to re-install Windows from the bare metal. Today had an odd crash: Kernel Security Check Failure. Haven't seen that one before. Hopefully in two weeks I will have enough money for an SSD to put into the beast to run Linux Mint on. If I did not need Photoshop, and some of the games for the kids, I would ditch Windows 100% and never look back. I am so looking forward to a Linux set up on this thing.

Still having massive troubles with my Ryzen build, to the point where I hate my new system. However, that being said, is there any consensus within the forum right now on the best Kernel for Ryzen? Also those who have built a Ryzen/Linux Mint 18.1 system, how is gaming (specifically Steam gaming)? Also does Mint use all the cores/threads for efficiency? Also is there an LED app for Linux Mint to allow the LED control on my motherboard (Gigabyte X370, Gaming K7)? Also fan control since I have at this point an aircooled system.

If it were me, I would return the MB and pick up the Asus x370 prime. I run that and have no issues. I see all threads and they appear to be well utilized in Mint 18.1 .

I do not game much except for Warzone2100 - cant help you there.

Fan control seems to be fine. I control that thru the bios. I just set it and forget it. Nice graphical fan speed layout on the Asus.

[ZakGordon]

Just a little update on some of the specifics people have been noticing with a Ryzen build, this one a more detailed look at memory that works as intended:

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/a ... iew,9.html

And here is a list of those that 'passed' with that test configuration, and these results:

GEIL EVO X 3200 MHz kit - PASS: 3200 MHz / CL16
Crucial Ballistix Elite 3200 MHz / CL16 - PASS: 3200 MHz / CL16
Corsair vengeance LPX 3000 MHz / CL15 - PASS: 2933 MHz / CL16 (could not do CL15!)
G.Skill 3200 MHz CL14 kit - PASS: 3200 MHz / CL14
Corsair RGB Vengeance 3000 MHz CL16 kit - PASS : 2933 MHz / CL16

Memory is just seemingly the most complex part of a Ryzen build, so gathering this data will i hope help my later build, and others planning on using Ryzen, and maybe those having issues with their current build etc.

[mr_raider]

MSI released 1.6 for the b350 Tomahawk. I can run my memory at the advertised speeds now. Bios revisions with agesa code 1.0.0.6 seem to solve a lot of issues

[MurphCID]

"unexpected irq trap at vector 07" is all I get as I try an install Linux Mint 18.2 System Information:

Gigabyte AX370 Gaming K7 motherboard with the latest F4 bios
AMD 1700 processor air cooler with stock cooler
32gb of G.Skill Flare X 2400 DDR4 ram
Boot drive (Windows) Western Digital Black NVME
Linux Target drive: Samsung 850 EVO 500 gb (Specifically purchased for the Linux Mint installation)
Video card: ASUS GTX 1060 OC 6gb
Additional drives in system:
2x Western Digital 1 tb Green drives moved from my old machine
1x 2TB Western Digital Black Caviar as main storage drive.

I really, really want to get Mint installed and running since I am having 1 or more BSODs a day in Windows, and I am fed up. HELP!!!

I am attempting to boot off of an Adata 16gb USB drive where the ISO for 18.2 was burned with Rufus. My previous attempt was halted when the destination drive (my old Seagate) died in the middle of the installation, and GRUB choked. It loaded and booted fine the last time before the old Seagate died. What has gone wrong now?

[mr_raider]

Try booting an 18.1 iso. The 4.4 kernel may be more "tolerant" than the 4.8.

If that does not work, try disabling the usb 3.0 xhci ports or setting them to 2.0.

Finally some people have had issues with IOMMU so try disabling that and SVM in certain cases.

Also be aware that if you are running an EFI install for Windows 10, the linux mint installer will use the EFI Partition on your Nvme drive no matter what you specify.

If you want a 2nd independant efi on your mint drive, you need to physically disconnect the Nvme drive during install.

[MurphCID]

No luck, this motherboard hates Linux.

Try booting an 18.1 iso. The 4.4 kernel may be more "tolerant" than the 4.8.

If that does not work, try disabling the usb 3.0 xhci ports or setting them to 2.0.

Finally some people have had issues with IOMMU so try disabling that and SVM in certain cases.

Also be aware that if you are running an EFI install for Windows 10, the linux mint installer will use the EFI Partition on your Nvme drive no matter what you specify.

If you want a 2nd independant efi on your mint drive, you need to physically disconnect the Nvme drive during install.