Built in January 2020, this is my daily all-around driver - able to tackle nearly any task I ask of her. The primary motivators were:

1. x265 software encoding for ‘the stuff that matters’

2. NVENC GPU encoding for ‘quick previews just to check’

3. Running light (4-core, 8GB) VMs to support development work

4. Working with high-resolution RAW files for photography or Premiere for some videos

And obviously, gaming.

Something incredible that deserves a specific call out though are modern task schedulers: even when my CPU is doing a video encode (so, 95-99% sustained load) - I can fire up a game and play. Of course this isn’t ideal and there will be occasional hiccups but this wouldn’t have been doable previously.

Last Updated 2021-02-12

Build Considerations

Computer

• [CPU] My main workload is x265 CPU encoding: I debated going with the Threadripper 3970X (32c/64t) but ultimately went with the Ryzen 3950X (16c/32t) because of power limitations. Not PC power, but room power. In our computer room, we have two computers, their accessories and a network rack powered from one circuit. When this machine was built, we were renting, so upgrading the electricals wasn’t really an option so I opted with the lower power option.

• [STORAGE] Going M.2 was a no-brainer as it removes the need to manage and route cables. Going all-NVME raises the performance floor for the entire machine for a relatively small premium. I went with a Gen 4 TLC and a cheaper Gen 3 QLC to keep the prices manageable.

• [RAM] I went with 64GB since some of my Adobe Premiere workflows can chew up 40GB of RAM and I didn’t want to deal with that, not even once (for what I do, I don’t regularly go too far past 40GB). Making the jump to 64GB also means I have a can launch my VMs at 16GB now - and VMs are never fast enough so the more oomph I can give them the better. Going with 2x32GB makes the best of the latencies and reserves the option to upgrade to 128GB capacity down the road if needed (although I am limited in how far I can push VMs with a 16-core processor) .

• [GPU] I was coming from a fairly old setup (GTX 780) so the only real options were the 2080 and 2080Ti. There was nothing noteworthy performance-wise from AMD and I wanted to have the superior NVENC GPU encode (the ‘Super’ series weren’t a thing at this time). I wanted to explore some GPU accelerated workflows and the performance advantage at 4K made the 2080Ti the only realistic (albeit expensive) choice.

• [COOLING] I initially looked at 280mm AIOs but the integrated fan-headers and clever Auto/PWM toggle built into the pump for the Celsius S36 made it an easy choice (especially for the price point).

• [CASE] I had previously worked with a Fractal Design R5 case and the build experience was fantastic so the R6 was an easy choice. I went with the dampened, non-flashy model since the computer is being tucked away in a cabinet anyways.

• [NIC] We have a 10Gbit setup and I wasn’t about to fork out for a motherboard with built in 10GbE. This is one of the cheaper cards that gives me a 10Base-T RJ45 connection so it was an easy choice.

• [PSU] I was looking for 80Plus Platinum, Fully modular and mostly considering eVGA and Corsair units. I happened to have this power supply beforehand which made the decision easy.

Peripherals

• [DISPLAY] I knew I wanted to go with a triple display setup. Since juggling multiple resolutions wasn’t a hassle I was willing to deal with, triple-4K it was. I decided to go for cheaper side displays (VESA, IPS, 4K) and a nicer primary display. I had originally worked myself up to buying an Acer Predator or ASUS ROG Swift but, for the price I was going to pay for those displays, I was not willing with deal with the not-insignificant fan noise. I suspect that this is a first-generation problem, so I’ll revisit this in the future when the tech improves. For the time being I want with a slightly better primary display (VESA, IPS, 10-bit, 4K, HDR-something-support) and leave out some of the crazier specs (HDR1000, G-Sync, high-refresh)

• [KEYBOARD] This is another super subjective product choice. I’m no different, I have some extremely specific requirements:

  • A boatload of physical macro keys with on-the-fly macro recording

  • Some form of volume & mute control

  • The letterings must be capitalized and must be centered in the keys

  • The Esc key must not be ‘indented’ in by more than half a key width relative to the left hand side

  • And the usual: no stupid ergo or ‘modern’ button layouts, must be full size, f-keys must be clustered in a normal fashion, normal sized Enter key, no chiclet keys.

Spoiler: I’m not going to lie, there are not a lot of keyboards that match these requirements. My keyboard of choice (G510) has been discontinued and nobody makes keyboards with boatloads of macro keys anymore. Thankfully I have a stockpile of these keyboards - hopefully by the time they all die, there will be a suitable replacement/upgrade option.

• [MOUSE] Another super subjective product choice. I’ve been a Logitech G5/500/502-esque user for over a decade so all the mice are going to be of that style. My requirements are a high-DPI ceiling, at least two thumb-buttons, and a flywheel/hyperscroll. Like the keyboard, my day to day use of the computer is enmeshed with mouse-macros so I’ve stockpiled replacements. I primarily use a wireless mouse but have the equivalent wired mouse in standby

• [MOUSEPAD] In general, I’m a fan of func mousepads favoring high-speed, hard-surface pads that are rectangular. I’ve used the jumbo sized mousepads that fit your keyboard as well and those are fine. However, when I made the switch to a wireless mouse, the only option realistically became the Powerplay mat as it recharges the mouse while in use.

• [SPEAKERS] When I bought my Logitech Z5500 speakers a long time ago, my requirements were decent surround sound, optical input, Dolby/DTS decode and some form of physical volume/mute control. I’m no audiophile and for computer speakers, I consider the Z5500 meeting my needs perfectly. At some point, my control pod failed and the Z5500s were discontinued and long story short, I replaced them with the Z906.

• [HEADSET] I wanted a wireless headset with some form of obvious mute function and a physical volume control. The G930 (and it’s successors) all are great except in the earcup swivel design which has a plastic piece that is prone to failing. I went with the Arctis purely for the sling and swivel design which hopefully should be more robust

• [MIXER] I’m not too much of an audio guy. I originally started out looking at a basic USB XLR-audio input but found this mixer on super sale.

• [HEADPHONES] I think there are really three options in this space: the HD280, MDR7506 and ATH-M40X. I went with the cheapest one at the time.

• [MICROPHONE] I got this free although if I had to buy it, I would as well.