# Which mainboard for 5950x?



## muk (May 6, 2021)

So I've lucked out. I ordered a 5950x two weeks ago. Availability is pretty bad here. I thought I just order and forget, and was expecting delivery sometime in summer. Lo and behold, my cpu will arrive tomorrow.

Now I have to order the other parts for my new build. Here is my list:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5950x
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16
Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING OC*
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
PSU: Corsair RMx (2018) 850W

*For now, I will have to reuse the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 760. I will buy the RX 5700 XT once they are available and reasonably priced again.






System Builder







pcpartpicker.com





Two questions remain for me: will these components fit into the Fractal Define R4?

And what mainboard should I buy? 

I have 5 SATA SSDs, and would add one Samsung Evo 970 NVME SSD. Also there should be as many pcie and pci slots as possible for my RME Aio Pro, UAD 2 solo, and a thunderbolt pcie card (for my TC Electronics Powercore). Bonus points for including fast wifi. I have been looking at the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro Wifi. Are there better choices?


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## Pictus (May 6, 2021)

The Fractal R4 does not fit the NH-D15, you can change to a R7/Meshify 2
or change the NH-D15 to a NH-D15*S* or a Dark Rock Pro.
As you are going to use a 16 core CPU and high-end GPU, better change the case.








The Fractal 7 front door gives another layer of noise/temperature control.
You can also substitute all the fans for better Artic P14/P14 PST(y-cable)
and set like 3 front + 1 back.
They sell an economic pack with 5 fans





Choose A Case Fan







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For the motherboard, pay *attention *that the Gigabyte X570 *revision 1* does not
have Thunderbolt header, only the *revision **1.1/1.2* has.
The Gigabyte X570 Master have a better VRM a error debug display.

*Attention*, you mentioned *UAD*?
*I do not know anything about UAD stuff*, better make sure if it will work with AMD!








The AMD Ryzen & UAD 2 Thread - Page 11 - Gearspace.com


Hello, what seems to be the best motherboard at the moment for compatibility with ryzen? I mean the one working with the least hassle and best quality / smoothness? I tried to read many threads but too many brands and models are quoted I'm just lost.



gearspace.com





Anyway, the ASRock X570 seems to be less problematic with UAD stuff and has 
built-in Thunderbolt ports, lots of SATA ports, error debug display and other stuff...


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## muk (May 7, 2021)

Thank you Pictus! Good to know about the case. 

I'll do some research about UAD compatibility. I only have a Solo card that I am willing to part with in the worst case. Obviously I'd prefer if it run on the new machine. The ASRock Creator is too expensive for me (around 520$ where I live). I am looking for something about half that price max.

A thunderbolt header would be great so I can still use my TC Electronics PowerCore. With the Aorus Pro, would the one with or without Wifi be better?


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## muk (May 7, 2021)

Decided on the non Wifi as it has 4 Ram slots vs only 2 and can host 128gb Ram. As for the Ram, I have to make a change from the Crucial Ballistix, as that is not available here. Instead I chose the
HyperX FURY DDR4-3600.


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## d.healey (May 7, 2021)

Don't forget to enable the correct XMP profile in the BIOS - and update the BIOS.


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## muk (May 7, 2021)

Thank you David! I've seen that you can flash a new BIOS on the X570 Aorus Pro without having an older cpu, so that was another factor in my choice. I'll try to enable XMP, and if that isn't stable will try to set the timings manually.


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## d.healey (May 7, 2021)

I'm using the B550I AORUS PRO AX (mini ITX board), I went with a 550 board because I didn't like the little noisy fans they put on the 750 chipsets/vrm. The BIOS has a pretty straightforward layout I had some issues installing my OS but once I did a BIOS update everything worked perfectly.


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## IgneousOne (May 7, 2021)

d.healey said:


> I'm using the B550I AORUS PRO AX (mini ITX board), I went with a 550 board because I didn't like the little noisy fans they put on the 750 chipsets/vrm. The BIOS has a pretty straightforward layout I had some issues installing my OS but once I did a BIOS update everything worked perfectly.


Yes, I was thinking on similiar lines for a possible 5900X build.


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## d.healey (May 7, 2021)

IgneousOne said:


> Yes, I was thinking on similiar lines for a possible 5900X build.


That's the CPU I went with, I actually wanted an APU but they're not available yet.


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## muk (May 11, 2021)

Ok, all the hardware is here! I'll build the new machine in the next days. What do I need to take into account before making the switch? I'll be repurposing parts from the old machine, so once I start building the new pc the old system will be gone. Drives with all the data on it will be reused to, so I hope data transfer should not be an issue. So far I've got:


Deactive iLok licenses on old machine
Export Cubase 11 settings
Create USB stick with newest bios flash for mainboard
Export bookmarks/settings of my browser
Backup C-Drive so I can recover any program settings or preferences if needed
What else has helped you migrating to a new pc?


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## FabioA (May 11, 2021)

I personally run a 5800x (5900x and 5950x were impossible to find at the time) on an MSI Meg Unify x570. I really think it is a great MB for the price, offering 3 m2 slots and 6 Sata ports. I am also able to run 128 gb of ram at 3600 CL16 (G. Skill Trident Z RGB).

About the case, a Define R5 would be definitely good to fit a Noctua NH-D15, as I do on my slave. For my main I know got a BeQuite 500DX which is also capable, even though it get really close to the side panel, to fit the NH-D15.

Hope that helps!


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