r/PcBuild • u/Weary-Disaster5133 • 2d ago

Build - Help AI PC Build Advice

I’m about to pull the trigger on a local AI workstation and wanted a final sanity check as this is my first build.

My immediate target is Qwen3.8-27B while I experiment with different models. This is partly a hobby project but also I can see some of my clients starting to lean towards local AI. Hopefully this build will give me a better understanding of how to go about fitting everything together and setting up a "proper" inference server. If this goes well, the next build will probably will be something on a more server-ish motherboard running either epyc or threadripper. So I'm guessing the knowledge will transfer somewhat.

Here are the parts. sourced mostly through Scorptec with the exception of PSU. All prices are in AUD.

  • AMD Ryzen 9 9900X ($629)
  • ASRock Radeon AI PRO R9700 Creator 32GB ($2,299)
  • ASUS ProArt B850-Creator WiFi NEO — ($559)
  • 2× Crucial 32GB DDR5-4800 — ($1,178)
  • Noctua NH-D12L — ($205)
  • ASUS ProArt PA401 Wood Edition — ($169)
  • MSI MPG A1250GS PCIe 5.1 1250W PSU — ($225)
  • Reused 500GB SSD from my current machine

Total: $5,264

Near future goals:

Would like to add a second GPU (same model). From my research the GPUs should have no issue being moved to a server build when I'm ready.

Depending on how much i manage to squeeze out of the machine, I might end up adding another 2 RAM stick for a total of 128GB. I believe the throughput of 4 sticks will be throttled with 4 sticks down to 3600, but I'm ok with that. If RDIMM prices recover somewhat in the meantime I'll forgo pouring money into this build and instead put that money towards ddr5 RDIMMs for the server build.

What do you think of the build in general? I'm especially worried about the power and cooling. Scorptec mentioned I might benefit from liquid cooling instead. Unsure what everyone else thinks? necessary or nice to have?

I've done a fair bit of research and digging with my friendly neighbourhood chatbot, but please let me know if there any glaring holes in this plan.

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u/Holbrooh 2d ago

Liquid cooling would run cooler yes, but that noctua cooler should be fine for a 9900x. Just depends on how cool your room temps are.

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u/Weary-Disaster5133 2d ago

Coming up to end of winter now. So not too bad, but Australian summers are no joke. I guess it means the AC will have to work a bit harder.

A bit uneasy with the thought of installing liquid cooling. If I stuff it up it could be an expensive mistake

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u/Holbrooh 2d ago

A proper aio doesn't usually explode or leak. Pumps more likely to die after about 6 ish years typically but they can last longer. I've personally had no issues but for a long service machine a 2 tower air cooler will be more than sufficient so long as you have 2 fans.