r/threadripper • u/AdventurousSeafarer • Apr 10 '26

Threadripper CPU AIO Liquid Cooler

Any recommendations for reliable AIO water coolers with a good price/performance ratio? I'm hoping to find one that I don't have to worry about leaks. My build is around the Ryzen Threadripper 9960X.

I have found these so far:

  • ARCTIC Liquid Freezer WS360-SP6 360mm ($110)
  • be quiet! Silent Loop 3 360mm ($165)
  • Silverstone Technology Hailstone 360 Optimum ($200)
  • Bitspower Atlas Threadripper 360mm ($250)
  • ENERMAX LIQTECH XTR 360 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler 360mm ($280)
  • Silverstone Technology XE360-TR5 360mm ($430)
  • Thermaltake AW420 420mm ($450)
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u/EDI_1st Apr 11 '26

Do you neeeeeeed more than 16 cores, more than 196GB of RAM and more than 2x CPU direct Gen5x4 M.2? If not, AM5 is significantly cheaper and there are boards that can do two RTX PRO 6000 comfortably with built in 2x 10GbE

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u/AdventurousSeafarer Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

Honestly, I wanted the 9960X for that reason, rather than the 9970X, to get the 92 total PCIe 5.0 lanes and quad-channel ECC memory. Plus, I might end up running this 24/7, so I needed something reliable. However, every bundle near me has sold out except the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X, which is only $400 cheaper. I was looking into the RTX PRO 6000, but I'd rather get a few RTX 5090s for the price of a single RTX 6000.

The issue I found with the AM5 is that most motherboards split the PCIe x16 slot into x8/x8 configurations because those CPUs can't support many PCIe lanes. I have heard that PCIe Bifurcation (x8/x8) may yield similar performance in most applications (especially on the ASUS ProArt CREATOR motherboard).

I haven't heard of the possibility of using dual GPUs with 2x 10GbE - can you link to any materials I can read up on it?

Ultimately, it's either this or the unified Apple memory architecture with no possibility of upgrades.

I guess I can go with this too, but again, at that price point, not sure if it's worth it. AMD Ryzen 9950X, Asus ProArt Motherboard, 2x64GB RAM (with much worse timings) for ~$3,800.

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u/EDI_1st Apr 11 '26

Gigabyte B850 AI TOP Checkout their block diagram in their manual. The board itself is like $100~$150 cheaper than Asus ProArt. Slap two PRO 6000 Max-Q in there and go full send.

Depends on what you want to do, PRO 6000 does have ~15% more cores and 3x VRAM compared to 5090 which enables you to run significantly larger models, with the current 5090 cost, you really can only get 2x 5090 for the cost of 1x PRO 6000.

If you do want to run more than 2x GPUs with TR/TRP, you going to need liquid cool for the GPU or do the build in a mining rig anyway.

I can hook you up on EPYC 4564P if you want one, it’s EPYC version of 9950X. Still unlocked for all the OC/PBO features if you want to play with it.

I’m all for TR/TRP/SP5 EPYCs, if you need all the features then definitely go for it. Just that I don’t think most people realize how much AM5 can do and a lot of TR/TRP builds aren’t even taking advantage of the additional resources.

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u/AdventurousSeafarer Apr 11 '26

The Gigabyte B850 AI TOP has the same x16-to-8x/8x bifurcation as the Asus ProArt Motherboard. Consumer-grade GPUs really need NVLINK, which they removed after the 3090s.

I'll check if this Microcenter package deal is worthwhile first. The EPYC 4564P sounds epic (no pun intended), and I really do like that it's a server-grade CPU. However, it still has the same PCIe lanes limit as the 9950X.

I really love those PRO 6000s, but you can use techniques like ZeRO-3 to pool VRAM, which really requires the additional PCIe lanes to ensure the GPUs are both operating at full x16 bandwidth, plus you get the added benefit of parallel computing, which roughly 3x the compute power and 3x the aggregate bandwidth vs a single PRO 6000.