ASH / FIELDNOTES 01PRIVATE · LOCAL REVIEW

THE WORKSHOP / A BUILD IN WAITING

Quiet materials.
Serious intent.

ASH is a planned AMD workstation in the original ProArt PA602 Wood Edition. Real ash. A warm exterior. A carefully qualified machine within.

Planning review · 19 September 2026
Nothing purchased, installed or fit-qualified by this review.

Review the open decisions
9950XPlanned AM5 foundation
2 × 32 GBSeparate GPU memory spaces
4 × 16 GBRAM budget stays intact

01 / THE REVIEW QUEUE

Decisions to settle.

Start with identity and power, not a shopping list. These positions are tentative notes—not approvals or completed checks.

Local notes require JavaScript. Review content is available without it.

01

Identify the actual GPUs

Partner SKU, active cooler, thickness, connector exit and plug bend allowance. Measure both card clearances before any fit verdict.

S07S02
02

Resolve the duplicate PSU & cables

Cart shows two units; the plan conditionally uses one. Record exact model, approved cable/port inventory, both EPS feeds and two independent GPU feeds.

S08S04
03

Record the two RAM kits

Keep all four 16 GB DIMMs. Capture full kit labels and revisions, start EXPO off, accept lower stable MT/s rather than a budget upsell.

S05S06
04

Choose the OS route

Ubuntu is the supported-family recommendation; Omarchy remains a real owner choice with extra qualification. Recheck one coherent Radeon/OS/kernel/framework tuple before provisioning.

S09U01
05

Confirm the case & dry-fit

Original ash evidence is not exact cart-SKU evidence. Check side panel, radiator stack, tubes, headers, card intake and cable pressure together.

S01S02S03
06

Protect disks and recovery

Record serials and existing contents, choose filesystem/encryption and independent backup destination, prove a small restore. Formatting and firmware changes need separate explicit approval.

S12

02 / CONNECTIONS BEFORE COMPONENTS

Leave room for the second card.

Logical topology and cooling proposal only. Not to scale; not a physical-fit proof.

Ryzen 9 9950X CPU root
GPU A PCIEX16(G5)_1
x16 alone → x8 with B
GPU B PCIEX16(G5)_2
x8 with M.2_2 empty
M.2_1 → 990 EVO Plus Dedicated CPU socket; drive negotiates its own mode
M.2_2 · LEAVE EMPTY Populating it changes the GPU links to x8/x4.

M.2_3 / M.2_4: chipset Gen4 x4, unpopulated.
Bottom full-length PCIEX16(G4): chipset x4, no GPU.

PROPOSED AIR PATH

↑ TOP · LC 420 EXHAUST
FRONT
INTAKE →CPU
GPU A
GPU B→ REAR
EXHAUST

Use existing case fans. Dry-fit the nominal 55 mm radiator/fan stack, EPS cables, DIMMs and tubes together. Check both GPU intakes and connector bends with the panel closed.

Equal-width CPU links do not establish peer access. Measure links under load and prove transfer paths later.

S04 · board manualS11 · mGPU guidance

03 / PLANNED INVENTORY

Every part. Every caveat.

Quantities are planning intent, not receipts. Source-backed specifications and unresolved identities stay together.

01 · ENCLOSURE

1 × PA602 Wood Edition

Original ASUS ProArt edition · ash wood

Original ash is source-backed; exact regional SKU, finish and side panel are not. Nominal original glass variant: 440 mm GPU, 190 mm PSU, top 420 mm radiator. These limits do not prove assembled fit.

S01S02S20
02 · COMPUTE

1 × Ryzen 9 9950X

AM5 · 170 W TDP

9950X, not the earlier 9905X typo. Confirm actual label. TDP is not peak PSU draw.

S05
03 · FOUNDATION

1 × ProArt X870E-CREATOR WIFI

Two CPU-connected Gen5 GPU slots

Manual supports the proposed topology. Actual PCB revision, shipping BIOS, minimum CPU BIOS and exact memory QVL entry remain unchecked.

S04S19
04 · MEMORY

2 × 32 GB (2×16 GB) kits

G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-6000 · 4×16 GB total

Keep the budget: no 2×32 GB upsell. Exact kit numbers/ranks/revisions unknown; matching kits are not jointly certified. Start EXPO off, record trained rate. AMD lists DDR5-3600 for four DIMMs; 6000 is not guaranteed. Lower speed is acceptable.

S05S06
05 · ACCELERATION

Target 2 × Radeon AI PRO R9700

32 GB per card · two address spaces

No purchased partner SKU established. Family spec: 300 W TBP, PCIe 5.0 x16, 12V-2x6, double-slot. Verify active cooler, actual dimensions and connectors; not passive R9700S. Dual fit, P2P and application partitioning remain unproven.

S07
06 · COOLING

1 × ProArt LC 420

Top exhaust proposed · AM5 compatible

Radiator 456×140×30 mm + 25 mm fans = nominal 55 mm stack, not installed clearance. Tubes 450 mm. Dry-fit EPS/DIMM/VRM and tube bends. Use pre-applied compound; no layering.

S03
07 · POWER

1 × 1200 W PSU, conditional

Cart: 2 × Lian Li RS1200W with Hub

Duplicate purpose unconfirmed; possible RS1200G, label unknown. Prove two independent approved GPU feeds plus both CPU EPS feeds and ATX. No mixed modular cables, improvised splitters or combining supplies. A USB hub is not fan power.

S08S04
08 · ACTIVE STORAGE

1 × Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4 TB

NVMe · proposed M.2_1

M.2 2280, PCIe 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2. Reserve for OS, environments, active models and capped scratch. Confirm serial, firmware, health and existing data before writes.

S18
09 · ARCHIVE

1 × WD Red Pro 10 TB

7200 RPM SATA · cart-reported only

Exact WD model, serial, firmware, health and spin-up power unknown. Bulk datasets and local backup copies; an internal disk is not an independent backup.

Cart intent · evidence/TASK.md
10 · RESERVE

Noctua NT-H1 · spare

Cart-listed; quantity not established

For future remounts only. Use the LC 420 pre-applied compound now; no new thermal-material purchase.

S03

04 / SOFTWARE, WITH A DATE ATTACHED

ROCm is the rail.
The tuple is still a choice.

Ubuntu or Omarchy?

Ubuntu in an AMD-listed matrix is the lower-friction recommendation. Omarchy / Arch is still Joseph’s decision, with rolling-version and qualification costs. A container cannot certify an unsupported host.

No CPU, CUDA hardware or cloud substitute counts as GPU completion.

Historical pin ≠ current validation

The earlier versioned ROCm 7.2 plan listed Ubuntu 24.04.3 / HWE 6.14 / PyTorch 2.9.1, with a preliminary-support / 24.04.2 installer caveat.

The upstream audit now records Core SDK 10.0.0 documentation. That is not permission to relabel the old tuple as validated 10.0. Select and pin one coherent driver/kernel/HIP/framework set at build time.

Rowan’s RX 9070 XT is not ASH proof.

S09S10U01

05 / FUTURE ACCEPTANCE WORK

One GPU. Proof. Then two.

No execution stage is marked passed. A smaller proven baseline is better than an unqualified dual-card machine.

  1. Identify before assembling

    Exact SKUs, cable inventory, case measurements and OS choice first. Separate build authorization and a local builder are still required.

  2. Assemble with GPU A only

    Power off/unplug for physical work. Verify pump tach, airflow and header load (listed board headers: 1 A / 12 W each). POST, full RAM, stock CPU and short memory sanity pass; inventory disks read-only.

  3. Prove one real 32 GB GPU

    Require R9700/gfx1201 identity and synchronized HIP compute, not import alone. Proposed 5-minute smoke, then ≤15 minutes checked compute/VRAM at roughly 70–80% available VRAM, with exact-card thermal limits and logs.

  4. Finish the memory baseline

    All four DIMMs, full 64 GB, actual stable MT/s, zero errors. One complete memory pass planned within 60 minutes, ~15 minutes CPU/RAM work and two cold boots. A time-capped partial pass is incomplete, never a pass.

  5. Prove the single-card application

    Fresh ASH environment and immutable harness/model receipts. Native forward/backward/optimizer, finite gradients, changed weights, parity and disclosed HIP inference. No hidden CPU/OOM fallback; Rowan stays untouched.

  6. Only then add the second GPU

    Power off/unplug; cable, thermal and power gates first. Test each card separately. Verify two distinct identities and CPU-rooted x8/x8 under load; peer access/copies in both directions and bounded RCCL correctness.

  7. Prove two-card work, not visibility

    DDP training and separately logged partitioned inference. DDP replication is not pooled memory. Disclose host-staged transfers, per-device budgets and real placement. Combined 10–15-minute load only within the proven power/thermal envelope. Return to passed GPU A if dual proof fails.

06 / KEEP THE RECOVERY PATH

Protect what already works.

Storage before installation

Serial-based disk inventory, existing data ownership, independent backup and a small restore first. Filesystem, encryption and recovery-key custody remain choices. No formatting without target-specific explicit approval; never guess /dev/sdX.

Firmware without shortcuts

Record shipping BIOS and settings before changes. Flash only for an identified need with approval, correct image/hash, stable power and local recovery. Preserve Secure Boot keys, TPM and encryption recovery. No blanket IOMMU disable or assumed GRUB commands.

Inspect Above 4G / ReBAR dependencies against the actual BIOS; ReBAR neither pools VRAM nor proves P2P. Verify non-root render/video access, not world-writable devices.

S12S13S14

Grove later, privately

Hostname “ash” is provisional. Check collisions later; use the existing Grove/Yggdrasil + SSH design with verified peers and fingerprints. No public inference endpoint or Tailscale substitution. Network/service/default changes need separate approval.

Do not overwrite Rowan

New ASH workspace, exact source/model hashes, package locks and fresh GPU receipts. Retain prior boot entries and environments. Promotion is a later reversible proposal, not a symlink swap or service activation here.

07 / YOUR LOCAL REVIEW

Leave a useful trail.

Notes stay in this browser when storage is available. File browsers may restrict persistence; export a copy before closing. Nothing is sent to Auri.

Restore or reset local notes

Exports are manual artifacts to share. They are not authorization to purchase, install, configure, flash or format anything.

08 / EVIDENCE REGISTER

A plan with its sources attached.

The setup plan’s independent review is complete and accepted as planning only. No ASH hardware qualification occurred. Manufacturer evidence below was recorded in the canonical plan on 19 September 2026; links were mapped here, not re-fetched. External source links need internet.

Local snapshots and the claim map are included beside this file in the delivery folder: evidence/ and source-map.json. This single HTML file contains the review and source URLs without needing those files to render.

S03 · ASUS
ProArt LC 420 specifications

456x140x30 mm radiator; 25 mm fans; 450 mm tubes; AM5; pre-applied compound.

Limit: 55 mm stack is arithmetic, not total installed clearance.

S04 · ASUS
ProArt X870E-CREATOR WIFI board manual

Two CPU Gen5 slots x8/x8; M.2_2 changes second to x4; M.2_1 CPU, M.2_3/4 chipset; bottom PCIe chipset x4.

Limit: Recheck manual/revision against shipped board. Shipping BIOS/minimum CPU BIOS and SKU-specific QVL unresolved.

S05 · AMD
Ryzen 9 9950X specifications

AM5, 170 W TDP; two DIMMs DDR5-5600; four DIMMs DDR5-3600 for listed ranks.

Limit: TDP is not peak PSU input; does not guarantee mixed kits.

S06 · G.Skill
DRAM memory FAQ

Mixing kits not guaranteed, QVL applies to single kit; EXPO is overclocking.

Limit: Exact Flare X5 kit numbers and revisions not supplied.

S07 · AMD
Radeon AI PRO R9700 specifications

32 GB, 300 W TBP, 12V-2x6, PCIe 5.0 x16, double-slot active cooling.

Limit: Partner SKU dimensions/cabling still required; single-card 750 W recommendation not used as dual-system sizing.

S08 · Lian Li
RS series / RS1200G

ATX 3.1, 150 mm form factor length, native 12V-2x6; 1200 W DC and +12 V rating.

Limit: Exact carton model and count of approved GPU cables/ports not established. Web text supplemented by read-only HTTPS retrieval of same page.

S09 · AMD ROCm
Radeon native Linux support matrix

R9700; Ubuntu 24.04.3/HWE 6.14, 22.04.5/HWE 6.8, RHEL 10.1/6.12; PyTorch 2.9.1 production support.

Limit: 24.04.3 entry has preliminary support/24.04.2 installer caveat. Versioned candidate, not newest-release assertion. Arch absent.

S10 · AMD ROCm
PyTorch installation for Radeon

Python 3.12 wheel build filenames and documented ROCm 7.2/PyTorch 2.9.1 container candidate.

Limit: Artifacts not downloaded; SHA256/digest and full dependency/driver locks pending. Do not copy global uninstall or system-Python advice.

S11 · AMD ROCm
mGPU setup and configuration

Equal-width CPU-connected slots and atomics; DDP recommendation; mixed graphics/compute reset cautions.

Limit: No specific ASH P2P or thermal/performance certification. Initial rate limit recovered by later open.

S12 · ASUS
AMD 800-series BIOS manual

PCI subsystem Above 4G/ReBAR/CSM dependency; NB graphics, AMD CBS IOMMU, Boot Secure Boot menus.

Limit: Family manual listed by board support; actual BIOS menus/options may differ. No universal settings command or flash approval.

S13 · AMD ROCm
Installation FAQ: hangs, signing and permissions

Multi-GPU hang guidance mentions iommu=pt; Secure Boot DKMS signing; render/video permissions.

Limit: Mutable redirect-era latest page; use only these troubleshooting principles, not as version pin or GRUB instruction for Omarchy.

S14 · AMD ROCm
Radeon prerequisites

Target-GPU environment isolation offered as alternative to disabling unsupported iGPU.

Limit: Read actual identities before choosing visible devices; BIOS examples are not this board.

S16 · ROCm project
ROCm bandwidth test upstream

Upstream tool offers CPU/GPU and GPU/GPU transfer benchmarking.

Limit: Develop is mutable and now RBT-NG; select compatible release/commit before executing. No command compatibility or P2P PASS claimed.

S17 · ROCm project
RCCL tests upstream README

RCCL correctness/performance testing with configurable device count and message sizes.

Limit: Develop is mutable; pin compatible commit and verify flags. Proposed test window/iterations are local design.

S18 · Samsung
990 EVO Plus datasheet

4 TB option, M.2 2280, PCIe 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2.

Limit: Exact drive serial/firmware/health not observed.

S19 · ASUS
Board manual support listing

Board support explicitly lists family BIOS manual.

Limit: Shipping firmware and CPU-support minimum not verified.

U01 · AMD / local upstream audit
Core SDK 10.0.0 documentation update

The 2026-09-19 upstream audit observed Core SDK 10.0.0 documentation and R9700/gfx1201 listings.

Limit: Not a selected or validated ASH OS/kernel/framework tuple. Mutable latest page; recheck before provisioning.