Rowanh

Yes, I am thinking the Fractal design arc 2 mini case, its nice and small with lots of space for drives and it will take a fairly large gfx card. Also the B350 Matx boards are a good bit cheaper than the X370 Atx boards. I had come to the conclusion that an X370 Atx case was necessary but now I am not really sure, it seems like I can pass the card through in the primary slot, I am just not sure if this is the way to go.

Hey folks, I am trying to figure out what motherboard to buy for a Ryzen build for NAS and a Windows gaming VM. I would like to buy a Asus B350 micro atx board but they (and all AM4 Matx boards) only have one PCIE 3 16x slot, the other one is slow and not ideal for the gpu for gaming. So I am wondering, Is it possible to pass through the primary slot to the VM and use the slow secondary slot for unRaid with a cheap graphics card or is this not possible? If it is not possible is it likely to be a problem not having a screen for unRaid if its giving problems or is accessing it through a laptop as good? Finally it sounds like the Ryzen problems are generally sorted, I am just wondering as a complete newbie to unRaid/linux/system building what are the odds that this will be easy to get working.

Right, the problem is I want a Micro Atx board and it seems B350 is the only option really. The only X370 Micro Atx board is the Biostar X370GT3, it has the following info on its PCI slots, 1 x PCI-E x16 3.0 Slot(x16 for Ryzen CPU only, NPU/APU run at x8 speed) 1 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot(x4)(share bandwidth w/ PCI-E x1 slot, when PCI-E x1 is occupied, PCI-E x16(x4) will run at x1 speed) So it seems to be the same (or worse) Just so I understand this, I need to put my main card in the second slot so I can assign the first slot to unRaid as to avoid having to have the "PCI-E passthrough workaround in the 1st slot" So then the question is how much does putting a card into a x16 2.0 slot running at x4 effect gaming FPS. I have heard people saying that the x16 pci-e 3 is not really taken advantage of, yet at least. Assuming that it effects it enough that this is not a good solution, is the workaround such a big problem? I guess I will try and find out more on this. Rowan

Cool, thanks for the tips, i will get a 1600.

Thanks, that sounds straight forward enough. Ok maybe Ryzen is the way to go, I just got a little discoureged seeing all the problems people were having but it does seem like they are all being solved and by the time I have everything bought maybe the new build will be out. "gaming via virtualization is definitely "enthusiast" level system building." Well I have already learned a good bit in the last couple weeks, it sounds like fun getting it setup though perhaps frustrating too. Is it naive to expect it to be stable and problem free once its properly up and running? I would prefer something that have constant problems..

Hello, I was looking at building a desktop with a Ryzen 3 1200 to use as an unRaid NAS with a Windows 10 virtualisation for HTPC/Gaming pc. I have been reading about the problems with Ryzen which seem to pretty much be resolved now though I am a little concenred about having to be messing around with changing lines in files etc when things are not working. I have never used Linux before, I wouldnt have a clue where even to look for these things. Anyway I came across people using older Xeon cpu's for gaming and getting fairly good results, it seems like it would be more suitable for me if I am running a virtualisation and can have some cores for the NAS and some for w10. From what I can tell the best options are, Micro AXT B350 board with Ryzen 3 or 5, this would cost around to depending on the cpu and board. A Dual socket LGA166 board and two six core Xeon 5650s & a SuperMicro X8DTI-F or Asus Z8NA-D6, this would be around two hundred and fifty euro. A Lga2011 board and a 2660 cpu this would also be around . It seems like if it was just a Windows 10 gaming pc then the Ryzen option would be the best but maybe using unRaid the Xeons would be better and possibly easier to get going. They (xeons cpu's/boards) would all be second hand with no warranty or very limited warranty so that is also a negative.. Any suggestions or information would be very welcome. Rowan

Hello, I am finding it pretty hard to figure this out as I am not familiar with a several different aspects involved. Basically I want to build a budget pc for a HTPC and for some light gaming. I was thinking the Ryzen 3 1200 sounded good at just over 100 euro (I am in Ireland which makes things a little more expensive) Then a B350 micro atx board such as GIGABYTE GA-AB350M which is just under 100 euro. Or a micro ITX mb like Biostar AMD Motherboard X370 AM4, this mentions it has Intel Virtualization Technology: VT-d, VT-x, it also costs almost twice as much. Low profile 1050 gfx I have some old 1TB WD blue and green drives, an ssd and I think i can get some free ram off someone. So what I would like to know is, Can I use the Ryzen 3 with either the B350 or X370 boards for unraid with a Windows virtualisation or is another cpu/board needed? Can I use the hard drives I have or are the likes of WD Reds needed? Is this a good idea in general or is it likely to lead to regular problems, I want something that works.. Any suggestions for the smallest and most sitting room friendly case capable of holding several drives and ideally a blue ray drive, I am looking at cube cases like the bitphonix phenom & node 804 cases but if there was something with a bit less space that is still very modular and could hold 4+ 3.5" drives, a slim bluray drive (ideally) and a 1050.. Any help or general suggestions appreciated as I am a bit out of my depth. Rowan