SKYLAKE z170 build -> Sucess! (almost...) -->> NOW 100% :D


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Hi!

 

I've decided to mount a AIO machine, to serve as a nas, work desktop and gaming machine. I have some background in virtualization (mostly ESXi and also Hyper-V).

 

 

Setup:

- Asus z170 gaming pro (bios 1805)

- Intel i5-6600k @ stock

- 16 gb ddr4-2400 @ 2666

- msi gtx970 gaming 4g

- Asus hd6670 1gb

- 2x Samsung 850evo 250gb

- 3x Seagate 3tb (stm3000dm001)

- corsair rm750x

- kingston datatraveler g4 (16gb usb3.0)

 

 

I'm running unraid 6.2.0.beta23. The array is configured like this:

 

cache: 2x evo850 in raid1

data:  2x 3tb in array, 1x 3tb as parity

 

I configured 2 vms this way:

 

VM1 (work):

- Seabios (no hyper-v); i440fx 2.5;

- vcpu 0 and 3;

- hd6670 (passthrough) -> connected to hp 23xi

- realtek 1150 - onboard sound (passthrough) -> connected to logitech z2300

- microsoft 3000 wireless keyboard + mouse (usb assigned device)

- 4g ram ; vdisk 50gb

- lg bd/dvd optical drive (had to edit manually the xml file to assign it)

 

VM2 (gaming):

- OVMF bios (no hyper-v); q35 2.5;

- vcpu 1,2 and 3

- gtx970 (passthrough) -> connected to lg 32"

- asmedia 1142 - usb3.1 controller (passthrough)

- logitech g25 -> connected to usb3.1 a-port

- labtec ultranova keyboard + a4tech mouse (usb assigned devices)

 

 

Drawbacks:

 

- I've lost some FPS in the gaming machine: I play almost racing simulators (project cars, dirt, assetto) and 3 vcpus isn't enough to more than 10/12 AI cars;

- vdisk performance is also slower than "native os" mode; still very doable as I'm the only user, because I'm on one vm or on the other, not the two at the same time;

- I had to pass the usb3.1 controller, as the G25 wouldn't install as an usb assigned device (logitech drivers didn't recognize it);

- sometimes the gaming vm, after boot up, doesn't recognize the gtx970 hdmi sound or the mouse;

- besides that, I had to config the vm as q35 else the sound would "stutter" a lot, right on the beginning of any sound;

- sometimes the gaming vm sound is working fine for several hours and then, with no apparent reason, it starts to "stutter" a lot;

- the work vm is configured as seabios, else hd6670 would not show image (UEFI non-compliant);

- when I reset the server (unraid), I have to plug a video cable to hd530 (cpu internal gpu) and poweron the correspondent monitor, to boot up correctly; else unraid think that gtx970 (1st slot) is the main gpu, although I have "VGA: PCI first" in board bios;

 

 

Thoughts / to-do:

 

- I think that the 6600k is not enough powerful for this; 3 cpus isn't enough to games with many AI; I'm going to overclock a bit to help;

- I have to test a pci-ex soundcard in the gaming vm or redirect the onboard sound, to see if it resolves the "stutter" problem;

- The work vm is at 100%; no flaws or any drawback, including the sound; I read somewhere the z170 onboard sound was a problem in this setup, but in my config is working flawlessly.

- Have to test another mouse on the gaming vm, to see if it resolves the boot-up problem;

- I would like to test a M.2 ssd to see if there is visible improvement in the vm's performance;

- I'm starting to config the docker (plex, open vpn, etc); maybe 16gb ram isn't that much...

 

System photo:

https://8p1o7w.s.cld.pt

 

 

Questions?  8)

 

Bye!

 

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Hi again!  :D

 

Racing simulators love CPU. I wouldn't attach any less than 4vCPU

 

Very nice AIO machine!

 

Yes indeed, I've noted an increase of performance from my last computer (a Q9550 @3.4ghz, ddr3-1600). But never thought that all 4 cores are needed for these simulators, with the ipc improvements and so. Additionaly, the virtualization layer puts some overhead on the cpu.

I chose this system by the specs and price of course.

 

 

You need more RAM. UnRAID uses RAM as cache to so overall responsiveness should improve to a certain extent.

 

And dont overclock. NAS and oveclocking tend to end in tears.

 

When I began the testing, I used 32gb. Then I opted for 16gb, but now with docker and maybe other applications I plan to install, 16gb is not future proof.

About overclock, you're right. It takes alot to overclock a system and put it 100% stable. This cpu boosts to 3.9ghz, I'm thinking in the 4.2ghz territory, as above that it starts to consume alot.

 

Thoughts / to-do:

 

- about the sound "stutter" problem, I realize that oftens occurs when I'm using the shares; yesterday I was copying like 300-400gb from an external pc to one share and the sound had some "spikes"; the vm was streaming tv online: maybe there's a problem with QoS and the i-219v codec on linux. today, instead of passing through a sound card, I'm gonna passthrough a network card and connect it "directly" to the internet. this sound problem is the last one that I've to resolve.

- building a setup based on Skylake it's not easy: the main problem is with iommu groups; although I'm using PCI ACS override, you have to choose carefully the slot where to install a specific card; in my installation it went right but I had to test different ways. It remembers me the (good!) old days of isa/pci, with the irq confusion and so... :)

 

 

Bye!

 

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About overclock, you're right. It takes alot to overclock a system and put it 100% stable. This cpu boosts to 3.9ghz, I'm thinking in the 4.2ghz territory, as above that it starts to consume alot.

 

 

My I5-6600K is over clocked to 4.2ghz on air, but then again it's also in a gaming PC. I'm just not sure unRAID is the right platform for overclocking.

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Hi!

 

My I5-6600K is over clocked to 4.2ghz on air, but then again it's also in a gaming PC. I'm just not sure unRAID is the right platform for overclocking.

 

In my opinion there isn't "the right" plataform for overclock. It implies risks of course and it takes alot of testing to prove that is stable. The advantage of the "K" processors is that you only overclock the frequency, not the other problematic buses like dmi, etc. Still I agree that the more proof solution is not to overclock.

 

Thoughts / to-do:

 

- about the sound "stutter" problem, I realize that oftens occurs when I'm using the shares; yesterday I was copying like 300-400gb from an external pc to one share and the sound had some "spikes"; the vm was streaming tv online: maybe there's a problem with QoS and the i-219v codec on linux. today, instead of passing through a sound card, I'm gonna passthrough a network card and connect it "directly" to the internet. this sound problem is the last one that I've to resolve.

 

I installed a realtek network card and passthrough it to the gaming vm, and now the meogo software (a proper software for tv streaming in portugal) takes alot longer till the stutter in the sound begins again. (using hdmi for sound). Gonna test the onboard sound now. Would love to test a X99 plataform as it seems that it works better than Z170.

 

 

Bye!

 

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Hi!

 

Given your issues with stuttering on your gaming VM, are you going through HDMI on that 970? There were reported issues on sound across the HDMI port for Nvidia cards, stuttering and the like. See if this applies: https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual_6#Enable_MSI_for_Interrupts_to_Fix_HDMI_Audio_Support

Yes, try the MSI interrupts fix for your PCI devices. It has worked for me in the past.

 

Thank you for bringing it up, as I forgot to say that I already tested that. Unfortunately, I wasn't succesful, as although the device is MSI capable (it shows a "-" sign and positive irq), it doens't switch to "+" and negative irq when I apply the tweak in the registry. I'm gonna test it in the other vm (work) as I'm using hdmi sound now too, for testing purposes.

 

 

Bye!

 

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Hi!

 

I'm stopping by just to say that I've made it, the game vm is working correctly now! :)

I configured a new vm, with i440fx specs (instead of q35 that I've used, as it almost corrected the sound stutter problem) and now the MSI tweak did work! I'me using the meogo software (streaming tv online) and now the application works flawlessly. No hiccups, no breaks, everything alright!

 

Final thoughts / to-do:

 

- I still considerar that a 4-core cpu is a "bit short" for an unraid system, if you intend to config 2 vm's to work/game; used a skylake setup, as it is the cpu with better ipc and consumption;

- 16gb ram is the bare minimum; 24gb at least (for tri-channel) ou 32gb (for dual/quad channel) for optimum performance;

- 6 sata ports is the normal setup for most motherboards, but if you have (like me) 2x ssd's, 3x hdd's and 1 optical, you have 6 drives; try to use a motherboard with 8 ports, or use an add-in raidcard;

- going to switch my chassis: now I'm using a zalman z3 plus but gonna put the hardware on a hummer tx, as this zalman is too tight, the hardware can't breathe (as seen in the photo in the first post).

 

 

Bye!

 

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Hi!

 

I'm stopping by just to say that I've made it, the game vm is working correctly now! :)

I configured a new vm, with i440fx specs (instead of q35 that I've used, as it almost corrected the sound stutter problem) and now the MSI tweak did work! I'me using the meogo software (streaming tv online) and now the application works flawlessly. No hiccups, no breaks, everything alright!

 

Final thoughts / to-do:

 

- I still considerar that a 4-core cpu is a "bit short" for an unraid system, if you intend to config 2 vm's to work/game; used a skylake setup, as it is the cpu with better ipc and consumption;

- 16gb ram is the bare minimum; 24gb at least (for tri-channel) ou 32gb (for dual/quad channel) for optimum performance;

- 6 sata ports is the normal setup for most motherboards, but if you have (like me) 2x ssd's, 3x hdd's and 1 optical, you have 6 drives; try to use a motherboard with 8 ports, or use an add-in raidcard;

- going to switch my chassis: now I'm using a zalman z3 plus but gonna put the hardware on a hummer tx, as this zalman is too tight, the hardware can't breathe (as seen in the photo in the first post).

 

 

Bye!

 

Oh yes, i440fx a definite must! I missed that minor spec in your original post!

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Hi!

 

You should enable hyperv on your vms you should get better performance. (Since 6.2 beta it is possible to use hyper v with nvidea unlike before.)

Have a read of this post if you havent already  it may help you with performance.  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=49051.0

 

Thank you! Yes, I did already read that post, as I was thinking on buying a X99 platform. Your setup got my attention as you have a 14c/28t cpu :)

This is the final process, to isolate the 3 vcpus (1-3).

About the hyper-v there are some concerns; the webgui shows a tooltip telling that it's safer not to use this with nvidia gpus. Have to test it.

 

 

Oh yes, i440fx a definite must! I missed that minor spec in your original post!

 

In the beginning I discovered that enabling q35 instead i440fx, the sound stutter almost disappeared. Now with the MSI tweak the problem is totally gone.

 

(Still) To-do:

 

- isolate vcpus 1 to 3 and test if there are any gains in vm's (specially the gaming one);

- enable hyper-v in gaming vm, and test if there is any increase in game fps;

- last but not the least, mount the setup in the hummer tx and share the photo :)

 

 

Bye!

 

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About the hyper-v there are some concerns; the webgui shows a tooltip telling that it's safer not to use this with nvidia gpus. Have to test it.

 

Yes the tooltip says not to use hyperv if you use nvidea, but that is left over from pre 6.2 days.

I guess limetech have overlooked changing the tool tip on the beta and rc.

 

webGui:

- vm manager: usb3 controller support, improved usb device sorting and display
- vm manager: integrated virtio driver iso downloader

- vm manager: support nvidia with hyper-v for windows guests

- vm manager: added auto option for vdisk location
- misc other improvements and bug fixes

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

 

Hi all!

 

As I posted in the "6.2 stable" thread, I lost the ability to passthrough the  z170 onboard sound. Lately, I was using the 6.2rc2 and it worked flawlessly. With the update, the vm refused to boot, and I had to tick off the sound.

It's such a shame, as it is a great server, where I can work, game and have background services, as plex, nas, etc.

 

To mantain the funcionality, now I have to add a pci-ex soundcard and passthrough it.

 

Cheers.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Hi again!

 

After contacting the limetech support I received this hint:

 

"Please try adding this to your syslinux "append" line (its in the syslinux.cfg file under the syslinux folder on your flash device);

 

modprobe.blacklist=i2c_i801,i2c_smbus

 

You'll need to reboot after adding that and let us know if that works."

 

It worked indeed and now I have the vm passingthrough the sound again! Of course those 2 modules are not loaded, but I don't know what are the consequences.

Still the machine is working rock solid.

 

So by now, I'm using 6.2.1 and everything is working correctly.

 

Cheers!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am looking to set up something similar to what you have in terms of a NAS/Gaming Machine AIO.

 

How has performance been for you in gaming? I can't decide between getting a 4 core CPU or a 6/8 core CPU. Obviously the price is much larger for a 6/8 core CPU but is the increase in performance worth it. How have you found it with your set up?

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've been trying to figure this out for quite some time --- sound has been relegated to a pass-through USB headphone. This workaround work successfully for me.

 

My Specs:

Unraid Version: 6.2.4

M/B: MSI - Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977)

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz

Memory: 32 GB

Video: NVIDIA GTX 1070

Capacity: 30TB

 

Haven't put it to the full test as yet, but for what I've done so far it's working very well.

 

 

Chris.

 

 

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I'm planning a somewhat similar build, and I really need audio to work at a low latency (MIDI instrument playing). Here's the parts list so far. I plan to pass through one of the M2 SSDs, the discrete GPU, and the USB sound card to the Win10 VM for optimal audio and gaming performance.

 

There's a 2-SSD cache pool, and one of the 6TB drives meant for parity. Also, two Ethernet ports for network bonding.

 

I'm second guessing Skylake now that I've seen it's not fully supported by Unraid (passthrough issues), and the dual Xeon E5-2670 approach seems compelling in terms of price/performance, but I haven't yet found a mobo with the number of M-2 and SATA ports I want. Arg, decisions, decisions...

 

Feedback from people using these components is welcome.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($336.88 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Red 53.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($334.97 @ Jet)

Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($314.99 @ Jet)

Storage: Intel 600p Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($155.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Intel 600p Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($155.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Xtreme Gaming Video Card  ($282.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($159.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($158.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Wired Laser Mouse  ($67.43 @ Amazon)

Other: SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 32GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-032G-B35  ($18.39 @ Amazon)

Other: Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First  ($249.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)

Total: $3209.50

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-09 13:39 EST-0500

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  • 2 months later...

"Please try adding this to your syslinux "append" line (its in the syslinux.cfg file under the syslinux folder on your flash device);

 

modprobe.blacklist=i2c_i801,i2c_smbus

 

Sorry for the thread necro - but this worked for me! I am running a Skylake Z170 and now I have passthrough of my on-board audio working perfectly. I was relying on HDMI audio via the GTX 1070 (into my monitor, then out via the headphone jack) - but that occasionally went all slow-mo and garbled.

 

I had ACS enabled, but after adding serguey's code from above, removing ACS and rebooting - all good. The one thing I am wondering is, what am I missing out on?

 

IOMMU group 0
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Skylake Host Bridge/DRAM Registers [8086:191f] (rev 07)
IOMMU group 1
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Skylake PCIe Controller (x16) [8086:1901] (rev 07)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 [GeForce GTX 1070] [10de:1b81] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:10f0] (rev a1)
IOMMU group 2
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 530 [8086:1912] (rev 06)
IOMMU group 3
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller [8086:a12f] (rev 31)
00:14.2 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H Thermal subsystem [8086:a131] (rev 31)
IOMMU group 4
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H CSME HECI #1 [8086:a13a] (rev 31)
IOMMU group 5
00:17.0 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SATA controller [AHCI mode] [8086:a102] (rev 31)
IOMMU group 6
00:1b.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Root Port #17 [8086:a167] (rev f1)
IOMMU group 7
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #1 [8086:a110] (rev f1)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #5 [8086:a114] (rev f1)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #6 [8086:a115] (rev f1)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I211 Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1539] (rev 03)
05:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Wireless 8260 [8086:24f3] (rev 3a)
IOMMU group 8
00:1d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #9 [8086:a118] (rev f1)
00:1d.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #13 [8086:a11c] (rev f1)
06:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:f1a5] (rev 03)
IOMMU group 9
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller [8086:a145] (rev 31)
00:1f.2 Memory controller [0580]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PMC [8086:a121] (rev 31)
[b]00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD Audio [8086:a170] (rev 31)[/b]
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SMBus [8086:a123] (rev 31)
IOMMU group 10
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V [8086:15b8] (rev 31)

 

I am running Windows 10, pc-i440fx-2.7, Unraid 6.3.

 

I assume the other 3 things in IOMMU group 9 are now broken.. But I can't see anything obviously detrimental. Thanks Serguey!

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  • 1 year later...

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