TR2 2950x Build - Upgrade Path?


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Hi there,

 

So my Intel 2700K system from years ago running unRaid finally died (MB failure). I'm looking to migrate to a new build. I've searched here quite a bit but have some questions:

 

  1. Despite a fundamental change in underlying hardware, I should be able to migrate my drives without a problem? Just need to assign them to the same SATA ports etc, correct? Any tips from other who have gone through this?
  2. GPU Passthrough seems a bit hit and miss? I am getting into video editing using Davinci Resolve, so access to an NVidia card would be great. Currently I am gravitating towards an ASRock X399 Taichi MB, with the 2950X - not sure which GPU though. 1080Ti? I think I also need to throw in some cheaper card for unRaid video, correct? System will be on 24/7 so stability is important.
  3. RAM Recommendations? Thinking 32GB - 3200 something....Trident Z?

 

Priority is preserving the old array data (I'll upgrade the drives later; add more).

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Xav.

 

 

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1) yes you can play musical hardware.  As of 6.x when you pop the usb stick in the new mobo, it will auto find and setup the array.  It memorizes the serials of the drives and the drive order.  I would take a screen grab just incase, but i have shoved my array into several completely different systems without a problem.

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Yeah. I would certainly go for no less then 32GB of ram on a TR Unraid system. So many Cores. Not enough ram for them all. The thing is unleashed on unraid. The possibilities are seemingly endless.  But only if you have the ram for all of it. Honestly i have a 1950x with 32GB.  And badly want more ram just for the cores i've got. Also dont use slow stuff. Its gotta be fast both TR, And Ryzen in general need good ram. And of course you want a 1080ti, The question is do you want a second one? multiple VMs with dedicated GPUs allows for some very interesting configurations. Especially if your a developer. Unraid and TR is power exponentiated =P. Thats a word right? But dont forget the ram..

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21 hours ago, nightanole said:

1) yes you can play musical hardware.  As of 6.x when you pop the usb stick in the new mobo, it will auto find and setup the array.  It memorizes the serials of the drives and the drive order.  I would take a screen grab just incase, but i have shoved my array into several completely different systems without a problem.

Thank you - that's handy to know. It seems logical that they would make it that way - but just wanted to check there's no risk of it wiping the drives in some reformat operation. Now, just need to pick new hardware!

21 hours ago, Tybio said:

3) For AMD systems, if you want to use fast ram (and you do on TR) then I'd recommend going with the ram that's on the MB vendors QVL, Though that can be a tall order, I admit.

Yes, I was thinking of going off such a list: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/X399 Taichi/index.us.asp#Memory

19 hours ago, metathias said:

Yeah. I would certainly go for no less then 32GB of ram on a TR Unraid system. So many Cores. Not enough ram for them all. The thing is unleashed on unraid. The possibilities are seemingly endless.  But only if you have the ram for all of it. Honestly i have a 1950x with 32GB.  And badly want more ram just for the cores i've got. Also dont use slow stuff. Its gotta be fast both TR, And Ryzen in general need good ram. And of course you want a 1080ti, The question is do you want a second one? multiple VMs with dedicated GPUs allows for some very interesting configurations. Especially if your a developer. Unraid and TR is power exponentiated =P. Thats a word right? But dont forget the ram..

My old system only had 8GB - which was enough for the odd docker, running Plex (just streaming SD content; backups of DVDs) and occasionally running a Win10 VM.

 

Now, with a view to editing UHD video getting much more memory is on the cards. I'm thinking quantity over raw speed though, perhaps somewhere in the middle. Most MB/CPU reviews seem to use 3200Mhz RAM for benchmarking systems. Main factor in making a decision will be budget though - RAM is so much more expensive than when I got my last system! ;)

 

Based on the list above, the GSkill F4-3200C14D-16GFX (2x8GB) kit seems affordable - 2x of those works out at about $660 AUD. Also leaves a few slots to double that later when RAM becomes a bit more affordable. Thoughts?

 

As for multiple GPUs, I think a single 1080Ti is more than enough for video editing. However, I will need a cheaper one for unRaid itself. Not sure what to get for that. Main criteria is that it is compatible I guess. Ideally, I'd like to continue to use unRaid headless (I just SSHed in or used the web interface). I can add another 1080Ti later I suppose.

 

Cheers,


Xav.

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I've seen several people mention needing a second card for unraid. Thats not been my experience. I have 2 cards, And 2 VMs utilizing 1 dedicated GPU a piece. Unraid runs headless just fine in my experience. And i can easily log into my unraid with my cellphone or another browser capable device when i gotta bring everything down for adjustments, config, etc.

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4 minutes ago, metathias said:

I've seen several people mention needing a second card for unraid. Thats not been my experience. I have 2 cards, And 2 VMs utilizing 1 dedicated GPU a piece. Unraid runs headless just fine in my experience. And i can easily log into my unraid with my cellphone or another browser capable device when i gotta bring everything down for adjustments, config, etc.

Hmmm, okay - does your MB have an in-built GPU? The Taichi doesn't, so assume you need one to boot the system. Need a monitor to at least configure BIOS etc. In your case, I assume your "primary" card shows POST messages etc on boot? What happens when a VM "takes over"? Does it switch outputs? My old MB didn't have support for native hardware passthrough, so this is all new to me; sorry if it seems an obvious question...

 

Xav.

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Im running the Asus x399 Strix board with a pair of 1080ti, 32GB of 3200+mhz ram (cant quite remember the exact stuff *And CPU-Z is useless in a VM =l * a 40TB array of platters a couple terabytes of cache for the 2nd VMs vdisk, and Unraid use. And a dedicated NVMe 960 1TB evo pro for my primary workstation VM.

 

 

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Nice build! Must have cost a bit, or built up over time? Curious too - what do you use the 2 VM/GPU combos for? 40TB of storage is something I'll probably get to soon - 4K video takes up a bit. My old array is a hodge-podge of old drives totalling....wait for it....4TB! Haha :)

 

Do you use any HBA cards for the array, or all connected via SATA?

 

My build is getting expensive! Tossing up MB/CPU combo now. The 1920X is only $649 AUD versus $1249 for the 1950x and $1415 for the 2950x. The MSI X399 SLI Plus MB is $389 versus $500ish for the Taichi - main difference being WiFi AC, which I can live without. Hmmmm, decisions, decisions...

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No storage AIBs at the moment.  Just the built-in sata, And m.2. With one m.2 remaining.  As for the expense. To be honest man you can get a whole bunch of good hardware on ebay right now if your willing to buy second hand. Im seeing 1950x go for half price on ebay. I think alot of people buy TR not knowing how to utilize it, and dump em preferring to go with higher clocked intel chips. Which is a waste of an amazing chip IMO. Once more developers begin to realize the value they have on their hands with these very high core count chips. They will start to get the respect they deserve. Being able to dedicate a portion of your chip to running a hackintosh VM, or linux environments for debugging, and testing is incredible.  Talk about being able to play with things only the cloud providers have been able to toy with until now.

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On 11/8/2018 at 6:16 PM, Tybio said:

MB vendors QVL, Though that can be a tall order, I admit.

I've found Kingston HyperX modules to be a great default product to start with, if you have no others. 

 

 

On 11/7/2018 at 5:37 AM, xavierda said:

Currently I am gravitating towards an ASRock X399 Taichi MB

I've heard good things about that board over all. If you want an alternative motherboard, a few community members and myself are using ASUS PRIME X399-A.  I've been very satisfied with my motherboard's performance.

 

 

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On 11/10/2018 at 3:42 PM, metathias said:

As for the expense. To be honest man you can get a whole bunch of good hardware on ebay right now if your willing to buy second hand. Im seeing 1950x go for half price on ebay. 

Yes, I did look at eBay too - for Australia, local deals don't match up to other markets, with most Ryzen stuff on offer pretty much pegged at retail prices. Yes, I can get one shipped in and probably save but I prefer to purchase closer to home; makes warranty claims easier and less time consuming too!

On 11/10/2018 at 5:32 PM, Jcloud said:

I've found Kingston HyperX modules to be a great default product to start with, if you have no others. 

 

I've heard good things about that board over all. If you want an alternative motherboard, a few community members and myself are using ASUS PRIME X399-A.  I've been very satisfied with my motherboard's performance.

Thanks for the recommendations - The Hyper X modules seem to be a bit cheaper.

 

Also, looks like 1080Ti cards are almost gone. Might put that on the back burner, until issues with the 2080 cards are sorted out. Besides, I need to purchase Davinci Resolve to be able to make use of it for encoding. Also, thinking the MSI X399 SLI Plus is a better option?

 

So, so far I have:

  • CPU - Ryzen TR 2950X
  • MB - MSI X399 SLI Plus
  • Cooler - Cryorig R1 (with TR4 adaptor) - sufficient for this CPU?
  • 32GB RAM (~3200Mhz, brand TBD)
  • GPU - Something cheap and cheerful (2080 future purchase)
  • HDDs - Recycled from previous build
  • SSD - Recycled from previous build
  • PSU - Corsair HX650 (650W) - Recycled from previous build. Will upgrade later if I get more drives/beefy GPU - should be ample for now)
  • Case - Fractal Design Refine R6 - Not massive; good expansion options with room to grow.

Think that should about do it...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alrighty,

 

Should have new ordered parts arriving tomorrow. After a bit of consideration, I am holding off on the GPU - instead throwing in an old (hopefully working!) Radeon 5870 I never really used just to get unRaid up and running again, and transfer my old array drives. If that goes well, I'll then progress the GPU option a new (Lots of info out there on Davinci Resolve; still processing...)

 

Only change from above components was to opt for an AIO Fractal S36 cooler. Might give a bit of room in case I upgrade the CPU to say a 2990WX or whatever later down the line.

 

Looking forward to putting this altogether - first new build in ages for me!

 

Cheers,

 

Xav.

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  • 1 month later...

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