so after facing some issues with my current build, where cpu is overheating — maybe even fried — and motherboard with pci-e recognitions issue, guessing due to shipping it abroad. i decided to go for an upgrade as a fix and use unraid as basis for a workstation (hackintosh) and gaming machine (windows) vms.

this is the current build here in which is going to be built upon and the main parts (cpu, mb, rams) swapped. and here is the build with the wanted/new cpu and rams but without a motherboard which i'm facing problems picking that will be stated below.

 

the idea here to upgrade mainly for vms simultaneous usage, and to insure kvm compatibility all around. the build will be in my sibling's room used daily for gaming and connected to the monitor listed above via windows vm through unraid. the other vm, a hackintosh, will be used in another room, mirrored through airplay to apple tv for workstation purposes, using apple wireless products (mouse/touch/keyboard). keeping in mind, i have another main unraid server working perfectly, and used only as network storage, as it is not powerful enough/old for vms.

 

okay, here is the problem, as you can see from the list above, the case used currently is corsair's air 240 micro-atx, and the current gtx 970s positioned correctly into the case expansion slots, see the attached pictures, and both sits perfectly on maximus vii gene with barely any space in between. so, picking a new board is a nightmare. as both cards are needed to passthrough two separate vms onto. for instance, choosing asus' tuf b450m will not work on this case, as the two pci-e slots are agape, thus creating seating incompatibilities on both sides of the case, back and bottom.

 

 

would really appreciate any inputs, ideas, or suggestions for compatible parts, especially for a hackintosh kvm, keeping in mind a budget around $500. order should be placed in couple of days.

cheers.

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by iilied

Get a bigger case? You can't beat physics.

4 hours ago, testdasi said:

Get a bigger case? You can't beat physics.

alright, that's done. assuming i buy an x470 board, any known passthrough issues with unraid i should keep an eye on? any recommendations regardless of the budget mentioned?

2 minutes ago, iilied said:

alright, that's done. assuming i buy an x470 board, any known passthrough issues with unraid i should keep an eye on? any recommendations regardless of the budget mentioned?

You can have a short list of a few models and search the forum for build reports, issues etc. That's the best way to do it due to the number of models out there.