intel? or AMD?


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I guess 2nd Gen Threadripper has an excellent $/performance ratio but m.board can be more expensive.

2-4 years old refurbished XEONS may do the job. Decision depends also what HW you want to use along with the VMs and if you have need for passthrough. What do you plan doing in the VMs ?

Edited by unrateable
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  • 2 months later...
On 4/11/2020 at 12:59 AM, joker765 said:

I am going to build a home server, I want to use Unraid to build 3 virtual machines, one windows, one OSX, should I choose Intel CPU or AMD CPU?

Just get the Intel CPU and you will have less headaches. The AMD will require some extra configuration and do not have passthrough for the iGPU.

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Since your primary use case is VMs, you might like to consider the platform (cpu/motherboard combo) that provides the most pcie slots and discrete usb controllers.

 

unless you plan to remote in to all your VMs, you’re likely going to want to be passing through multiple GPUs, USB adapters and possibly other devices. You’ll be running out of pcie slots quite quickly.

 

for ultimate flexibility, choose a motherboard that supports bifurcation.

 

also, before making a final choice, come back here and see if you can find anyone using the specific mb you have chosen. You’ll be interested in how well the system breaks out devices  into discrete IOMMU groupings. This is really important for smooth passthrough and reduced headaches.

 

i have a threadripper 2950x and ASRock Taichai x399 and it is excellent with regard to all of the above. It’s not the only option, of course, but one to consider.

 

i run 2x MacOS workstations and a Win10 system in VMs with gpu/usb passthrough as well as a couple of other ‘headless’ Win10 VMs. 

 

Dont skimp on RAM. I found 64GB to be tight for my needs. I upgraded to 96GB and have much more flexibility.

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On 6/20/2020 at 10:36 AM, meep said:

Since your primary use case is VMs, you might like to consider the platform (cpu/motherboard combo) that provides the most pcie slots and discrete usb controllers.

 

unless you plan to remote in to all your VMs, you’re likely going to want to be passing through multiple GPUs, USB adapters and possibly other devices. You’ll be running out of pcie slots quite quickly.

 

for ultimate flexibility, choose a motherboard that supports bifurcation.

 

also, before making a final choice, come back here and see if you can find anyone using the specific mb you have chosen. You’ll be interested in how well the system breaks out devices  into discrete IOMMU groupings. This is really important for smooth passthrough and reduced headaches.

 

i have a threadripper 2950x and ASRock Taichai x399 and it is excellent with regard to all of the above. It’s not the only option, of course, but one to consider.

 

i run 2x MacOS workstations and a Win10 system in VMs with gpu/usb passthrough as well as a couple of other ‘headless’ Win10 VMs. 

 

Dont skimp on RAM. I found 64GB to be tight for my needs. I upgraded to 96GB and have much more flexibility.

96GB of RAM? What's that you put them VMs through i wonder.

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1 hour ago, Kich902 said:

96GB of RAM? What's that you put them VMs through i wonder.

  • MacOS Catalina 16GB - General Workstation (Photoshop & Illustrator)
  • MacOS Mojave 16GB - General; Workstation (Some FCPX, Some coding, but usually just lots of Apps)
  • Windows 10 Utility 12GB - Home Control incl Blue Iris security 
  • Windows 10 entertainment  16GB - Just Games and Home Theatre

 

With 64GB, i had to pare back RAM on those systems to allow for a stack of Dockers and, of course, space for unRaid to run. the extra 32GB just gives the system room to breath and allows me maximise it.

 

For example, it also allows me spin up additional VMs as testers or trials without disturbing anyone else. The above VMs are in pretty much constant use by one of the family at any given time and announcing I need to shut one or two down for a bit of experimentation would not go down well. There are really no other computer systems in the house - everything is consolidated into my unRaid server so it's something of a workhorse.

 

I've been using Macs since a venerable LCII on OS6.x and always found them to run better with more RAM, particularly for the visual applications, or when using lots of apps simultaneously. For the Windows VM use cases, I find the same.

 

You can never have enough RAM. I'll have it etched on my headstone.

 

 

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11 hours ago, meep said:
  • MacOS Catalina 16GB - General Workstation (Photoshop & Illustrator)
  • MacOS Mojave 16GB - General; Workstation (Some FCPX, Some coding, but usually just lots of Apps)
  • Windows 10 Utility 12GB - Home Control incl Blue Iris security 
  • Windows 10 entertainment  16GB - Just Games and Home Theatre

 

With 64GB, i had to pare back RAM on those systems to allow for a stack of Dockers and, of course, space for unRaid to run. the extra 32GB just gives the system room to breath and allows me maximise it.

 

For example, it also allows me spin up additional VMs as testers or trials without disturbing anyone else. The above VMs are in pretty much constant use by one of the family at any given time and announcing I need to shut one or two down for a bit of experimentation would not go down well. There are really no other computer systems in the house - everything is consolidated into my unRaid server so it's something of a workhorse.

 

I've been using Macs since a venerable LCII on OS6.x and always found them to run better with more RAM, particularly for the visual applications, or when using lots of apps simultaneously. For the Windows VM use cases, I find the same.

 

You can never have enough RAM. I'll have it etched on my headstone.

 

 

Nice and true; u can never have enuff RAM! Could you tell me ur rig specs and the setup of the VMs as used by ur fam' i.e how they connect to them e.g vnc or through dedicated monitors and such.

 

+ kindly check my topic:

i'd like to get ur thots if u don't mind. Thanks

Edited by Kich902
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1 hour ago, Kich902 said:

Nice and true; u can never have enuff RAM! Could you tell me ur rig specs and the setup of the VMs as used by ur fam' i.e how they connect to them e.g vnc or through dedicated monitors and such.

 

 

The 2 MacOs workstations have GPUs and USB Adapters passed through. They are accessed via Displays, Mice & Keyboards located throughout the house. One is connected with HDMI/USB cables, the other using HDBaseT over Cate5e

 

The utility VM is headless, I use Splashtop. For the Gaming/Movies VM, I have a direct connection to my HT receiver, but also use Parsec to stream games to the other VMs.

 

System is a Threadripper 2950X on a Taichi X399. You'll see more details on my blog.

 

I'll have a look at your thread.

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7 hours ago, meep said:

The 2 MacOs workstations have GPUs and USB Adapters passed through. They are accessed via Displays, Mice & Keyboards located throughout the house. One is connected with HDMI/USB cables, the other using HDBaseT over Cate5e

 

The utility VM is headless, I use Splashtop. For the Gaming/Movies VM, I have a direct connection to my HT receiver, but also use Parsec to stream games to the other VMs.

 

System is a Threadripper 2950X on a Taichi X399. You'll see more details on my blog.

 

I'll have a look at your thread.

Saw your blog; quite excellent it is. Was hoping to see ur completed "Rig" if that's the word to use😃 esp' to do with the bifurcation adapters you spoke of. i'm now quite interested in it, seems like something i'll do later when i can and when the need arises.

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18 minutes ago, Kich902 said:

Saw your blog; quite excellent it is. Was hoping to see ur completed "Rig" if that's the word to use😃 esp' to do with the bifurcation adapters you spoke of. i'm now quite interested in it, seems like something i'll do later when i can and when the need arises.

Thanks for the kind words. Do click on some of the sponsors there - it all helps!

 

I have a few final tweaks to make to my setup and then I’ll do a detailed write up or maybe a video. stay tuned! Though it’s never actually completed. There’s always something new to try out.

 

You need to ensure your MB supports bifurcation. Not all do.

Edited by meep
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3 hours ago, meep said:

Thanks for the kind words. Do click on some of the sponsors there - it all helps!

 

I have a few final tweaks to make to my setup and then I’ll do a detailed write up or maybe a video. stay tuned! Though it’s never actually completed. There’s always something new to try out.

 

You need to ensure your MB supports bifurcation. Not all do.

For now i don't need the bifurcation coz my plan is to pass 2 GPUs only and i believe the motherboard supports that-i believe. For AMD https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-X570-GAMING-PLUS while for Intel https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-Z390-A/

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