South posted:

This should have all the connectors needed for the new 4080s that are coming out right? I'm looking at selling my 3080ti and 850W power supply to my brother in-law when the new EVGA cards drop.

Rexxed posted:

I'm not sure about the exact requirements for that software but for my VM boxes I prioritize number of CPU cores and RAM. Storage space is less important because you can get away with small OS installs as long as your software isn't huge. Kubernetes isn't quite like VMs but if you're running multiple instances of chromium then I think core count will still help. I always found that older server hardware was the cheapest way to get a bunch of cores was the easiest way to do this but I built mine in 2016 using xeons from 2011 that were a dirt cheap way to get 12 cores and 48GB of RAM.

So, I'd consider if you want to build a new system. If so, the higher core count CPUs will be useful but there's a big price increase on Threadripper/epyc/xeon stuff if you buy it new. Avoiding that would leave you looking at consumer stuff if you want to go that way. For Intel, their current CPUs have 8 performance cores at the high end in that space with the i7-12700K ($400) or i9-12900K ($600). There's also the 10th gen i9-10900K which had 10 cores and isn't a slouch but is a couple of years old and lacks efficiency cores. It will be harder to find motherboards but not impossible since it hasn't been that long, and they're still on sale for around $400. AMD has the 12 core 5900X ($360) and 16 core 5950X ($500). If your workload can use the efficiency cores in the Intel chips they may be worth consideration since they also have an internal GPU while AMD does not. Then, you're just looking at motherboards that can handle the power delivery and RAM needed.

I'd also consider looking at high core count server stuff that's 3+ years old and being cycled out of datacenters or businesses as an option, too. Workloads like you're suggesting don't often need high clock speeds so much as many cores since they're each just using a single thread or two but they're all going at once. Here's a quick example of a workstation tower which has a 16 core xeon from 2016 and 64GB of RAM on ebay for about $400 for the whole thing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234612708754?hash=item36a001d592:g:s-AAAOSwvXBiRh3Y

It's even got disks although you may want to just get one big SSD and pull the drives it comes with. One thing to note is that some of these systems have proprietary power supplies or motherboards so you're often locked into what comes from the manufacturer to some degree. There are usually a lot of aftermarket parts available online, however. When shopping for older server stuff I find the Xeon naming schemes kind of impenetrable so the best trick is just to google the CPU and look at the Intel ARK page for it. That will show the release year, number of cores, speed, chipset, etc. For the above HP workstation the Xeon is this one:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/91766/intel-xeon-processor-e52683-v4-40m-cache-2-10-ghz/specifications.html
You can see that it's not super fast at 3ghz boost clock but it's got 16 cores in a single chip and in 2016 doing that with 120 Watts of thermal design power output required lower clock speeds.

So in your situation I'd start thinking about those options. On one hand you can go for newer stuff that will be faster but more costly. On the other if you're just doing this to make money then it's often better just to go with something that's sufficient and not too expensive like older enterprise hardware that will get the job done and pay for itself more quickly. I lean towards the latter myself since running VMs paid for the hardware many times over (they were on ad playing sites that paid a couple of bucks a day), but our situations aren't exactly the same so I'm not sure how comparable they are.

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

Prices for SSDs and memory are dropping like a rock.

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

32GB of DDR5-5600 CL32 (Samsung or Hynix, maybe hynix with that CL?) + 2TB Gen 4 NVMe for $260: https://www.newegg.com/team-32gb/p/N82E16820331848?quicklink=true

Actually a better value than buying DDR4 + 2TB of SSD separately. Prices for SSDs and memory are dropping like a rock.

Rinkles posted:

I was surprised by how big the Lancool II was, the III must be humongous.

Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but I always run my front fans below 50%. I never felt the need to have them spinning very fast.

School Nickname posted:

My brother wants to experiment in Blender and other production programs for work-related purposes, but is notoriously cheap and won't spring for parts. I've agreed to provide him with my old r5 2600 + GTX 1060 6GB and a nvme ssd. If he is still interested in Blender and needs better parts he'll upgrade with a better AM4 CPU + GPU as necessary. So all he needs to splash out on now is a good motherboard, psu and lots of good ram. If it doesn't work out at least he has escaped his 10 year old 2500k build for gaming.

-Is a b550 board worth it in this case vs a cheaper b450, for someone who might go all the way to a 5900x (5700x to be realistic)?
-Will the bios for 5000 series boards cover a Zen+ part like the 2600? This makes things slightly simpler from an upgrade perspective.
-Recommended PSU wattage?

Rinkles posted:

QLC but a pretty good price for an nvme of this size and speed

Crucial 4TB P3 NVMe gen 3, $290

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1710647-REG/crucial_ct4000p3ssd8_4tb_p3_nvme_pcie.html

Rinkles posted:

I was surprised by how big the Lancool II was, the III must be humongous.

Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but I always run my front fans below 50%. I never felt the need to have them spinning very fast.

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

Rinkles posted:

Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but I always run my front fans below 50%.

spunkshui posted:

This is why I love GPU temp controlled case fans.

spunkshui posted:

This is why I love GPU temp controlled case fans.

teagone posted:

How do you set case fan curves based on GPU temps? I would like to do that.

CoolCab posted:

i don't see the point in small form factor other than the like, what are basically a netbook on a VESA mount at least that will legitimately reduce desk clutter. silliest thing in the world to chase for performance imo like just buy a laptop ffs lol.

Pilfered Pallbearers posted:

Dependent on your fan control software or MB BIOS.

teagone posted:

How do you set case fan curves based on GPU temps? I would like to do that.

CoolCab posted:

i don't see the point in small form factor

CoolCab posted:

just buy a laptop

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

SFF PCs will absolutely outperform laptops dollar for dollar, and lots of people have smaller space requirements and still want performance.

teagone posted:

Which fan control software allows auxilary fan curves set to GPU temps? My mainboard BIOS pulls temp info from CPU and some other source, but no GPU

denereal visease posted:

thank you very much for making 3 different posts that all say "i'm not into SFF PCs" in under 30 minutes, really great stuff!

CoolCab posted:

you have to understand there is a fairly substantial "price to performance" logic in more or less all of my building, it is more or less impossible to convince me to make a downgrade there purely on aesthetics alone. from that perspective SFF is "hey, what if it did less but don't worry it also costs more" lol

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

how are you pro laptop then mr cold ironclad price to performance logic? laptop price to performance sucks

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

for SFF cases are a little bit more expensive as are true SFF power supplies but for the normal use case in this thread (play games, poast) you're paying the same amount for CPU, cooling, RAM, GPU, storage, etc. Just pricing out a fairly normal 5600X/3070ti build, you pay about $150 premium for SFF vs an ATX build on a $1300 base cost. It's not nothing but it's not a huge amount of money to spend, and to get similar performance in a laptop is basically impossible.

denereal visease posted:

laptop gaming loving sucks

CaptainSarcastic posted:

PC Building Megathread: Are you sure you want ITX?

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

yes i too agree that at the ultra extreme end of SFF that it has transformed entirely in to a odd minmax hobby rather than an attempt to actually build anything useful and cost effective, but nobody in this thread is doing that

you seem to think that people should be willing to pay a premium for capabilities (regardless if they are interested in them! I don't care about portability, why should I then buy a laptop? I don't care about having a home server, why should I care about cramming drives in to my PC?) but footprint is not a capability that anyone should pay a premium for, unless it's at the margins where you want to have a laptop. weird poo poo dude.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

PC Building Megathread: Are you sure you want ITX?

njsykora posted:

Also I was looking at prices because I'm planning a full rebuild when new stuff comes out so I can make this PC a server and DDR5 prices in the UK seem to be dropping quick, you can already get 16gb of it for under £100.