Well, build log, profession advancement... The works I guess!! :) Complete and Total Overkill part 3!!

[lexluthermiester]

But as I believe I was running out of space in that post, we'll progress to post 2

In the morning after a night's sleep, after I'd finished having some help make pancakes for breakfast with the help of "Little Chef"

View attachment 216124

I was just going over the system to tidy up some cables and as there was a few places where fans weren't, I decided to get that finished off properly.... well, as good as I could A few more pics....

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I was trying to wire and hold the cables where they'd be least seen and boy was that not such fun but I think it went pretty well The case was also in pretty great condition to be honest, no really issues apart from a good clean was needed before we started putting the hardware in there... It was also surprising that it came with 5 Corsair fans which seemed pretty decent as well. Bonus!!
I had a message about 130pm ish last Sunday to say that he was free and so if its possible we'd get it taken over, so the last few complete shots of the setup....

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And so it's little journey in the car over to Jake's place where it met his brother from another mother

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I'm glad we found it and grabbed it, I think the build and setups for him will be out of this world in comparison so I'm really glad he'll be able to enjoy them both

Going back to the above post about why I fell this is sad is that he's already said since the lack of kidney about, the fact if you get one, he was saying there's a chance of cancer afterwards and well, we all know how the rest of it.... But he said he was leaving all of his PC stuff and films to me whenever anything happened to me..
I was utterly blown away with it since I'd rather just have my friend here than a bunch of stuff but at least I'd be able to remember him and think back to these builds and little Sophia saying "Jake, Jake!!" It brings and gives good memories which I feel are so important.

I decided if anything does happen, then I'd most likely keep the PCs of his that we've built up together for him and use them as crunchers and folders. I'm still in disbelief of it all now but as I've learnt over the years, make each moment count you can and try not to think bad of anything, always try for a positive

Well this is the positive for me, my mates up to date PC is now done and I hope he's going to be very happy with it I believe he'll be looking at some storage server/NAS soon, so watch this space

To my best mate, I hope you enjoyed watching and helping put this system together and especially laughed at me when I couldn't figure out how to install the AIO easily Jake your one of a kind and I'll always remember ya, especially for your company and time... Best thing ever, not hardware, money or anything like that (Phill what are you saying!!!!!......) but making memories and helping each other out Company for each other is also totally brilliant

Well guys and gals, this has taken me a little longer than I thought but still, glad I got the update done Until next time then I guess??........

I hope I haven't screwed anything up in these two posts, its a little late in the day for lots of text and things making sense!!

Love that case! Beautiful build. Liking the white more and I would personally throw in some red LED lighting. Fans + LED strips, maybe just fans if the light get a little OP... Oh yeah.

 

[phill]

Love that case! Beautiful build. Liking the white more and I would personally throw in some red LED lighting. Fans + LED strips, maybe just fans if the light get a little OP... Oh yeah.

Well I'll leave that too my mate, but I think he's pretty happy with it I wouldn't have minded a strip or something maybe just to give it a little more light but as you can see where it is, it's not going to get a massive amount of attention I guess..

Just glad he's finally got all the hardware and the system to use!! I don't like him not using it!

Might have an update or two in the next couple weeks, we'll see how things progress!!

 

[Quigly]

Love the thread Phill. Really cool projects! Keep the updates coming.

I'm glad I discovered this thread soon after I finished the classic hardware thread and the case mods thread. Too bad it's so short though. Now I am fast running out of cool stuff to look at.

The latest bits on the office tidy and the loft organization are right up my alley. I don't have a tonne of space and have a small collection of bits as well and organizing to both keep on top of what you've got and having it be accessible when you need it without ripping everything apart is always a challenge.

I admire your dedication to the hobby, though as well I know, it hardly feels like work when you're having fun.

Off to tinker. Catch you elsewhere in the forum

 

[phill]

Sorry guys, kinda working at the moment and I forget my head if it wasn't screwed on!

Still, I've a few updates I need to get sorted out and done, loads more to do but there's a few more things to update here

Still job hunting and applying but sadly nothing much coming through this close to Christmas I guess... Might have to hold on for a bit....

 

[mechtech]

wow

please tell me all those boxes in your attic are empty and just kept them from old builds and they are not full of the original hardware!?!?

 

[phill]

wow

please tell me all those boxes in your attic are empty and just kept them from old builds and they are not full of the original hardware!?!?

Ok, I won't tell you that I have all the original hardware in the boxes and that they are in fact, empty......



Gotta update this thread, been too long!! Apologies for anyone actually following this thread!!...

 

[mechtech]

Ok, I won't tell you that I have all the original hardware in the boxes and that they are in fact, empty......



Gotta update this thread, been too long!! Apologies for anyone actually following this thread!!...

Oh

I was hoping you’d have an RX480 for a good price lol.

 

[phill]

Well I did have 6 of them from back in 2017, but sold one and another has gone to a build that my Mum paid for, for my sisters girls that they for some reason no longer want...

One thing I'm down on is GPUs but when my mate finishes up with the few over in the States, I may sell a few off but postage costs for then will probably be more than the cards! Will be definitely keeping the newer ones I have mind...

I'm hoping to be able to update this tomorrow... Hopefully with a nice update too

 

[lexluthermiester]

another has gone to a build that my Mum paid for, for my sisters girls that they for some reason no longer want...

A lot of kids want phones. Some just don't see the utility of actual PCs.. Can't blame them too much. Phones are quick and easy, they just aren't very powerful and have no versatility.

 

[trparky]

Phones are quick and easy, they just aren't very powerful

Tell that to my iPhone 13 Pro, it might disagree with you.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Tell that to my iPhone 13 Pro, it might disagree with you.

It can disagree all it wants, in comparison to a even a lower mid-range PC, it can't hold a candle.

EDIT:
Just looked up comparative benchmarks out of curiosity, edit applied..

 

[Splinterdog]

First time I've ever seen an actual child in a PC case. Amazing!
Perhaps inspired by the Tardis.

 

[phill]

First time I've ever seen an actual child in a PC case. Amazing!
Perhaps inspired by the Tardis.

I would have kept her in there but sadly, I couldn't fit the hardware

That said, I do wonder if I could fit another rig in there as well.... It would have a bit more space in there.. I need to go case shopping With no Microcenter over here in the UK, its so hard to find what your after without buying a ton of rubbish first Makes me sad

 

[phill]

Well, a bit longer than planned but here we go for a bit of an update

Well what an up and down few months for applying for jobs is all I can say! I've had a number of applications put in for various positions, some of which I've actually wanted more than not but sadly none of them have come to pass. The closest one I was hoping to get my notice period seemed to be the issue as they had another applicant that could start in a weeks time, sadly I don't think they wished to wait a couple of months for me which was a shame.

There's not really been much out that I have been wanting to apply for. The sad fact of the matter of the distance for travelling and the time away from home, I haven't got the interest in, which is why trying to apply for some roles has been difficult due to the distance for me to travel. I'm trying to limit travelling to about 30 minutes each way, most of the jobs I've had offers are an hour or more away and I just don't wish to travel that far even more so with my young daughters.

As recently I've not really had the 2022 I have been hoping for.. With the bad back about a month ago and now the broken leg.. A week ago I was in hospital over night for blood clots in my lungs, which wasn't quite the plan I had either... Hopefully tomorrow I should find out whether or not I need some surgery with my leg.. The likelihood is small but here's hoping

Well, time to go do some more updates

 

[phill]

Well projects update... Well there's a few things that I'd like to get done and focused but I think mainly its going to be the home server and probably the home network that I need to work on more so..

Currently I have my 'Synology' with now upgraded drives - I've gone from 6 4TB WD Reds, to 8 Seagate EXOS 16TB drives. I've moved everything about and just created some simple Raid 1 volumes which has never failed since I first started with the Synology box.
The only real problem is I believe is that since the fact I'm storing more data on it, I'm wondering if there's a 'better' way to host the majority of the data. For example, I'm curious is using something like FreeNAS or even Windows or possibly Windows Server to host maybe my videos for example that I share via a media tool in Synology so that my Xbox can view the videos and play them for the girls. Saves having to use the BR's or 4k's and I can just run it from the server.

Currently storage isn't too much of an issue, so I'm not so worried on that side of things either. But an issue I do have is the ethernet bandwidth. 1Gb has been fine for a lot of the time, but sometimes transferring maybe a TB at a time or a good few hundred GB across, I'm wondering if its time to start thinking of updating my switch and ethernet.
Also with the internet upgrade to the 1Gb connection, I'm thinking that downloading and trying to transfer to the server via any PC in the network, will also limit the transfer speeds. I think that's something that I've got in my head of doing on only the main machines and the server its self.

What are anyone's thoughts on that??

Also with the faster connection for the server, I would have to reconsider a different RAID setup I currently have would be limiting the performance because it wouldn't be getting anywhere near to say 10Gb network performance. Guesstimating that 1Gb network is 110MB/sec transfer rates, I think that 10Gb would roughly be about 1200MB/sec speeds? So, there's the question of what sort of RAID and drive setup would you use for a 10Gb network?? Not that I could use NVME drives currently for my Z97 board which is possibly why I'm considering separating up the home server into two. Maybe considering one for just data for the family and then the other, a feed for the media - films, music sort of thing

I'd like some input on that if anyone has any ideas or how they have even managed it. Obviously with the costs of electric now in the UK, efficiency is high up on the list. I'm not sure that I'd need to do any transcoding for the films etc. but might it be worth putting a basic GPU in a server just in case? PCs that connect to the server to play films would have fairly OK GPUs in them, say at least a RX 480, so I can't imagine I'd have any play back errors if that was what was required...

I think I need to put in a few updates with some pics of what I've been up to with the hardware side of things Pictures and a few words often help more than anything Thanks for reading in advance!

 

[phill]

Well, here goes for less text, more pictures Some hardware texting pics
From my mate in the US, my Dell R730 upgrades... I've added in the RAM upgrade as well just in case



And now for the CPU upgrade......



In case the pics aren't that clear, I've gone from a pair of E5-2637 V3's to a pair of £5-2683 V4's I was hoping for some WCG crunching with these as both of my R730s are decked out with the same setup, but unless the weather is good I'm not sure they are going to be on much
I noticed also the slight bend in one of the CPUs my mate sent me, I showed it too him and he was not sure how that happened... lol But it works, and its been in the server ever since...

Now, on to another

So we went from a 3950X and a 1080 TI and a MSI 3090, to the 5950X and my Asus 3090 Strix....



After figuring out which way around the loop needed to go for the full cover block on the Strix, it was all plumbed in and ready to go. Temps have been brilliant and boost clocks seen most of the time around the 2000MHz mark, which is great

Here we are for another little tester build
So quick run through......



My Asrock Z170M OCF with 8086k installed Hoping to get a bit of time with that setup.....
Then.....



My EVGA X79 Dark with a E5-1680 V2 CPU, which appears to be up and running rather nicely
And .....



One of my X299 motherboard setups and my 7980XE, there's more to come with that one... Well, when I get to finally move again!!

I've a few more I'd like to put up, so I'll do that after some sleep I think I hope this is a bit of an OK starter......

 

[lexluthermiester]

What with all the detail-less updates?

 

[phill]

Reserved posts, just reminding me what I need to add in them!!

 

[lexluthermiester]

Reserved posts, just reminding me what I need to add in them!!

Fair enough, shutting up...

 

[jboydgolfer]

the problem is worse than id previously thought

 

[lexluthermiester]

the problem is worse than id previously thought

What is?

 

[phill]

Finally, here we have some updated posts as promised a long time ago... A few more to get put up in the morning I hope that's not a bad starter everyone I hope you are all well and ok!!

 

[phill]

Well, as I'd been a little busy with some basic testing going on with some hardware, I've got some more pictures and thought I'd share them out too Was done a little while ago, but still




Well My little Z170M OCF and the 8086k was up for some testing as I'd never used either much before. Its a lovely little system, works very well Was also testing the NVME drive I had floating about which I had from my MSI X99 Titanium board, and I was testing the heat that came from it without a heatsink, just under the GPU and with the heatsink and so on... Results where quite surprising considering those little Akasa heatsinks were definitely not the best but where cheap...




I think the best temp with the heatsink and the fan from the GPU was about 32C from memory, it was a little bit down from the 60C+ I was hitting without anything on it and such which I thought was pretty impressive I'm hoping to be able to do something more with this little rig, maybe do a first for me and put it in a small case with a custom loop or something.. Not sure yet but I do have a 9900k to play around with which this board will work with, as my EVGA Z390 Dark will too




Finally, I've been able to test and get working my X299 Dark board I've had for probably 2 years without a CPU in it at all.. I suppose the 7980XE was an ok choice, I did wonder if I should have tried for a 9980 or a 10980XE instead but I'm not going to try going down that road now
Did find the board a bit strange to get working and such but when its booted its worked and been working fine, so, I'm not complaining Probably going to have to knock up a water loop for the 7980 I think, not sure my make shift air cooler is going to take much judging by the CPU-Z bench score Hopefully it'll be a nice crunching beasty if I can ever make it upstairs to progress it !!

Right well, here we are after another build I need more time with as well... I'll just shut up and get the pics going....



I'm really not sure what is with the Threadrippers but I love them. This 2950X is not bad at all with what I've been able to test and I've been turning down Threadripper systems, which I really wish I hadn't lol Sadly trying to find the right motherboard and the right CPU is damn hard work and being fussy helps even less. Might have to wait until the next bunch of Threadrippers that come out but I have a feeling weren't they meant to be just for OEMs now?? I dunno, I think they are amazing CPUs Speaking of which....



A Threadripper 2990WX Note the 16GB of RAM installed and then the placements of the RAM in the slots, yes I know, I'm a dunce.... So I thought, after I had the 32GB installed correctly, the only way is to make sure all 8 slots work so thankfully I found another two dual channel kits the same and installed and well the rest is history




Was impressed with the CPU and happy that it was working so I can sell that on as intended and get me cash back lol Will try and get a few more tests done before I send it on, but I'll only bother with stock clocks, whatever I throw at it is going to be mentally quick for anything multi core that the program can use it all... Hats off to AMD for creating a monster. I just wished I'd tried that 3970X or the 3990X system that I could have bought but sadly would have been broke over buying Worth it though I think!!

I think that's all of me caught up for the hardware buying but I'll add in some pictures for the HomeServer upgrade because, well why not

Thanks for looking anyone who gets this far, appreciate it!

 

[phill]

Well, here we go with the HomeServer upgrade I mentioned.. Since I was kind of running out of space in my server, I thought about the size of the drives and what it would actually work with. My mate who I used to work with from work asked for a few to start with which started all this off in the first place. We bought 7 to start with, he had 3 and he pulled my arm and I had the 4 remaining. Thankfully moving all the data around from the 3 4TB RAID arrays gave me no problems and it all thankfully fitted on one of the new RAID 1 setups.
The 3 RAID 1 arrays I'd created where getting close to the mark with how much space I had left, so I needed to do something...

So there we where. 4 drives for me and 3 for him. Firstly, these Seagate Exos drives are very nice drives indeed, I really do like them I'd also managed to find 9 8TB Ironwolf Pro drives as well, so my mate wanted those as well. Sadly during testing 3 of those weren't good, so they went back and I was happy enough with that. The seller was genuine and easy to deal with, thank god!!

After setting up the simple Raid 1 array again, we where back in business. A few screen grabs

And after a fair bit of data moving, here we are with some drive pics and setup

Ah what a lovely sight to see 8 16TB drives, sadly in RAID 1 but still..


So there we are, 8 drives in the case; Fractal Design Node 804 I believe it's called. If only it was made about 10mm higher, it would be much better due to the cables and placement of the PSU. With standard cables and such, as you can see they are quite, erm, tight?? I do love the case and the size etc. but I don't like the closeness of the drives to the PSU, that's a big shame for me. I'd also switched out the PSU due to the Corsair RM750 I had in there previously for a long time, thought it might better for a better unit So far since its all been switched about and such, I've not had any major problems. The only issue I do have is that I hear sometimes a high pitch noise coming from what I believe is the PSU in the server. Not sure what is going on there....

I have found that in PSUs in order to get a few more SATA power connectors than normal (so say 6 to 10 SATA Power connectors) you need to be careful with the PSUs you use as some don't allow for as many SATA connections as you would like and you end up needing to buy a 1000w unit. I prefer since its a server of sorts, that I don't have to use it with adaptors and such. I just feel that's adding an issue when you don't need to add one.... Call me crazy....

So, as you can see, the server is in a good place but now I feel like I need to change it for something else now due to the volume of space and more so, the network speed. I believe the aim of 10Gb is going in the right direction. I don't believe a 2.5Gb or 5Gb is a good way to go simply because, I'd end up upgrading it even more to eventually get it to 10Gb. I guess its time to go hunting for a 10Gb network card or two and then possibly another server setup... Best get my thinking cap on I think...... Thanks for looking as always everyone Appreciate it

 

[phill]

Well everyone, it seems that updates are like buses.... Don't see one for ages and then you get a fleet of them!....

Just for info too, I've update posts 189, 190 and 191 as they where posts I'd put in for editing when I was going to update the thread... I hope that's not confused the issue.. Hopefully anyone looking through this mess has seen them

Anyways. I've been looking into a few things for the 'new' server I'm considering to make and networking. I do believe, 10Gb is the way to go, so I've been adding up my ports one by one and I'm kind of thinking, all out is the right approach.

So what do I mean? Well, I think I'm meaning, a 24 port or even a 48 port 10Gb managed switch for the house. I did think about possibly running two switches for essential and non essential hardware. Maybe things like the crunchers would go on the non essential likewise possibly any camera's should I decide to run a security system (it might not be a bad idea considering... but I digress)....
I don't think this is a good option just because, more power needed, more configuration and more hassle I think, so I believe a single switch is best. The number of ports is a bit of a sticking point since I've currently 24 and they are all 'used' without any room for expansion and this is where I hate it because I could always find more ports to use but as I can't physically put anymore in, well..... So this is why I'm currently considering 48 ports.. The downside is the cost for the 48 port 10Gb switch, its not going to be anything but cheap.... Might have to consider a cheap 8 port possibly to test with and go from there... I suppose I could feed it from within the PC room with a current 1Gb connection which would be fine for the internet.. I just need to find a decent 10Gb network card...... Might add up a few quid quickly for that...

With looking at 48 port switches, prices go sky high as I guess its too be expected. I guess I might have to go for less, then have another switch that just works on 1Gb. I'm not sure that will be a massive issue though.......

Does anyone have any recommendations for a particular switch brand? Model possibly?
Mostly used Netgear before but with being at work, I've been using HP and I've had very limited experience with Avaya. I've seen a few with two 10Gb ports, but I'm definitely after more than that... Maybe something like this??

TP 8 port 10Gb Switch
Netgear 10Gb 8 port switch

10Gb Network adaptor??

Now just to figure out what to buy I guess?? Time for reading and reviews on kit...

The other thing that I would like to replace is the modem/router that came with my fibre package simply because it doesn't allow me to do any port forwarding or find any information on anything connected to it.. So that has to go. Question I will have to put towards my ISP, is simply, would I need a fibre router/switch so I can configure it to how I'd like it to be.

Oh there's a lot to consider..... Then the hardware to use for the server/media server.... Oh dear......