Hi guys,
I'm new to the community here as this is my first post. I have been following tom's Hardware for the last 6 years however.
I'll be building my 2nd Desktop build soon within the next month. I have all the parts in mind and the usage and budget in mind.
Just wondering if you could take a look and give some pointers.
Details on components:
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/QPZ63C
Budget:
sub-$1000 or sub-$1200
Usage: Please keep in mind these will be kept in separate VMs or hypervisor environment and managed main
-ESXi Whitebox: I'm planning to acquire VCP5, following Autolab 5.5 guide and setup (using 32GB RAM)
-Virtualization Lab: Aside form ESXi, I'd also like to learn XenServer and Window Server 2012/2016 when it comes out
-Cisco Lab: up to CCNP, some CCIE using 2-3x Intel Pro/1000 PT low-profile Quad NIC card. Anything up to CCNA can be learned and setup via GNS3. Cisco Switches to come later
-Limited Home Theatre Gaming: I'm planning to use it for very light gaming (thus using the low-profile GPU). Mostly just 4 players co-op couch button-smashers game such as Rumble or Brawlhalla
-Windows + OSX Dev Box: These 2 VMs will be run concurrently sharing CPU/Mem/ resources while sitting on separate SSD and GPU.
-Linux / RHEL Dev Box + Server Box: I'll be setting up various form of low usage Virtual Machines to install various Linux Distros and play around with System Administration
-Full Fledge Home Theatre NAS: I'm planning to use it as the primary NAS in the house as well using unRAID
-Multi-User Computer: I'm planning to use KVM or KVM-based OS such as unRAID to allow VGA passthrough to the 2x GPU allowing 2 simultaneous user environment as tested here https://lime-technology.com/gaming-on-a-nas-you-better-believe-it/ and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJYMCbIbPk.
This would be for my wife as well. So in a maxed out scenario, we'll have unRAID NAS running serving movies simultaneously as 2 concurrent users on completely separate VMs. We are not heavy gamer or anything so we're sticking with basic low profile GPU cards
Primary Hypervisor / Virtualization Environment:
-XenServer - not sure yet
-ESXi environment boot on USB
-unRAID primary usage environment boot/setup on USB with Autoboot/Autostart of 2x Windows 7 VM or Win7+OSX VMs (will look into OSX on unRAID KVM virt later)
Primary Component consideration:
-FX-8320: due to price performance ratio. I'm planning to keep it stock (perhaps overclock if need arise). I will also attempt to over-assign vCPU on XenServer as well as stock clock for 8320 is fairly high. (would this cause instability?)
-32GB DDR3 1600: Reading multiple reviews suggest RAM speed isn't important for any case especially virtualization so I'm thinking to the value choice
-Motherboard: I need a minimum of 5 PCI-e x16 slots for minimum 2GPUs + 2-3 Intel Quad NIC cards. I don't mind the reduced speed on x8 or x4 as other reviews confirmed minimal performance loss.
-GPUs: I'm sticking with low profile card (either best performance or best value) for my multi-user environment
-Storage: I'm sticking with best value HDD and adding on SSD if performance need arise
Additional components consideration:
-Intel Pro/1000 PT low profile Quad NIC: it's compatible with PCI-X but I've seen people confirming compatibility with desktop PCI slot as well
-4x XBOX 360 Wireless controller with receiver dongle for ultimate LAN Steam Game experience
-Cisco Switches to be bought used perhaps from ebay for Cisco Labs
-ESXi and unRAID can be booted off separate USBs
QUESTIONS:
1) I'm planning to overcommit and over assign vCPU and RAM according to KVM, ESXi and XenServer guideline using swap space calculation (ie: total concurrent VMs assigned more than 32GB RAM). Is there any risk in doing this? Most of the time the VMs will be idles
2) Motherboard-wise: Is there any other decent motherboard with 5+ or 6+ PCI-ex16 slots? beside Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 and UD7 ?
3) If I were to use liquid cooling fan such as Corsair H60. How much of a bump can I expect if I decide to overclock (while remaining stable) ?.
I'm new to the community here as this is my first post. I have been following tom's Hardware for the last 6 years however.
I'll be building my 2nd Desktop build soon within the next month. I have all the parts in mind and the usage and budget in mind.
Just wondering if you could take a look and give some pointers.
Details on components:
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/QPZ63C
Budget:
sub-$1000 or sub-$1200
Usage: Please keep in mind these will be kept in separate VMs or hypervisor environment and managed main
-ESXi Whitebox: I'm planning to acquire VCP5, following Autolab 5.5 guide and setup (using 32GB RAM)
-Virtualization Lab: Aside form ESXi, I'd also like to learn XenServer and Window Server 2012/2016 when it comes out
-Cisco Lab: up to CCNP, some CCIE using 2-3x Intel Pro/1000 PT low-profile Quad NIC card. Anything up to CCNA can be learned and setup via GNS3. Cisco Switches to come later
-Limited Home Theatre Gaming: I'm planning to use it for very light gaming (thus using the low-profile GPU). Mostly just 4 players co-op couch button-smashers game such as Rumble or Brawlhalla
-Windows + OSX Dev Box: These 2 VMs will be run concurrently sharing CPU/Mem/ resources while sitting on separate SSD and GPU.
-Linux / RHEL Dev Box + Server Box: I'll be setting up various form of low usage Virtual Machines to install various Linux Distros and play around with System Administration
-Full Fledge Home Theatre NAS: I'm planning to use it as the primary NAS in the house as well using unRAID
-Multi-User Computer: I'm planning to use KVM or KVM-based OS such as unRAID to allow VGA passthrough to the 2x GPU allowing 2 simultaneous user environment as tested here https://lime-technology.com/gaming-on-a-nas-you-better-believe-it/ and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJYMCbIbPk.
This would be for my wife as well. So in a maxed out scenario, we'll have unRAID NAS running serving movies simultaneously as 2 concurrent users on completely separate VMs. We are not heavy gamer or anything so we're sticking with basic low profile GPU cards
Primary Hypervisor / Virtualization Environment:
-XenServer - not sure yet
-ESXi environment boot on USB
-unRAID primary usage environment boot/setup on USB with Autoboot/Autostart of 2x Windows 7 VM or Win7+OSX VMs (will look into OSX on unRAID KVM virt later)
Primary Component consideration:
-FX-8320: due to price performance ratio. I'm planning to keep it stock (perhaps overclock if need arise). I will also attempt to over-assign vCPU on XenServer as well as stock clock for 8320 is fairly high. (would this cause instability?)
-32GB DDR3 1600: Reading multiple reviews suggest RAM speed isn't important for any case especially virtualization so I'm thinking to the value choice
-Motherboard: I need a minimum of 5 PCI-e x16 slots for minimum 2GPUs + 2-3 Intel Quad NIC cards. I don't mind the reduced speed on x8 or x4 as other reviews confirmed minimal performance loss.
-GPUs: I'm sticking with low profile card (either best performance or best value) for my multi-user environment
-Storage: I'm sticking with best value HDD and adding on SSD if performance need arise
Additional components consideration:
-Intel Pro/1000 PT low profile Quad NIC: it's compatible with PCI-X but I've seen people confirming compatibility with desktop PCI slot as well
-4x XBOX 360 Wireless controller with receiver dongle for ultimate LAN Steam Game experience
-Cisco Switches to be bought used perhaps from ebay for Cisco Labs
-ESXi and unRAID can be booted off separate USBs
QUESTIONS:
1) I'm planning to overcommit and over assign vCPU and RAM according to KVM, ESXi and XenServer guideline using swap space calculation (ie: total concurrent VMs assigned more than 32GB RAM). Is there any risk in doing this? Most of the time the VMs will be idles
2) Motherboard-wise: Is there any other decent motherboard with 5+ or 6+ PCI-ex16 slots? beside Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 and UD7 ?
3) If I were to use liquid cooling fan such as Corsair H60. How much of a bump can I expect if I decide to overclock (while remaining stable) ?.
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