Pc builds, upgrades, advice

[jwinslow]

I’d bet money right now you’re not even close to saturating the 1GB link. The other thing about 10G is you need to go fiber.. 10GBE I’ve seen too many people melting cards trying to do that over copper

Thanks! I'm fairly clueless in that field (bandwidth), so that's helpful to know. The two reasons to go 10gb are:

- initial uploads of 0.3-1.2 tb after events
- exporting / editing from devices to NAS

(we picked up multiple T5 SSDs for onsite transfers. Those are life changing, at about 8-12x faster when transferring tens to hundreds of gigs).

We probably won't be maxing out the pipes very often. We just need the activity to be quick when we do use it.

My only investment so far is a pair of these (Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT CX311A ConnectX-3 EN).

I believe I'd need 1 fiber cord running from the modem to the basement, then shorter runs to connect the 4-5 devices capable of 10gb.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

Thanks! I'm fairly clueless in that field (bandwidth), so that's helpful to know. The two reasons to go 10gb are:

- initial uploads of 0.3-1.2 tb after events
- exporting / editing from devices to NAS

(we picked up multiple T5 SSDs for onsite transfers. Those are life changing, at about 8-12x faster when transferring tens to hundreds of gigs).

We probably won't be maxing out the pipes very often. We just need the activity to be quick when we do use it.

My only investment so far is a pair of these (Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT CX311A ConnectX-3 EN).

I believe I'd need 1 fiber cord running from the modem to the basement, then shorter runs to connect the 4-5 devices capable of 10gb.

Soo I stand corrected... my friend who’s better at this that me is saying if you’re remote editing (4k vid) or transferring large files (100s of GB) you might be inline for a 10GB upgrade.

I would probably stick it out with 1GB first though ... the adapters aren’t that bad but not sure what you have in mind for a 10GB switch ... possibly 2. what were you entertaining as switches?

 

[jwinslow]

Soo I stand corrected... my friend who’s better at this that me is saying if you’re remote editing (4k vid) or transferring large files (100s of GB) you might be inline for a 10GB upgrade.

I would probably stick it out with 1GB first though ... the adapters aren’t that bad but not sure what you have in mind for a 10GB switch ... possibly 2. what were you entertaining as switches?

So we transfer 100s of GB about 1-2x a week, usually overnight (though maybe not now if it's faster). It's not a regular part of the workflow. But I need to export 100-200 images per competitor x 20-100 orders fairly often, so moving those files around can help out.

I'll try keeping the 1 gb devices on the 10gb downstairs switch (see the diagram on previous post).

I hadn't dug too deep into switches. I've eyed a few used $150-200 options, but am still early in that research process. I'd like to get something slightly future proof, in case we're able to move to a bigger location soon and I can wire a handful of 10 gb ports throughout the new place.

I need it to be stable, but don't need to monitor traffic or create limits.


All I have for now are 3-4 unmanaged 1gb switches with 4-10 ports. Those will mostly be unused in the future.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

So we transfer 100s of GB about 1-2x a week, usually overnight (though maybe not now if it's faster). It's not a regular part of the workflow. But I need to export 100-200 images per competitor x 20-100 orders fairly often, so moving those files around can help out.

I'll try keeping the 1 gb devices on the 10gb downstairs switch (see the diagram on previous post).

I hadn't dug too deep into switches. I've eyed a few used $150-200 options, but am still early in that research process. I'd like to get something slightly future proof, in case we're able to move to a bigger location soon and I can wire a handful of 10 gb ports throughout the new place.

I need it to be stable, but don't need to monitor traffic or create limits.


All I have for now are 3-4 unmanaged 1gb switches with 4-10 ports. Those will mostly be unused in the future.

If you aren’t doing realtime editing and you don’t HAVE to transfer it as fast as possible right then you can probably get away with 1GB ... my friend put it like this... Small Files <1GB (or somewhat bigger) need IOPS (SSD etc) more than bandwidth ... the larger the file the more the benefit of bandwidth.

if you are mainly doing pictures you might see a bigger boost going with NvME drives instead of 10GB on the network side

 

[jwinslow]

Your friends feedback has me wondering if I should dig deeper into link aggregation. See if my server can handle 2 or 4 x 1 gbe .

If you aren’t doing realtime editing

We're random accessing a few hundred files at a time in lightroom with no previews

and you don’t HAVE to transfer it as fast as possible right then you can probably get away with 1GB ... my friend put it like this... Small Files <1GB (or somewhat bigger) need IOPS (SSD etc) more than bandwidth ... the larger the file the more the benefit of bandwidth.

if you are mainly doing pictures you might see a bigger boost going with NvME drives instead of 10GB on the network side

Unfortunately we need to store about 15-20 TB of images a year, so the NvME option is out (assuming you meant as storage drives). I'll check into ssd caching though on the servers.

We do have high speed NVME drives locally, and one thought would be with a 10G network, it would be a lot easier to download 700 gigs from one event, do the edits, and then put them back.

The other problem we have is we get residual orders all year, so it's not like a wedding or a project where you can blast through everything and be done with it. We have to support files for at least 2-3 years, and are regularly but sporadically working in files from every event from the past 9 months, spanning about 10+ TB.

The other potential advantage to a 10GB platform is we could download 500 gbp to a local drive, work with them for awhile, and then upload the changes (exported 2nd copies) at the end of the day. A much slower option and hard to sustain one on 1G. That would only be helpful when burning through large sets, which is the main desire for the 10G network.

 

[jwinslow]

@jwinslow what monitor(s) do you use? That's always my hangup when I look at and think about building a PC to move the bulk of my editing off of my laptop. Picking the rest of the hardware seems pretty straightforward (and hearing your r9 still holds up well for the task confirms my inclination to just go with a 580 if I build any time in the near future), but I always get stuck on the monitor. The more I look the more I'm just inclined to go with a Benq despite it likely being almost half the cost of the build I would tend towards.

Might be a little too old for a future build, but MSI has a RX 570 for $135 after code/rebate.

 

[alexhortdog95]

@jwinslow - TBH, you guys are now talking over my head, hahahahahahahaha.....

I've built my own PC and some at the church on the network, but nothing to the scale you're at. I'm a software engineer by trade, not a network engineer.

Now, if you have some questions about software development, I can assist ya

 

[Buckeneye]

Looking at some of the newer lineups announced and projected because I'm considering a new build after the holidays.

Been a long time, and I mean a long damn time, since I considered myself a hardware enthusiast. To see how much has changed is just mind blowing. That having been said, thinking of going full geek and throwing down the cash
to have a full tower case again. Because 2BD apartment be damned, I'm using every inch of that space.

edit: I see AMD coming out with a new Ryzen line and sticking with AM4. Any early suggestions on midrange chips that might get a decent (non amateur) OC out of the box? Be gentle on me, It's been a good 10 years a least.

 

[Buckeneye]

Might be looking to get back into some PC stuff sooner rather than later. Apart from the normal use, gaming has fallen by the wayside beyond just a casual here or there type of thing.

Was checking out the prices of GPUs and holy hell.... The most I have ever spent on any one PC component was an Radeon X800XT. That was June 2004, back when it was still ATI. I had just turned 15 and saved a bunch of money from various little side jobs a teenager could do. I bought that bad boy in preparation for Half Life 2. $399 was considered insane enthusiast level back then, but the XT Platinum addition was $499. And, IIRC, was just clocked slightly higher along with some cool sort of case badge to go with it. Basically not worth the money.

Anywho, that XT was top of the line back then. Went to Newegg to look at GPU prices today and you're easily pushing $1000 for top of the line. $399, by most inflation metrics, comes out to about $640-$650 in 2023 value. Which means, even if I spend the 2004 equivalent to keep pace, I'm not even getting a top of the line card for that $650.

Fuck every last bit of that noise.

So.... Can anyone here give some of their insight and personal reviews on an RTX 3060 12GB? I may have the inside track on a (very gently) used one and want to hear a quality review from a source that I know isn't a bot or paid blogger/review.

Edit: didn't even realize it was myself that posted in here last time. Now that's funny.

 

[Dryden]

Might be looking to get back into some PC stuff sooner rather than later. Apart from the normal use, gaming has fallen by the wayside beyond just a casual here or there type of thing.

Was checking out the prices of GPUs and holy hell.... The most I have ever spent on any one PC component was an Radeon X800XT. That was June 2004, back when it was still ATI. I had just turned 15 and saved a bunch of money from various little side jobs a teenager could do. I bought that bad boy in preparation for Half Life 2. $399 was considered insane enthusiast level back then, but the XT Platinum addition was $499. And, IIRC, was just clocked slightly higher along with some cool sort of case badge to go with it. Basically not worth the money.

Anywho, that XT was top of the line back then. Went to Newegg to look at GPU prices today and you're easily pushing $1000 for top of the line. $399, by most inflation metrics, comes out to about $640-$650 in 2023 value. Which means, even if I spend the 2004 equivalent to keep pace, I'm not even getting a top of the line card for that $650.

Fuck every last bit of that noise.

So.... Can anyone here give some of their insight and personal reviews on an RTX 3060 12GB? I may have the inside track on a (very gently) used one and want to hear a quality review from a source that I know isn't a bot or paid blogger/review.

Edit: didn't even realize it was myself that posted in here last time. Now that's funny.

The 3060 is the entry level, so I would caution that while it should plow through anything you could throw at it in 1080p @ 60fps, it is not a 4K QHD workhorse. If you’re running a 4K (or even 5k) display, you’ll want the 3060Ti or 3070.

That’s not a slight at the 3060 at all, it is current gen and really powerful. Just pointing out it’ll be lackluster if you have visions of 4k in your head. In fact, I’d even ask the owner of proposed gently used card if this is why they’re turning around and offloading it so quickly.

 

[Buckeneye]

The 3060 is the entry level, so I would caution that while it should plow through anything you could throw at it in 1080p @ 60fps, it is not a 4K QHD workhorse. If you’re running a 4K (or even 5k) display, you’ll want the 3060Ti or 3070.

That’s not a slight at the 3060 at all, it is current gen and really powerful. Just pointing out it’ll be lackluster if you have visions of 4k in your head. In fact, I’d even ask the owner of proposed gently used card if this is why they’re turning around and offloading it so quickly.

What about 2k? Which is likely where I'll be floating at.

Didn't ask the owner much, but I found out it's his wife's setup. Not sure what the story is behind that? Told me $175 - I'm going to have him bench it in front of me, but just glancing around it looks like a steal.

 

[Dryden]

What about 2k? Which is likely where I'll be floating at.

Didn't ask the owner much, but I found out it's his wife's setup. Not sure what the story is behind that? Told me $175 - I'm going to have him bench it in front of me, but just glancing around it looks like a steal.

Should be good at 2K. $175 absolutely is a steal! A 3060 would run you $300+ new, whereas the 3060Ti goes for ~$375 and the 3070s are currently $500-600 if you can even find one.

Hell, if you don't buy it at $175 I would.

 

[Buckeneye]

Should be good at 2K. $175 absolutely is a steal! A 3060 would run you $300+ new, whereas the 3060Ti goes for ~$375 and the 3070s are currently $500-600 if you can even find one.

Hell, if you don't buy it at $175 I would.

Word. I'm headed over there to see how it runs. I checked the prices after I had posted, but before you had responded - $300 was about spot on. So if there's nothing wrong with it and he's firm on the price, then I'll take it and deal with the rest later.

Appreciate your insight.