server board for gaming

E

Epyon

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2001
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would like to run side fx houdini on a server board because of the 2TB of ram support. But also want to ply my steam games. Looking at this board:
https://www.newegg.com/tyan-s8050gm4ne-2t-amd-epyc-9004-series/p/N82E16813151345

I guess windows server does not have bluetooth for my 2 speakers and sub and no wifi. I am guessing the best way to do this is get some kind of usb hub and plug in a usb wifi and a plug in blue tooth? Is this the best way?
 
Server boards work fine. Gaming will be no problem.

Windows server has wifi it just has to be enabled. Bluetooth would need to be from an external adapter. Maybe buy a pcie wifi/bluetooth card?
 
Will work fine, you just don't get the high single-core speed of the better desktop CPUs.

Blutooth sucks anyway :)
 
It will work, but you should probably expect long boot times.

I have an old Supermicro board for my 'gaming' PC, and it takes longer to do all the POST process than it does to fully boot Windows. And that's even on an old SATA2 SSD. Pay attention to items on the motherboard with passive heatsinks on them, because sometimes they assume they will be installed in a rackmount case with high flow fans. I know I had to add a fan to the Northbridge heatsink on my board because it would overheat underload.
 
Have you considered threadripper pro? It's expensive, but supports 2TB of memory and is often clocked about the same as gaming CPUs. FWIW I ran a 64 core milan CPU on windows 10 without any problems (supermicro motherboard). If you're going for 96 cores you may want windows 11. My benchmark scores decreased by about 50% vs a 7950X. You'd want something like the EPYC 9174F to reduce the single core performance gap.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/procthread/processor-groups

You'll also be very limited on USB ports. That board looks like it has 2 external + maybe some via headers. Supermicro boards have about 6 or so (4 rear, 2 headers). You can fix this with a pcie card.
 
Epyon said:
would like to run side fx houdini on a server board because of the 2TB of ram support. But also want to ply my steam games. Looking at this board:
https://www.newegg.com/tyan-s8050gm4ne-2t-amd-epyc-9004-series/p/N82E16813151345

I guess windows server does not have bluetooth for my 2 speakers and sub and no wifi. I am guessing the best way to do this is get some kind of usb hub and plug in a usb wifi and a plug in blue tooth? Is this the best way?
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I'll be that guy. I know nothing of FX Houdini, but do you really need 2TB?

Yeah, I went and looked it up. Is 2TB going to be enough?
 
When I built the system in my signature, I briefly had it maxed out with 192GB of RAM just because I could. I ended up dialing it back because the RAM would run faster with less installed. I had to settle with a measly 48GB…
 
Well, Yes 2tb would be enough but for thread ripper the ones out now seem to be a bad deal as maybe new ones were/are coming out but now it seems like maybe not till next year because there is no fire under there ass. It really comes down to i am sick of waiting, I CAN but not really sure it is worth it. I have the cash i make over 100k a year but i wish i had a hard date on new TR processors. More over just because they come out does not mean i can buy one day one. Then who knows how long they will lock it to OEM shit bags. With server parts i can buy those RIGHT NOW.
 
Epyon said:
Well, Yes 2tb would be enough but for thread ripper the ones out now seem to be a bad deal as maybe new ones were/are coming out but now it seems like maybe not till next year because there is no fire under there ass. It really comes down to i am sick of waiting, I CAN but not really sure it is worth it. I have the cash i make over 100k a year but i wish i had a hard date on new TR processors. More over just because they come out does not mean i can buy one day one. Then who knows how long they will lock it to OEM shit bags. With server parts i can buy those RIGHT NOW.
Click to expand...
Storm peak is not going to be locked on the non-pro side - if you need pro, it may be, but rumors are mixed on that. Supposedly August/September release and october availibility. But I've never run Houdini - does it really need that much ram?
 
I might be able to get away with 512GB for fluid sim that i do. The real problem is when you are playing with pyro then you want to add smoke and then you might be adding other effects that just keep stacking. It can defiantly get up there when you are building out whole scenes but I am not doing that. Most of my stuff is 240 frames or less. But I will be doing more fun stuff as i build up my system. Going to add another 4090 as well. Ram just stops you from having to cache everything out after one change to see what it did to your project overall. Its nice to have but not end all be all as the processors get faster you might just wait a few mins depending on how complex it is.

I am going to wait till September but if i have not heard anything by then I think I will make my move.
 
Epyon said:
I might be able to get away with 512GB for fluid sim that i do. The real problem is when you are playing with pyro then you want to add smoke and then you might be adding other effects that just keep stacking. It can defiantly get up there when you are building out whole scenes but I am not doing that. Most of my stuff is 240 frames or less. But I will be doing more fun stuff as i build up my system. Going to add another 4090 as well. Ram just stops you from having to cache everything out after one change to see what it did to your project overall. Its nice to have but not end all be all as the processors get faster you might just wait a few mins depending on how complex it is.

I am going to wait till September but if i have not heard anything by then I think I will make my move.
Click to expand...
Totally fair! There's nothing wrong with running server boards - if the OS of choice can handle the RAM. Getting Server 2019/2022 to play normal stuff is entertaining - but possible.

I'm waiting on the same release - my 3960x is getting a little long in the tooth, and I'm ready to jump up and make it a server.
 
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