Pyrii

So I'm not sure how to start this, since my current Machine Peorth is over 10 years old now with an Gen 1 i7 960, it's definitely time for an upgrade, since I'm doing streaming/recording gameplay I wanted to go with threadripper so I can have cores for streaming/recording and cores for gameplay. 

So I currently have an Alienware 3440x1440 Ultrawide main monitor, and an old Iiyama 1080p monitor that I use as a secondary for chat/youtube/OBS/Twitch dash/everything else that I would like to upgrade to 4k Monitor so I can monitor more at once. I don't know if this will affect gaming/cpu performance if it's not being used for any gaming.

Budget is not an issue, I have saved some money for some time and just like Peorth when I first built it, I want to spend money on something that will last for a long time.

Lastly, as I have been building computers since I was 15, putting PCs together is second nature to me, I've swapped components in and out of Peorth, swapped her into several new cases for years, I decided after watching far too much of Jayztwocents videos that maybe I should try watercooling for a challenge. I want to start with flexitubing with no fancy liquid, just some pink dye in distilled water.

I did want to get into a white and pink theme, even maybe doing some modding like etching the window with a rose. Even painting a case if I can't find one with enough white on that I like. Sadly with Caselabs shutting down my options are severely limited, since I have my PC under the desk and to the side, I would like radiators to be at the front and top, and would like a full or super tower with enough radiator space for the TR2 CPU/Mobo VRM and 2 graphics cards.

So here's current Peorth: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Pyrii/saved/32M9TW

Here's PCPP list for the new PC so far, with stuff copied over that I intent to try and keep. HDDs/SSDs are a little up in the air, I've like to switch to NVMe:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Pyrii/saved/NVrV6h

What parts I need recommendation on is:

• Motherboard: TR4 X399 motherboards with plenty of VRM headroom, full Custom waterblock support also wanted. 2NVMe slots minimum, lots of USB 3.x support. 8-slot quad channel memory. And not a garrish "gamer" design. Or something that could be modded for a cleaner look.
• Memory: Memory speed is very important, fast ram at 32-64Gb max (Honestly I have 24Gb in my current system and haven't maxxed it out yet so 32Gb (4x8gb) most likely with the option to buy the same kit to double later if needed would be best)
• Case: Front and top 360 rad support, full tower or super tower case that's moddable (To paint white, though white case preferred since less work) with a side TG window that I can etch onto. With caselabs gone, my options are severely limited now  Though I was already ont he fence about spending that amount
• Graphics Cards: I was tempted to jump on dual 1080 Tis in SLI once the 2080 was revealed, but the price of the 2080 Ti seems to have inflated the cost of the 1080Tis since pople looked at the 2080Ti and thought "Nope". It's a throw-up to see if the 2070 might be worth getting instead. I think waiting on benchmarks will help. But then it's waiting on waterblocks for the cards. Let's just see what a decent 1080Ti set-up could be. Watercooling block support would be required.
• Watercooling: I've decided on a Alphacool lighttower res, I would like blockes and fittings without logos plastered all over them or the ability to take the logos off. Since this is meant to be a primarily white and pink build, nickel plated or white fittings would be great. Tubing will be flexible and dye some distilled water pink to keep it simple for my first watercooling build.
• Power Supply: Something that will hopefully run fanless at med-high load if possible, noise is a concern. I've never had problems with corsair PSUs so tempted just to get another RM1000i since my current one has been running for 5+ years now. My server (Yggdrasil) has my old TX650

Budget: I have quite a bit saved up so budget isn't a problem, since I'm disabled and stream, I spent a lot of time with my computer so I'm not adverse to spending money to make my experience better for a comfortably long time. Of course I'm not going to throw cash away on something more than I need. If I had to set a budget, I'd say I'd not like to go above £3-4k. I need a shopping list to start looking for deals on parts.

I've spent a week writing this post, I'm not sure what else I can write, I just need to get this out there now so I can start planning. Once everything's together I can start a build log and start explaining the "Peorth" > "Angelic Rose" connection.

Are there any hybrid HDDs in 2.5 format?

23 hours ago, Commodus said:

That doesn't mean you're justified in blocking ads.  It's the sense of entitlement that's the issue here -- you're convinced that ad-free viewing across Twitch is a divinely-granted right, not a feature that Amazon chose to provide.  You don't have to like the change, and it's certainly a regression, but don't act as if you're 'owed' ad-free viewing at all costs.  Watch the ads, subscribe to the channel, or use another service; don't hurt innocent creators out of spite for Amazon.

I never mentioned ad blocking. I was just explaining why people are upset about the change. What they decide to do has nothing to do with the fact that a feature people paid for is now no longer there even though they're still asking for the same amount of money.

By the way, affiliates don't make ANY money from ad revenue, on top of that they only get 50% of subs. You have to be a twitch partner to make any ad revenue, and it's like pennies per 1000 views probably before twitch takes their cut. We also don't know if they're going to penalise streamers for turning off ads for their subscribers.

3 hours ago, Commodus said:

5 hours ago, Razor Blade said:

If I am paying for a premium service that promises not to serve me ads then later decides to change the service to serve me ads anyway, that is unacceptable IMO. Whether it is people sick and tired of ads using ad block, or people sick and tired of the ads deciding to no longer consume content of that platform...the only losing party is the content creator.

You can certainly find that unacceptable -- just don't insist that you have a right to watch without ads.  It's like stealing from a store because they stopped giving something away as a freebie with your purchase.  Losing the freebie sucks, but you aren't entitled to steal it just because you 'feel' it should be free.

Except it was a service that people paid for. Getting prime was for many people to remove ads so they could enjoy people's content WITHOUT interruptions. Many people subscribe for the same. This isn't a freebie on top of something, it's a service that people paid for and now they expect people to still pay while not getting that service.

This is sad to hear, after seeing them work with LTT on many projects, I was curious about them for my next build, I guess I'm stuck with whatever case makers feel like making for exorbitant prices in the full tower space

OKay, so now I'm all set up with the Edgerouter X and AP LITE from Ubiquity that @Falconevo suggested, I'm very happy with them, though setting them up was very much a pain and harsh learning experience. I definately would not suggest these products to anyone less than an expert at Networking.

The Edgerouter X is very nice, it's functionality is not shown by it's small form factor, the ability to power it by power over ethernet while also powering another PoE device (My AP LITE) is nice in removing clutter. I do wish I had more ports as I'm still having to use one of my 8-port Netgear switches for extra devices. Setup was not easy but int he end I found a wizard for setting up the device as an Internet router and internal switch. I still haven't figured out where the UPnP map is, and there's no way to schedule things to turn on/off at certain times. There is a task scheduler, but it's cron jobs only and unix scripting is not something I feel I should learn for one feature. Also enabling external pings was only down to my knowledge I already had that pings are ICMP traffic so I could enable it on the firewall.

The AP LITE was a mix-bag, the Android app only allows basic configuration and for some reason, RF scanning didn't work via the app. After downloading and running the Unifi controller on my server, getting the AP and controller to talk to eachother was a task and a half. I forget how I managed it in the end. But you can only do MAC whitelisting and RF scanning via the Controller, which are features that are essential to me. As we have older g/b devices that can't use channels 12 & 13, I had to force the AP to use Channel 11 at b/g/n 2.4. It's reliable, uses PoE so is powered by my router, simplifying cabling, so yeah, nice product. I do wonder if I can turn off the controller software and the MAC filter etc all still work. Having to only start the controller to make changes would be nice.

I also had to make up about 3 extra cables with my reel of solid core cabling, I felt like it was best for PoE use since I didn't want any resistance or cables heating up. Though straightening solid core wires with my fingers hurt after awhile. I did my usual testing of pins with a multimeter. Haven't made a bad cable yet.

As for modem, after unlocking my Haiwei MG620 and being able to read stats, I was able to diagnose some problems with my internet, I do still have problems, which I'm working with my ISP to fix, so for now, I'm sticking with my Openreach modem. If I do want a new modem int he future, then I would look at something with a broadcom chip inside I think since most people say those give best speeds and reliability.

Still haven't found a cheaper <50cm RJ11 cable.

Thanks again to @Falconevo

On 05/08/2018 at 7:12 PM, Falconevo said:

I have an EO line which is an exchange only line which is adsl2+, the Vigor syncs at max line speed and has the best line stats between itself and the HG612 (flashed) that I also have.  Get the latest BT firmware from their website, it's no longer an issue.

Sorry for going quiet, been diagnosing my modem, had some weirdness, I've removed the powerline adapters and that's helped.

THere's quite a lot of error seconds too still. So doing diagnostics with Plusnet as it seems an outage at my exchange has seriously borked something. Also I have no idea why G.INP isn't enabled on my line.

Also I did some research and G.Fast tests are expanding this year, and even trials of ISP/consumer-provided modems on such lines, though the Huawei MT992 is the new modem for G.Fast support. https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/06/openreach-plan-self-install-g-fast-broadband-isp-trial-for-late-2018.html

Also does anyone know a good place for extremely short runs of RJ11 cable? £5 for a 50cm cord is just insanity https://www.amazon.co.uk/core-Cable-Available-0-30m-0-50m/dp/B07BHNWV28/

I bit the bullet and bought the Edgerouter X and AP-Lite from SCAN, I'm going to do a bit more research on modems, people have mentioned the chipset in the Vigor 130 causes low syncs with both ECI and Huawei cabs. I assumed it was broadcom, but it's not, it's infeneon. So currently researching if there's any broadcom vDSL modems out there. I might also try the method for unlocking the Huawei modem at some point so I can at least see some stats on my line.

4 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

Wait till you return 5 or more faulty amazon products in a short period, you suddenly find out you don't get insta refunded lol

I've only had one or two problems and those have been with marketplace sellers so I usually avoid them if possible. On the whole my support experiences with Amazon have been good, they'll even collect the faulty/broken items because I'm disabled. 2/3 of my return experiences with SCAN has left me disgusted and out of pocket.

But yeah I'm shopping around for better deals, OCUK has the AP-Lite for £74 too but it's out of stock and their delivery charges add £9 to the price. I've pretty much exhausted all the computing retailers I know

7 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

My experiences will be different because I worked there in the past and can actually go in to the store to bang heads if need be.  Not everyone's experiences are going to be rosey, especially with the returns team

Yeah, unless I can get a guarantee that any items that are faulty I can actually return without issue, it's not worth the trouble to save a few quid  As much as I dislike Amazon's employment ethics, at least I won't be out hundreds of quid if there's a problem. I know companies can change, but till I can see for myself they have, I won't risk it. Which is a shame as I'm building a new system soon.

1 hour ago, Falconevo said:

I buy from there, but I worked there when I was very young and still have friends who work there.  So for me personally I usually go for scan.

Unfortunately after a couple of pretty horrendous support experiences with broken hardware, one involved being lied to and then extorted for money for each e-mail related to the return, then they sent me an damaged replacement with all the accessories missing.

Then there's the video card that died after a few months, they no longer stocked it so only refunded me 50% of the value of the card. I've had the same with amazon after 2 years and got a full refund. 

I'm not sure what it would take to get me to shop there again, even though I still get free shipping as a Hexus member.

3 hours ago, Falconevo said:

You only need the below 3, going Pro isn't necessary and I doubt your house is large enough to require it.  The AC Lite defo comes with a POE injector in the box, so does the Pro if you get the retail version.  The Lite should be more than sufficient.

 

Well the Lite can be powered by the router which works since they'll be together. Does PoE wiring differ from normal 5A/5B cable?

EDIT; They all seem to be cheaper on SCAN (Modem: £77, AP-LITE: £74, Router: £50). Which is rare since SCAN turned into the GAME of computing parts. Not sure it's worth it though given the terrible customer service I've had from them before.

On 03/08/2018 at 12:49 PM, Falconevo said:

They are not the same product family so can't be managed together, the AC Pro comes with its own POE Injector in the box (if you buy new) and the EdgeRouter has its own power 0.5A adapter.  If you have a smart poe switch, you could power each one from that if you needed, it should have 802.af support as I have a site with a Cisco 3560X running a mesh of APs and an EdgeRouter-X.

 

You could look at the Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway but they are a lot more money and are not likely to fit inside the £200 budget.  They can be managed with the AP's via the same portal.

Lots of the reviews on Amazon say it doesn't come with the injector. Would it be better to go with the Lite then? Can that be managed by the EdgeRouter? I think buying a separate dongle/cloud config is just a PITA. Now I'm very confused. I thought it was just those 3 items I needed, now I don't know.

My "Shopping List" on amazon looks a bit like this: 

Okay, so the PRO AP requires 48V/24W PoE to function but the Edgerouter X only supplies 24V/12W. So I'd need an PoE injector, plus I dunno if Edgerouters can manage the WiFi APs, they don't make this clear on their website.

36 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

I can assure you that the EdgeRouter has PPPoE support, I have about 5 units running on BT lines in separate locations in the UK.

The Lite should be sufficient, if you want to shell out more for the Pro, its simply a bigger unit which is more capable.  Depends how big your home is, I own a 6 bed 3 story town house and I have 2 AC Pros to cover everything.   The AC Lite would likely be perfectly fine for me, but I didn't wanna put anything to chance  

Seems like an AC Pro may be the way to go, I'm willing to pay more for a bit of piece of mind I don't have to fiddle with it or replace it later. Just looking at modems atm, would prefer something with G.Fast support in case BT ever get off their butts and implement it wider (I'm within 300m of the cab). But I have a feeling we might be moving soon so ADSL2+ support is a bonus just in case we get moved to somewhere without Fibre

1 hour ago, Falconevo said:

Yea, they are always backwards compatible

Yeah seems the lite is £70-£75, I dunno if PRO will be needed, but there's usually several people using WiFi at the same time, I have a phone and tablet, there's the downstairs TV that uses WiFi for streaming since powerline network adapters have connection issues between floors in our house.

Having a look at the EdgeRouter but can't see PPoE support. I may have to look into modems to see whether they act as router (Not quite a good idea as that then means I have traffic router down a single gigabit cable to the router as gateway.

This method may have lots of clutter but means I can flex my RJ45 cable-making skills again I guess, time to make more patch cables.

On 01/08/2018 at 9:31 PM, Falconevo said:

Don't spend £200 on a single device, do it properly and get devices that do each individual area well.  This allows you to use these devices in other scenarios later if for example you move to VirginMedia you could still use the router n wifi AP.

 

Here would be my suggestion;

• Draytek Vigor 130 for vDSL modem
• Ubiquiti EdgeRouter-X for Router
• Ubiquiti AC-Lite for WiFi access point

That should be way under £200 and do the job far better than an 'all-in-one' unit.  It will also give you loads of features the all in one device could not.

I was wondering that at some point, but for some reason I thought individual components were much pricier. Does the WiFi also support g/n?

My old Billion 7800N is dying, the WiFi is dead so I need a new router. Being able to chuck the locked out Haiwei modem would be great so vDSL (BT FttC 100/20 but hopefully G.Fast 300/? comes soon) support is a must. WiFi g/n/ac with MAC filter too.

Since Billion left numerous bugs (domain filter causes memory leak, etc) in the 7800N firmware while stopping support I'm not inclined to go with another Billion product.

Would really appreciate some suggestions, I'm willing to spend up to £200 for a good router that will last for another 10 years.

I was looking at the TP-Link AC2800 but reviews are mixed on the wireless.

Covered on TorrentFreak too. Seems he's being questioned etc without representation. The usual way these companies battle piracy, lobby America to put pressure on foreign governments. 

Infamous Denuvo Cracker Disappears, Site Diverts to Government Portal (Updated)

Voksi Retires: Cyberpolice Raid Cracker After Denuvo Criminal Complaint

It seems Denuvo just can't help stirring up the hornet's nest. It's going to be interesting to see what the backlash is like.

Looks like my old Billion 7800N is packing up as the WiFi card is dying, had to set up a temp WiFi using my server as an access point (Without MAC filtering which is annoying).

So I'm looking for a new 1/10Gb router, integrated vDSL modem would be nice to work with BT FttC/FttP so I have better control over my internet than the bloody Huawei gives me access to. Would like to see stats and interleaving settings etc as I have a feeling my connection is still spotty.

Firewall, Wireless MAC Filtering, domain filters all essential. Decent WiFi signal through floors/walls as the router sits in the spare room with my server and service quite a few devices including the TV as powerlines are spotty (Tried 2 different sets of powerline adapters, the kitchen replacement seems to have fudged things up). b/g would be nice, but a/ac would be a must. Much like my billion 7800N I would like this to last a long time.

Budget is up to about £150, what I spent on my last router, anything past that would have to be pretty special. UK store links please ^^

On 14/07/2018 at 5:54 PM, OPSJono said:

 

Nice, how are the LED's configured/stored?

 

- Do the LED's/effects work while in BIOS (/not Windows)?

THere's 4 profiles you can switch between by pressing FN+1-4. I think it lights up in non-windows, I did a memtest recently and it was lit up throughout.

In the end I went ahead and got it when I remembered that I could get some Cashback via Quidco which should help towards a mount, now it's just a matter of finding a low profile desk mount that can support 8kg without sagging like some I've been recommended apparently do.

I just use baby wipes (Usually the pure kind which are mostly water) and then wipe off the residue with some kitchen towel after. Heavy cleaners might melt or damage the plastic on the front of the panel.

16 hours ago, dizmo said:

When are you upgrading?
If not for a while, I'd wait for Black Friday sales. You can likely get just as good, if not a better deal than that.

Tempting, but the Black Friday sales here in the UK aren't that great, I'm not sure if this monitor will be discounted like this again.

EDIT: People on HUKD have mentioned getting discounts when chatting to sales, an extra 5-10% off, I've tried and the chat reps refused to budge. I know I'm not the best communicator but is there a good way to get a discount from them, an extra 5% would really matter to me, I could put the money towards the extra mount needed etc.