Help me ditch my iMac.

[IA64]

So the problem is that I have been using iMacs since 2008. I used to have custom builds back in time ( 1997-2007) but the iMac had many advantages like space and noise. Recently, I've been renovating my apartment and although everything is planned ( AV distribution, home automation etc.. ) I had a last minute change of mind. I am sick of Apple and their limited customization and I'm sick of sticking with the same old maxed iMac for many years. 

 

Problem is, I'm used to have my PC desk in the bedroom and that's the plan however, my wife will literally kill me if the computer is not totally silent and placing the desk outside the bedroom is out of question. 

 

Longstory short, I have a 28" depth ventilated closet where the automation system is and a rack that includes HDMI matrixes, servers etc.. It's 50ft. away from the master bedroom.

 

 

 

I'm thinking of either having a rackmount workstation or wall mounted Thermaltake Core P5  ( pic included ).

 

Problem 1 : Don't know how to get a 5K screen to work from that distance assuming that any kind of cabling needed is possible.

Problem 2: HDMI matrix is only capable of 4K HDR ( Atlona Optus )

Problem 3: I'm even considering Apple 6K display which makes things more complicated.

 

I've seen Linus unboxing an asrock aqua x570 which has a TB3 which I assume can help ( 2 x displayport from RTX 2080ti to TB3 ) but I can't seem to find any TB3 cable that is 80 ft long. 

 

I've haven't been following custom installation since really long time so you guys know better. Any idea? ( budget is not an issue) 

 

 

[Vishera]

PCs now days range from fanless-noiseless to a full blast fans noise,

So your PC can still be in the bedroom.

Is the PC for gaming?,Workstation?

[bowrilla]

8 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Problem 1 : Don't know how to get a 5K screen to work from that distance assuming that any kind of cabling needed is possible.

How long is the cable run? 4k 60Hz 10bit is already a challenge with good cables over 10m and my 60€ cable doesn't work properly with 10bit/HDR. You can try active signal repeaters.

 

10 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Problem 2: HDMI matrix is only capable of 4K HDR ( Atlona Optus )

Don't bother with HDMI. DisplayPort!

 

10 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Problem 3: I'm even considering Apple 6K display which makes things more complicated.

Good luck with 6k! And remember, a lot of the control features are done through software and if you don't have a Mac, you're stuck.

 

12 minutes ago, IA64 said:

I've seen Linus unboxing an asrock aqua x570 which has a TB3 which I assume can help ( 2 x displayport from RTX 2080ti to TB3 )

Not really. It's a great board but it doesn't solve your issues. He got a more or less prototype cable from a manufacturer he couldn't disclose more about. And his runs were shorter.

 

13 minutes ago, IA64 said:

but I can't seem to find any TB3 cable that is 80 ft long. 

Because it's way beyond spec. Forget any passive cables even of half that length that will support 4k 60HZ.

 

 

 

It would probably be a lot easier to build a big custom loop with so many radiators that your system still stays whisper quiet than getting 4k or even 6k over +50ft

[The Torrent]

i never watched the full video so sorry if im off the track but didnt linus do that 1 computer thing in his house and then he streams it to every other computer??

 

cant you do that? so basically cloud gaming but the cloud is in your server room?

 

i forgot the video someone link it.

[Vishera]

17 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Problem 3: I'm even considering Apple 6K display which makes things more complicated.

It doesn't work on PCs,the layout of the connector is different than the thunderbolt standard even though it's using a thunderbolt connector.

[Vishera]

Just now, The Torrent said:

i never watched the full video so sorry if im off the track but didnt linus do that 1 computer thing in his house and then he streams it to every other computer??

 

cant you do that? so basically cloud gaming but the cloud is in your server room?

 

i forgot the video someone link it.

Streaming has caveats such as latency.

[IA64]

13 minutes ago, Vishera said:

PCs now days range from fanless-noiseless to a full blast fans noise,

So your PC can still be in the bedroom.

Is the PC for gaming?,Workstation?

 

I's a workstation but playing games is also a nice addon since iMac doesn't perform well when it comes to maxed out games.

 

8 minutes ago, bowrilla said:

How long is the cable run? 4k 60Hz 10bit is already a challenge with good cables over 10m and my 60€ cable doesn't work properly with 10bit/HDR. You can try active signal repeaters.

 

 

It's a 4k HDR over cat7. Actually I'm getting 4K HDR @ 60 Hz with 4:4:4 chroma sampling and the ethernet cable length is approx. 180ft.

 

Check AT-OPUS-46M if you're interested.

[Vishera]

13 minutes ago, IA64 said:

I's a workstation but playing games is also a nice addon since iMac doesn't perform well when it comes to maxed out games.

What kind of programs and workloads do you use?

[ErA.l]

The kit used in the LTT video would indeed work for this, but its super expensive. I believe it was a usb-c over optical fibre kit.

 

Building a super quiet PC would be a far cheaper option. If you have space for case in your bedroom that is.

[IA64]

1 minute ago, Vishera said:

What kind of programs and workloads do you use?

 

I'm lately using  3DS Max and Thea render however, most of the time I use CAD, salesforce and office applications. It's a 24/7 online PC. 

[bowrilla]

7 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Check AT-OPUS-46M if you're interested

Holy mother... this is expensive.

 

It's still HDMI though so no adaptive framerate for gaming. If you are fine without it, then it should work for you.

 

THere's not much to think of when going for a rack build. I'd still go for a custom loop for better cooling. You're not in the same room so you don't know if the fans are ramping up to cope with a overheating system. The picture looks like a bit of a dusty room so add good air filters. You can also add some moisture or liquid sensor to have an alarm go off or the system to be shut down. You probably have to drill some holes for mounting the stuff inside. A 3-4 HE unit will work fine with a 120mm or 140mm sized radiator and fans.

 

You'll need a USB repeater probably for your peripherals as well.

[IA64]

9 minutes ago, ErA.l said:

The kit used in the LTT video would indeed work for this, but its super expensive. I believe it was a usb-c over optical fibre kit.

 

Building a super quiet PC would be a far cheaper option. If you have space for case in your bedroom that is.

 

Do you mind sharing the kit? I couldn't find anything online. 

 

I do have space in my bedroom however but idle noise is something and heavy load noise is a different story. I don't think a silent cooling system will remain silent under heavy load.  The Mac pro is dead silent under full load, I don't know how but that's basically what every reviewer noticed... but enough with Apple. 

 

5 minutes ago, bowrilla said:

Holy mother... this is expensive.

 

It's still HDMI though so no adaptive framerate for gaming. If you are fine without it, then it should work for you.

 

THere's not much to think of when going for a rack build. I'd still go for a custom loop for better cooling. You're not in the same room so you don't know if the fans are ramping up to cope with a overheating system. The picture looks like a bit of a dusty room so add good air filters. You can also add some moisture or liquid sensor to have an alarm go off or the system to be shut down. You probably have to drill some holes for mounting the stuff inside. A 3-4 HE unit will work fine with a 120mm or 140mm sized radiator and fans.

 

You'll need a USB repeater probably for your peripherals as well.

 

Yeah the apartment is still not finished. Few weeks of work letf.

Regarding the USB repeater, that's basically the advantage of TB3. 

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, IA64 said:

 

Do you mind sharing the kit? I couldn't find anything online. 

 

I do have space in my bedroom however but idle noise is something and heavy load noise is a different story. I don't think a silent cooling system will remain silent under heavy load.  The Mac pro is dead silent under full load, I don't know how but that's basically what every reviewer noticed... but enough with Apple. 

 

 

Yeah the apartment is still not finished. Few weeks of work letf.

Regarding the USB repeater, that's basically the advantage of TB3. 

Silencing a system is honestly not that hard. A costum watercooling loop with some noctua fans and you are pretty much dead silent. Or you get a hybrid gpu + noctua cpu cooler and same story.

[Vishera]

17 minutes ago, IA64 said:

I do have space in my bedroom however but idle noise is something and heavy load noise is a different story. I don't think a silent cooling system will remain silent under heavy load.  The Mac pro is dead silent under full load, I don't know how but that's basically what every reviewer noticed... but enough with Apple. 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$418.89 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$82.98 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$114.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$159.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ B&H
Storage	Western Digital Blue 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$89.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$1099.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$114.99 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2191.81
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-28 21:32 EDT-0400

The CPU will be silent under full load,as for the GPU it's 39 dBA under full load - which is borderline normal~silent.

You can upgrade the storage if you want more.

 

EDIT: I changed the RAM to higher capacity per stick - to make it easier to upgrade in the future.

[IA64]

20 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Silencing a system is honestly not that hard. A costum watercooling loop with some noctua fans and you are pretty much dead silent. Or you get a hybrid gpu + noctua cpu cooler and same story.

 

I thought the watercooling main challenge is to silence the pump and digging deeper, it looks like the best bet is to keep the pump under low rpm which is not very recommended but I'm not familiar with that TBH.

 

12 minutes ago, Vishera said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$418.89 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$82.98 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$114.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$83.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$83.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ B&H
Storage	Western Digital Blue 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$89.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$1099.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$114.99 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2199.80
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-28 21:21 EDT-0400

The CPU will be silent under full load,as for the GPU it's 39 dBA under full load - which is borderline normal~silent.

You can upgrade the storage if you want more.

 

Hey thanks, I'm leaning towards the 3970X. You think it needs better cooling or good to go with the parts listed ( i realized it needs a TRX40 MB )

[The Torrent]

1 hour ago, Vishera said:

Streaming has caveats such as latency.

Your only streaming via an Ethernet cable in the same building as you I’m sure the latency wouldn’t be noticeable.

[ErA.l]

I believe it was the Icron kit for usb.

 

He ran a separate optical display port cable from infinite cables.

 

https://www.infinitecables.com/displayport/displayport-cables/displayport-cables-active-optical-plenum/aoc-active-optical-cable-displayport-8k60hz-32.4gbps-v1.4-cable-cmp-plenum-rated/

[Vishera]

Just now, IA64 said:

Hey thanks, I'm leaning towards the 3970X. You think it needs better cooling or good to go with the parts listed?

For the 3970X - i don't think that there is a silent cooler that can cool this beast,

AIOs often have pump noise and have reliability issues.

[ErA.l]

And yes, your PC can be completely silent. You just have to have nice expensive maglev fans, and then adjust their fan curve for silent/low rpm operation. Its just not great for cooling. That's exactly why your Mac is dead quiet, the fans don't ramp up, which throttles the cpu. And aio's have pump noise and the same fan noise.

 

If you want to cool your PC sufficiently while its under heavy load, there will be noise.

[Vishera]

3 minutes ago, ErA.l said:

And yes, your PC can be completely silent. You just have to have the right fans, and then adjust their fan curve for silent/low rpm operation. Its just not great for cooling. That's exactly why your Mac is dead quiet, the fans don't ramp up, which throttles the cpu

When it comes to fans i recommend Noctua fans,good performance and low noise.

[IA64]

5 minutes ago, Vishera said:

For the 3970X - i don't think that there is a silent cooler that can cool this beast,

AIOs often have pump noise and have reliability issues.

 

Exactly my thoughts. 

 

4 minutes ago, ErA.l said:

And yes, your PC can be completely silent. You just have to have the right fans, and then adjust their fan curve for silent/low rpm operation. Its just not great for cooling. That's exactly why your Mac is dead quiet, the fans don't ramp up, which throttles the cpu

 

Actually the new Mac Pro could sustain full CPU/GPU for hours without ramping up the fans and without any throttling. I have yet to see a dismantled / tear up video to understand how they achieved it

 

8 minutes ago, ErA.l said:

I believe it was the Icron kit for usb.

 

He ran a separate optical display port cable from infinity cables.

 

https://www.infinitecables.com/displayport/displayport-cables/displayport-cables-active-optical-plenum/aoc-active-optical-cable-displayport-8k60hz-32.4gbps-v1.4-cable-cmp-plenum-rated/

 

No way to get this working with the new Apple XDR display right ? no adapter whatsoever would work.

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, IA64 said:

No way to get this working with the new Apple XDR display right ? no adapter whatsoever would work.

The layout of the connector is propitiatory like everything Apple do.

[ErA.l]

5 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Actually the new Mac Pro could sustain full CPU/GPU for hours without ramping up the fans and without any throttling. I have yet to see a dismantled / tear up video to understand how they achieved it.

They did it by limiting the maximum boost clock of the cpu

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, IA64 said:

Actually the new Mac Pro could sustain full CPU/GPU for hours without ramping up the fans and without any throttling. I have yet to see a dismantled / tear up video to understand how they achieved it

The CPUs in the MAC Pro all run in low clock speeds so they have significantly lower performance than ThreadRipper and Ryzen CPUs.

[ErA.l]

14 minutes ago, IA64 said:

 

No way to get this working with the new Apple XDR display right ? no adapter whatsoever would work.

 

No, the XDR requirs TB3, and there is no such thing as a TB3 over optical cable kit.

 

You might want to check the Asus ProArt displays if you are looking for something similar that works on display port or HDMI.