Build for VM's and Gaming

[overbarg]

Budget $ Location

Up to $5000 USD (but located in Canada).

Aim

Mostly work, but some gaming. I run a lot of virtual machines concurrently, usually 2, but would like to run more if possible.  They are all Linux VM's, but because I would like to game, the host OS will be Windows.  I'm an ARM operating systems developer, so even inside those VM's are sometimes running an emulator.

 

Types of games:  first person adventure, Witcher 3, Deus Ex, Subnautica, Skyrim, etc.  I don't play online anymore (I'm too old and slow for twitchy FPS).

 

No movies or media.

 

Monitors

I run 3 monitors, but not super high resolutions or super big.  Currently 3 24" 1920 x 1200 IPS monitors.  They all have DisplayPort interfaces.  I would need to make sure that any graphics card that I chose had at least 3 outputs (or I would have to get another one).  Currently I have two graphics cards, running the main monitor off one and the wings off the second one.  I do not intend to upgrade my monitors anytime soon.

Peripherals

No peripherals.  I will be getting a Windows 10 Pro license as I am still running Windows 7... and it's time.

Why I am upgrading

My current machine is a Core 2 Duo, maxed at 8 GB RAM, nVidia GTX 660 Ti plus a 9600 for the wings.  I built it in 2008 (with graphics and RAM upgrades every once in a while).  The Core 2 Duo doesn't have enough cores to even run the Witcher 3 (which requires 4 cores officially).  I don't have enough RAM to accomodate more than 2 VM's.  Plus it's over 10 years old.  I'm hoping for another 10 year machine.

I don't know if I want to build this one myself, currently with the configuration posted it's well over $3500 USD, and quite frankly I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle again.  The last machine took me a weekend to build and several trips to NCIX to deal with incompatibilities in my spec. But I'd like to get a good idea given the current state of tech, what kind of components to source.

 

I don't have much experience with today's cooling solutions (liquid?), or the new cases, or video etc.

 

I chose the X299 chipset over the Z370 because on paper it seems as if the X299 would be better for my virtualization needs.

 

Comments and help greatly appreciated!

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zYwR9J
 

CPU: Intel - Core i9-9900X 3.5 GHz 10-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML240R RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus - TUF X299 MARK 2 ATX LGA2066 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: *ADATA - Ultimate SU650 960 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Dual Video Card
Case: be quiet! - Dark Base 700 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($117.50 @ Adorama)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit

Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-14 21:40 EST-0500

 

[Michael Nicoletti]

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6 Core 12 Thread (w/ the wraith cooler)

MOBO - MSI B450 Gaming Plus 

Memory - Kingston 16GB Kit (2x8GB) 2666 MHz

OS Drive - WD Green 240GB 3D NAND M.2 SSD

Storage Drive - WD Black 2TB 64MB 7200RPM 

GPU - ASUS Radeon Strix RX590 8GB 

Case - NZXT H500 Matte Black Mid Tower Case

PSU - Corsair RM650x V2 650W 80PLUS Gold Modular PSU

OS - Windows 10 of course

Monitor(s) - x3 Acer KG251Q (75 Hz w/ FreeSync)

Cost - $2400 CAD 

[ch3w2oy]

I would personally wait for AMDs offerings this summer. You'll get more cores and wont lose any performance. If you want to build now, go with a 2700 and overclock it and then upgrade to Ryzen 3rd gen after it's released. Your money will be better spent, trust me!

[2SidedPolygon]

I don't have any real qualms with this config, but as Michael Nicoletti stated, the 2080ti offers some very lackluster value.

[2SidedPolygon]

Just now, ChewToy! said:

I would personally wait for AMDs offerings this summer. You'll get more cores and wont lose any performance. If you want to build now, go with a 2700 and overclock it and then upgrade to Ryzen 3rd gen after it's released. Your money will be better spent, trust me!

While Ryzen is a nice go-to for productivity, for high-performance VMs the CPU landscape might be entirely different, and I'd trust OP's selection for it more than my own.

[Michael Nicoletti]

I am putting together a system now will post in a sec see what you think. It is very good for not much $.

[Airdragonz]

X299 isn't bad at all, but at that price point, that cpu/mobo isn't worth it as far as VM's go. You should look into the second generation Threadripper chips as more cores/threads will definitely help with virtualization.  As others mention, a 2080 ti is definitely overkill for this. For the games you're looking at playing a 1080ti, RTX 2080, or even RTX 2070 will work great.  And the Dark Base 700 case, from experience, isn't great for airflow but it is very quiet... until the fans start to ramp all the way up to keep everything cool. 

[ch3w2oy]

1 minute ago, 2SidedPolygon said:

While Ryzen is a nice go-to for productivity, for high-performance VMs the CPU landscape might be entirely different, and I'd trust OP's selection for it more than my own.

Oops. I missed the X on that 9900 

[Michael Nicoletti]

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6 Core 12 Thread (w/ the wraith cooler)

MOBO - MSI B450 Gaming Plus 

Memory - Kingston 16GB Kit (2x8GB) 2666 MHz

OS Drive - WD Green 240GB 3D NAND M.2 SSD

Storage Drive - WD Black 2TB 64MB 7200RPM 

GPU - ASUS Radeon Strix RX590 8GB 

Case - NZXT H500 Matte Black Mid Tower Case

PSU - Corsair RM650x V2 650W 80PLUS Gold Modular PSU

OS - Windows 10 of course

Monitor(s) - x3 Acer KG251Q (75 Hz w/ FreeSync)

Cost - $2400 CAD 

Really good budget build!

Easy 60 FPS 1080p on AAA titles. 

[overbarg]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

@nicoletti, I had not considered the AMD side of things, so I'll definitely look at a Threadripper.  Money isn't much of an issue (work is covering this machine), so I would probably be looking at a Threadripper 29xx series?  I definitely want to go with at least the 32GB RAM - and don't see why I wouldn't go with 300MHz.  Some futureproofing would be nice and more power and more RAM if I can afford it now will help.  I'll definitely dial down to the regular RTX 2080, since it seems to be the consensus that the Ti doesn't make much difference.  I'm going to stay with nvidia - I like their cards - no rational reason.

 

Cases and cooling - there are too many solutions on the market - anyone got any recommendations?  I don't really care about the blinky lights, but cooling is probably important.

[Manderis]

For cooling a treadripper you need a tr4 socket compatible one because the heat spreader of tr is massiv. 

NH-U14S TR4-SP3 or something like that. 

I understand more cores and Ram will be your friend so you can allocate 2 to 4 cores and smth like 6 GB ram for each mashine. Should be a seamless experience. 

I can look into a config 3 hours from now because I am at work. Someone else will probably be faster. If not, I will make a suggestion 

[Manderis]

PCPartPicker part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/bktwJ8

Price breakdown by merchant: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/bktwJ8/by_merchant/

 

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($797.87 @ Amazon Canada) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U14S TR4-SP3 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.95 @ Amazon Canada) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte - X399 AORUS PRO ATX TR4 Motherboard ($364.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($538.00 @ Newegg Canada) 

Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Canada Computers) 

Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ Powertop) 

Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ Powertop) 

Video Card: Zotac - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB GAMING AMP Video Card ($998.98 @ Amazon Canada) 

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($169.00 @ Mike's Computer Shop) 

Total: $3292.76

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-15 07:38 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/X8twJ8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/X8twJ8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($797.87 @ Amazon Canada) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U14S TR4-SP3 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($99.95 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - X399 AORUS PRO ATX TR4 Motherboard  ($364.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($538.00 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($199.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($61.99 @ Powertop) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($61.99 @ Powertop) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB GAMING AMP Video Card  ($998.98 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ Mike's Computer Shop) 
Total: $3392.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-15 08:01 EST-0500

 

As a little disclaimer, I am no Treadripper expert so maybe someone who knows more might comment. 

 

I mainly choose the 1950X over the 2950X because of the massive price difference of 400 $ and the main difference being 100 MHz and a minor improvement in IPC. 

With Zen2 just around the corner I figure going 1950X and buying a new 39xxX with (allegedly) 29% improved IPC and some more cores at same tdp and price point would be the better way to go. 

I assume with 16c/32t you could assign 2c/4t for each vm and leave 4c/8t for your parent os with 6 vms + gaming in parallel. 

 

The cooler is a reasonable priced noctua model so I assume it is OK, but I am on mobile so multi tasking research is not my strong point right now. Feel free to enlighten me if I am wrong

And I don't really know if 1000 W G3 gold + might be mismatched for that build (or in general). It is not impossible that a 750 W Platinum or titanium psu would be more suited. 

 

Critics welcome. 

 

Edit 1: forgot a case