3960x PCIe lane question

[AverageAfro]

So I'm planning a new build for a video editing/compositing/gaming system. I'd like to get a 3950x as it's 2/3rd the price of the 3960x but I know that wont give me enough pcie lanes (maybe)

 

So the set up would be as follows;

• Nvme os drive
• Nvme cache drive
• Nvme + 2 - 8tb hdd coupled with primocache for a mass storage drive
• 2 hdds in raid 0 (might change this to a raid 5 depending on drive prices)
• Gtx 1080
• Whatever gpu is current at the time
• Then I'd be using either an add-in card for thunderbolt or 10Gb ethernet to connect to an external nas
• Finally I think about 7-8 usb external positions would be populated

Some things to note, I use davinci resolve, most of my time will be spent in the fusion and color tabs. Then the third nvme I mentioned might be left out for an ssd and a hdd with primocache.

 

There might be more that needs to be changed/added as I'm at work and writing this before it leaves my brain.

 

Any help will be appreciated.

 

P.s my raid is backed up to an external hdd so if it goes i can recover my data easily, and my active projects are on another internal hdd for super quick recovery if I'm halfway through a project and it breaks.  

[Sauron]

I'm confused - would you have one or two graphics cards at any given time? If you'd only have one then you should have enough PCIE lanes. Consider 4 PCIE 4.0 lanes for each NVME drive, 8 for the graphics card, 4 for your NIC. If you want another graphics card it may be a problem. Do you really need a dedicated cache drive and another cache drive for your HDDs? You may be better off with a sata SSD. Same for the raid by the way, don't bother having hard disks in raid if you're looking for speed. So yeah, if you want another GPU you need to drop a couple of NVME drives. Otherwise you should be fine.

[AverageAfro]

48 minutes ago, Sauron said:

I'm confused - would you have one or two graphics cards at any given time? If you'd only have one then you should have enough PCIE lanes. Consider 4 PCIE 4.0 lanes for each NVME drive, 8 for the graphics card, 4 for your NIC. If you want another graphics card it may be a problem. Do you really need a dedicated cache drive and another cache drive for your HDDs? You may be better off with a sata SSD. Same for the raid by the way, don't bother having hard disks in raid if you're looking for speed. So yeah, if you want another GPU you need to drop a couple of NVME drives. Otherwise you should be fine.

I'll have 1 gpu to start with and want the option to go to 2 in the future.

 

So I have that raid set up with 8tb in my current computer and Im close to filling it atm, so intend to step it up in capacity when I upgrade so ssds wont help there. Then the primocache set up I might be able to get away with just a large ssd, it's 3tb is atm, and that should be plenty for the foreseeable future, it's just the price of a 3tb is expensive. 

Edit: In regards to the primocache setup I've just reread what I speed typed and I might be replacing the third NVMe with a SSD anyway for more storage. Which makes it 2 NVMe drives, an SSD, 3 or 4 HDDs, 2 GPUs, and a NUC.

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, AverageAfro said:

So I have that raid set up with 8tb in my current computer and Im close to filling it atm

If it's for long term storage you should probably just use the NAS. RAID 0 also doubles your chances of losing data.

1 hour ago, AverageAfro said:

Which makes it 2 NVMe drives, an SSD, 3 or 4 HDDs, 2 GPUs, and a NUC.

This means you have 4 PCIE lanes left for the second graphics card, which isn't enough. Or rather, it might be enough if nVidia didn't stop it from working in their drivers. Alternatively you could run the M.2 slots on x2 mode which makes your SSDs slower (though still much faster than sata drives) but gives you enough PCIE lanes for everything - check if the motherboard you'll buy supports this.

[AverageAfro]

16 minutes ago, Sauron said:

This means you have 4 PCIE lanes left for the second graphics card, which isn't enough. Or rather, it might be enough if nVidia didn't stop it from working in their drivers. Alternatively you could run the M.2 slots on x2 mode which makes your SSDs slower (though still much faster than sata drives) but gives you enough PCIE lanes for everything - check if the motherboard you'll buy supports this.

Damn, just gunna have to save for a bit longer then! Thank you for your help.

16 minutes ago, Sauron said:

If it's for long term storage you should probably just use the NAS. RAID 0 also doubles your chances of losing data.

The RAID holds all my assets and footage, which daily is backed up to an external HDD, with all my active projects manually backed up to the primocache drive. When a change is made to the RAID I have it set up so that it's monitored and that change is replicated to another server I maintain at another location. For long term storage - once a year I move all the old footage onto duplicate HDDs, label them and store them in 2 pelican cases, one in a storage locker, and one at a friends house.