Build upgrade (PC+Server, multiple GPUs)

the.rad.x · August 27, 2025

Budget (including currency): flexible

Country: PL

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Games, Multimedia, Virtualization. Currently sitting on Linux, but I need a Windows VM, mainly for Lightroom/Photoshop

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):

Hey,

My current setup is as follows:

CPU: i7-9700K
Cooler: BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 4
MoBo: ASUS TUF Z390-PRO GAMING
GPU: Asus RTX 4080 Noctua
RAM: 64GB Kingston Fury
Case: Fractal Define 6
PSU: Corsair HX1000i

Hooked up to LG 34inch ultrawide (3440x1440@120Hz) + old Eizo FHD.

I'm planning to update my PC plus build a homelab server and I am facing a few issues maybe someone could help with.

PC:

CPU: Not decided yet, probably AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or 9800X3D, would Intel Core Ultra 7 265K or 9 285K be better for virtualization? More cores, but not sure how the P/E cores are handled... Would welcome any advice. Virutalization is not the top priority - that would probably be gaming.
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
MoBo: Not decided - my main concern - further details below
GPU:
- Asus RTX 4080 Noctua
- Asus 2080 Strix (for virtualization only)
RAM: 64GB specific model will depend on MoBo/CPU choice
Case: Not decided yet - further details below, maybe Fractal Define 7 XL?
PSU: Probably the Corsair will remain

Server - mostly built from donor parts from the current PC:

CPU: i7-9700K
Cooler: BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 4
MoBo: ASUS TUF Z390-PRO GAMING
GPU: iGPU only, maybe in the future something for LLMs
RAM: 64GB Kingston Fury
Case: Fractal Define 6
PSU: Something new, probably 500-600W
Storage: 6 HDDs, NVMe for system

The main issue I'm facing is with the main PC. The 4080 Noctua edition is a humongous card - ~4.3 slots + rather tall, which make is very problematic to find a MoBo and a Case that would fit it + additional GPU. Are there any MoBos that have 5 slots between PCIe x16 slots? EATX is probably fine, would replace the case anyway. I'd prefer not to use a riser and mount the 2nd card vertically (not really trusting risers - personal thing, makes it more difficult to maintain and clean, less ideal for traditional cooling, not sure if it would fit anyway with the 4080). Any ideas?

As for the case I think the Fractal Define 7 XL should be able to fit it all - seems like there are 9 "PCIe" slots, so 5+2 cards should be fine, length-wise as well.

Now you may ask why do I need the 2nd GPU. Maybe my research missed something, but there doesn't seem to be a solution that works reasonably well and reasonably easily for GPU passthrough to KVM. If you know something I don't, please do share.

Hmm, now that I put this to "paper" another idea came to me. Would it make sense to put the Windows VM on the server and put my 2nd GPU there? It would simplify the PC build a lot. The server will likely run Proxmox with TrueNAS Scale, with multiple containers for NextCloud, Immich, Home Assistant, etc., but there should be enough performance for a Windows VM... Server will be in a different room and Connected only via network, so I'm not sure if this is the best solution for photo editing... I'm not really experienced in this area.

Best regards,

Michael