4 Gamers 1 CPU Success

[SpaceGhostC2C]

18 hours ago, FloRolf said:

How can one GPU process two versions of a game? Or was this done with one gpu per system? I get that one gpu might be able to handle different outputs but not different tasks? 

He has 1 GPU per user right now, but anyway GPUs can handle different tasks, in fact they do all the time. You can play a Youtube video and play a game at the same time, plus the desktop... Running two games on the same GPU is demanding, but possible (well, demanding depending on the games).

[SpaceGhostC2C]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Just because you usually spend $800 on a system doesn't mean you couldn't buy one for $577 that is as good or better than 1/4th of your new setup, is all I'm saying

My guess is that the value of such a setup depends on how much you can benefit from dynamic allocation of resources. If, let's say, these kids edit text documents in Notepad++, play Fortnite, and render with Blender, but not necessarily all of them do the same thing simultaneously, this arrangement could be more cost-effective than having 4 equally powerful machines at 1/4 of the cost each. The kid using Blender could get 90% of a 7820X, while the kid writing code will be just fine with 2%. And when they're both done they can enjoy a game of Fortnite together.

On the other hand, if all of them are equally intensive tasks most of the time, and this just substitutes for a handful of dual-core (in this case) PCs one to one, then you may be better off with individual PCs (like those mounted on the back of the monitor for the sake of space).

[dalekphalm]

5 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

My guess is that the value of such a setup depends on how much you can benefit from dynamic allocation of resources. If, let's say, these kids edit text documents in Notepad++, play Fortnite, and render with Blender, but not necessarily all of them do the same thing simultaneously, this arrangement could be more cost-effective than having 4 equally powerful machines at 1/4 of the cost each. The kid using Blender could get 90% of a 7820X, while the kid writing code will be just fine with 2%. And when they're both done they can enjoy a game of Fortnite together.

On the other hand, if all of them are equally intensive tasks most of the time, and this just substitutes for a handful of dual-core (in this case) PCs one to one, then you may be better off with individual PCs (like those mounted on the back of the monitor for the sake of space).

Yeah but is he even using a dynamic setup like that? I would assume each VM/"user" is assigned static resources. Plus it definitely sounds like the idea is that all 4 can play games at the same moment.

 

This is one of those things where it's really "cool" from a tech perspective, but hardly ever the most practical solution.

 

With that in mind, you don't really always need to do the most practical solution, so long as it's understood by all parties.

 

Most charity/non-profit companies are underfunded and typically need to make every dollar count, which is why I was very surprised that this is the route he went for.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

57 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Yeah but is he even using a dynamic setup like that? I would assume each VM/"user" is assigned static resources. Plus it definitely sounds like the idea is that all 4 can play games at the same moment.

 

Yes, this is beyond my payroll  My understanding from the discussion in this topic alone sounded like the Multipoint Services worked somewhere in between dynamic resources and VMs, with people arguing from "multiple users in one system" to "separate VMs kind of like Unraid", so... I just go with "if" statements everywhere and wait for further explanations. 

[tHe Admirer]

Not sure if I am missing something, but why not use Raspberrys or Arduinos? Or is it because they need to play minecraft as well?

[DavePlays]

11 hours ago, tHe Admirer said:

Not sure if I am missing something, but why not use Raspberrys or Arduinos? Or is it because they need to play minecraft as well?

They can't run Java Edition Minecraft. We may also get into Fortnite at some point.

 

Update: We deployed the system today... and the kids love it!

[Wakes Inc]

On 4/23/2018 at 7:05 PM, DavePlays said:

Multipoint detects individual keyboards and mice, so I can chain USB hubs. It also passes through single ports on a GPU.... so each GPU can run 4 VMs.

Wait, what?  Is that even possible?  How does the software handle it?  That's pretty cool.

[DavePlays]

On 4/26/2018 at 7:58 PM, Wakes Inc said:

Wait, what?  Is that even possible?  How does the software handle it?  That's pretty cool.

I don't know how it works... all I know that we did it