Custom90gt

On 2/20/2025 at 5:10 AM, kojack said:

Are there any better options? Basically, I want to put a dual ssd drive setup in bay one.  To feed my projects and run the OS, then use the other 3 bays are the raid array for project storage using large HDDs.  

It really depends on what you want to do.  The system itself is just for serving files and such right?  If you want to use different sized hard drives and don't mind spending a little money on an OS, Unraid is the perfect option for you. The only bummer about unraid now is that they switched their licensing up a little bit and with the Starter version you only get updates for a year (vs lifetime in the past). Having said that, it's usually not an issue if you're not using other options in Unraid such as virtual machines etc. The starter version is $49 and would let you use both SSDs as scratch disks since unraid is installed on a USB drive.

Otherwise you can still use TrueNAS with your drives, but you would be limited by the smallest hard drive (eg if you had two 18TB drives and a 10TB, you would only effectively have 3x10TB drives for the pool). 

On 2/12/2025 at 2:29 AM, kojack said:

TrueNAS distro. Should work no problem, but you never know with older stuff. ha ha. 

TrueNAS only allows for ZFS as the filesystem I believe. That means you should use all the same sized drives otherwise you'll be limited to the smallest size.

On 2/1/2025 at 5:35 AM, kojack said:

quick question, Do all the drives have to be the same?  or can I use 3 HDD and a different drive as a fourth through a dual drive mount in bay one?  I am moving from MS 365 after this year and going local for everything, so I need ALOT of space. 

Remind me what OS you were thinking about using?  Unraid would be perfect for you, but it's an additional cost.  You could do whatever sized drives you want.  Are you wanting some redundancy with your files? 

19 hours ago, kojack said:

So, I am going to go a new route with this system now.  I am going to buy 2 of these dual raid SSD enclosures.

 

Startech.Com 2X M.2 SSDs to 2.5-Inch SATA (6Gbps) Raid Adapter Converter with Trim Support 25S22M2NGFFR : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

and load 4 drives into them to see if the OS will see the first enclosure in raid 0 for OS.  Then if the second one will be views as two separate drives.  I will put 6 drives in 3 drive bays, and one with two smaller ones with OS loaded and remove the PCI-e drive.

Interesting idea, I haven't seen those adapters before.  Out of curiosity, are you just going for those so you can divide your drives up?  You can always go with a 2.5" SSD and partition the drive, it would probably be quite a bit cheaper than ordering m.2 SATA SSDs.  I thought you were looking for some bigger mechanical HDDs for storage? I think the biggest m.2 sata SSD I've seen are 4TB, but would be cheaper to buy a 8TB 2.5". 

On 5/23/2024 at 3:55 AM, kojack said:

Thanks for the response.  I am thinking you are correct in stating the bios does not support boot from PCIe.  should I just install the os on the raid array?   Now I have to figure out how large a drive will be supported.  I am pushing forward with this one to remove cloud photo storage after the shenanigans with apples "privacy first" approach to data storage. bah ha ha. 

What about using a SATA ssd that is plugged in to the esata port on the unit? It will boot off that and you can leave the internal drive bays for the spinners with lots of space for your photos.

On 5/13/2024 at 9:37 PM, tps3443 said:

Hey everyone, long time no see! I seriously lost total interest in computers lately for a little while. I was only using my system for work and gaming. Like most normal people I suppose lol 😆 but after re-doing my Supercool direct die mount I’ve reeled my self right back in that rabbit hole. 

Hah ditto here. Moved to Montana and have had a bunch of things come up so no real time to even spend on the computer even if I wanted to. We are in the process of buying a house, so at least I get to look forward to the networking and setting up the real server again.  And when then 50 series comes out, I am going to put my 4070 ti super in the server and make it a steam stream box for fun.

On 4/23/2024 at 4:21 AM, kojack said:

Anyone got any ideas for this before I scrap this project and move to a different solution and use this system for something else?

Sorry I never saw this.  Can you explain exactly what is happening? You are installing TrueNas onto the SSD that's connected via PCIe?  It sees the drive and installs the OS but then the machine itself will not boot onto it? Maybe the bios doesn't support booting on nvme?

13 minutes ago, Phantomroams said:

I get really bad battery life on both windows and on Linux. The gpu activity shows no usage but it usually consumes 50 watts average. I also see that CPU package power is 12 watts and 8 watts are being used up by the system agent. I get around 30 watts consumption on Linux with gpu off. The first day I got the laptop the average power draw was around 8 - 12 which seems normal. I tried all updates downgrades and clean installations. I don't know what else to do. 

Maybe try turning on the GPU monitoring application to see what is using your GPU.  I think you use the following:

Please follow the instruction below:

1. Right click on the desktop and select [NVIDIA Control Panel].
2. Select [View] or [Desktop] (the option varies by driver version) in the tool bar then check [Display GPU Activity Icon]
3. In Windows taskbar, mouse over the "GPU Activity" icon to check the list.

That should let you see what is using your GPU. Normally it is something silly like firefox or chrome...

I run a Lenovo M720q with a riser card and a 10-gb Intel X550-T2 network card for my Opnsense router.  What is your real goal with this project? Most systems aren't going to be able to use 40gb networking. You're never going to find 2x PCIe slots (but you can convert a M.2 slot into one). About the best you're going to be able to do is a mini-itx build, even then you'd be hard pressed to meet your specs.  Trust me, I'd love to have my cake and eat it too; but there are compromises with form factor. 

2 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I do not think that you can do it directly. You might be able to do it if you do the recovery flash procedure if the file is renamed correctly. Or, you might be able to get someone to mod it for you.

 

Yeah I can get into the bios with my 13700k, and I did the flashback bios.  My big worry is that it has some sort of check to ensure it's a "genuine" Asus bios or something like that. I need to figure out how to edit .cap files I suppose.

Another random question for the group. I'm not even sure this is possible anymore, but can you still modify and flash a bios to newer Asus intel platforms?

Here's a summary of my issue.
I purchased an intel 13900T QS for my new server build but it won't post in my Pro WS W680-ACE. It will post fine in my Asus Z690-i with bios 2403. I have tried flashing the older versions of the W680 bios but it still doesn't post. The board is good because it posts with my 13700k. I'd love to be able to get the cpu microcode from the z690 bios and create a modified w680 bios. The goal was to have a low power server with the 13900t.

@Mr. Fox or anyone else have any recommendations on some cheap 48GB DDR5 sticks (preferably without the heat spreaders) for a new backup server?  My mediasmart backup server just bit the dust so I'm going to build an ITX LGA 1700 system.

Did you ever figure this out?

Ahh can you post the model numbers for the SSD and the PCIE adapter?

On 11/27/2023 at 9:35 AM, kojack said:

Update 3. Installed the OS onto the new ssd in the system. The system will not recognize the new drive in bios, and windows 7 ultimate does not see it either when I loaded in one of the HDDs with the OS on it.  Any ideas?

Won't see one of the HDDs in Bios? do you have the latest bios installed?

I would skip a consumer 6E router and get a Ruckus R650 or something similar. I've had a few Asus ROG wireless routers until I went with Ruckus. Now I don't have any down time when it comes to wireless. Unless you really need 6E, it's just not worth it.

Sadly I don't know if we can tell you exactly what to do.  If you like the laptop and need a portable gaming setup then keep the laptop. If you like tinkering/performance and don't mind gaming in one dedicated area then keep the desktop.  For me having a desktop and a easy to use (read thin and light) laptop makes sense, but that's just me.

Hah back for some advice. I ordered a 4090 FE from best buy for $1550 after tax but it also has 12 months no interest financing with the card.  Trying to decide if I should pick it up or not.  I know I don't need it and that my 3090ti is kicking butt in D4, but I kinda want it. What do you guys think? The biggest bummer would be parting ways with my second to last EVGA card.

Are you looking for a modem or a router (most likely both)? Is your ISP cable? They usually charge you for the modem and they supply one with built in wireless routing...

I still think the utility of having 24GB of VRAM for your video encoding at the same or even cheaper price would be the better route to take.

Pictures?

1 minute ago, jaybee83 said:

its all about style, the noctua 4080 will sport the targeted brown / tan color theme 😁 plus itll be superior to any other gpu fan cooling out there hahaha

afaik there is no noctua 4090 yet right?

Sadly it's hotter/louder than a much cheaper PNY 4080.

12 minutes ago, kojack said:

Like I said, it won't be for awhile yet. I will be using the asus proart z790 and Noctua 4080. Tech notice did a very similar build as well. 

Any reason for the Noctua 4080? You can get a 4090 for less than that and get a much better card/24GB of VRAM.

@Mr. Fox, I finally got my green sticks but sadly I've been so busy with work that I haven't had time to mess with them. I just booted them up at 6200mhz and have been running that way since. As soon as I can get this new Intern to be a little more relaxed and trusting in herself, I'll have more time to mess around.

14 hours ago, Samir said:

Ruckus is some awesome stuff!  And so is anything that's old enterprise since it will sell for pennies on the dollar compared to what it cost new.  There's a learning curve and many times it's designed for a data center so fans that scream, power usage that dims the lights (haha, just kidding--unless you have a 2200w VTX chassis or something like that--then it's for real), and performance that makes us smile in sheer delight.  I'll take used enterprise gear or almost anything now--it's the bee's knees!

 

In fact, there's actually a forum dedicated to the concept of basically creating a datacenter in your home--serve the home.  There's also an active sub on reddit called homelabsales for the sale of equipment and others just for the whole 'data center in a home' hobby.

Totally agree with everything, and yes this has dual 1000w power supplies. I already have a small collection of Ruckus switches and other products:

Switches:

ICX7150-C12P (although I'm in talks of selling it)

ICX-6450 (my OG entry into ruckus/brocade)

ICX-6610 (my current switch until I get my 7650 up)

ICX-7650-48ZP-E2

Access points:

Ruckus R600s (install them in my family's houses)

Ruckus R650

Ruckus R750

Ruckus R850 (only one that is currently running in my house)

The Brocade guide on STH was the reason I've been so into ruckus.  I obviously have a problem though, lol.