Need assistance with PCIE calculations?
Need assistance with PCIE calculations?
You're considering a setup with a 3900X, UNRAID, and several other components. You're checking PCIe lane availability and exploring CPU options. Based on your description, you might need more than the 24 lanes the chipset provides—especially for Plex transcoding. I recommend looking into CPUs with higher core counts or better multi-threading support. If you want flexibility, consider a mid-range CPU like an Intel i5-13400 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, which can handle multiple VMs and storage tasks. For the GPU, the RTX 2060/2070 should work for gaming, but if you plan heavy transcoding, you may need more power. Storage-wise, 4 SATA drives at 4x 8TB each is a solid choice, or consider NVMe SSDs for faster performance. USB controllers and IOMMU support are important depending on your motherboard model. Let me know if you'd like more specific recommendations!
I recommend Proxmox over UNRAID primarily because it’s free to use.
it works better with WSwell, though it’s a bit more challenging to set up. Avoid focusing on CPU lanes; instead, consider the interface your board provides for GPU access. This should be feasible on the X570. Place the P2000 in the top slot (though it might not be essential unless you need heavy PCIe usage), leave the other GPUs in other slots so the final one stays on the chipset.
Certainly. The lanes shouldn't be a major concern because they're typically not a limiting factor in performance. When you locate a board, you can review its specifications and see how the motherboard plans to use those lanes before making a purchase.
motherboards rarely utilize every available lane on both the cpu and chipset because they have their own constraints. Even with a high number of lanes—like 20 on the CPU and 16 on the chipset—you can't always use them all together. Check the board specifications to see which slots support certain speeds and whether the chipset or CPU is compatible.
Wow, that's interesting! I wasn't aware the chipset provided lane options either. That means I could potentially have around 36 usable lanes. I'll look into some motherboards with available options and pick one I like. Thanks a lot—it really clears things up!
Sure thing, happy to help! I'll make sure to update the forum once you discover a suitable motherboard.