Building a high performance compute server for HQPlayer

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, hpsxrb said:

And why not use the i9-10980XE that has AVX512 support?

 

If I understand it correctly, then AVX512 throttles down to the base clock. That is with the Intel Core i9-10980XE 3.0GHz. Not enough to run the EC modulators.

 

On 5/29/2020 at 11:01 PM, Miska said:

 

It is more of advantage for filters than for modulators. But EC modulators can utilize AVX512, but due to clock throttling the difference is pretty minor. My development machine at the moment is HP Z4 workstation with Xeon W-2245 (and GeForce RTX2080). Performance in terms of modulators doesn't differ so much from i9-9900K.

 

I can try some benchmarks later to see how they perform compared to each other. My challenge is that none of my W-2245, i9-9900K and i9-9900KS are running same OS. So differences may as well be due to different OS.

 

[firedog]

i9 9900k -, no video card: will it run all the modulators at 256 DSD?

if not, i9 - 10700k, again, no video card.

[StreamFidelity]

54 minutes ago, firedog said:

i9 9900k -, no video card: will it run all the modulators at 256 DSD?

 

No problem 👍

 

 

[lmitche]

6 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

No problem 👍

 

 

Can you please share your power supply and cooling details for this machine?

 

I had hoped to build an passively cooled machine for Hqplayer up-sampling using EC modulators at 256DSD but realize now that passive cooling may not be possible. Reports show that the new AMD processors run much cooler than Intel, but there is little evidence that they can handle the EC modulators. Also Jussi doesn't seem interested in supporting AMD, so it seems silly to build anything but an Intel server.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

 

[ted_b]

7 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

No problem 👍

What are the most demanding (and great sounding, of course) filters you can use with the EC modulators at DSD256 while having no video card?  These GPUs that Jussi is touting (for good reason) are tres' expensive!  Like a grand!!

[dean70]

i7-10700k will run all filters except Sinc-L at DSD256 & ASDM7EC. CPU runs at 4.8GHz or 5.1 depending on filter when playing. TDP is around 70-80W according to HWInfo.

 

[StreamFidelity]

8 hours ago, lmitche said:

Can you please share your power supply and cooling details for this machine?

 

Hi Larry,

 

I'm using a HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless chassis with two Keces P8. A Keces directly supplies the CPU with 12V. The other Keces supplies the HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX with 19V. You can read this in detail here:

 

At the moment I'm considering replacing the 2 x 5V supply for USB & NET Cards with JCAT's OPTIMO 3 DUO. It never stops. 😄

 

Gabriel

[lmitche]

6 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

Hi Larry,

 

I'm using a HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless chassis with two Keces P8. A Keces directly supplies the CPU with 12V. The other Keces supplies the HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX with 19V. You can read this in detail here:

 

At the moment I'm considering replacing the 2 x 5V supply for USB & NET Cards with JCAT's OPTIMO 3 DUO. It never stops. 😄

 

Gabriel

Thanks Gabriel,

 

Yes, I followed your build thread. The top picture looked like a Streacom case with 4 pipes. Re-reading it now, it seems this was your last build, hence the confusion.

 

That JCAT LPS has impressive specs. And yes, it never stops.

 

Larry

[dean70]

On 6/4/2020 at 2:26 PM, dean70 said:

Just completed a I7-10700k build with Noctua NH-D15 cooler on Gigabyte Vision D m/b, 32gb 3200 CL16 ram. Have not installed GPU yet & can do ASDM7EC at DSD256 with all filters except Sinc-L.

 

Cooling these processors on air is marginal. Got stable O/C all cores at 4.8GHz with limiting PL1/PL2 TDP to 158/160w to keep temps within safe limit. Can run Prime95 blend around 70c and small FFT tests around 82c.These boards ship with Enhanced Multi-Core Performance enabled which sets the CPU voltage way too high. Was able to get higher clocks & benchmarks at lower temps by optimizing the power draw.

 

 

Less than impressed with the Vision D M/B - finally recognizes the original Gigabyte GTX970 graphics adapter after flashing the latest BIOS update. I dont remember doing so many CMOS jumper resets to get the system to boot 1. after BIOS u/g, 2: trying to enable CSM in the UEFI BIOS (which is broken) to get Linux to boot - gave up with that.

 

[firedog]

Just for general information-

I just received a PC with a i7-10700K board, air cooled, but with quiet fans (processor and case) and a case with sound deadening material on the inside. 

Can't hear it at all unless I get about 20cm from it - even when the HDD is working hard. It's actually even quieter than my previous fanless server, b/c with that one I could sometimes hear the HDD spinning. 

Conclusion: no need for fanless server. I'll be testing it soon for how hot it gets internally when doing upsampling to DSD 256 and DRC.

[dminches]

19 minutes ago, firedog said:

Just for general information-

I just received a PC with a i7-10700K board, air cooled, but with quiet fans (processor and case) and a case with sound deadening material on the inside. 

Can't hear it at all unless I get about 20cm from it - even when the HDD is working hard. It's actually even quieter than my previous fanless server, b/c with that one I could sometimes hear the HDD spinning. 

Conclusion: no need for fanless server. I'll be testing it soon for how hot it gets internally when doing upsampling to DSD 256 and DRC.

 

I don't think people have been avoiding PCs with fans just because of the audible noise the fans create.  People have claimed that the spinning fans created vibrations which affect the sound.

 

 

[luisma]

42 minutes ago, dminches said:

created vibrations

and possibly increased EMI/RFI inside the case, subjectively speaking of course

[hpsxrb]

Can anyone tell me please, if these Nvidia graphics cards are going out to the market now, is the RTX 3080 enough (8704 cuda cores)?