First Build. Looking for hardware advice.

[Pragma808]

Hey all,

I'm brand spanking new to Proxmox, and am looking to build myself a semi robust homelab machine in the next few months, but am looking for some hardware advice to meet my goals. Here's a quick breakdown of the things I want to accomplish:

- macOS VM for general desktop use and music production (external audio interface, ofc)
- Windows VM for gaming.
- Plex VM with 4k HEVC transcodes in mind.
- Torrent VM
- One or two low resource test VMs.

My primary question is how much CPU do I need for a build like this? Keep in mind I will at most only ever be doing two CPU heavy tasks at once (say, streaming a 4k plex transcode while also playing a game). I've had something like an i9-9920X in mind; 12 cores, boosts up to 4.4GHz, and it isn't two grand like the 9980. Should that be sufficient?

Here's what I'm thinking for the rest of the build. I don't have any real questions about these aspects, but am open to recommendations:
- RAM: at least 64GB
- GPU: Probably a 1080ti
- NVMe storage for boot drives
- RAIDZ for backend storage with SSD cache
- An actual discoball inside the case because RGB just doesn't cut it.

Like I mentioned above, I'm new to all this, so I'm hoping to kick things off in the right direction. I'm really excited to learn about the technologies that power this type of setup.

Thanks!

 

[msalwe]

CPU is not going to be a problem. you will choke at RAM and GPU. Also be prepared to learn about PCI passthrough for GPU to assign a specific GPU for specific VM with GPU intensive processing. Also RAM uses will be high only if GPU support is not proper for your music gaming and transcoding

 

[udo]

Hi,
some time ago, you needed for an virtualized macos an node with mac-hardware (because of license - i think this changed since a longer time, but the support of none-mac-hardware mustnot run (drivers)).

Udo

 

[Pragma808]

CPU is not going to be a problem. you will choke at RAM and GPU. Also be prepared to learn about PCI passthrough for GPU to assign a specific GPU for specific VM with GPU intensive processing. Also RAM uses will be high only if GPU support is not proper for your music gaming and transcoding

So would you advise that I go with more than 64GB of memory? And do you think I could get away with a less powerful processor and still accomplish what I'm looking to do?

some time ago, you needed for an virtualized macos an node with mac-hardware (because of license - i think this changed since a longer time, but the support of none-mac-hardware mustnot run (drivers)).

According to the guide I'm hoping to follow, It looks like I'll only need a mac to get the OS downloaded from the App Store initially, but nothing beyond that. I'd post a link to it, but as a new user I'm not allow; it's the first search result on google for "proxmox high sierra".

 

[msalwe]

at 64 GB I think you would run at 100% RAM utilization so you need at least 32 GB more. moreover for gaming you would need a good gpu passed to the VM and yes i9 would suffice but again remember this recommended only for hobby. No serious production level SEVER things on this setup as those things require different specs than yours for example xeon processors, ecc RAM etc etc

 

[Pragma808]

at 64 GB I think you would run at 100% RAM utilization so you need at least 32 GB more.

Can you provide a some insight into why that much memory is required? Like I said, I'm pretty new to a lot of these technologies so my question comes from a place of ignorance (forgive me!). Does ZFS use a lot of memory?

moreover for gaming you would need a good gpu passed to the VM and yes i9 would suffice but again remember this recommended only for hobby.

I hardly play games, but just want the option to when I have free time, so I don't need anything crazy. I'd go with a 9900k if I was more of a gamer. I'll probably be putting something like a 1080ti or 2080 in it.

No serious production level SEVER things on this setup as those things require different specs than yours for example xeon processors, ecc RAM etc etc

Absolutely. If money were no object, I'd build a Xeon based rig for NAS & Plex purposes, and a standalone desktop for everything else. My main goal in this project is to teach myself virtualization technologies to expand my skillset while building a fun computer.

 

[msalwe]

ok I thought you were seriously going to do all the mentioned things ( that too simultaneously ) that's why I calculated the requirements like that. if your goal is to teach yourself virtualisation then you can start with Intel NUC with a i5 and around 16GB and a 240 GB ssd that will give you enough play.

 

[Pragma808]

ok I thought you were seriously going to do all the mentioned things ( that too simultaneously ) that's why I calculated the requirements like that. if your goal is to teach yourself virtualisation then you can start with Intel NUC with a i5 and around 16GB and a 240 GB ssd that will give you enough play.

Well I would like to do most of what I listed. Maybe not the ZFS RAID (on second though) as I'd rather do that in a box with ECC memory, but definitely everything else.

Just wondering, why did you feel that 64GB would be the bottleneck? I'm trying to get a sense of what the demands will be for this type of system.

 

[msalwe]

I assumed that if you want run everything simultaneously then
host system 8GB
MacOS for music production 16 GB
Windows Gaming VM 16GB
Plesk VM with transcoding 16GB ( may be less if using dedicated GPU)
Other VMs 8 GB
Total 64 GB
You may reduce ram required as per your needs.
But as you initially said the setup was looking ram intensive.
You have not mentioned what you will use for music production on macOS or which games you might be playing so I have considered the ram accordingly if you are comfortable with 8 GB for macOS and 8gb for gaming vm and also on plesk if you are not going to convert video files and not more than 2 streams may be it will also run comfortably so accordingly you can reduce ram. Actual requirement will always depend on your use.