Cheap Multi (8c+) PC Build with Low Idle Power for VM’s?

Low Punt on 03/02/2023 - 09:52

Hi

I have a bunch of micro dell and Lenovo pcs with various OS’s. I’d like to replace them with a single pc and just spin up a VM when required. Additional cores would also be useful for data analysis.
The pc however will be on nearly 24/7 as its shared. I was looking at used Ryzen 9 systems but idle power was listed as high as 100w on Reddit.

I’m finding my 4c 8th gen Intel mobile processors in the micro pcs struggle with more than one VM. I usually dedicate 8g ram and 2cores but with two open I can only give each 1c so the main system still has 2c to operate?

I was told to hold out until the i5 13600k dropped in price.

I only have room for mITX. I’m new to VM’s and can’t tell one cpu from another. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • baronorder on 03/02/2023 - 10:04
    +1

    Even older 6 core 10th gen desktop range like the 10400 can be pretty efficient and cheap as a platform for VM's - I have a 10400 based box with 64GB of RAM, 500W platinum PS, 3x 7.2k enterprise HDD's and an SSD running a few VM's that idles happily at about 28W total draw (measure via smart plug). Recent experience with the 12th gen shows it can be just as good with more cores available but the AMD 5000 series is also very attractive price and capability wise and supports ECC if you desire.
    At the end of the day stepping from a low end mobile to a 65W+ desktop chip is going to be a big step up performance wise no matter which way you choose to go.

    • Low Punt on 03/02/2023 - 18:48

      Thank you
      I’ve been looking at used mITX builds and I’ll expand my search criteria to some earlier cpus.
      I nearly bought a system recently but noticed it had an ES cpu. It’s actually rather daunting when you’re not familiar with one cpu or mobo to the next.

  • baronorder on 03/02/2023 - 10:10
    +1

    Also idle power on the Ryzen 9's (and the high end Intel chips for that mattter!) can be really high but that is only if you are letting the CPU / MB off the leash power wise with PBO and power limits set to go nuts mode.
    If sanely configured you can get idle down to respectable levels without issues.

    • Low Punt on 03/02/2023 - 18:53

      I was initially only looking at Ryzen and pretty much googling every cpu that came up within budget and was surprised how many were having difficulties in keeping idle current down.
      I’m also very unfamiliar with non-oem mobo’s as I have generally ex corporate stuff so the vast array of options and variations between brand seemed buying a proven combo might be more effective than trying to tweak something prebuilt.

  • freefall101 on 03/02/2023 - 10:22
    +1

    Why not go a 5900X/5950X, depending on how many cores you want? The idling issue is the new generation chips, not the old.

  • Chandler on 03/02/2023 - 14:18
    +1

    I have a bunch of micro dell and Lenovo pcs with various OS’s. I’d like to replace them with a single pc and just spin up a VM when required. Additional cores would also be useful for data analysis.

    I literally just got myself a mini HP system (i5-6500t) to use as a home server. Have it running the Proxmox hypervisor and currently have 1 VM and 3 containers running on it, and am not really pushing it hard at all, especially the CPU. RAM is being decently utilised (up to ~50% at times), but I've only got 8GB in it and it is easily upgradable to at least 32GB.

    What hypervisor are you running? You shouldn't have to keep too many resources in reserve for the hypervisor, since it shouldn't be doing too much generally - it's biggest load would be when spinning up or managing VMs.

    If you've already got a bunch of micro dell and lenovo PCs, why not make use them and run a Proxmox or Kubernetes (or k3s) cluster - you will give yourself some hardware fault tolerance, spend basically nothing, and be able to play with / learn about clustering.

    • Low Punt on 03/02/2023 - 19:40

      I hadn’t considered a Type 1 hypervisor hidden away. I’m pretty sure I have 2 16g sodimms somewhere. I assumed it would be too slow or laggy over a network if for example I wanted to install an OS and test it on everyday tasks. Worth a try though!

      I’ve mainly used hosted vm’s such as virtual box (on windows) and recently QEMU/KVM on Linux to look as OSX. Prior to this everything has pretty much been installed on bare metal.

      I watched a few YouTubes on kubenetes but couldn’t wrap my head around it. There is a significant learning curve with everything which is difficult when studying already.

      • Chandler on 03/02/2023 - 21:38

        Yeah I haven't looked at Kubernetes myself for the same reason.

        Proxmox is pretty simple but - a Debian based ISO installer (via USB onto the host), follow the prompts (you can find plenty of guides and suggested settings online) and your done.

        Proxmox uses a web interface to spin up and manage the VMs/containers and you can even access the shell of both the hypervisor or VM/container via the same interface. Probably my biggest issue so far has been working out how to build my own containers, since Proxmox uses Linux Containers (LXC) not Docker, the latter of which has plenty of pre-built images and guides online.

        Its my first time using it and its been pretty good so far. 👍

  • kogi on 03/02/2023 - 20:18

    Whats the workload?

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