I’m currently running a Xeon E3-1231v3. It’s getting long in the tooth, supports only 32GB RAM, and has only 16 PCIe lanes. I’ve been butting up against the platform limitations for a couple of years now, and I’m ready to upgrade. I’ve been running this system for ~10yrs now.

I’m hoping to future proof the next system to also last 8-10 years (where reasonable, considering advancements in tech and improvements in efficiency), but I’m hitting a wall finding CPU candidates.

In a perfect world, I’d like an Intel with iGPU for QuickSync (HWaccel for Frigate/Immich/Jellyfin), AND I would like the 40+ PCIe lanes that the Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs offer.

With only my minimum required PCIe devices I’ve surpassed the 20 lanes available on desktop CPU’s with an iGPU:

  • Dual m.2 for Proxmox ZFS mirror (guest storage) - in addition to boot drive (8 lanes)
  • LSI HBA (8 lanes)
  • Dual SFP+ NIC (8 lanes)

Future proofing:

High priority

  • Dedicated GPU (16 lanes)

Low priority

  • Additional dual m.2 expansion (8 lanes)
  • USB expansions for simplified device passthrough (Coral TPU, Zigbee/Zwave for Home Aassistant, etc) (4 lanes per card) - this assumes the motherboard comes with at least 4-ports
  • Coral TPU PCIe (4 lanes?)

Is there anything that fulfills both requirements? Am I being unreasonable or overthinking it? Is there a solution that adds GPU hardware acceleration to the Xeon Silver line without significantly increasing power draw?

Thanks!

  • Cort@lemmy.world
    7·
    10 days ago

    Sounds like it may be time to consider threadripper, combined with an Intel arc/battlemage GPU, if you want more pcie lanes and quicksync

    • Max-P@lemmy.max-p.me
      4·
      10 days ago

      Mine’s got all the slots filled and I think I still have spare PCIe lanes, Threadrippers are nuts.

    • thumdinger@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      9 days ago

      I think this is where I’m headed. Is there anything to consider with Threadripper vs Epyc? I’m seeing lots of CPU/MOBO/RAM combo’s on ebay for 2nd gen Epyc’s. Many posts on reddit confirming the legitimacy of particular sellers, plus paypal buy protections have me tempted.

      • Cort@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 days ago

        I think the 3rd Gen epic and threadripper were the first ones with pcie gen4. You might want to look at something a little newer if you’re wanting to get 10 years out of it. I’m personally looking at trx50 and a 7960x, but still saving up for that $1300 processor