Looks like the shop I am at is going to move from mac to linux.
Looking for advice about hardware, specifically GPU.
Probably going to go with the P620. Just not sure if it makes sense to go with a new A6000, or stay with the “old” tech RTX 8000.
I have been using the ML tools in the selectives a lot, and from what I can find, that would be broken in Ampere, as of now.
I’m really curious to see what everyone is planning to put in their flames.
Thanks.
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Also, we currently have the P620 configured with the Threadripper 16 core. Is there a real benefit to getting the 16 core over the 12 core?
The 32 core seams to be a sweet spot for price to performance.
The fastest machines on the flame benchmarks are the 32 and 64 core versions, the 3975 and 3995 variants respectively.
Plus, on yesterdays logik live, Will hinted that due to the evolution of cloud storage we might be seeing a bit wider graphics cards support. Hints are hints but that’s the best guidance we have at the moment.
I say go for the a6000 and 3975.
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I just bought a P620 recently and got it setup this weekend. I just went with the 16-core (3955WX) for the price (32 was +$3600, and I am cheap.) The Threadripper Pro has 8 channel memory (!!!) so I did 8x16GB for 126GB total.
I would go with an A5000 or A6000 and wait. No sense in buying an old card. I chose the A5000 again because of the price/performance sweet spot and my cheapness; you may want the A6000 for VRAM purposes depending on the work you do.
Unfortunately CentOS 8.2 doesn’t include a driver for the Ethernet chipset on the P620, so you have to download and build it yourself (which means no network install without a lot of hoop-jumping, booo.)
Today was my first day of using the system significantly and the Ethernet was acting funky, it keept going offline and online. Judging by the logs it seems like it keeps doing speed auto-negotiating for no apparent reason. I was able to disable auto-negotiation on my Ethernet switch and force the port it’s connected to to always be 1Gbs, and that seems to have stabilized it, we’ll see.
Just something to be aware of – I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this on their P620…
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Yeah the network adaptor took a few mins to sort, but, nothing a handful of command lines can’t fix. No issues at all after install.
I’ve had amazing performance with mine. 3975WX, RTX 6000, 256GB RAM,
Based on supply chains at the moment, by the time your gear actually arrives, hopefully ADSK certifies the A6000!
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RE my Ethernet going on and off, upon further investigation this morning it might actually just be a dodgy connector. I’m going to terminate a new one on the cable later and cross my fingers.
Thanks for all the info here. Making the choice easier. Is the P620 very loud?
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Nah. Super quiet. It’s in my suite next to me. But it puts out some heat. At this point, there are only 2 things I don’t absolutely love about it.
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It’s 4.75 rack units tall. Ugh. Really? I’m vain af so forgive me Lenovo but darn! It would look soooo much nicer in my rack if it was 5u.
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In PCIe slot 1, there’s this little annoying pin connector for the RAM fan that, if it was moved an inch the other direction, I could fit x3 full length PCIe cards in. I’d love to fit 2 Highpoint NVME raids in mine.
Also, as a heads up, rumor has it that due to supply change challenges, LOTSA stuff is showing up from vendors as having broken stuff/DOA. This is not a Lenovo thing, but a general thing. As in, Sys Admins these days have been experiencing a huge increase in the amount of stuff that shows up new in box but doesn’t work.
So, that may have changed recently, but, expect there to be some delivery drama/attrition/frustration station.
Keep us posted with what you end up buying! And pics please!!!
EDIT! Im running NVME RAIDs, no spinning disks, so, if you’re storage includes spinning disks, your milage will vary.
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Im confused. Release notes certify the A5000. Don’t mention the A6000.
Yeah, that’s just what they got and tested; the A6000 is the same architecture but with more cores & VRAM so there’s no reason it shouldn’t work. It’s the Ampere support that got added. I think the A5000 is still better bang-for-the-buck at ~$2600 vs ~$7000 but I guess if you really need what the A6000’s sellin’…
(*edit - actually as I’m looking around now, the A6000 has come down since I remember, it’s maybe in the ~$5500 range now?)
The 48gig of VRAM is key when doing Motion Vector tracking work though. There is a bug that ADSK is unable to track down, that will eventually fill up the 24gig cards and crashes the GPU at the hardware level. The only solution is a full machine reboot. With the RTX 8000 I recently got, I haven’t had this issue as it has 48gig.
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$5100 on Amazon. Be here in a week.
Hi @randy,
The A6000 isn’t explicitly listed as a qualified board for Flame as all boards from the Ampere generation above the A5000 work with Flame.
I hope it clarifies this topic.
Please, let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Yann
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Merci Monsieur.