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"Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

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Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#61

Post by andersa »

SushiHippie wrote: post #15
WithinReason wrote: post #3

https://tinygrad.org/#tinybox Looks like good value, but I wonder if it would get CPU/RAM bottlenecked, especially if you want to train something with a lot of preprocessing in the pipeline. Something comparable I've found with 7x4090 which comes to about $50k, but with much better CPU/RAM (3x CPU, 4x RAM, 5x SSD): https://www.overclockers.co.uk/8pack-supernova-mk3-amd-ryzen...

> 6x PCIe 4.0 x16 (64 GB/s) Wikipedia [0] states that PCIe 4.0 x16 has a throughput of ~32GB/s, what does the (64 GB/s) indicate on the website, is this just a typo and you have 6x ~32GB/s or does it mean in total you can "only" expect a throughput of 64GB/s all lanes slots combined? If so, wouldn't you also be bottlenecked by the PCIe bandwidth (when moving data between CPU and GPU)? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wik…

It's 32GB/s in both directions. So when exchanging data two GPUs each can do this at 64GB/s. Is that a useful way to measure it? Who knows.

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#62

Post by oceanplexian »

michaelt wrote: post #54
sidewndr46 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a 220 volt 20 amp circuit should be good for over 3500 watts constant load in North America. Why is it requiring two circuits?

Most likely what they actually mean is: This server has two IEC C20 connectors, rated for ~16 amps, each feeding a PSU rated for 1600W (i.e. 16A @ 100v) If you're plugging in to 110v you shouldn't plug them both into the same outlet, as a 20A circuit can't supply 32A. As each PSU is rated for 1600W you'll have to plug both in to get 3200W even if you're running on 220v - although they'd only draw ~7.2A each in that c…

Imagine dropping $15k on this but not wanting to spend $800 on an electrician to properly wire a 50A circuit so you run extension cords across the room creating a fire hazard.

As for the datacenter (I’ve racked many things with A/B power) the entire point is redundancy which this defeats the purpose of since each PSU is not properly rated. Seems incredibly bizarre to me in so many ways.

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#63

Post by michaelt »

teraflop wrote: post #49
WoahNoun wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most US homes have at least one 220v split phase line for major appliances like stoves or AC.

Yes, but most homes don't have extra 220v outlets except for the ones provided for the specific appliances that need them. So if you want to plug in a device like this "tinybox" at home, it's going to be a lot easier to find two separate 110v outlets on different circuits than to have a new 220v circuit added, or to unplug your stove every time you want to use it.

Who needs a stove? My 3200W GPU box puts out more than enough heat to roast a chicken.

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#64

Post by andersa »

michaelt wrote: post #54
sidewndr46 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a 220 volt 20 amp circuit should be good for over 3500 watts constant load in North America. Why is it requiring two circuits?

Most likely what they actually mean is: This server has two IEC C20 connectors, rated for ~16 amps, each feeding a PSU rated for 1600W (i.e. 16A @ 100v) If you're plugging in to 110v you shouldn't plug them both into the same outlet, as a 20A circuit can't supply 32A. As each PSU is rated for 1600W you'll have to plug both in to get 3200W even if you're running on 220v - although they'd only draw ~7.2A each in that c…

These are not redundant PSUs, each PSU powers different GPUs in the same machine. Are you sure connecting them to different phases is a good idea?

I've been looking for a proper answer to this for a while, because I want to build a similar machine with 8 GPUs (~4500W max load) which would need to be split between two 16A 230V circuits.

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#66

Post by bob1029 »

I had a preorder in for this but I canceled a few weeks back.

My experience trying to run machines this powerful in residential settings has been extremely poor.

All of the Seasonic power supplies that go beyond 1kW or so will trip my shitty (i.e. probably defective) Siemens AFCI breakers. Not even the same circuit all the time.

Even after violating local electrical code, I have found that living with a 1500w+ monster inside my house during the summer at 100% utilization is a complete joke. Unless you live in the perfect datacenter climate (i.e. the people who designed the tiny box), this thing needs to be inside. All of that wattage is pure heat being dumped into your home. The HVAC solutions in most residences were not designed for this kind of heat load. It would be like running your oven with the door hanging open all day. For those of us in places like Texas, this machine simply would not be feasible to run for half the year.

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#68

Post by andersa »

oceanplexian wrote: post #62
michaelt wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most likely what they actually mean is: This server has two IEC C20 connectors, rated for ~16 amps, each feeding a PSU rated for 1600W (i.e. 16A @ 100v) If you're plugging in to 110v you shouldn't plug them both into the same outlet, as a 20A circuit can't supply 32A. As each PSU is rated for 1600W you'll have to plug both in to get 3200W even if you're running on 220v - although they'd only draw ~7.2A each in that c…

Imagine dropping $15k on this but not wanting to spend $800 on an electrician to properly wire a 50A circuit so you run extension cords across the room creating a fire hazard. As for the datacenter (I’ve racked many things with A/B power) the entire point is redundancy which this defeats the purpose of since each PSU is not properly rated. Seems incredibly bizarre to me in so many ways.

Why is it a fire hazard if the extension cords are properly rated for this load?

Re: "Tinyboxes finally have a buy it now button"

#69

Post by anon389r58r58 »

vessenes wrote: post #22

I thought to myself this morning: "boy, that $15k pricetage is tempting." Then I thought to myself "how many times have I downloaded a github repo only to hand-replace cuda with mps, and then tried to figure out if there's a version of xformers that will work this week with my m3?" and then I thought "boy, that $25k is tempting." (15k: Radeon / 25k: Nvidia). For those wondering, 3200W power, in residential / low-end…

The networking of the tinybox is woefully inadequate. I.e. it only has an OCP 3.0 interface which is unoccupied. If you can fit everything onto one tinybox, then you'll be good, if you cannot, then you'd be better off by having a more professional workstation solution like e.g. NVIDIA RTX cards which have more memory.
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