1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,799 The recent network stress test here in our gaming center was a huge success. 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:11,920 Unfortunately, we also found a big issue that night. See, it was the vibe. It 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:16,240 just it kind of sucked. When we did land parties at my house, we had people in 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:20,560 the theater room kicking back, playing couch games. We had a table set up for 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:24,400 board games. We even dragged the bubble hockey game from our staff lounge into 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:30,800 my foyer for some epic late night puck battles, which got me thinking. 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:35,440 Whale Land needs more than just rows of VIOC tables and people sitting gaming 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:39,920 shouldertoshoulder. What it needs is experiences. I'm talking like things 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:44,800 people wouldn't normally do like multiplayer VR gaming or bringing out 10 00:00:42,399 --> 00:00:49,680 the stereoscopic 3D gaming setup. >> No, not that again. That can come later. 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:54,719 The first thing I want for our first inaugural third whale land is a rapid 12 00:00:52,399 --> 00:00:59,120 deployment 8v8 gaming station that's designed specifically so that you can 13 00:00:56,879 --> 00:01:03,120 look your opponents right in the whites of their eyes while you roll over them 14 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:08,640 in your warthog. See, that's a big thing you miss out on when your teammates and 15 00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:11,280 your opponents are scattered like ants 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:16,159 across a large arena. I also want no to sit down and game. So, the 17 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:20,080 machines need to be preconfigured with their game installs and updates so that 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:26,080 we can pack as much gaming goodness into the weekend as possible, but managing 16 19 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,840 computers kind of a big undertaking. How do you manage all the game installs, all 20 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:33,759 the accounts? Do we do 16 physical computers or can we do it with virtual 21 00:01:31,759 --> 00:01:37,920 machines? Can we design it so it can be deployed in less than 30 minutes? I'm 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:42,320 going to need some help with this. >> Well, sounds good. I'm in. What's my 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:45,439 budget, though? as much as you want, >> but don't waste any money. 24 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,799 >> Okay, but how do you want to do this? >> I trust you. 25 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:54,000 >> Do I do I get any help? >> Sure. You get this budget 26 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:57,520 >> from our sponsor, Threat Locker. Keep your devices up to date with Threat 27 00:01:55,759 --> 00:02:02,000 Locker's patch management. It will regularly scan for and apply patches, 28 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:06,399 but of course, not before testing them in a secure environment first. Click our 29 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:10,879 link today down below to learn how it works and how it can help your business. 30 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,319 As fun as it would be to go balls to the wall with daddy's credit card, he did 31 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:18,480 actually give me some off- camerara guidance. First is about deployment. 32 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:22,879 This thing is for live events, so we need it to be ready to go in as little 33 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:27,040 time as possible. And second is power consumption. We obviously have ample 34 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,400 power at the badminton center, but we don't want to be wasteful either. And 35 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:35,920 many local land games are kind of on the older side anyways, so no 5090s. And 36 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:39,280 finally, we want easy maintenance for the machines. It would be pretty 37 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:43,760 annoying if you guys came and sat down at a ready to go system and were 38 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:47,440 interrupted by updates. I have some ideas on this. Some are actually 39 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:51,280 inspired by Kenton's epic landhouse that Lionus got to go visit. But I'm going to 40 00:02:48,959 --> 00:02:56,160 circle back to them later cuz I actually need to decide what hardware first. And 41 00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:00,239 for that, I've got two solid ideas. Both of which actually use a server rack 42 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:03,440 since it can be wheeled around easy for deployment. And I might get some bonus 43 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,760 points from Lionus because, you know, me and him are both rack gaming bros. Idea 44 00:03:05,599 --> 00:03:13,120 number one is less interesting, but it's probably the simpler to build, and 45 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:15,280 that's 16 individual machines in two 46 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:18,959 separate racks, one for each team. The advantages are that it would be using 47 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:22,720 consumer gear, which is quite typically quieter, and I would expect performance 48 00:03:20,959 --> 00:03:26,560 to actually be a little better as well because they won't be sharing any of the 49 00:03:24,879 --> 00:03:30,560 system resources. More on that in a second. The disadvantage is that while 50 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:35,760 there is management software out there for maintaining a fleet of systems, it's 51 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:37,519 either non-userfriendly expensive or 52 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,720 both. And that's where idea number two comes in. Virtualization. You've 53 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:44,239 probably seen us build multi-headed gaming systems on this channel before. 54 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:49,440 But if you're new to the idea, instead of building a whole bunch of decent 55 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:51,680 systems, you build one mega overkill 56 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:56,640 system with enough CPU cores, system memory, and storage that it can actually 57 00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:01,760 be split across as many players as you need, and then you give them a dedicated 58 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,760 GPU to each of those virtual machines. A 59 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:08,560 major advantage is that server hardware is designed from the ground up for the 60 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:13,200 best reliability and easy management. However, server hardware is typically 61 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:17,280 louder. And in a room that will already have several hundred people and 62 00:04:14,879 --> 00:04:22,320 machines, I'd rather not add any of this. 63 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,160 You just taking in the noise. It could also be more expensive depending on the 64 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:31,919 kind of system we choose. An individual Epic CPU can easily run 10 grand or 65 00:04:29,759 --> 00:04:36,240 more. But on the other hand, it can run like 10 systems, so maybe it works. I 66 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:41,600 think I'm getting ahead of myself, though, because I think a bigger challenge is actually going to be 67 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:44,800 antiche. Some games just refuse to work if they detect that they're running on a 68 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:48,560 virtual machine. And while there are ways to mask it, I don't want to 69 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,919 constantly be updating or fixing this every time a game decides to update. I 70 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,919 think I need to do a little bit more research. 71 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,199 I think I have a concept of a plan. 72 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:11,440 I think I'm going to borrow elements from both ideas. For the computer, I 73 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:15,600 think 16 individual machines is the play. That's because while Lionus might 74 00:05:13,199 --> 00:05:19,199 be okay playing older games like Halo CE and Worms Armageddon, I don't want to be 75 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:23,360 locked in the past. Plus, with a single machine, a single hardware failure takes 76 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:28,880 down the whole setup. I'd rather hedge our bets. Also, I think I found a 77 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:32,800 solution to make a multi-PC deployment a bit more manageable. I'll show you that 78 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,160 a bit later because first, I want to actually build one of the 16 systems 79 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:42,240 here. And we're going to be starting with this, the Minism BD790 EIX3D-US. 80 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:48,880 That's kind of a mouthful, but it's also a hardware full. This MiniITX board 81 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:51,120 includes a Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, 82 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:55,680 another mouthful. a total power draw of just 100 watts thanks to its mobile CPU, 83 00:05:53,759 --> 00:06:01,360 enough I/IO for our gaming peripherals, and maybe more importantly, a 2.5 GB 84 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:05,360 onboard network connection. This is key because if 85 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:10,400 we end up deciding to boot over the network like Kenton did, this will be a 86 00:06:07,919 --> 00:06:13,759 major advantage over a standard 1 GB connection. While it's a great board, it 87 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:18,160 does have some drawbacks, like we're stuck with soda memory. But we did find 88 00:06:15,919 --> 00:06:21,520 a decently priced G-skll Rip Jaws kit, which runs at 5600 mega transfers per 89 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:26,479 second. And we're going to be loading these up with 32 GB, which is great for 90 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:30,880 now, and I shouldn't need to upgrade these down the line. To get to our storage, we just take off these two 91 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:34,880 little screws. There we go. And we're going to be installing 1 TB drives. It's 92 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:38,560 more than enough to handle a handful of games and even throw a quick game on it 93 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:43,360 if we need to, but we're probably not going to use this drive much. Unless my 94 00:06:41,039 --> 00:06:46,319 management solution fails, which it might because I picked it, but I'm 95 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,880 crossing my fingers for now. Building computers goes really fast when the CPU 96 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:55,280 and the cooler are already pre-installed. And I don't even need to put this in a case. More on that later 97 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:58,319 cuz we're already onto our GPU. And some of you are probably going to be 98 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,720 surprised to hear this. We're going AMD. An RTX 5070 would have also been a very 99 00:07:01,039 --> 00:07:08,000 solid choice because of its low power consumption and not to mention all of 100 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,919 the NVIDIA features like DLSS. But in 101 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:14,400 competitive games, especially older ones, we're not going to need any DLSS 102 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:22,400 frame gen. We'd rather just have raw gaming performance. And that's why we 103 00:07:17,199 --> 00:07:23,840 chose the 9070 XT from Power Color. 104 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,840 Well, can't really see it. Give me one second. 105 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:33,280 Strongest tape in the world. My goodness. 106 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:38,319 There we go. It's got 16 GB of VRAM, which buys us a bit of future proofness 107 00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:41,919 and has measurably better performance in traditional raster rendering. Though, it 108 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:49,599 does kind of come at the cost of extra power consumption and money. Uh, $600 109 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:51,440 MSRP times 16 of these bad boys. Maybe 110 00:07:49,599 --> 00:07:57,919 Powerol is willing to send us another 15, and then Lionus won't be mad at me. 111 00:07:54,319 --> 00:08:00,080 Power Color, please. 112 00:07:57,919 --> 00:08:03,120 Please. Last but not least, we need to power the 113 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:08,160 whole thing, even though it doesn't look like it needs much power. So, we picked 114 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:10,400 up a CIC Focus SPX 750 watt. We're kind 115 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:16,720 of riding the line here a bit on what AMD's recommended PSU is for this GPU, 116 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:20,639 but it's CIC. It's quality, quiet, and decently priced for a small form factor 117 00:08:18,479 --> 00:08:24,400 unit. Should be fine. Now that this is booted, we're just going to get it 118 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:27,840 updated to be as close to as final as possible so we can give you guys an idea 119 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,599 of what we're expecting from these systems. I was wondering why my Windows 120 00:08:29,759 --> 00:08:37,760 updates were taking so long to download. So, we opened up uh hardware info here. 121 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:39,440 My CPU is at a crisp uh 100°. I didn't 122 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:43,919 take that into consideration, so we're going to throw a little fan on it. There it is. Here you go. The one computer 123 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:48,080 that we're going to be using. Well, we'll need 16 of them. Building one of 124 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:51,760 them was kind of the easy part. Let's talk about managing them. As I mentioned 125 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:55,839 earlier, IT managers will have lots of solutions available to them that they 126 00:08:53,279 --> 00:08:59,680 can scale beyond our dozen machines or so. But dealing with game updates and 127 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:04,399 installs is a little bit different than dealing with Windows updates, which is 128 00:09:01,839 --> 00:09:08,640 why we're going to be stealing, borrowing that Texas Lanhouse idea. 129 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:13,760 Thankfully, Kenton actually documented the entire process on his GitHub. All I 130 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:18,160 have to do is kind of follow along. It's a little bit involved, but the TLDDR is 131 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:21,760 this. Before every land party, we just set up one of these machines. I'm 132 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:26,240 talking driver updates, Windows updates, game installs, game updates, any other 133 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:31,360 software we might need like Discord or Epic Game Launcher, you know, the entire 134 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:36,000 works. Then we copy that entire Windows install and create a bootable disc 135 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:39,839 image. We then copy that image to our central storage server, which was 136 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:44,959 upstairs, not here, but at the Padminton Center. And our 16 machines will boot 137 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:49,760 over the network using that image. meaning the only manual step is actually 138 00:09:47,839 --> 00:09:55,040 going around and signing into each one with whale land one, whale 2, or 139 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:59,760 whatever we decide to name them. This approach is not only easy, but it offers 140 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:04,000 protection for the player and for us. That way, users don't have to sign into 141 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:08,080 their own accounts on our systems, and then we can easily wipe the computers in 142 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:11,360 the event that someone tampers with them. I shouldn't have to say this, by 143 00:10:09,839 --> 00:10:16,480 the way, but if you do that, you will be banned for life from Whailand and maybe 144 00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:19,760 prosecuted or made fun of. Maybe the entire thing. Just don't do that. Let's 145 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:27,600 play some games. I want to see what kind of performance we're getting out of this system. Max FPS 300 right now. Our 1% 146 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,360 lows are about 120. We're at 1440p, I 147 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:34,640 should mention, at 144 hertz on the monitor. That's as high as I'd want to 148 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:37,120 go for our esportsish settings. There's 149 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:41,920 no need to go 4K. And we might even go 1080p if it means we get higher FPS. You 150 00:10:39,519 --> 00:10:46,000 know, I'm seeing a lot of 1% lows in the 120, but it doesn't feel hitchy. Like, 151 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:51,120 I'm not noticing the hitches right now. You know, just an easy 860 FPS in Rocket 152 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:54,079 League. I don't know how much of a land game this is, but you know, it's a type 153 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:59,920 of game that people might play. I've never played with keyboard and mouse. This is terrible. Our 1% lows, though, 154 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:04,079 are 800 as well. So, this this is going to be feel so great. No hitches. And I 155 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:10,320 mean, I've only been playing 30 seconds. Maybe once this heats up, we'll get some hitches, but for now, this is doing 156 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:13,839 pretty great. More than enough power for gaming, especially some of those lighter 157 00:11:12,079 --> 00:11:17,920 esports titles. But there's a major problem I haven't even brought up yet. 158 00:11:15,839 --> 00:11:23,519 Even if I manage to squeeze each of these systems into a thin little 2U 159 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,279 chassis, that's 36 U's plus networking 160 00:11:23,519 --> 00:11:30,079 plus power distribution, this thing's going to be the size of a full height 161 00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:33,839 server rack. Not to mention really loud because I'm probably going to need fans 162 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:41,680 in those two U cases. Also, I'd be spending like $5,000 on just cases. 163 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:45,760 What am I going to do now? Do I Do I have to start over? Throwing out all of 164 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:49,519 my hard work. It took me so long to find those GPUs. Do I have to go back to a 165 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:53,839 virtualization setup? Server hardware costs so much money, though. But I don't 166 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:59,519 want to do virtualization. Then I'm stuck playing Lionus' Boomer games. I 167 00:11:55,839 --> 00:12:01,040 don't want to play Boomer games. 168 00:11:59,519 --> 00:12:04,320 I don't know what to do. Why don't we just make a custom case that can house all the computers? 169 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:09,440 >> What? >> I said, "Let's make a custom case to put all the computers in." 170 00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:13,600 >> That's genius. Then it'd be small enough to fit in a server rack and then we can 171 00:12:11,279 --> 00:12:16,720 play it at Whaland. Well, in part two, I'm going to be buying 16 computers, 172 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:23,760 assembling them in a server rack, deploying them at Whaleand, and then we're going to test drive it at the very 173 00:12:20,959 --> 00:12:26,639 first Whaleand. I just hope my check doesn't bounce. Well, that'd be really 174 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:32,320 embarrassing for our sponsor, >> Threat Locker. As you can imagine, software constantly needs patching. 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So click our link in the description today and see for yourself 184 00:13:05,839 --> 00:13:12,160 how threat Locker's patch management can help keep your business's IT up to date 185 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,560 and running efficiently. If you guys enjoyed this video, go check out the 186 00:13:13,519 --> 00:13:22,399 video we did a couple months ago where Jake and Linus built a Steam cache and they tested it with a hundred people at 187 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,399 a private land. It was pretty cool.