[FFmpeg-devel] Hardware purchase request

[Jan Ekström]

On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 12:47 AM Lynne <dev at lynne.ee> wrote:
>
> As discussed during the last developer meeting, I am in need of new hardware to
> work on Vulkan filtering, hwcontext, AV1 VAAPI decoding, new assembly and
> general development on FFmpeg and projects involving the FFmpeg libraries.
>
> I was requested to post what I'd like on the mailing list for discussion, as well
> as to talk about their purchase, since I currently lack the spare funds to buy
> everything and then be refunded, which is the standard way we have handled
> hardware and expenses in the past.
>

Hi, and first of all - thank you for posting this.

Just to start with my position:
1. I have no control over whether someone receives money or not, I am
just part of the community.
2. IMHO we should be utilizing the money for things we find useful for
the project, the most recent of which were the two M1 Mac Minis.
Hardware required for development clearly fits that bill. So as such I
am not opposed to

> As we have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in our SPI fund
> (121 716.03 USD as of the end of 2019), I have spared no expense in
> my selection.

Personally, while I know that thinking about the big picture in money
is not our hobby nor a thing that we like to keep in our minds, but I
think we should not make such statements unless one has an
understanding of the growth rate of that fund. I do not have such
understanding, and I would not like to start making the calculations
in my head to get an understanding of the yearly fluctuations of the
fund, and thus I would not have utilized such wording.

Depending on such knowledge, it could be seen whether utilizing
roughly 1:20 of that amount on a single entry can be seen as either
something that can be handled within the yearly growth, or not. And if
not, whether we have a reason to be OK with it (the single entry being
of such importance that it cannot be ignored, other sources of income
for the project, etc)

Let's just say that I'm happy to not be an accountant for anyone else
than myself, having to look at whether something is sustainable or
not.

> The price listed on each component is the lowest I could
> find from all the stores I searched.
>
> PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HJwhLP <https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/HJwhLP>
>
> CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  (€949.00 @ Topchat.com)
> CPU Cooler: Fractal Design Celsius+ S36 Dynamic X2 PWM 87.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€145.66 @ Amazon)
> Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€574.98 @ Amazon)
> Memory: 2x G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) F4-4000C16D-32GTZR DDR4-4000 CL16 Memory  (€470.95 @ Amazon)
> Storage: 2x Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (€216.38 @ Amazon)
> Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB Speedster MERC 319 Ultra Video Card (€1925.89 @ Amazon)
> Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Compact ATX Mid Tower Case  (€132.78 @ Amazon)
> Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 860 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€185.50 @ Amazon)
> Case Fan: 3x Noctua A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140 mm Fan  (€21.90 @ Amazon)
> Monitor: LG 27GN950-B 27.0" 3840x2160 144 Hz Monitor  (€742.49 @ Amazon)
>
> Total: €6096.66

A lot of these components sound quite alright, and reasonable for a
development workstation. Then there are various things which
unfortunately make it hit my uncomfortability level, mostly due to not
knowing how the context of the fund.

The most recent purchase I recall was for two pieces of shared
hardware going for about 1500eur (1,299 gbp) which together would be
around 3000eur. Personally, without knowing the state or growth rate
of the fund I would be much more comfortable with something along
those lines.

Best regards,
Jan