My GPU is 1000ft Away!

Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “My GPU is 1000ft Away!”.
We’Ve talked about fiber-optic Thunderbolt cables before, and these things are crazy. Cool. They’ll do 40 gigabit per second to distances as long as 50, meters. And they’re so durable that you can tie them in knots and pull on them like this, without them breaking.. 50 meters, I mean that’s pretty far, but Thunderbolt allows you to daisy-chain multiple docks and peripherals to achieve distances.

Much much further.. We have got six spools of 50-meter Thunderbolt cables and we are going to be hooking up this GPU, almost a thousand feet away from our computer.. That’S right., I’m gon na show you guys the new unit, where we’re gon na be doing some more of our benchmarking and testing and we’re gon na run the cable all the way there. And it’s sponsored by NZXT’s BLD.. So naturally, we’re gon na be using one of their gaming PCs as our source, except obviously we’re gon na want to rip that 3080 Ti out, put it in an external enclosure and then go for a little walk: here., (, vibrant music ). Obviously, before we go off adventuring, we wan na get a baseline for what kind of performance we would expect running a normal, just three-foot, copper, cable from our Thunderbolt port to our GPU here..

So we’re gon na go ahead and fire up Shadow of the Tomb Raider.. I’M running at the highest settings: 1440p exclusive fullscreen, with motion blur disabled., Ah come on All right: 60 FPS average.. Now, let’s see what happens when we take it somewhere, else. David.

Do we wan na jump the fence or do we wan na like go around or what [ David ] Jump? The fence baby, You wan na jump, the fence, [ David ], Heck, yeah., All right., Let’s jump the fence baby.. In that case, I’m gon na put the 3080 Ti down. These zippers better hold up. ( walkie-talkie thuds ) Ooh crap, I’m having too much fun already.

[, Colin ]. You need me to hold one end here, Yeah and go ahead and plug it in.. Hopefully our neighbors don’t like trip over this.. I hope this works. I only tested it with two cables. ( all laugh, ), Ow, ow, ow ow, stop! Oh my God.

This fence is barbed wire. David.! Oh no they’re backing their truck in. Long story..

We need to run a cable all the way from this building to one over there. You’re backing in now, right, [ Truck Driver, ], Yeah., And then are you guys done for the day? Oh boy, If I got it out of your way now, then would we be good after that probably [ Truck Driver, ], Yeah., Hey, look: it’s Brian., Hullo. You’re good to plug in over. ( walkie-talkie beeps ), We’re plugged in.. I will go plug in the GPU..

Why don’t you come back and fire up Tomb, Raider Where’d it go! Oh we’re gon na make it. [ David ]. Are you sure? Well, no, I’m not entirely confident, because the thing about Thunderbolt it requires very, very tight tolerances in terms of latency. At 300 meters. We are approaching the point where, even at the speed of light, that is a non-negligible amount of latency for something like a high-performance, graphics, card.. So I’m hoping we will make it the full 350 meters.. But this is by no means a guarantee.. I actually lied a little because you don’t need both a hub and the GPU at one node at a time., So we only need one of these at a time.. We only need one of these at a time yeah.. Well, that’s fine., We’ll test 50 meters, first.. Okay, so is this thing on Hello, Oh yeah, yeah RGB is on okay., Oh man, these hikes back and forth they’re gon na get pretty stupid.. That’S a long way.

Around. We got the small …. Let’S go. We’ve got a blue screen on the computer, so I’m just restarting it.

( walkie-talkie beeps ), Okay, good luck.. I unplugged it while the game was running and I think it just got a little confused.. We are off to a real good start: here. Ooh. That’S very interesting.: We’ve dropped 15 % of our performance, already. (, walkie-talkie, beeps, ), Wow, Okay, come grab this cable then., 15 %. Is that because of the raw distance? Is it because of the signal translation? That’S happening to convert to optical and then back? Will it get worse, I feel like Ned Flanders, just Oh hi there. [ David ] Hi.. Oh, I see you., There’s a Thunderbolt glory hole going on over here. Heh yeah., My poor new jacket., All right.

So, let’s go ahead. We’re gon na unplug, our Thunderbolt GPU plug in our first Thunderbolt dock, which is acting as a …. Hey Colin Hi. Razer in their infinite wisdom, doesn’t label this bloody thing.. Does this one support daisy-chaining, I think so.. Let’S double check that ,’cause.

I actually use one of these at home and I think it might not. And I’m gon na go, get the rest of what we need. So another hub. Another jackery and I will be right.

Back. Yeah. I believe what we’ve done here is supposed to work.. Now, something to note is that external GPU’s are really not supposed to be hooked up through a hub at all, let alone five hubs.. We have no idea if this is gon na work at all, let alone. Well, oh hi, there. Hi neighbor.. Would you like, like a graphics card, I would.

And a cable, cable And a cable. And a jackery., Oh right.? Well here, should I just come for a little ride with you. Or you’re just gon na ride on the cart Yeah yeah.. I was just gon na Tell you.

Scoot it., No Five bucks as I scooter with this 3080. Ti Ti. Ti.. That’S something one handed.

Let me tell yah. ( blades rolling, ). Okay, we got the 3080 Ti Linus scooting in the daiquiri and stuff over it.. Really we should have handed it over the fence..

I don’t know what we were thinking. In the meantime. We can spool out this cable straight down the parking lot.. You see how much further we can get this line. A lot. Oh nope, there’s one more winding..

Okay, that’s another 50 meters.. The building we’re going to. Is this the next complex to the right there and it’s unit? 120.? 120. Yeah.

Okay.? Oh, I totally need a …, Oh even better.. I needed both of these things. Make sure it’s powered. [ Linus ]! Oh boy, it’s barbed wire., No way., I’m aiming for that spot right, there. [ David ]. Oh God, What could go? Wrong., Yvonne’s gon na kill, me. (, Linus thuds ).

Now that’s interesting. ( screen taps ). I think our performance is actually better.

This time around.. I think it might’ve just been the driver being kind of like bugged out from the sudden disconnection before. It starting to rain..

So this is my genius idea., We’ll just put a Rubbermaid bin on top of Garbage bags. [ Linus ] Am 55 FPS.. So wait! No! That’S worse, again.

I didn’t see any weird stuttering or anything in the gameplay.. The performance is a little bit worse.. It seems like we’re losing there’s a little bit of overhead with each of our hubs that we’re going through..

You know as much as it might not be as good performance as you would expect from a 3080 Ti, it’s sure as heck running., If our display and our peripherals were at the other end.. So the computer’s got a Thunderbolt connection and we’re gaming over on that side. The run is a hundred meters, but actually it has to go round trip..

So you’ve got your PCI express, run going to your GPU over there. And then the GPU actually has to send back the display port information all the way back to us here.. So it’s going 200 meters.! You guys are good to unplug.. Okay.

Here we go. So unplug that yep. You wan na handle carrying the graphics card. This is our third 50 meter cable. We’re just plug it in willy-nilly., Keep it.: Oh boy., Yeah.

Yup, yup. Yup., Oh geez., Fiber optic, don’t mind being run over right. You’re gon na just drive over the fiber optic.

Layer.. Okay, give it a couple seconds here., But you should see the GPU real soon.. Let’S try and make this faster.. We can run the next line while we wait.

Sorry about the landscaping.. Those are roses: out., Ah, okay, we’re in unit 120. Apparently I have no idea where that is. Do. You know where unit 120 is [.

Passer-By ], Which address? Are you talkin’? I can find out.. What address is unit 120 located in This is very interesting.. I managed to launch the game, but I haven’t made it past the splash screen.

Ooh we’re hitting a limitation.. How close are you guys to the new office? [ David ]? I don’t know which building we’re in.. I see the problem it launched with the wrong GPU.. Let me see if I can get this sorted out on my side.

Still, no information on which building I need to go to classic Linus.. The Nvidia GPU is not showing up.. I’M gon na give the system a quick restart to see if it pops up, but you might wan na give me an unplug and replug. Okay I’ll walk back to it, now..

How sure are you that you’re plugged into the correct ports on the Razor one? The input is the one on the front.. Oh then, I’m definitely not plugged in the right one.. So we’re in the front port now., [, Linus ].

I think at the back. It doesn’t matter. Okay.. I wan na make it very clear., And this is not just because Corning sent us a bunch of their Thunderbolt cables.. This is far beyond what is reasonable for this spec..

We just wan na see the limits.. I got no GPU showing up yet.. Okay, I just unplugged and re-plugged it., It’s still not showing up.. Do you wan na try the same port that I did ( whirling sound )? How much do you wan na bet that he’s already coming over on a scooter, ( all laugh )? It’S that building right there, [ David ], The middle one or the right one Right, there. The one with the red awning there. Yep.

Okay.. He said it was down the right side.. Is it showing up at all I’m like kind of worried that the cable got mushed when someone drove over it. Colin? Can you hear me I’m expecting he’s going to team call me yep there, it is. My walkie-talkie battery died., A shocker okay., Someone myself included and some other guy drove over the cable..

So hopefully it’s still intact.. I think it will be fine.. Do you see it on your side No.? Oh, there should be an LED.

Hold on., Okay, yep.. Okay, we got LEDs on now., So the GPU is definitely on now. And my system is locked up., The GPU just shut up.. Let’S, let’s try replacing that one! Cable! Just to see and we’ll go from there. Worst case scenario, I’ll just take you guys and I’ll show you where the new unit is. Aw, Aw, Aw, Okay, Jamie plug it in are the LEDs on Yeah.

I just blue, screened again.. What did you do? Colin We’re? Trying to turn it off and on again. And clearly it also turns your off and on again. No GPU. What do you think Colin? Can we maybe try to at least plug in a USB drive at the new office and I’ll transfer a file or something It’s? The fact that you’ve got this GCE device or on the other side, something like USB, is not nearly as sensitive to latency so.. I have one of those Samsung T5’s fives in my pocket., Maybe just plug in that T5 and I’ll see if it shows up.. Okay. Let’S do that.

Ah come on And I’m plugging into the T5.. I only see the Seagate FireCuda so far.. Well, the Corning reps did tell us. This is a bad idea..

I don’t think I was. I was CC’d on that email. Retreads.. Are we on all Razor docs so far, There’s two docs. There’s one on the other side of the fence and then one in the middle of the parking lot.. Are you plugged into the one that’s at a hundred meters, then The drive is plugged in at 150. Meters., So you should have one more dock, then right, No we’re plugged in directly into the Thunderbolt cable. That won’t work, because there’s no power., Ah You’re right..

I am ah okay, yep, That’s the limitation of optical cables. While they can carry data, they need to both be powered, and you need to provide separate power for any devices you wan na plug in., So Colin had a little moment there and he tried to plug our drive directly into the dock, which explains why it wasn’t Coming up. So he’s gon na plug in our third dock at the 150 meter mark. And let’s see if this thing shows up., I’m I’m actually pretty hopeful right.

Now. [ David ] Uh-huh Who’s that Now’s as good a time as I need to take a closer look at our source. Here. NZXT BLD’s build systems. Let you configure your pre-built the way that you would a custom rig., So you can go AMD or Intel.. They’Ve got a two year warranty with two business: they build service and everything else about it is custom..

Now we actually got an AMD machine originally, but because everything about NZXT BLD is using off the shelf. Like enthusiast grade custom components, there was absolutely no compatibility issues of any sort. We’re gon na have a link below where you can learn all you need to know about NZXT, BLD and let’s check in with how those guys are doing..

People always tell me. I look awkward when I run.: That’s, probably the case.: Hey, we’re plugged in. You seeing anything over there, they’re going over Thunderbolt rest in peace cables., But it was exciting.

Hello.. Oh, my God, I wasn’t on speaker. Nope., Nothing, hey., No dice., And that kind of makes sense, because nothing would prevent Corning from making a hundred meter or a 200 meter version of their cable other than if just the signaling didn’t handle. That kind of distance.

Very well and we were crazy to even try it in the first place.. I guess there’s a limit to how far you can go with fibers.. We tried, though, we really did. Honestly, I’m pretty pleased we even made it to a hundred meters, even though we didn’t make it to the new office..

So why don’t we head over there and I’ll show you guys the new location kind of talk about what we’re gon na do there.. So unfortunately, we couldn’t find another unit in the same complex that we’re in, but we really need the additional space because we wan na get our hands on some new testing equipment and stuff to really take things to the next level and there’s nothing in our complex.. So, oh, we saw a for sale, sign here., It’s only about 150 meters or about 500 feet as the crow flies from our existing office., But because it’s so winding and roundabout here, we’re probably gon na have to get a handful of electric scooters. So people can kind of scoot back and forth between the two buildings..

Unfortunately, the possession date isn’t for a little bit and the existing owners just couldn’t be bothered to let us in just to show it to you guys today.. So it’s this guy right, here. Unit 120.. So it’s about 3000 square feet.

And obviously we couldn’t do any of this without you guys watching and sponsors like NZXT BLD.. So thanks for sponsoring the video. Thanks, you guys for watching., See ya! Oh, if you’re looking for something else to watch. The last time we played around with fiber optic cabling was in my house when we had a single server and then fiber optic display port and USB running all over the house, so that it could act as the Central brain., That was a pretty fun video..

There was a dead squirrel, which was unfortunate, but yeah Colin found it in the attic .