Re-purposing an old HP ProLiant DL380 G5 2R Server as a space engineers server

Is been a while but I recall Compaq stuff had lots of proprietary stuff in it.

RileyArcsapps,

Overall, unless this server is very inexpensive, I feel there are wiser investments for server use and especially if you also need workstation functions. The specifications I've seen:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04286057.pdf

> show that this is an LGA771 system using DDR2 667. These are still useful but:

1. The Xeon E5345 is 2.33GHz - a low clock speed- without a turbo speed and not hyperthreading.
2. The memory is DDR2-667 which is slow and very hot running.
3. Even with a RAID controller the disk subsystem means this system is quite limited.
4. This server could not be in the same room as the working space due to noise.

Especially if you need additional workstation function, you might consider going a couple of generations forward to LGA1366 /X58 chipset which uses faster, cheaper DDR3 1333 and the Xeons are faster with hyperthreading: Dell Precision T3500 / T5500 / T7500 or HP 400 / 600 /800. In both cases, the upper two in the line may use dual CPUs and the Xeon X5690 is 6-cores at 3.47 / 3.37Ghz. the T3500 can use the W3690 6-core 3.47 / 3.73GHz.

I bought a Precision T5500 for $171:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Original): Xeon E5620 quad core @ 2.4 / 2.6 GHz > 6GB DDR3 ECC Reg 1333 > Quadro FX 580 (512MB) > Dell PERC 6/i SAS /SATA controller > Seagate Cheetah 15K 146GB > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1479 / CPU = 4067 / 2D= 520 / 3D= 311 / Mem= 1473 / Disk= 1208]

> which as is would be faster than the HP Proliant in every respect- as server or workstation.

I bought a Xeon X5680 for $200, 24GB RAM ($120) and a used Quadro 4000 ($240) and Samsung 840 SSD ($70). In all I think the investment was a total value of about $900:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011)(Revised) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro 4000 (2GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Pending upgrade: PERC H310 PCIe SAS /SATA RAID controller, 2X WD Black 1TB (RAID 1)(Converts disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s) (Costs: PERC > $60 , 2nd Wd Black $75.)

So you could buy a slower workstation, put it in use and as time and funds permit, improve it with plug-in items. the RAID controller that provides in effect SATA II isk performance is especially important.

Flight dynamics simulations and wind tunnel analysis is tremendously CPU, RAM, and disk intensive- everytihing has to be good except the GPU needs good 2D. If you running 3D modeling then the GPU needs to be very good also. A freind I know is running Catia for shipbuilding and those systems use two Quadro K6000's. I configured a system for a friend that was going to run extensive flight dynamics problems in Matlab and this system was expensive- over $9,000 using a pair of Xeon E5-2643 v3's and 128GB RAM.

However, with some patient shopping, an upgrade plan, and some local networking, I think a depreciated workstation will much better performing and more versatile.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

The firm's current systems, used for industrial design, architecture, and graphic design:

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 4968 > CPU= 13950 / 2D= 830 / 3D=3481 / Mem= 2767 / Disk= 4716] 6.20.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro 4000 (2GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Pending upgrade: PERC H310 PCIe SAS /SATA RAID controller, 2X WD Black 1TB (RAID 1)(Converts disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s)

Pending upgrade: Quadro K4200 (4gb)

HP z420 (2013) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > AMD V4900 (1GB) > Seagate 500GB > Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 2372 / CPU = 9001 / 2D= 712 / 3D= 1353/ Mem= 2261 / Disk= 712]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 667 ECC> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys WMP600N WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 and Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit >
[ Passmark system Rating = 1859, CPU = 8528 / 2D= 512 / 3D=1097 Mem= 730, Disk= 929]
With Quadro 4000 >
[ Passmark system Rating = 1976, CPU = 8625 / 2D= 505 / 3D=2000 Mem= 742, Disk= 923]

Dell Precision 390 (2006) (Revised): Xeon X3230 quad-core @ 2.67GHz > 8 GB DDR2 ECC 667 > Firepro V4900 (1GB) > 2X WD 320GB >Linksys WMP600N WiFi > Dell 24" > 1920 X 1200 > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1458, CPU = 3699 / 2D= 431 / 3D=1350 / Mem= 885 / Disk=552]

Pending Upgrade: PERC 6/i SAS/SATA RAID controller, 146GB and 300GB 15K SAS drives from Dell Precision T5500 (Original)

Dell Dimension E520 (2006)( Revised): Core2 Duo E6700 dual core @2.66GHz > 4GB DDR2 667 > GeForce GT440 (1GB GDDR5) > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[Passmark system rating = 1219, CPU = 2024 / 2D= 457 / 3D=978 / Mem= 828 / Disk=576]

HP Elite m9426f (2007) Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz > 8GB DDR2 667 > AMD Radeon 6650 > Seagate 750GB > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > Dell 17" LCD