I am planning on building a small gaming/web server with a couple of buddies of mine, and we don't have a ton of money to spend. I would say that most we could spend on the CPU is about $250. I was wondering what the most appropriate server would be.
Should I just use a desktop PC such as an AMD 8350/9590 or an Intel i7 4790k? Or would it be better to get an Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron?
Also, this is a SERVER computer. There will be no gaming/editing on this computer, just web hosting and game server hosting.
I have heard that it is not worth buying a high-end server CPU because they are better in multi-socket boards. Is this a true statement?
Thanks for the help!![/quotemsg]
wes koerber,
Much of the decision should be based on the data load- amount of data, size of typical transfers, expected performance, and the usual running time.
As others have mentioned, server hardware is designed for continuous running at high performance with complete reliability. Servers though are very noisy and expensive, with redundant power supplies and sometimes very expensive RAID controllers and so on. The serious CPU's are very expensive, there are Xeon E7-8000 series that cost over $7,000 each (and the motherboards ($2,500+) that can use eight CPU's ($56,000) - and 4TB of RAM -$30,000?).
However, in my view, the best solution would be to buy a used workstation that has near server quality components and a good quality gigabit Ethernet switch. Likely systems for this use would be Dell Precisions- the T3500 /T5500 / T7500 /T3610, HP z-series z240 / z420, and Lenovo Thinkerators which I don't know about really- S20?.
Patience shopping can provide a system of very high quality, good performance, and reliability. For example:
Dell Precision T3500 Quad Core Xeon W3565 3.2GHz 250GB 12GB Win 7 Pro #56338 > sold for $200
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Quad-Core-Xeon-W3565-3-2GHz-250GB-12GB-Win-7-Pro-56338-/231705014005?hash=item35f2b1eef5%3Ag%3AG4gAAOSwuTxWAXxj&nma=true&si=kTCcg0Z8WeRM%252FQbR9bGmCvAtvJQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
The CPU of that one is very good:
http://ark.intel.com/products/39721/Intel-Xeon-Processor-W3565-8M-Cache-3_20-GHz-4_80-GTs-Intel-QPI
Quad core at a useful 3.2 /3.46GHz though an old fashioned 130W.
This kind of system is limited to a degree by the DDR1333 RAM, but it's ECC error correcting and inexpensive. I bought 24GB in 4GB Samsung modules for a bit over $100 for a T5500.
If you think you will have a lot of data that you need fast to quite a lot of users, consider a Precision T7500 as these can use dual CPU's. have more drive bays, and an 1100W PSU.
Another tactic along these lines is to buy a system of lower specification and upgrade it:
Purchased 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]
I spent about $800 on this to have:
Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro 4000(3GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]
And the T5500 can add a second X5680 for about another $300.
Dell Precision T3500 Xeon QC 2.26Ghz, 12GB, 500GB RAID1, Win7 Pro 64 and more! > sold for $51
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Xeon-QC-2-26Ghz-12GB-500GB-RAID1-Win7-Pro-64-and-more-/201438900445?hash=item2ee6b1b0dd%3Ag%3A9rwAAOSwMmBV42f8&nma=true&si=kTCcg0Z8WeRM%252FQbR9bGmCvAtvJQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Then consider a W3690 6-core @ 3.47 /3.73GHz for under $250.
> and this system like the other three used Precision I've had it the last five years has been completely reliable.
In the example T3500, consider a good SSD for the OS /Applications a reasonable LSI RAIN controller to convert the disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s:
LSI 6Gb/s SAS/SATA PCIe x8 Host Bus Adapter 9260-4i L3-25121-61A > sold for $100
And then two or three HD's of a reasonable size that may be put into a RAID 1+0 of some kind. WD Black are very good performing and have a 5-year warranty, but the LSI controller can run very fast SAS drives also. I have a Precision 390 (Xeon X3230, 8GB, Quadro K600) that is going to run 146GB and 2X 300GB 15K SAS drives on a PERC 6/i controller.
Then a good networks switch. I have had very good luck with a Netgear GS108-400NAS 8-port gigibit and CAT6 cables that link four systems and three printers.
The good feature of this approach is that you can have a system that might be useful more or less right away on some level. This saves researching, ordering, and assembling- you focus time and costs on performance upgrades and the total cost is much less- the whole original system costs less than the planned CPU purchase only.
Cheers,
BambiBoom
HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15
Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)