Xeon Stability

[lemonart]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine is wanting me to do a system build for him. He's doing a lot of audio work.

A couple years ago another friend of his offered him an old server (single core xeon). He needed a second system at the time so he figured he'd give it a try.

Long story short... he LOVED it. He says he's never experienced a more "solid" feeling system.

Anyhow, as I said he wants a new system since the old one is getting a bit out of date for his current projects. I was going to build him an i7, but he's really interested in a new xeon based system. I'm tried it myself and I see what he means by the "solid" feel.

I'm wondering what contributes to this feel... is it the xeon/server processor itself or could it possibly be more the use of ECC RAM?

Anyhow, never built a server system for non-server use before and I'm wondering if anyone has insight into a) techniques on how to do so, and b) what contributes to the different feel from a consumer system.

Best,

Lem

 

[WR2]

Hello lemonart;
I think the major contribution to that "solid" feel you mention is the stability of the drivers that support the hardware, and not the hardware itself.
For that reason if 'solid stability' is your primary goal you might be better off recommending a server from an OEM like Dell or HP.

 

[MU_Engineer]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine is wanting me to do a system build for him. He's doing a lot of audio work.

A couple years ago another friend of his offered him an old server (single core xeon). He needed a second system at the time so he figured he'd give it a try.

Long story short... he LOVED it. He says he's never experienced a more "solid" feeling system.

Anyhow, as I said he wants a new system since the old one is getting a bit out of date for his current projects. I was going to build him an i7, but he's really interested in a new xeon based system. I'm tried it myself and I see what he means by the "solid" feel.

I'm wondering what contributes to this feel... is it the xeon/server processor itself or could it possibly be more the use of ECC RAM?

Anyhow, never built a server system for non-server use before and I'm wondering if anyone has insight into a) techniques on how to do so, and b) what contributes to the different feel from a consumer system.

Best,

Lem

The solid feeling is most likely due to the system having ECC RAM, the motherboard is high-quality and has very good and stable drivers, and nothing is overclocked. All processors running at stock will be rock-solid stable, however, you would need to get a Xeon today if you wanted an Intel CPU that supports ECC RAM. Core i7s won't do ECC.

It is very possible to build a server for non-server use, it's called a workstation. If you want to build an Intel-based unit, get a single-socket LGA1366 server motherboard from Intel, Supermicro, TYAN, or maybe even ASUS, an LGA1366 Xeon processor (Xeon 3500/3600 series- the 5500s and 5600s will work but are more expensive and are really designed for dual CPU setups), a suitable quantity of unbuffered ECC memory, a good PSU, and then a hard drive and suitable case.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Best answer selected by mousemonkey.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey