Comparing 3 builds for virtual machine server

[zer0net]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks

Budget Range: $1000 - 1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: run 6+ VMs

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS (Lubuntu)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca, ncix.ca, tigerdirect.ca

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: no preference, open to suggestions

Overclocking: maybe

SLI or Crossfire: I dont think so

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: I need the system to be able to run 6+ VMs running linux or windows OS/Server OS


BUILD # 1 (AMD Phenom II X6)


CPU:AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849 [$169.99]

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510 [149.99]

Memory: 2x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL (total of 16GB)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 [ 107.98]

Hard Drive:3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701 [119.97]

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 [149.99]

case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case



BUILD #2

CPU:AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz 8MB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8150FRGUBOX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960 [279.99]

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510 [149.99]

Memory: 2x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL (total of 16GB)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 [ 107.98]

Hard Drive:3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701 [119.97]

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 [149.99]

case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case


BUILD #3

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070 [319.99]

Mobo: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265 [199.99]

OR

Mobo: Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62701&vpn=GA-Z68XP-UD3&manufacture=Gigabyte [158.99]

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 [107.98]


Hard Drive:3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701 [119.97]

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 [149.99]

case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196 [89.99]



Which of the builds will give me the best performance for the buck? please feel free to recommend alternate solutions.

Thank you

 

[wiinippongamer]

For servers, I think the thuban is a better bang for buck, but the performance difference to the 2600k justifies it's price.

BUT, with P67 you'd need a dedicated GPU which I assume you don't need nor want.

I'd swap the mobo for this: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62701&vpn=GA-Z68XP-UD3&manufacture=Gigabyte

Also that PSU is way overkill considering you're only using onboard graphics, This one will get it done just as good: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

 

[zer0net]

Thank you for replying wiinippongamer, price aside, which would perform better in VM environment? would the core i7 outperform the x6 or FX? even though it has only 4 physical cores? i thought having a dedicated core for each VM would increase its performace?

Nice mobo, i will switch to that, I picked an overkill PSU incase i wanted to add a graphics card in there and/or double the memory to 32GB.

 

[wiinippongamer]

The 2600k would perform better in just about everything, it has 8 threads that you can assign individually.

 

[zer0net]

But wouldn't more physical cores be better for VMs than the virtual cores?

 

[wiinippongamer]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1643203

The 2600k is faster even on a VM environment.

 

[zer0net]

So I have decided to go with Intel based build thanx to advice by wiinippongamer. I then ran into a friend of mine and he suggested a similar build but a server class... (will most likely be running ESXi)


CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 Sandy Bridge 3.2GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80623E31230
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115083CVF [$247.99]

mobo: SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182253 [$204.99]

Memory: 2x Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Model KVR1333D3D4R9S/8G
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139140 [$197.98]

Case+PSU: SUPERMICRO CSE-732D4-865B Black Pedestal Server Chassis 865W AC power supply (cooling-redundant) w/ PFC 2 External 5.25" Drive Bays
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152173 [$224.99]

HDD: 3x Seagate ST31000524AS Barracuda Hard Drive - 1TB, SATA 6Gbps, 7200 RPM, 32MB
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=61389&CatId=2459 [$209.91]

 

[wiinippongamer]

Well the 2600k is a bit faster: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E31230+%40+3.20GHz http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e31230-sandy-bridge-benchmarks-review-with-hyperthreading/ , and has a unlocked multiplier so you can easily overclock to 4.4+ghz on the stock cooler, and get a huge boost in performance. And it has no graphics on-chip( can't use onboard GPU)

Only advantage would be ECC memory support, so you could expnd to 32gb or more if you wanted to in the future, but the 2600k is still the better buy.

 

[zer0net]

Well the 2600k is a bit faster: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E31230+%40+3.20GHz http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e31230-sandy-bridge-benchmarks-review-with-hyperthreading/ , and has a unlocked multiplier so you can easily overclock to 4.4+ghz on the stock cooler, and get a huge boost in performance. And it has no graphics on-chip( can't use onboard GPU)

Only advantage would be ECC memory support, so you could expnd to 32gb or more if you wanted to in the future, but the 2600k is still the better buy.

I agree with you...however wouldn't server class hardware be better for 24/7 operation?

thanx

 

[wiinippongamer]

Not really, as long as you keep temperatures cool there'll be no issues running 24/7

 

[zer0net]

Best answer selected by zer0net.