Server system to a gaming one?

[evilsizer]

Hi,

I'm looking for suggestions of turning the following components into a viable gaming rig.

I've been given a server with a Supermicro x8dti-f motherboard, 2 Xeon 5504 cpus, in a SC 745TQ-R800B case.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/qpi/5500/x8dti-f.cfm
http://ark.intel.com/products/40711/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5504-(4M-Cache-2_00-GHz-4_80-GTs-Intel-QPI)
http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4u/745/sc745tq-r800.cfm

I'm thinking of removing the 8 15k 136gig in raid and replacing them with a single ssd and a single 2T hdd. I don't need a lot of storage space. This would also add more open space for a water cooling setup in the front of the case.

I've built and repaired pcs for years, but I've never built a performance system. So I'm not completely clueless, just performance ignorant.

Just wondering what you would recommend without removing the 3 basic components I stated above. I know there are better boards and much better cpus, but budget is $1000 or less. Between water cooling, memory, SSD/HDD, and video card, I need to keep those three to stay in budget.

Thanks,
E

 

[o1die]

I would keep your server intact and start over. A new case isn't much; you can either continue using the server or sell it. You can build a new gaming setup for 1k, with a budget of about $200 for the graphics card.

 

[FinneousPJ]

You should sell them and buy an i5, it'll be a lot faster.

 

[evilsizer]

Thanks o1die and FinneousPJ. I was wondering if I would just be better off selling it and building one from scratch. Looks like Ebay will have a new post soon.

 

[Pinhedd]

Hi,

I'm looking for suggestions of turning the following components into a viable gaming rig.

I've been given a server with a Supermicro x8dti-f motherboard, 2 Xeon 5504 cpus, in a SC 745TQ-R800B case.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/qpi/5500/x8dti-f.cfm
http://ark.intel.com/products/40711/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5504-(4M-Cache-2_00-GHz-4_80-GTs-Intel-QPI)
http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4u/745/sc745tq-r800.cfm

I'm thinking of removing the 8 15k 136gig in raid and replacing them with a single ssd and a single 2T hdd. I don't need a lot of storage space. This would also add more open space for a water cooling setup in the front of the case.

I've built and repaired pcs for years, but I've never built a performance system. So I'm not completely clueless, just performance ignorant.

Just wondering what you would recommend without removing the 3 basic components I stated above. I know there are better boards and much better cpus, but budget is $1000 or less. Between water cooling, memory, SSD/HDD, and video card, I need to keep those three to stay in budget.

Thanks,
E

Servers are really really loud. Dual socket systems also put out a lot of heat and the PSUs often lack PCIe power connectors.

 

[evilsizer]

Pinhedd,

It is really loud, 9 fans in the entire system. That's why I was planning on going with a water cooled system. Well the noise and heat combined. I hadn't checked the power connectors. I'll probably end up trying to sell it and add the profits to the money I have set aside already to build a better system.

Now I'm wondering if it's better to go with a higher end Video Card or two slightly lower end cards.

 

[Pinhedd]

Pinhedd,

It is really loud, 9 fans in the entire system. That's why I was planning on going with a water cooled system. Well the noise and heat combined. I hadn't checked the power connectors. I'll probably end up trying to sell it and add the profits to the money I have set aside already to build a better system.

Now I'm wondering if it's better to go with a higher end Video Card or two slightly lower end cards.

Ah I see. Servers are generally equipped with very high end cooling systems which actively monitor the fans to make sure that they're running. They're also divided in such a fashion that all fans are necessary for proper operation. If a fan fails or is disabled, you'll probably hear about it from the firmware.

As for the video card, it's always better to go with one really powerful card over two lower end cards. Crossfire and SLI gains are hit and miss across the board.

How much do you think you'd sell it for?

 

[evilsizer]

Two xeons recently sold for $300 on ebay, the board is $350-$450, and the case is around $500 to $800. Throw in the 8 15k 136gig drives maybe $40 each, dvd drive $20, 4 gig of memory(small amount I know) $20, and a low end geoforce 210 silent card. The system is worth on the low end for used parts around $1k based on a quick amazon/ebay/froogle search.

If you're interested though, I would be curious what you might offer. If you were interested in the whole system, I would let it go for less just so I wouldn't have to part it out.

 

[evilsizer]

$500 is probably what I would shoot for for the system. Enough for a resonable video card and a good cpu. I would also go for the right trade.

 

[Pinhedd]

$500 is probably what I would shoot for for the system. Enough for a resonable video card and a good cpu. I would also go for the right trade.

I don't have the cash at the moment and seeing as I've got tons of old rackmounts still sitting around I don't really have much of a use for it right now either. I was just wondering, It's a good box to be sure though. You could probably get at least $1000 to $1500 for it, $500 would be a steal

 

[evilsizer]

Thanks for the advice. I just worked out a system that I'm interested in building that would cost around $1,600, so I'll see what I can get out of it. Good thing is that I'm in no rush. Microcenter, Newegg, and Fry's will have sales at the end of November, so I should be able to cut off another couple of hundred then.