Best $500 gaming server?

[stultus]

Trying to build a gaming server for bf1942 and other future games (doom3, hl2, etc etc).

Needed: case/PSU, motherboard, ram, HD, cpu

Was looking at an antec SLK3700/Abit IS7-E/1024 Kingmax PC3500, 2.6c retail, and 80 gig WD SE drive at newegg. This came out to about $570 before shipping.

Can anyone comment on where it might be good to cut back, if it'd be smarter to just build a cheap xp2500 rig, etc etc?

 

[Alex]

hmmm not sure never built a game server before but im guessing you should have a lot of good fast ram, more importantly than processor speed so i say get an xp2500 with like a gig or more of pc2700 and you should be fine

 

[DWW]

SLK3700 $63
ABit NF7-S V2 $98
Barton 2500+ $90
2x512MB Crucial PC2700 $160
36.7GB Raptor $109
----
$520

Yes a little bit over budget. I'm sure you could find some cheaper RAM and get the board and barton elsewhere for maybe $20 less or so. So around $500. I'd toss another Raptor on personally and do RAID-0 because its a game server... map loading times are the most annoying part of games, and you want the server to be able to load it -fast-.

 

[MatthewMaes]

I'm also looking at doing the same thing. Is Pentium or AMD better for a gaming server? Be honest, dont just say your favorite because i like AMD, but I will build a Pentium if needed. Also, looking for a mobo for this machine. I wont overclock, so thats not a big issue, does it matter what I get?

thx

 

[johnjkr1]

Three basic rules for a game server:

1.) Fast CPU
2.) Tons of RAM
3.) Fast storage

THE WD 10k raptor is a great suggestion, the faster the hard drive, the faster the level changes and starts. As for AMD vs. Intel, if you not going Dual CPU, AMD makes alot of sense since you can get more processor for your money. And any game server needs at least a gig of memory. You can get by with 512, but why?

Oh, and your going to need one hell of an internet connection..I've tried BF over a damn fast cable connection, 10 players max

 

[MatthewMaes]

ya, a good connection is needed, this is going to be for lan parties. At least mine is!

 

[Boogak]

I'm wondering if Hyperthreading would make a difference with game servers? Maybe the ability to host more than 1 game simultaneously (provided you have enough RAM and bandwidth to support it).

 

[Zinn2b]

DON"T take this to the bank but here goes anyway YOU need all the RAM you can by for a gaming system server that could eat most your$500 up right there, also raptor hard drives or better; asus has a M/B board that well run on 2 P4 CPU Man I just don't see how you can build a server system $500 dollars that well run todays games without getting a ton of lag that know one well play on I know I seem harsh and I sorry but to attract gamers you need a system that well serve todays high flying pc's plus you really need a top quality GPU for a gaming system that cost at least $1000 remember all those gamers you want to play on your server well be running off your GPU

 

[Zinn2b]

WELL maybe you don't need the great GPU after doing a little reseach it doesn't seem to be a big deal but FAST H/D DUAL cpu AND a ton of RAM is a must ECC preferred

 

[BigFatCow]

Originally posted by: Zinn2b
WELL maybe you don't need the great GPU after doing a little reseach it doesn't seem to be a big deal but FAST H/D DUAL cpu AND a ton of RAM is a must ECC preferred

video card doesnt matter at all when building a game server.

You need to tell us how many people your wanting to have play on the server under bf1942. For a decent amount of people I would recommend a 2500+ barton, nforce2 mobo, a fast hd like SCSI or SATA (you dont need much space for a game server so a 15k 18gig SCSI drive would probally be the best.) and after you get all that get as much ram as your budget will allow you.

 

[Corporate Thug]

you can get the HDD cheaper AR and you can get 512 mb of ram

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Boogak
I'm wondering if Hyperthreading would make a difference with game servers? Maybe the ability to host more than 1 game simultaneously (provided you have enough RAM and bandwidth to support it).

No. If the server supports HT, that's another matter.
But normally...no. HT can slow tasks down.
Let's say server 1 normall takes 2/3 the CPU, so does server 2. So to maximize usage, you enable HT on a P4 and have both running.
So now the extra 1/3 is being used, but you've slowed both down, as they each still need more (you need 4/3, but only have 3/3, and both suffer because of it).

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: Cerb

No. If the server supports HT, that's another matter.
But normally...no. HT can slow tasks down.
Let's say server 1 normall takes 2/3 the CPU, so does server 2. So to maximize usage, you enable HT on a P4 and have both running.
So now the extra 1/3 is being used, but you've slowed both down, as they each still need more (you need 4/3, but only have 3/3, and both suffer because of it).

Slowdowns of HT are pretty much nil, unless you specifically write an application to slow it down with HT.

If you're only running 1 instance, than its running at 100%. If you're running 2 instances (depending on efficiency), it'd balance out to something like 2*2/3. But if you control the thread priority, you can easily make it 100% on one server and 33% on the other.

On the subject, more memory is better than better memory (CL3 is fine). But if you have lots of memory (say > 1GiB), then ECC is a must. HDD makes no difference in a game server (albeit to certain extremes) because you dont do any data transfer intensive tasks (maybe uploading a map that someone doesnt have).

Personally, I'd get HT because it offers more flexibility. Simple example is a large CounterStrike pub (26 ppl) with a small scrim server (12 ppl) on the side or whatever combinations there are.

 

[BigFatCow]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: Cerb

No. If the server supports HT, that's another matter.
But normally...no. HT can slow tasks down.
Let's say server 1 normall takes 2/3 the CPU, so does server 2. So to maximize usage, you enable HT on a P4 and have both running.
So now the extra 1/3 is being used, but you've slowed both down, as they each still need more (you need 4/3, but only have 3/3, and both suffer because of it).

Slowdowns of HT are pretty much nil, unless you specifically write an application to slow it down with HT.

If you're only running 1 instance, than its running at 100%. If you're running 2 instances (depending on efficiency), it'd balance out to something like 2*2/3. But if you control the thread priority, you can easily make it 100% on one server and 33% on the other.

On the subject, more memory is better than better memory (CL3 is fine). But if you have lots of memory (say > 1GiB), then ECC is a must. HDD makes no difference in a game server (albeit to certain extremes) because you dont do any data transfer intensive tasks (maybe uploading a map that someone doesnt have).

Personally, I'd get HT because it offers more flexibility. Simple example is a large CounterStrike pub (26 ppl) with a small scrim server (12 ppl) on the side or whatever combinations there are.

Hard Drive does make a difference when the server tries to change the map. If you try to make a BF1942 server with a 5400 rpm drive the clients will stay at the loading screen for a good while before the map even begins to load on their side.

I also agree with you on the ram, get as much ram as you can get becuase the cas latency doesnt matter too much on a server.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: DWW
SLK3700 $63
ABit NF7-S V2 $98
Barton 2500+ $90
2x512MB Crucial PC2700 $160
36.7GB Raptor $109
----
$520

Yes a little bit over budget. I'm sure you could find some cheaper RAM and get the board and barton elsewhere for maybe $20 less or so. So around $500. I'd toss another Raptor on personally and do RAID-0 because its a game server... map loading times are the most annoying part of games, and you want the server to be able to load it -fast-.

I think this setup would do the job quite nicely, for your budget atleast.

 

[Monoman]

Here is my $0.02 on this issue, and I am a admin for a 2x BF1942, DC CoD, 3x UT2K3, UT, CS, and Q3a servers, so you could say I have a little experience is this arena... we mainly use dual MP systems but for a dedicated BF/DC server we use this computer for 64 peeps with a gig of ram. level loads are a little slower than our dual 2400+ with 15k.3 scsi

you can manke that system work like a champ to do what you need. IMHO thats where I would start and at $374 and adda gig of ram will put you a little over $500

good luck and have fun

Mitch

 

[Mandrill]

We need more info regarding how many players, how many game's you are planning to serve at the same time, etc

 

[drag]

Your biggest problem is going to be bandwidth. Any computer for 500 bucks would probably be more then enough then to handle a T1 line.



If you building it for lan servers then just go to newegg.com and pick out the fastest CPU you can find with at least 256 megs of ram. THis means AMD, of course, because dollar for dollar it's the most powerfuill proccessor you can find.