EDIT - Looking to replace desktop CPU/MB...

[mvbighead]

Currently have a Q6600 on an Intel board that is, simply put, not working like I would like. It won't accept the PCI video cards I have (except for a Rage XL 8mb card I came up with somewhere). Getting blue screens trying to use older NICs in HyperV. At one point, it was spinning the fans briefly and powering off / back on repeatedly with no post. Removed all hardware, same thing for a while. Reset power, etc., and finally it started working again.

Long story short, this setup (the board I suspect) is just giving me too many headaches. As to the older NICs I had mentioned, I need something other than Intel 1GB adapters (at least one) as the two Intel NICs (one built in, one add on) in my current setup will not maintain a connection with my DSL modem (multiple OSs, but the link appears and disappears repeatedly) on Intel gigabit adapters. I had an OLD Intel Pro 100 dual NIC that would maintain a connection, but that configuration is only usable in HyperV (ESXi 5.5 will not allow 100Mbps adapters).

All that said, I am considering the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131942

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313426

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113286

Most of these were deals from newegg's letter, so pricewise not sure I can get lower.

Questions are, is there something else I should consider at roughly the same price point. This will be an always on "server" and processing power isn't not supremely important. I could opt for an quad core instead, but $80 vs $110 for the hex core seems like a no brainer to me.

Also, I've read I can enable driver support for the Realtek integrated NIC in ESXi 5.5 and hopefully that will maintain a link connection to my DSL modem. If not, I can alway revert to the Intel Pro 100 dual nic that I have.

Price = low as possible for quad core or better, 8GB DDR3, and built in video.

Not a fan boy, but I like Asus and at this point prefer AMD for the price alone.

Looking to order today or tomorrow most likely.

Lastly, I have a PCIx4 LSI raid card going into the PCIx16 port. That shouldn't disable the integrated video in the board, right?

 

[mvbighead]

Going to throw out another option (of which I may do some testing tonight)...

I can repurpose my existing board and CPU in my desktop as it is quite similar to those listed above. I have 16GB of RAM in it, and can halve that and use 8GB in the server and 8GB in my desktop (I only have that much because I bought all 16GB for $50 some time back).

At that point, I can rebuild my desktop using some configuration with:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116782

Or some other I5. But this actually would update my desktop which has been the same for some time. I don't particularly have to upgrade, but if I can get a faster CPU and not buy more RAM, why not.

EDIT: Maybe this board:
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel...55+motherboard



EDIT #2: If it helps my existing CPU is an X3 HEKKA Black AM3 something or other at 3.0GHz. I have it on an Asus board and the 4th core is unlocked, but otherwise running stock speeds.

 

[mfenn]

The parts you listed in your OP look good to me. The board supports Hybrid Crossfire, so it shouldn't disable the IGP just because you put a card into the x16 slot. You will have to manually install the Realtek driver VIB file to get the NIC working in 5.5, VMware in their infinite wisdom decided to remove it.

As for quad versus hex, I would honestly save the money at get the FX-4130. That $30 savings leaves you only $23 away from getting 16GB of RAM, and RAM is the most precious commodity on a hypervisor.

 

[mvbighead]

The parts you listed in your OP look good to me. The board supports Hybrid Crossfire, so it shouldn't disable the IGP just because you put a card into the x16 slot. You will have to manually install the Realtek driver VIB file to get the NIC working in 5.5, VMware in their infinite wisdom decided to remove it.

As for quad versus hex, I would honestly save the money at get the FX-4130. That $30 savings leaves you only $23 away from getting 16GB of RAM, and RAM is the most precious commodity on a hypervisor.

I am actually pretty close to deciding on the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116782

I am intending to put that in my desktop to replace the x3 (unlocked to x4) 3.0GHz AMD to run as the ESXI host. Same NIC, similar CPU, and enough cores for what I need. My ESXi host will most likely run a firewall (Pfsense or similar), a NAS solution (FreeNas maybe), and perhaps a server of some sort.

Lastly, I have 4x4 GB of RAM in my current desktop, and 2x2 hanging in storage, so I'll likely have 12gb on the ESXi host and 8GB in my desktop. More than enough for each, I think.

So at this point, $255 for the parts listed above seem to be a significant upgrade for my desktop, and then I can simply have the X4 type setup (as you mentioned) using my old parts. I realize there are 1150 configs as the current gen, but unfortunately the above two items are most cost effective. Unfortunately I cannot acquire the MicroCenter deals due to instore pickup, so I am leaning towards the above. Any thoughts?

 

[mfenn]

I assume you have some sort of GPU? The i5-3350P does not have an IGP (well it does, but it is fused off).

 

[mvbighead]

I assume you have some sort of GPU? The i5-3350P does not have an IGP (well it does, but it is fused off).

Yep. A 4870 is my current top GPU. I do have other options as well, but that is my current gaming card, as old and slow as it is. I also have other options, but that is what I'll be using most likely.

 

[mvbighead]

Well, did some testing, and it appears my old board will be suitable for ESXi using the Realtek NIC and the one add on Intel NIC. So with that in mind, I am changing it up and shifting my full focus to a desktop upgrade. Rather than create a separate thread, I'll just list one new option here.

At this point, I am between the Intel I5 3350P mentioned above and a Z77 board, or:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113285
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130679

Vishera FX-8320, AMD 970 MSI board.

Pros are price and performance seem to be better all around with this particular AMD rig. I've been happy with my X4 Phenom II (3.0GHz). Only thing is, I might like to try the i5 series in my desktop, but the boards are more expensive.

As it is, I can spend about $225 on an 8 core, 3.5/4.0 AMD, or spend $255 on a locked i5 quad core at 3.1/3.3 GHz.

Keeping the price under $250 for board, CPU, and cooler, is there something else to consider. Kinda liking the sound of this AMD, and it saves me money. Just not sure if there is any reason to avoid it.

Edit: benchmarks here: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I've seen some others, but considering the price, it seems like the AMD is a no brainer. But is it?

 

[mvbighead]

Ugh, one last option I am seeing thanks to newegg's new flyer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157387
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116896

Intel Haswell 4670 / Asrock B85 Pro4

$265. It's slightly over my budget, but seems to be (minus the K) one of the better options available. Question is, are any of the Intel options worth the premium, or should I go with a Vishera AMD 8 core CPU instead? (I will add that I'll probably use this platform for the next 4-5 years, so perhaps more games will take advantage of 8 cores at that time)

Performance for everything I do has been fine with 4 cores, and I don't play the latest/greatest games. So purely from a cost/performance standpoint in less than the most modern games, what say you?

I will add that I intend to use this platform for 4-5 years, and it could eventually take over as the ESXi host some day too. That being said, if games go more multithreaded, and will the 8 core CPU give me more benefit than the more pricey Intel quads? At this point, i am still leaning AMD, but just want to know what the opinions are.

 

[mvbighead]

Well, after kicking this around enough, I am about to pull the trigger on the 4570:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/698?vs=702
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4570-vs-Intel-Core-i5-3470

There are a few areas that the extra cores truly shine, but office productivity, system management, blah blah blah, most are noticeably improved on the Intel. While it is more expensive, it does seem like more thing benefit by Intel's technology rather than AMD'd cores. I won't be overclocking much if at all, so I think the Intel is the better bet.

Any suggestions on what I should do for the board? Asrock was pretty premature the last time I had used one, but they seem to be a bigger name now. Thoughts?

 

[mvbighead]

Well, I went ahead and placed the order. In the process, I did find out that the B85 I originally identified does not have RAID, and the H87 with a promo code does, so I switched to that Asrock board. I intend to use my Corsair SSD for boot and a few things (80GB drive) and then load apps etc on a RAID0 comprised of my two 500GB spinning disks. The B85 did not have RAID support according to the comparison function.

Anyhoo, new system parts will be on the way.

 

[mfenn]

As it is, I can spend about $225 on an 8 core, 3.5/4.0 AMD, or spend $255 on a locked i5 quad core at 3.1/3.3 GHz.

Keeping the price under $250 for board, CPU, and cooler, is there something else to consider. Kinda liking the sound of this AMD, and it saves me money. Just not sure if there is any reason to avoid it.

Edit: benchmarks here: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I've seen some others, but considering the price, it seems like the AMD is a no brainer. But is it?

It seems like you figured it out on your own, but to reinforce: CPU cores and benchmarks are not created equal. Intel cores simply do more work per clock (IPC) than AMD cores in real-world benchmarks.

Also keep in mind that any AMD Bulldozer derivative (all FX and current APUs) only have half as many full cores as their marketing numbers indicate. This is because Bulldozer went with a design where the floating point units are shared between two integer cores rather than having one floating point unit per integer core like Intel and prior AMD chips have. AMD marketing cores are somewhere between a full core and an Intel HyperThread in terms of additional power.

Passmark is an egregiously bad benchmark because it is a fully-synthetic, easily optimized benchmark that represents nothing other than how well a CPU runs Passmark.

 

[mvbighead]

Well, received the stuff. All installed. Upon attempting to install Windows 7 (no SP1), it fails to bring me to the desktop when the install is complete. Everything works fine up to that point. There's a faint dot in the upper left corner, but that is it.

Working to create a slipstreamed SP1 disk to see if that helps. Elsewise, wth? I did boot a linux live CD and that worked fine, no problem. I have tried the 4870, integrated video, and a PCI Radeon something or other thinking it was having a video driver issue, but it still no worky. Ugh.

Only other thing I can figure is slipstreaming the drivers into the install media as well. Anyone else have a thought?

 

[mfenn]

What drive are you installing to? Can you try a different one?

 

[mvbighead]

An F80 Corsair SSD. I suppose it is possible it is fubar, but it was just running Windows 7 on a different build. I have some spare 40GB for testing that I'll try momentarily.

 

[mvbighead]

Looking like it is a problem with the SSD. Dangit. Gonna see if the firmware flash will fix it, and if not... guess someone other than corsair will be getting some money from me.

 

[mvbighead]

Ugh, pretty close to just ordering a Kingston V300 120GB drive that seem to be going for 69.99 everywhere. I've had the F80 drive in 3 of my machines and it will not allow me to flash from 2.0 to 2.4. Seems to be related to problems Corsair flash utilities have with Intel controllers, and the fact that the last system I tried does not have AHCI capabilities. Will hopefully try one more tonight with my previous desktop (now ESXi) box's hardware. That is AMD880 something or other and should have AHCI and be non-Intel. If that don't work... I guess I am spending more money.

 

[mvbighead]

Well, while I am fairly sure I can get the firmware to update on the other hardware, I jsut went ahead and ordered the v300. With $4 upcharge on Prime, I can get it tomorrow and get this thing built and done.

That, and it gives me a faster drive and another 40GB of space. I can just throw the F80 into something else. It was a weird drive anyway, sporadically not detecting on boot and some other things, but when it worked it worked.