Need advice on building a server

[yzzozzy]

Hi guys,

First timer here. I need some advice on what components to select for my server. Here's the q & a -

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Software development. Host websites and the like. My team will connect to this box for checkout/checkins of code.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1000 max

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
Intel, Seagate

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I'll re-use my old monitor, keyboard and mouse.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I looked around.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No overclocking.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
ASAP

Im looking to get one of the xeon quadcore budget processors (x3350?) or close to that. This box doubles up as my primary desktop and also as a server. This box will be ON 24x7. I am looking to get most bang for the buck. Please ask if you need more info.

 

[themisfit610]

Sounds like a real workhorse. No overclocking, no fancy schmancy case. I like it. You might look into running a hypervisor, and virtualizing separate operating systems for your development / desktop work. Just an idea

Assuming no gaming, hence the basic GPU

1) CPU - Q9300 Yorkfield - $275 - Love 2.5 GHz, roughly same price as Q6600, and 95w TDP.
2) Mobo - Intel DP35DPM Desktop Board - $110 - Love stability, bottom line. Legacy free, lots of connectivity
3) Case - Antec Solo - $80 - 120mm fan, simple, cool, quiet
4) PSU - Corsair 450W - $70 - All you need (33A @ 12V), quiet. I like Corsair, but there's lots of choices here
5) RAM - 4 GB DDR2 800 $75 - Win. Double up if you are going to virtualize!
6) HD - Seagate 750GB - $129 - Best $/GB ATM
7) GPU - Sapphire Radeon 3470 - $59 - Discrete graphics, dual DVI, HDCP and BluRay decoding. Win.
8) Optical - DVDRW - $30 - whatever. BluRay if you plan on doing that.

That should just about do it You're looking at under $850 for all that jazz, excluding shipping and taxes etc...

~MiSfit

 

[yzzozzy]

Thanks for your advice, themisfit610. Appreciate it. Yes, I already have 2 virtual OS's (using VMWare) on my aging server (P4 Dell Server with a gig of ram). We are a small team so the old P4 did the job.

Is the Q9300 better than x3350? Since this machine will be running 24x7, can the Q9300 handle it? Would it run cool? Could you also recommend a cooling solution? What about a RAID setup?

I forgot to mention in my original post, but i'll also be doing some light video work like importing the video from my camcorder, add titles and export to CD.. etc.. Can this configuration handle that? or do I need a better video card?

Thank you.

 

[themisfit610]

Is the Q9300 better than x3350

I hadn't really realized that the x3350 was a 2.66 GHz Yorkie. That makes the Q9300 a bit slower. You could use the Xeon if you want, but the extra $100 cost is a bit much IMO. Still "sever grade" and all...

Since this machine will be running 24x7, can the Q9300 handle it?

Yes it can

Would it run cool?

Yep - they're both the same core basically.

Could you also recommend a cooling solution?

Stock would surely be fine. The new quads aren't very hot. At stock speeds, with a 120mm case fan, it's all you really need. If you want something silent, Scythe and Thermalright have good solutions.

What about a RAID setup?

Depends on your needs. For anything other than a simple 2 drive RAID1 or RAID0 array, a dedicated hardware controller is basically mandatory. That increases costs significantly, depending on what you need. You could easily add another drive for $129, do RAID 1 and be done with it... More info for more suggestions

The video card is more than powerful enough to handle light video editing like you describe. It's actually fast enough to edit HD without issues. It would certainly slow down GPU accelerated functions within After Effects / Premiere, but from the sounds of it, you're not using those applications. It should be more than enough for your needs.

~MiSfit

 

[yzzozzy]

Awesome. I think I will stick with Q9300. Thanks a lot for your valuable advice. I will buy the configuration you recommended later today when I get home.

You are right, I will not be using After Effects and other Adobe products. Just plain ol' Windows Moviemaker will do. I will be using Visual Studio, SQL Server 95% of the time on this box.

Do you recommend any particular site for buying these? Or do you want me to just stick to NewEgg? Any final piece of advice? I know I said that I will be using my old monitor, but do you have any recommendations on a good budget wide screen monitor? I know this will push my $1000 limit, but would like to know what you got to say.

Offtopic - I couldn't help but notice that you have the XTi and some really cool Luxury glass there. Have fun shooting with them. I have an XTi and the nifty fifty for now

 

[yzzozzy]

Hi again,

Just was looking at the specs of Q9300. It looks like it has 6mb cache compared to 12mb on x3350. Wouldn't that make a big difference? I was reading the reviews of Q9300 on NewEgg and someone recommended Intel BOXDX38BT mobo for Q9300. How does this compare to DP35DPM you have recommended? Also, if I were to go with X3350, which mobo would you recommend?

Thank you.

 

[themisfit610]

Love the XTi and the L glass. Lots of photon-collecting happiness going on there...

www.flickr.com/photos/blue_misfit

Newegg is always a safe bet, it's where I got the prices, and I almost always use them.

I'm not up on the difference between the P35 and the X38. IIRC, it's pretty minor. They're both going to be bulletproof stable, that's for sure. I imagine either processor would be happy with either board.

The x3350 and the Q9300 are both Yorkfield. However, the Q9300 has half of the L2 cache disabled. So - 3mb per die equals 6mb total, versus twice that on the Xeon. Another thing I wasn't aware of

More L2 cache is usually good, but I'm not sure which applications would really benefit from that.

Hmm.. Xeon stability, 2x cache, 166mhz faster... $100 more... You've got some room in the budget still... I might just go ahead and get the Xeon. Why not!

~MiSfit

 

[yzzozzy]

Awesome photos you have there. The beach photos were excellent. Someday, I will shoot with the L lens. Someday. I have the feeling that I have seen your flickr album somewhere. Are you a regular at FredMiranda, DPReview and other sites? I swear I saw those pictures somewhere. Or May be I am getting too old.

Back to the topic, so can the P35 accomodate the x3350? If yes, is that the best mobo for x3350? There will be no upgrades to this system at least for the next 2 years so I want the best possible board for the buck.

Sorry If I am asking too many questions.

 

[themisfit610]

No worries, and thanks for the compliments. I mainly lurk at FredMiranda and DPReview. My stuff isn't terribly original, so you've probably seen very similar work!

The P35 will take an LGA775 Xeon just fine. The big-daddy Socket 771 Xeons are SMP aware and require a special board / chipset.

The P35 chipset is highly regarded and very mature. It's stable, fast, and has plenty of connectivity in this Intel Desktop Board form. Any performance difference between it any any other top-tier Intel chipset is going to be minimal if any. I haven't seen any substantial performance increases since the P965. The only real difference is support for different processors, memory types, and connectivity. Performance has been relatively flat for some time now. This may change in a few years with the new micro architecture from Intel, but thats a way's off.

Simply put, you can't go wrong with a P35.

~MiSfit

 

[yzzozzy]

Thanks for all the help, ~MiSfit. I really appreciate it.

I just checked NewEgg and the x3350 is out of stock! I checked at Amazon and it says it can only ship in about 4-6 weeks. May be i'll have to just wait and hope it gets re-stocked? I am not sure why its not in stock at newegg. sigh!

 

[themisfit610]

I noticed that as well. Good luck, more than happy to help. Shoot me a PM when you get the system up, and let me know how you like it!

~MiSfit

 

[yzzozzy]

I sure will. Thanks and have a good night. You rock.