Need help deciding on cpu/mobo/ram for home server

k1114

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I need to build a beast of a home server. I will be doing several processor intensive tasks at once (big uploads and downloads, transcoding HD video, streaming to multiple devices, doing full PC backups, etc). I have lots of supplemental hardware (drives, case, decent psu, etc). Budget is $200-500 for cpu/mobo/ram. Will be running some variant of server 2008 (probably SBS 2011 essentials).

I've been looking at socket G34 but im not sure it's worth it for the money. Newer xeons are insanely expensive, and scaling back to i3 with server boards means taking a big performance hit. The new 8 core amd desktop chips look enticing, but I'm not sure about performance. I'm incredibly behind on hardware. Someone want to point me in the right direction? Any advice at all would be great, and I'm completely lost... been out of the scene in a long time. I'm open to both desktop and server hardware options.
 
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Sleepingforest

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I think that AMD is actually better for home servers due to the high integer core count (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So the best choice would probably be:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $318.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-04 22:21 EST-0500)
 

Ken g6

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Two things AMD is better than Intel at right now: high-quality video encoding and multithreaded file compression. So AMD isn't an implausible choice here. I would ask if you want to overclock; if so, you could look at the FX-8320 to save money.

One downside of AMD is power usage. For a home server that's on 24/7, that could be significant. If the video transcoding is just for streaming playback, I'd suggest an i3-3225 and Quick Sync instead. If it wasn't for the video transcoding and any potential compression the server does during backups, I'd suggest a Celeron.

You also seem to be suggesting that you need a "server motherboard" for a home server. You don't: you just need a motherboard with enough SATA ports for your drives. Which could be a strike against Sleepingforest's board: it only has five SATA ports. (Most Intel boards have at least six.)
 

k1114

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No interest in overclocking; the 8350 looks like a good choice for my purposes. The suggested board doesn't have a lot of SATA ports and no onboard video, but I'm not seeing anything out there right now that does, so I may have to just make do.

Also, wondering about power supply... I've got a decent older 500w unit that does have the right connectors. Should I consider upgrading it anyway?
 
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Sleepingforest

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If by "decent" you mean an Antec/Seasonic/Corsair/XFX/other Seasonic rebadged, then yes, by all means keep it.
 

LurchFrinky

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Nov 12, 2003
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Maybe I am missing something, but are you really going to be doing all of those things at once?
I can see streaming to multiple devices and running a torrent server happening at the same time, but won't you only be scheduling your computer backups when nothing else is going on?
My point is that I think you might be better served with a fast quad-core cpu.
 

k1114

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Maybe I am missing something, but are you really going to be doing all of those things at once?
I can see streaming to multiple devices and running a torrent server happening at the same time, but won't you only be scheduling your computer backups when nothing else is going on?
My point is that I think you might be better served with a fast quad-core cpu.

The most intensive usage of this box will be streaming, and much of the streaming will happen with on the fly transcoding, which is very processor intensive. I could see myself really pushing the limits of a quad core processor with a few streams going.

I could be wrong on that - are current quad core processors that much better than what AMD is offering in an eight core solution?
 
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Sleepingforest

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The 8350 loses in pretty much every scenario to Intel i5s EXCEPT for those which are heavily multithreaded or heavily favor integer cores (though often not by cataclysmic amounts). That being said, it sounds like you need the extra cores more than you need the 10% extra power per core.
 

k1114

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You're probably right, though I am looking at the Xeon E3-1230V2. It's 4 cores/8 threads, and the performance rankings are fantastic. Runs in a lot of normal desktop boards. Gonna have to do a lot more reading.
 

Sleepingforest

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You have room in the budget for it:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 V2 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($260.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $384.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-05 18:29 EST-0500)

Which leaves enough room to either go 2x8GB or get a Xeon E3-1275 instead.
 

k1114

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Newegg has the 1230 for $239, which would put me at 362.97. Will have to compare if the 1240 or 1275 is a worthwhile bump. All this is dependent on finding the right board.
 
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Sleepingforest

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I don't think the 1275 is worth it simply because the increase in power is tiny (no extra L2 or L3 cache either).
 

k1114

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Yeah, probably right. Of course now I'm looking at the i7, since I won't get one of the major benefits of the E3 (ECC) with a normal desktop board, and that would give me integrated video with most setups.

The plot thickens...
 

mfenn

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Yeah, probably right. Of course now I'm looking at the i7, since I won't get one of the major benefits of the E3 (ECC) with a normal desktop board, and that would give me integrated video with most setups.

The plot thickens...

If you're not overclocking, a Xeon E3 is a better deal than an i7. The i7 3770 is $290, but the E3-1245 V2 is $276 for what is essentially the same CPU (IGP and all). You only lose a whopping 100Mhz max turbo.
 
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k1114

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If you're not overclocking, a Xeon E3 is a better deal than an i7. The i7 3770 is $290, but the E3-1245 V2 is $276 for what is essentially the same CPU (IGP and all). You only loose a whopping 100Mhz max turbo.

Ah there we go, didn't realize that any of the Xeons had IGP. Looking at that as a possible option now. Here's my tentative build:

$275.99 Intel Xeon E3-1245 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31245V2
$89.99 MSI ZH77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$83.99 Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLS2K8G3D1609ES2LX0

Comes out to 449.97. I think I'll also be looking for another PSU - thought I had an old Antec, turns out my current server (dual core atom mini-itx in a giant rackmount case) is using a rocketfish 80 plus RF-500WPS2, which seems sketchy as hell. Think I picked that one up in a lot of hardware at a garage sale a while back...
 

Sleepingforest

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You can easily get a quality PSU for around $50. In fact, for your usage, this $25 AR Corsair CX430 seems perfect (and an incredibly good deal. It's $45 before the rebate, which is still "not bad").

Though I must ask, why the 16GB? I mean, there's room, but will your apps benefit from it? Similarly, will you be using up every SATA connection on that mobo (or at least the USB 3.0)?
 

k1114

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Nov 15, 2002
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You can easily get a quality PSU for around $50. In fact, for your usage, this $25 AR Corsair CX430 seems perfect (and an incredibly good deal. It's $45 before the rebate, which is still "not bad").

Though I must ask, why the 16GB? I mean, there's room, but will your apps benefit from it? Similarly, will you be using up every SATA connection on that mobo (or at least the USB 3.0)?

I won't be using all the features of the motherboard right away, but the price difference to add those features is somewhere in the ballpark of $15-20 depending on what you're comparing it to (H77 boards with 4 memory slots was my base criteria). Seems worthwhile to have and not need, versus need and not have later on, given the price.

As far as the 16gb of ram - yes, I can very easily consume more than 8gb with what I'll have running, and it make sense - if I ever want to upgrade to 32, I'd have to replace any sticks smaller than 8gb (2x4gb would be the other choice if I wanted to stay dual channel), so I'd be rebuying all over again.

The only thing I'm still questioning is whether or not I really need all that CPU, but I'm not sure I want to risk buying something like an i3 for half the price and being really disappointed.
 
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Sleepingforest

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Well, at least everything (in terms of how you benefit) makes sense except possibly the CPU. Why don't you check out the Anandtech CPU benches to try and see if it'll help? An i7 handily beats an i3 in everything (and by tons in multi-threaded tests). The Xeon will perform similarly.
 
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mfenn

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I'm totally fine with spending a little more on the CPU for something like a home server, which you're probably going to keep around for a long time. When you factor in virtualization, it is really easy to load that sucker up with a bunch of different tasks.
 

k1114

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Yeah - quite the opposite of my last build! Here's what my server has been running on all this time:

pBKtvKO.jpg


Yep, that's an atom 330. I ran Windows SBS 2011 Essentials on that board, but it can't handle any kind of video streaming or transcoding (big surprise!)
 
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k1114

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Ok so a quick update... went a bit older due to some great used market prices. Spent $163 on:

* Phenom II X6 1045T w/stock HSF
* Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ mobo
* 16gb (4x4) Corsair XMS3 DDR3

It's not quite as much power as I want, but I'm thinking it will be sufficient, and if not, I can upgrade my main rig (old C2D setup) with these parts and move on. Still going to upgrade the PSU but I'm not in a rush (unit I have should up hold for now, will wait for the next good sale)
 
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mfenn

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Seems fine to me as long as you don't care about the extra power (and thus heat and noise) that the Phenom II X6 produces. The extra cores help it place respectably in encoding benchmarks.
 

k1114

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Yeah encoding will be the bulk of the work I think, and this is going in a rack upstairs with a bunch of other hardware, so I don't foresee heat and noise being a real concern. If it is, I'll get one of those huge ungodly heatsinks with fans bigger than my head.