ok im lost or overthinking things server build.

[logic0010@gmail.com]

ok im not a newb to building computers but im freeking lost ? maybe?

I have been reading non stop for 2 months on this build i have never touched a server nor built one so please lend a lucky fool a hand got the setup below locally for 80 bucks and i did see it post before it was removed or id never try this out. im not a gamer but my current setup is old and the video card ill use is OLD all i do is dl movies and keep my home movies currently i have about 9tb used.

heres the setup
dl165 g7 hp server motherboard part number 603887-01
2 amd 6238 g34 processors
6 4gb 10600r ddr 3 ram hynix

Heres question 1
hdd setup / it has 2 sata ports onboard and a mini-sas
a......i ordered a mini 36p sff-8087 to 7p sata hdd fanout cable ...will this work?
i have a lot of sata drives and want to use them
b.. what drive would get the operating system? drive on board or sas?

question 2
pcie ports and or risers?
it has a pcie 8x and 1x
a.....can i get an adaptor on the 1x to 2 pci slots
b....can i just plug a video card into the 8x?
(no onboard sound no usb 3.0)

question 3
power supply i have a high end 850w antec think itll work

question 4
operating system can i get windows 8.1 or 7 on this?

current whip
amd a8-6500 3.5ghz 32g ram ,8-1tb drives
onboard video, matrix orbital, and 4 card readers setup on raid 1

 

[XavierMace]

I hope I'm not going to crush your dreams here, but there's going to be several issues, assuming the end result it supposed to look like a normal-ish computer.

1) It's not an ATX form factor board. So mounting it in a case is going to take some work.
2) Your power supply likely doesn't have the 8 pin plug it will need.
3) While the PCIe slots are normal PCIe slots, their placement is not.
4) This will be using a LOT of electricity for a media box and generating a ton of heat.
5) Age wise the server is older than your current rig.
6) The breakout cable off the onboard SAS only gets you 4 SATA ports plus the 2 onboard SATA ports. You mention have 8 drives.

In short, if you're wanting this in a case, you're going to have a lot of fabrication ahead of you.

To answer your specific questions. That looks like the proper breakout cable for the drives. Up to you which port/drive you want your OS on. Onboard is more likely to be no-hassle. From the slots perspective, yes you can just plug cards into them. From a functionality perspective, your cards (at least the video card) isn't going to clear the other hardware so you'll need risers. You have 2 PCIe 2.0 slots, an x4 and an x16. Yes you can install Windows 7/8.1. 8.1 is less likely to run into driver issues, but that's a possibility with either.

 

[logic0010@gmail.com]

omg thank you. as far as a case i have a glass top desk 4ft long 2 1/2 foot deep with full keyboard tray that im going to mount everything on kinda like the lian li desk case. Im a huge computer modder and have about 30 builds under my belt but trying to get specific answers about servers is $%^& nuts. any suggestions on what risers to go with?

 

[XavierMace]

Only risers I've ever used are model specific ones that came with the system. You might be better off trying the ribbon "risers" so you have some flexibility in card placement. But I have no experience with those.