Server For Games

[Tret]

What kind of server do i need for 12 people in games like counter strike?
Is my connection good? i get 2.4 in a bandwith test can u tell me the specs on the server that i need i dont want to spend over 500 bucks.

 

[eklass]

$500 can get you plenty because you don't need but a basic 2d video card

I haven't run a game server myself, however I can guess what would be good. Your two most important components will be RAM and processor speed, so get as much as you can of both. In other words... Price out a cheap motherboard with lots of integrated stuff (such as the Asus A7N226). This has integrated graphics and LAN. Next, look for a case and a CD drive. If you're going big on the cheapness, you can get both for $50.
The rest can go to RAM and processor.

So here's what we have:

Asus A7N266 - $68
Case and CD Drive - $50
-------------------------------
$118

That leaves us with $382
That's a lot of dough.

512MB PC2700 from Crucial will run $82
Now we're up to $200, leaving $300 for whatever else.
What I would do is grab an Athlon 2000 for $71.
This will bump your total to $371, which is $129 under budget. Nice Job!

Go buy yourself a damn copy of Battlefield 1942 with the remaining money and play a game produced in this damn millenium.

 

[Tret]

What About the harddrive?

 

[JBT]

I don't think u will need to much space on a game server but I could be wrong so go with a WD 60GB JB "Special Edition" or an 80 they have hem pretty cheap at newegg .

 

[Smilin]

A 1Ghz processor w/256mb of memory will be MORE than enough. The hard drive will only affect the load time between levels so it shouldn't be to important. I don't say this often but if this thing is only going to be a game server you might want to look into a 3com nic. They really are faster but only in really special circumstances is it enough to justify the ridiculous price difference.

Put a good OS on it: NT/2000/XP/*nix so that you can set the priority of the game application to get more attention from your cpu.

Also be sure to check tweak guides for your particular game. I believe CS might have some heapsize settings or something that may help.

If you are running this over residential broadband it's very likely you don't have the upstream bandwidth to pull off 12 players.

 

[eklass]

get some cheap hdd. if it's a dedicated game server only, then find somethign lying around if you can... if not, you don't even need 10GB, so get somethign cheap...

word to smilin... if it is only gonna be crap cs, then you prolly can go less than i spec'ed

 

[Tret]

i have a extra 512mb stick of corsair xms pc2700 and the special edition wiesterndigital 80gb 7200rpm with 8mb cache that i found ill use that. thanks for the help u guys!