I work with development, and do lots of complete recompiles of
source trees. For this I want to set up a fast budget build host at
home. It will run FreeBSD or Linux, and will be put in a closet
accessed remotely, i.e. no graphics performance needed at all.
I have came to beleive that, for this kind of application, I need
to focus a bit different than for a typical "desktop" setup. Doing
compiles and builds is reading lots of small files, and also lots of
parallel activity. So I will target more a "medium performance
server" configuration, in that disk I/O for small files is a high
priority. But within a smaller budget. I will not run RAID, I don't
beleive in RAID ;-)
I will build a system with an AM2 AMD64 X2 4200+ ADO (65W),
an WD1500 Raptor SATA disk, and one slower larger disk.
I'm not that interested in overclocking, but think a "flexible
BIOS" is an advantage.
Could you give advice what motherboard and memory to choose?
I would prefer micro ATX, but small form factor is second to
good quality, actively supported by the vendor and community.
I will not use the PCI and other slots, unless I have to because
graphics is not integrated into the motherboard.
How important is the SATA controller? Especially since the
WD1500 Raptor is SATA, not SATA-II? The results on the page
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2767&p=10
show grat difference not only between SATA and SATA-II, but
also between controllers. But I don't know what it all means,
"nForce4 SATA", is that nForce 410 south bridge? Where are
those Silicon Image SATA controllers, on motherboards or
separate PCI-X cards?
No chipset fans if possible. But speed is more important
this time, especially since it is to be placed in the closet.
If you know that using FreeBSD or Linux limits my selection
of motherboards, as some chipsets are not supported, please
share your insights on this?
Does it matter what DDR2 brand? If it does, what to choose?
If the motherboard specifies PC4200, do I gain antything with
a higher value, like PC5400, if the motherboard supports it?
If it does, what is the best current cost/speed value?
If brand/speed doesn't matter, I prefer low-profile memory
and lower power consumption, any suggestions?
kent
Ref: http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/low_e/
http://www.hardforum.com/printthread.php?t=900405
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/leaderboard.html
source trees. For this I want to set up a fast budget build host at
home. It will run FreeBSD or Linux, and will be put in a closet
accessed remotely, i.e. no graphics performance needed at all.
I have came to beleive that, for this kind of application, I need
to focus a bit different than for a typical "desktop" setup. Doing
compiles and builds is reading lots of small files, and also lots of
parallel activity. So I will target more a "medium performance
server" configuration, in that disk I/O for small files is a high
priority. But within a smaller budget. I will not run RAID, I don't
beleive in RAID ;-)
I will build a system with an AM2 AMD64 X2 4200+ ADO (65W),
an WD1500 Raptor SATA disk, and one slower larger disk.
I'm not that interested in overclocking, but think a "flexible
BIOS" is an advantage.
Could you give advice what motherboard and memory to choose?
I would prefer micro ATX, but small form factor is second to
good quality, actively supported by the vendor and community.
I will not use the PCI and other slots, unless I have to because
graphics is not integrated into the motherboard.
How important is the SATA controller? Especially since the
WD1500 Raptor is SATA, not SATA-II? The results on the page
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2767&p=10
show grat difference not only between SATA and SATA-II, but
also between controllers. But I don't know what it all means,
"nForce4 SATA", is that nForce 410 south bridge? Where are
those Silicon Image SATA controllers, on motherboards or
separate PCI-X cards?
No chipset fans if possible. But speed is more important
this time, especially since it is to be placed in the closet.
If you know that using FreeBSD or Linux limits my selection
of motherboards, as some chipsets are not supported, please
share your insights on this?
Does it matter what DDR2 brand? If it does, what to choose?
If the motherboard specifies PC4200, do I gain antything with
a higher value, like PC5400, if the motherboard supports it?
If it does, what is the best current cost/speed value?
If brand/speed doesn't matter, I prefer low-profile memory
and lower power consumption, any suggestions?
kent
Ref: http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/low_e/
http://www.hardforum.com/printthread.php?t=900405
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/leaderboard.html
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