Which motherboard/setup ought I upgrade to?

[Satyrist]

This is what I've got currently for serving patches at lan parties:

Asus TUSI-M mobo
PIII 700@933mhz
1 gb pc133
onboard 10/100 lan
15 gig hdd boot
1x250 gb hdd (8mb cache 7200rpm)
Windows2000 sp4

Even this is perhaps a bit overkill for simple FTP/filesharing, I'd like to look into making it a dedicated server for a couple of games. (BF1942/DC/UT2K4-between 8 and 16 users is what I'd be shooting for, I know that some of the larger onslaught maps can crash or chug like mad on setups that are a bit too weak)

Looking around a bit on google didn't exactly get me the answers I was looking for...I was thinking of a possible upgrade, what would work best for me for the specifics posted above, that comes in a MATX form factor, and budgeted at around $350-400 max or so? Also, would there be much of a difference between AMD or Intel here? Overclocking options would be nice, but not completely necessary.

Thanks.

 

[Treyshadow]

If the box is just used for serving some games, don't let the indulgence of high end boxes tempt you.

My BF1942/DC/Vietnam and UT2004 server has hosted large lan parties of 300 or more, and can withstand 64 player matches without any complaints from the machine or the users.

My servers current specs are
P4 2.8e
Soyo PRC350 MATX Motherboard
ATI 9600 256 (for those HLTV Duties when needed) or playing Divx and Xvid movies
1 gig Corsair Value PPC3200 Ram
2 Maxtor 60 gig HD (old 2mb cache drives)

This box dual boots Windows XP or linux. Currently all game servers are loading in both OS' so 1 HD for windows and 1 for Linux

We ran a select(BF) web server, and 48 player BF matches all weekend a few weeks ago, getting about 100 unique users on the server. When it all completed the server had not crashed once, and there were no complaints of lag. My average processor load was below 20%.

Anything in that order (AMD or Intel) can handle the games you want with little or no sweat, especially for 8 to 16 people.

 

[Satyrist]

Which flavor of Linux are you running on your setup?

Some people have said the latest kernel builds have improved performance, at least with UT2K4 under Suse 9.2.

I know, from looking on google, that general consensus has come to the conclusion that UT2K4 won't serve 32 users at once, (DM or ONS) without beginning to experience increased latency and lagskips, no matter which hardware it's being run on.

 

[thunderroller]

ther is really very wide range

 

[Satyrist]

Originally posted by: thunderroller
ther is really very wide range

of?

sorry....

 

[Concillian]

Battlefield serving is not much of an issue even with your current machine. BFV may struggle a bit with that CPU, but I kinda doubt it. 1942/DC will definitely be fine. BF series servers also don't use tons of RAM. You can EASILY get by with 512MB.

ONS I know is more demanding, but don't know how much. Check the forums at www.unrealadmin.org. They will know a LOT more about what it takes for a 16 player server. My understanding on ONS is that a few players is fine but as the players go up, the hardware requirements start growing exponentially.

I don't think you need a whole lot of hardware. I was serving 8-14 BFV from a T-bred @ 2000 and 512MB with plenty of CPU and memory to spare. My bet is you could get by with as little as $150 in upgrades.... T-bred for ~$50, nForce2 for ~$50 and 512MB DDR for ~$50. ONS will be the limiting factor. Spend some time at unrealadmin.org to find out what you need. Don't go too far overboard.

Battlefield servers run better in Windows, as they never really bothered optimizing the linux server software. However with hardware capable of running an equal number of people ONS server, windows or linux should make little difference in BF. I dunno about the linux/windows server comparisons for UT, but my guess is that they are probably close in performance.

 

[Satyrist]

With Linux, it appears that one ought to be able to perform as well as Windows, though perhaps with lessened hardware requirements. (provided it's a minimal barebones command line install)

I understand the fine line between shooting too high or too low with hardware setups, maybe I'm just looking to future-proof a little bit.

Keep 'em coming, guys.

 

[Concillian]

I think the OS doesn't matter as long as the software is at the same level of optimization. The Battlefield server software is NOT at the same level of optimization, so the windows server performs better in all the cases that I've seen.

Current linux distros have pretty similar hardware requirements to windows these days, mostly because they are NOT "minimal barebones command line installs"

As for future proofing, maybe move up to an A64 2800+/nForce3 setup like I'm using in my main system. Good value and you get the on-die memory controller. You can do it for around $300 for MB/CPU/1G RAM with ATX form factor. I'm not up on MATX boards though.

 

[Satyrist]

Would it be recommended to get a gigabit card, or have the option of getting it onboard?(if it's anything other than Realtek, that is)

Yes, in that event I know I'd have to get new cables and a new switch as well, though the lans I've been to have gigabit capability...Be a little more bandwidth to distribute in that event.

 

[Satyrist]

Oh, and would I notice a particular degree of difference in going with a Northwood P4 as opposed to a Prescott P4?

Aside from perhaps the Northwood running cooler on average. (I'd look at getting a native 800FSB cpu in this case)

I think I've nearly got it picked out here, as ram seems to be dropping in price enough that I can probably snag a gig of budget ram, likely with what I'll get with my tax refund this year.

Here's what I've planned for so far:

Gigabyte GA-8TRS350MT
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-256&depa=0

Kingmax SuperRAM Series Dual Channel Kit-1 GB PC3200
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-156-020&depa=0

Intel Pro/1000 MT Desktop Network Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=33-106-112&depa=0

For video, I'd either use the onboard video, or use a GF3 that I have in another machine.

Just unsure about the CPU...Likely be a 2.8ghz, might lean towards the Northwood unless there's some compelling reason to choose a Prescott.