AMD CPU + mATX mobo bundle for virtualization?

khodos

khodos

khodos

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4 Mar 2012
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218
Hi,

I'm thinking in building a new PC, which I will use for a virtualization lab using ESXi or windows+virtualized ESXi. I will try to deploy a nested ESX environment (ESXi containing some ESX -not ESXi- VMs).

A few questions:

- 8320 or 8350? I may use this PC for gaming from time to time.
- I may do some OC (nothing extreme). How far can I go with each cpu using the stock fan?
- What mATX mobos would you recommend? If it has a PCIe 1x on top of the other slots it would be great, as I have a soundcard and I don't want it blocking my GPU air flow.

Thanks!
 
as the price isn't that much between the 2, i'd get the fastest

stock coolers are never any good at OC'ing, so guessing not too much unless you like extra heat and noise etc

no idea with m/b choice as i don't know that many layouts tbh

hopefully someone with more knowledge will add more info, sorry for the little i can give
 
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There are no 900 series AM3+ mATX motherboards,and only a few mATX AM3+ motherboards have the 800 series chipsets with the SB850 southbridge,and they are rare.

You will be mostly limited to the 700 and 800 series chipsets with the older SB710 southbridge which lacks SATA3.0,and the I would not use anything more than an FX6300 or a FX8300 as these have a 95W TDP, and the motherboards tend to use more basic VRMs too as they are cheaper ones.
 
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Do you only have a Matx case then?

Doesn't sound like you can find a good one, which is a shame..

You wouldn't be able to get one with a PCI as the first lane. All Matx boards have a x16 as there top lane..
 
You thought about getting an i5.

There are some really good Z77 mATX Boards around..

The i5 should suffice for your needs, though the i7 would be better, though more expensive.
 
khodos said:
The bad thing with i5 is that you are limited to 4 cores, and an i7 is like 2x the price of a FX :(
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The i5 is more powerful and better threaded than then FX8XXX though.

Take a look at some benchmarks, that paints a clearer picture. The 8XXX is a bit better for your uses, but i feel it's not much that you'd notice.
 
Will do. I have some exposure to vmware, but I'm not an expert (that's the reason i'm building this pc, to learn) and my main concern is to have too many vcpus for just 4 cores.
 
khodos said:
Will do. I have some exposure to vmware, but I'm not an expert (that's the reason i'm building this pc, to learn) and my main concern is to have too many vcpus for just 4 cores.
Click to expand...

An FX6300 or Phenom II X6 1045T should be OK though as they have a 95W TDP and will give you six threads for between £80 to £100.

I know someone on another forum who uses the FX6100 for ESXi,in one of the 780G based mATX motherboards,but they run things at stock clockspeeds.

You can get hold of a Xeon E3 1230 V2(basically a Core i7 with no IGP),for around £180 to £190 but you will need a graphics card though.

Do you intend to use IOMMU??
 
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