Good Cheap Server - HP Proliant Microserver 4 BAY - OWNERS THREAD

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Derbyshire
I don't use my Gen 8 as a microserver, just a living room PC!
It has an E3-1240 V2 (possibly E3-1230 V2....I don't remember!), 12GB ram and a Nvidia 1030 DDR4.
I have also upgraded the PSU to 250W, several mechanical hard drives and an old SSD for windows.
The graphics is so low spec that it cannot even do decoding so the CPU has to do it.
The 1030 DDR4 variant is around 50% of the performance of the DDR5 variant off the top of my head.
I don't game on it I just use it for 4k videos, internet use, Youtube.

Would it be worth adding a low profile graphics card like a low profile 1050Ti for better video performance?
Or would it best to sell up (if so what is it even worth?) and buy one of these NUC equivalents?
 
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Soldato
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30 Jul 2005
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Midlands
I don't use my Gen 8 as a microserver, just a living room PC!
It has an E3-1240 V2 (possibly E3-1230 V2....I don't remember!), 12GB ram and a Nvidia 1030 DDR4.
I have also upgraded the PSU to 250W, several mechanical hard drives and an old SSD for windows.
The graphics is so low spec that it cannot even do decoding so the CPU has to do it.
The 1030 DDR4 variant is around 50% of the performance of the DDR5 variant off the top of my head.
I don't game on it I just use it for 4k videos, internet use, Youtube.

Would it be worth adding a low profile graphics card like a low profile 1050Ti for better video performance?
Or would it best to sell up (if so what is it even worth?) and buy one of these NUC equivalents?

Your gonna need an ampere card to do proper hardware decode of everything including av1.
 
Joined
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Your gonna need an ampere card to do proper hardware decode of everything including av1.
I might be wasting my time then with a 1650, which is the best I can get really.
Any idea what my setup may be worth?
Ebay is all over the place as always.
I will try the MM Price Checks if need be :).
 
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Soldato
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Might be the weekend before I get the post up, busy at work and by the time I get home I generally CBA lol

I've got 8x 8Gb sticks, presume that'll go as 4x 16Gb kits for the Gen7/8..

I also have a Supermicro card that I might stick in the thread as well, maybe an LP dual NIC or 2 as well, oh and 4 of the Gen7 drive rail things.
 
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Might be the weekend before I get the post up, busy at work and by the time I get home I generally CBA lol

I've got 8x 8Gb sticks, presume that'll go as 4x 16Gb kits for the Gen7/8..

I also have a Supermicro card that I might stick in the thread as well, maybe an LP dual NIC or 2 as well, oh and 4 of the Gen7 drive rail things.
I could make do with a single stick of 8gb if you have a spare.

I've currently got my OS running from a sata 2.5 ssd in the drive bay but it's constantly running low on space and I'm looking at a larger size.
Plus I thinking it is on its way out. Slow read and write speeds..


I'm thinking a 1tb should be enough, another sata drive? Or maybe an nvme drive connected through a nvme to data adaptor.

I don't know. What do you guys recommend?
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
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7,262
I could make do with a single stick of 8gb if you have a spare.

I've currently got my OS running from a sata 2.5 ssd in the drive bay but it's constantly running low on space and I'm looking at a larger size.
Plus I thinking it is on its way out. Slow read and write speeds..


I'm thinking a 1tb should be enough, another sata drive? Or maybe an nvme drive connected through a nvme to data adaptor.

I don't know. What do you guys recommend?
A full SSD is a bad idea on many levels, they shouldn't be run like that and will slow down, especially if dynamically managing cache.
 
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A full SSD is a bad idea on many levels, they shouldn't be run like that and will slow down, especially if dynamically managing cache.
Yeah, but it was what I had on hand and you know what they say about temp jobs becoming permanent.

So what kind of ssds will fit in the internal 5th slot?
 
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Liverpool
FWIW, I've been using the same ssd in my 5th slot for coming upto 10years now.
No issues, health is shown as good in the monitoring software and SMART.
Server is 99% on 24/7
Running server Win 2012 R2

I might replace it this year if I can be bothered, I have a couple spare SSDs in my drawer.

@Trig I call dibs on a dual nic
Cheers bae x
 
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